Are shard bots really that common? The vast majority of bots I see mining for such are omni-crafters who do it to fuel their crafting, not to sell off to others, and the bots themselves oft tend to be the main ones who need those in mass quantities due to spending most of their time crafting.

I almost never have any issues with my crystal/cluster count due to how much I accumulate from aetherial reduction and desynthing.