Gallium is a soft, silvery metal that melts at 29.76 C (85.58 F), so a solid piece turns liquid in a warm palm. You will not find it at a US chain store. The real sources are specialty metals dealers, element-sample sellers, lab chemical suppliers, and marketplace listings, and the price you pay depends far more on the seller and the bottle size than on the metal itself. Expect to pay several dollars per gram at retail, roughly eight times the wholesale import value.
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What the Metal Is and Who Actually Buys It
Gallium is a chemical element with the symbol Ga and atomic number 31, sold to hobbyists as a pure metal for demonstrations, low-melting alloys, and small lab projects. 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 discovered it in 1875 and named it after Gallia, the Latin name for France. Its liquid state is unusually long: from just under body temperature to a boiling point above 2,000 C.
Retail buyers fall into four groups:
- Teachers and demo builders. A small bottle for the melt-in-hand trick or the “disappearing spoon” cast.
- Hobby metallurgists. Feedstock for Galinstan, the gallium-indium-tin alloy that replaced mercury in some medical thermometers.
- Element collectors. One labeled specimen for a periodic table display.
- Small labs and makers. Thermal interface tests, coatings, and semiconductor precursor work.
Hobby bottles ride a supply chain built for electronics. According to the USGS, integrated circuits accounted for 73% of US gallium consumption in 2025 and optoelectronic devices for 26%. Most of that material is used in the form of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers for radio-frequency chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, and solar cells, where these compounds outperform silicon in specific jobs.
What Gallium Actually Costs in 2026
Retail prices are much higher than older guides suggest. When we checked RotoMetals’ gallium page on October 14, 2026, every bottle was listed at 99.99% purity, and small sizes cost between about 4.40 and 5.00 USD per gram. Only the kilogram bottle, on sale that day, came in near 3 USD per gram.
| RotoMetals size (4N) | Listed price, Oct 14, 2026 | Per gram |
|---|---|---|
| 15 grams | $69 | about $4.60 |
| 40 grams | $189 | about $4.73 |
| 100 grams | $500 | $5.00 |
| 500 grams | $2,199 | about $4.40 |
| 1 kilogram (sale) | $2,999 | about $3.00 |
Two things stand out. First, buying 100 grams instead of 15 did not lower the per-gram rate on that page, so there is no reason to buy more than your project needs. Second, the gap to wholesale is large. The USGS reports that the average unit value of imported gallium metal was about 580 USD per kilogram in 2025, roughly 58 cents a gram and about 30% above 2024. Retail bottles carry packaging, hazmat shipping, and small-lot handling on top of that.
The supply side explains the trend. Primary gallium is not mined on its own. It is recovered in trace amounts as a byproduct of refining bauxite ore into alumina through the Bayer process, with the remainder coming from zinc residues such as those left by sphalerite. China accounted for 99% of global gallium production of primary low-purity metal in 2025, per the USGS. Beijing added export licensing in August 2023 and banned shipments to the United States in December 2024, then suspended that ban in November 2025. China’s commerce ministry set the suspension to run until November 27, 2026, and nothing published so far says what happens after that date. Unlike gold or silver coins, there is no retail resale market, so treat a hobby purchase as a consumable rather than an investment.
Where to Buy Gallium Online
Every practical source is online. Specialty dealers publish clear purity and size options, element-sample shops suit collectors, lab suppliers send documentation, and marketplaces win on delivery speed.
RotoMetals
RotoMetals is a specialty metals dealer selling 4N gallium from 15 grams to a full kilogram, alongside bismuth, indium, and tin for low-melting alloy recipes. It also sells a disappearing spoon mold, with or without metal included; the listing says the mold takes about 13 to 15 grams. Its shipping rules are strict: orders go by FedEx to a physical street address (no PO boxes), the shipping and billing addresses must match, and sizes of 250 grams and up do not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.
Luciteria Science
Luciteria Science sells 99.99% element samples aimed at collectors. In mid-October 2026 its product page offered 1 gram (in a labeled bottle), 10 gram, and 1 kilogram sizes, with the 20 and 50 gram options marked unavailable, and it links an easy-returns policy. A site-wide notice said the company was recovering from an office break-in, so confirm the ship date before ordering for a deadline.
Amazon and eBay
Marketplaces are the fastest route to a first bottle, but quality varies by seller. Amazon is the quickest. Browse the current selection and stick to listings that print the purity in the title and name the seller. On eBay, new-in-package listings from established sellers are usually fine, while auction lots of reclaimed metal are a gamble. Get the grade in writing. #ad
Solution Materials and lab suppliers
Solution Materials markets research-ready 4N bottles to educators and independent researchers. For 5N and above, lab houses such as MilliporeSigma (Sigma-Aldrich), American Elements, and Strem Chemicals ship sealed ampoules with a certificate of analysis, usually through business or institutional accounts.
Can You Buy It in a Store?
Not off a shelf. Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels do not carry the category, and anything that appears on Walmart.com comes from marketplace sellers rather than store inventory. Three local options are worth a phone call:
- Campus chemistry stockrooms. Some sell to students or staff only, so ask the department first.
- Rock and mineral shops. Element display sets sometimes include a labeled specimen of a gram or two.
- Science museum gift shops. Stock rotates with exhibits and rarely goes past souvenir size.
Anything past a few grams means an online order. Teachers stocking a demo cart can pair it with other classroom chemistry staples like borax, or with where to buy dry ice for a cold-side demo.
Reading a Listing Before You Pay
Purity drives price, and sellers write it in “N” notation, where N counts the nines. For a demo or a display piece, 4N is the right grade.
| Grade | Purity | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 3N | 99.9% | Alloy mixing, often reclaimed |
| 4N | 99.99% | Classroom, hobby, collectors |
| 5N | 99.999% | Research, sealed ampoules |
| 6N and up | Six nines | Wafer production, rarely retail |
No grade printed. Sellers of high-purity gallium advertise the figure because it is what they charge for. If the listing omits it, assume reclaimed scrap.
Galinstan sold as pure gallium. Some listings put the element in the title but ship the gallium-indium-tin eutectic, which stays liquid at room temperature and never solidifies indoors. The pure metal’s low melting point is the whole point of the demo. Look for 99.99%, a stated melting point near 29.8 C, and the word “pure.”
A piece that feels too heavy. Solid gallium has a density of about 5.91 grams per cubic centimeter, roughly half that of lead. A dense-feeling ingot is probably something else.
Summer delivery. A truck in July sits well above the melting point, so liquid gallium can arrive and creep past a loose cap. Order in cooler months or ask about cold packs.
Hazmat shipping. NOAA’s CAMEO Chemicals database lists the metal under UN 2803 as a Class 8 corrosive for transport, which is why dealers restrict carriers, destinations, and address types. A seller offering to mail it loose in a padded envelope is a warning sign.
Storage and Safety After Delivery
The metal expands about 3.1% when it freezes, the same quirk water has, so a glass vial filled to the shoulder can crack in a cold room. Polyethylene bottles are the safer container. Exposed surfaces dull as oxidation forms a thin skin of gallium oxide; that is normal, and a remelt in a clean vessel restores the mirror finish.
Keep it away from aluminium. Liquid metal embrittlement is the real hazard: the melt penetrates aluminium grain boundaries, and a wetted can or bracket crumbles under light pressure. NOAA’s CAMEO Chemicals entry describes it as corrosive to aluminum and says ingestion may be toxic. Work over a washable tray, since gallium wets glass and skin into a grey film that is hard to clean.
Elemental gallium is considered far less hazardous than mercury, which is why it is the go-to hand demo. Low hazard is not food safe. Keep it off cookware and away from children, and treat the safety data sheet that ships with the order as the authority.
Picks by Purpose
Prices move with export policy, so check the live listing before you order.
First bottle: a 15 to 20 gram 4N vial. Enough to run the hand demo, cast a small ingot, and keep a reference piece. Check price on Amazon or see the eBay listings.
Hand demos: a melting spoon kit. A mold plus metal for the disappearing spoon trick. Confirm the kit states the purity and the metal weight. Find it on Amazon or search Walmart.
Alloy work: RotoMetals 4N bottles. Clear sizing from 15 grams up, plus bismuth, indium, and tin from the same dealer. Shop RotoMetals or browse Amazon.
Collectors: Luciteria Science element sample. A labeled 4N specimen sized for a display shelf. Order from Luciteria or search Amazon.
Teaching labs: Solution Materials 4N. A research-ready bottle aimed at educators. Order from Solution Materials or compare on eBay.
Start by deciding how many grams the project needs, then buy that amount of 4N gallium from a seller that prints the purity, packs it as a regulated hazmat shipment, and has a stated return policy. Order between October and April so the box does not arrive as a puddle, and have a polyethylene bottle ready. If the US export suspension lapses after November 27, 2026, expect thinner stock, so buy before a deadline rather than after. Other metal goods, like copper mugs, reward the same habit: read the spec, not the photo.
Questions Buyers Ask
Is gallium toxic to humans?
The pure metal is considered low in toxicity, far below mercury, and brief skin contact with a solid piece is how the classic hand demo works. It is still not food safe: NOAA’s CAMEO Chemicals notes that ingestion may be toxic. Wash your hands afterward, and treat compounds such as gallium arsenide as a separate, more hazardous category covered by 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 also alloys with other metals such as indium, tin, zinc, and bismuth.
Is it worth a lot of money?
Not at wholesale. The USGS put the 2025 average import value at about 580 USD per kilogram, well under 1 USD per gram. Small retail bottles cost several times more per gram because of packaging and hazmat shipping, and there is no buyback market for hobby quantities.
How is it different from Galinstan or mercury?
The pure element melts at 29.76 C, a temperature so reproducible that it is a defining fixed point of the International Temperature Scale used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Galinstan is an alloy of this metal with indium and tin that stays liquid down to roughly -19 C. Mercury is liquid at room temperature, genuinely toxic, and restricted for consumer sale in several US states.