Clay is bought from pottery suppliers, by the bag, in a body matched to your kiln. The part worth ten minutes is where, because the price of an identical bag varies by about a fifth between suppliers, and the delivery charge on something this heavy can be larger than the discount.
Where clay is sold
Specialist pottery suppliers, who stock bodies from several manufacturers with firing ranges and technical data, and the manufacturers themselves, who sell their own bodies direct. Craft shops sell small packets of air drying clay and rarely fireable bodies. For anything fired, the supplier route is the only practical one, and the four priced on this site are among the larger UK names.
What a bag of clay costs
The standard UK bag is 12.5 kg. On the body this index prices at more than one supplier, that bag runs from about twelve pounds excluding tax to about fifteen, which is roughly 0.96 to 1.18 pounds per kilogram. Buying larger quantities drops the per-kilogram figure sharply: one supplier's own page prints 0.47 pounds a kilogram excluding VAT at the tonne.
Where can i buy clay cheaply, honestly answered
Not from the maker, on the one product where this index can compare like with like. Potclays and Bluematchbox both sell Draycott White Stoneware under the manufacturer's code 157-1143, and the stockist is cheaper. That will not hold for every body, which is why each cell here carries the date it was read, but it is enough to make checking worthwhile.
Delivery is part of the price
Clay is heavy and carriage is priced by weight, so a single bag delivered can cost half as much again as the bag. Bath Potters prints UK mainland delivery from 9.59 pounds on its product pages, which is a real number to add to any single-bag order. Two or three bags usually ship for little more than one, and collection is free where a supplier has a counter you can reach.
Questions people ask about where to buy clay
Where can I buy clay?
From specialist pottery suppliers, who stock fireable bodies by the bag with firing ranges printed. Craft shops mainly sell air drying clay in packets.
How much does a bag of clay cost?
On the body priced here at more than one supplier, roughly twelve to fifteen pounds excluding tax for a 12.5 kg bag, which is about 0.96 to 1.18 pounds per kilogram.
Is it cheaper to buy direct from the manufacturer?
Not necessarily. On the one identical body this index can compare, the manufacturer's own price is about a fifth higher than a stockist's.