How much does agarwood cost?

"How much does agarwood cost?" has no single answer, because agarwood is not one product. Chips, oil and beads are priced differently, wild and plantation material can differ many times over, and grade names vary so much between sellers that two listings claiming the same grade can be priced very differently. This guide explains what drives price and gives documented reference points, so you have a realistic baseline before you shop.

Why prices vary so much

A handful of factors do most of the work. Resin content matters most: resin, not the wood itself, carries the scent and value, as covered in agarwood resin content. Source comes next: wild agarwood forms slowly in a minority of trees and is protected under CITES, while plantation agarwood is grown and inoculated, which makes it far more available, as covered in wild vs plantation agarwood. Origin, grade, age and form then add their own premiums. The full breakdown for oil is in why oud oil prices vary.

Documented price examples

There is no public price index for agarwood, and seller price lists are not independent evidence, so we only cite figures from research and reporting. They are useful mainly to show the spread between grades rather than as current prices.

Two things stand out. First, the gap between the lowest and highest wood grades was more than a hundredfold even in one market in one year. Second, the TRAFFIC figures are from the late 1990s, and prices for good material are widely reported to have risen substantially since, so treat them as a guide to proportions, not to today's prices.

Chips

Plantation chips, the usual starting point covered in buying agarwood chips, sit at the accessible end and are often sold by the gram or in small packs. Price rises steeply with resin content: dense, dark, sinking wood costs many times more than light, floating wood, and wild-sourced pieces add a further premium. At the top, kynam and kyara are in a class of their own, as covered in Vietnamese agarwood grading, and Vietnamese press has reported the rarest white kỳ nam at around 50 billion đồng per kilogram.

Oud oil

Oil is usually priced per tola, about 12 ml, or per smaller unit. Young plantation oils sit at the lower end, while oils from prized origins, older wood, careful distillation or long ageing cost many times more, and rare aged oils can command very high prices. Because oil is easy to dilute or substitute with synthetic oud, which TRAFFIC already found selling for under USD 100 per kg in 2000, a low price on an oil described as pure deserves real scrutiny. See buying oud oil.

Beads

Beads are priced mainly on resin density and size rather than weight alone, so a strand of dense, resinous beads can cost far more than a similar-looking strand of lighter wood. Inexpensive plantation bracelets are widely available, while full malas of dense wild wood cost much more. Pressed beads made from agarwood powder should cost less than carved beads, as covered in agarwood beads.

Why the same grade costs different amounts in different markets

Agarwood carries deep cultural weight in the Gulf, South Asia and East Asia, as covered in guides such as agarwood in Chinese culture, and demand, supply chains and import rules differ between markets. Tourist outlets near producing areas are not reliably cheaper either, and they are among the places misrepresentation turns up most, as covered in buying agarwood in Southeast Asia.

How to judge a price

Rather than memorising numbers, which shift with supply, demand and currency, check that a price is consistent with everything the seller claims: form, origin, wild or plantation, grade and age. Compare it with several reputable sellers offering similar material. A price far below comparable listings for the same claims is one of the clearest warning signs of misrepresented or diluted material, as covered in red flags when buying agarwood. A very high price, on the other hand, proves nothing on its own.