The “pusher” is Neolithic Stone here in Vancouver:
I have no clue what the shipping costs and issues with getting stone across the border would be, or what the duties you’d pay to make that happen are.
The price listed on the website for White Crystal alabaster appears to be out of date. It’s $1.20 a pound now. That’s Canadian dollars, so roughly 0.77 times that (give or take) to convert to US dollars. I regularly see this for more than $2.00 per pound in US dollars, plus tax & shipping. So if you can figure out how to import it, you might save a ton. Or not. Maybe the import duties would be crippling. I honestly have no idea.
As for finishing, yes, she did mention it, and it sounds very familiar. Wet sand, then wax, just like we do. But they only wet sand to about 600 grit, so I have a thing or two to show them. Well, more like 10 things… or finer grits of sandpaper. :)