Gallium is a soft, silvery metal that melts at 29.76 C (85.58 F), low enough that a solid chunk turns liquid in your palm. No US chain stocks it, so before you buy, the choice is a metals dealer, a chemistry supplier, or a marketplace seller. Here is what to check on a listing, a fair price per gram, and the storage mistake that ruins a first order.
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Who Actually Needs Gallium
Gallium is a chemical element (symbol Ga, atomic number 31) sold as a pure metal for classroom demonstrations, low-melting alloys, and lab work. It sits in group 13 of the periodic table, directly below aluminium, which makes it a post-transition metal. The French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran isolated it in 1875. Its liquid state runs from 29.76 C to a boiling point well above 2,000 C.
Four groups buy it:
- Teachers and demo builders. 20 to 50 gram vials for the melt-in-hand trick.
- Hobby metallurgists. Feedstock for Galinstan, the gallium-indium-tin alloy that replaced mercury in some thermometers.
- Element collectors. One labeled specimen for a periodic table display.
- Small labs and makers. Coatings, thermal interface tests, semiconductor precursor work.
Industrial demand is the only reason small quantities exist. Most refined output becomes gallium arsenide and gallium nitride for radio-frequency chips, light-emitting diodes, and solar cells, so hobby vials ride a supply chain built for electronics.
Buying Criteria: What Separates Good Gallium From Bad
Purity decides everything else on the listing, and sellers write it in “N” notation, where N counts the nines. For a demo or a display piece, 4N is the grade to buy.
| Grade | Purity | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 3N | 99.9% | Reclaim stock for alloy mixing, often dull |
| 4N | 99.99% | Classroom and hobby standard, mirror bright |
| 5N | 99.999% | Research work, sold in sealed ampoules |
| 6N and up | Six nines | Wafer production, rarely sold retail |
A grade printed on the page. Sellers of high-purity gallium advertise the number because it is what they charge for. If no figure appears in the specs, assume reclaimed scrap.
Container material. This metal expands about 3.1% when it freezes, the same trick water pulls, so a glass vial filled to the shoulder can crack in a cold room. Polyethylene past 50 grams.
Oxide film. Exposed surfaces dull as slow oxidation forms a thin skin. That is normal, and a remelt in a clean vessel brings the mirror back.
Form factor and weight. A wide mouth beats a narrow vial when a low melting point means you pour it warm. Check net weight, since some listings quote shipped weight with the container.
Paperwork. Chemistry suppliers include a certificate of analysis. Marketplace sellers rarely do, which matters if the purity figure is load-bearing.
How Much Should You Pay for Gallium
As of September 2026, three bands cover almost every retail order. Treat them as ranges.
- Budget, $15 to $30. A 15 to 20 gram 4N vial, roughly $1 to $1.50 per gram. The melt-in-hand starter size.
- Mid-range, $50 to $70. A 100 gram ingot or jar at 4N, about $0.50 to $0.70 per gram, half the small-vial rate.
- Premium. 5N in sealed ampoules costs several times the 4N rate, and kilogram lots are quoted per order rather than listed.
Two supply facts explain the drift upward. Primary gallium is recovered as a byproduct of refining bauxite into alumina through the Bayer process, plus trace amounts from the zinc residues left by sphalerite ore. Nobody mines it on purpose. China, which the USGS reports supplies roughly 98% of primary production, added export licensing in August 2023 and barred exports to the United States in December 2024. Unlike gold or silver coins, there is no retail resale market here, so treat the buy as a consumable.
Where paying more is wasted: 5N or 6N for a hand demo. At 4N the liquid already looks like polished chrome.
Buying Gallium Online: Retailer Comparison
Every practical source is online. Marketplaces win on speed, specialty metals dealers on price per gram, chemistry houses on documentation.
Amazon
The fastest route to a first vial. Third-party sellers list 4N gallium metal in 15 to 100 gram sizes, though the seller sets shipping and return terms, not Amazon. Browse the current selection and stick to listings that print the purity figure in the title. #ad
RotoMetals
RotoMetals is a specialty metals dealer carrying vial through kilogram quantities alongside bismuth, indium, and tin. Worth a bookmark if you mix your own low-melting alloys, since one order covers the recipe.
Solution Materials, LLC
Solution Materials sells small research-ready bottles up to larger jars at 4N, aimed at educators and independent researchers.
eBay
New-in-package listings from established sellers are usually fine. Auction lots of reclaimed material are a gamble, so get the grade in writing.
Two channels sit outside that list. Luciteria Science sells display-mounted element samples with purity documentation. For 5N and above, MilliporeSigma (Sigma-Aldrich), American Elements, and Strem Chemicals ship sealed ampoules with certificates, usually through business accounts.
Buying Gallium Locally: Store by Store
Nothing sits on a shelf. Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels all skip the category, and the Walmart.com listings that appear come from marketplace sellers, not store inventory. Three local channels are left, each worth a phone call:
- Campus chemistry stockrooms and university bookstores. Availability varies by school, and many sell only to students or staff, so ask the department.
- Rock and mineral shops. Element collections sold as display sets often include a labeled specimen, usually a gram or two.
- Science museum gift shops. Museums with a chemistry exhibit sometimes stock souvenir vials, though stock rotates with the exhibit.
None carry more than souvenir amounts. Anything past 20 grams means an online order. For another classroom favorite with a short shelf life, see our guide on where to buy dry ice.
Red Flags When Shopping for Gallium
The costliest mistake is buying an alloy that never solidifies and expecting the melt-in-hand trick to work.
Galinstan sold as the pure element. Some listings use the word in the title but ship the gallium-indium-tin eutectic, which stays fluid at room temperature. Look for 99.99%, “pure gallium”, and a stated melting point near 29.8 C.
Summer shipping with no insulation. A delivery truck runs well above the melting point in July, so the box arrives as liquid gallium and can seep past a loose cap. Buy in cooler months, or pick a seller who packs a cold pack.
An ingot that feels too heavy. Solid gallium runs about 5.91 grams per cubic centimeter, well under lead at 11.3. A dense-feeling chunk is probably something else.
Storage that ignores aluminium. Liquid metal embrittlement is the real hazard: the melt diffuses along aluminium grain boundaries, and a wetted can or bracket crumbles under light pressure. Store it in polyethylene above freezing, away from aluminium stock, and work over a washable surface: gallium wets glass into a film that resists cleaning.
Reading “low toxicity” as “food safe”. Elemental gallium is considered low in toxicity next to mercury, which is why Galinstan replaced mercury in some thermometers. Low toxicity is not the same as edible. Keep it off cookware, away from children, and treat the safety data sheet that ships with the order as the authority. NOAA’s CAMEO Chemicals entry is a useful second reference.
Best Gallium Right Now
Picks are grouped by buying scenario. The figures are ranges, not quotes, and this metal reprices with export policy.
Best overall: 20-gram 4N vial. Enough to pour a small ingot, run the demo twice, and keep a reference piece. Typically $15 to $25. Check price on Amazon or see the eBay listings.
Best for hand demos: melting spoon kit. Bundles 4N material with a silicone mold and pour cup, roughly $20 to $35. Find it on Amazon or search Walmart.
Best bulk value: RotoMetals 100-gram ingot. One 4N ingot for alloy mixing or small casts, $50 to $70. Shop RotoMetals or browse Amazon.
Best for collectors: Luciteria Science element sample. Display-ready 4N sample with purity documentation, $25 to $40. Order from Luciteria or search Amazon.
Best chemistry grade: Solution Materials 15-gram 4N. A research-ready bottle for teaching labs, $18 to $28. Order from Solution Materials or compare on eBay.
Start with a 20 gram 4N vial from Amazon or RotoMetals, timed for October through April so the box does not arrive as a puddle. Set out a polyethylene bottle and a mold before it lands. Step up to a 100 gram ingot once you know you will keep using gallium, and leave 5N for a project that needs it. Other metal goods, like copper mugs, reward the same habit: read the spec, not the photo.
Gallium Questions, Answered
Is gallium toxic to humans?
The pure element is considered low in toxicity, well below mercury, and brief skin contact with the solid metal is not treated as a poisoning risk. It is still not food safe. Do not ingest it, keep it off cookware, and wash your hands afterward, since it leaves a grey smear. Compounds are a separate matter, and gallium arsenide carries hazard classifications the pure element does not, so read the supplier’s safety data sheet.
Can gallium melt any metal?
No. It does not melt other metals, it alloys with them or weakens them. Liquid metal embrittlement lets it penetrate aluminium grain boundaries and destroy a part’s strength at room temperature, which is why a wetted soda can tears like foil. It forms alloys with indium, tin, zinc, and bismuth. Steel and copper hold up far better.
Is it the same thing as Galinstan or mercury?
All three differ. The pure element freezes at 29.76 C, and that transition is repeatable enough that its triple point is a defining fixed point on the international temperature scale, maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Galinstan is a eutectic of this metal with indium and tin that stays fluid to roughly -19 C, so it never solidifies indoors. Mercury is liquid at room temperature, genuinely toxic, and restricted for consumer sale in several US states.
Why does the price keep climbing?
Supply is concentrated and policy-driven. Nobody mines this element directly, so output tracks aluminium and zinc refining rather than demand for the metal itself. Chinese export licensing from 2023, then the December 2024 ban on US shipments, tightened supply. Recycled material from semiconductor and LED scrap covers only part of the shortfall, and new refining capacity outside China takes years to build.
In September 2026, our editorial team reviewed price ranges, retailer availability, and product picks for this guide.