TOPIC: kentucky ginseng the rise and fall

my name is john mink im a licensed dealer in south central ky.i would like to share what i know about current prices.its all about the stock market.not here but in hong kong.most ginseng gets sent overseas.the buyers of ginseng overseas have stopped buying.thats why prices here have fallen.there`s no demand for it.i sell my ginseng to china.my dealer from china tells me he does not expect the price to go back up,however he is just guessing.i am currently paying 250. a pound dry.but i can not buy any more until i sell what i have.and thats getting hard to do.if the stock market recovers this year its my opinion that next year ginseng will skyrocket.my advice to everyone is to sit on your ginseng if you have a pound or more.there will be a big demand for ginseng when the stockmarket clears up.hope this help everyone understand whats really going on.

Thanks for the imformation..

Good advice. How long can you \"sit\" on ginseng before it starts to lose potency and value?

in ILL. we must sell by May I think.

i have bought ginseng that was held up to 5 years with just a little visable change in apperance.as far as potency i just dont know.you will loose some weight over time but not very much,maybe half an ounce the first year.kentucky law allows diggers to keep ginseng forever if they want.dealers must sell by april,or get weight reciepts to hold over until next year.keep in mind when i talk ginseng i mean regular woods dug ginseng,not roots as big as your hand.there is so much tame ginseng being mixed with wild ginseng i just dont buy any large roots that look even slightly odd.hope this helps

Big John ,do think these depressed price have anything to do with last years big buy....what I mean is ...like in the fur trade ..buyers will tell you the hot item for the year will be muskrat's..everybody go's out and target's muskrats...after they buy up all the rat's the following year they are half price...it's a way to get the trappers out there getting more fur....all the sang that was bought last year at record levels got everybody out there digging more root than ever...there's more root to be had this year so they keep the price lower ...they will probably buy more sang than last year but at a lot cheaper price.....just a little food for thought...

well it could be,people like you and me will never know the whole truth,lot of skeemin goes on behind closed doors so you could be right.one thing i do know is dont never stick your hand in a conibear trap cause it really really hurts.

I'v been hit with the 220 ....can't imagine what the 330 would be like.....

How far do you think the price will go back up to? The local buyer here in West Virginia told me the same thing you are saying. He is currently paying $325.00 a pound and says he does not anticipate any price any upwards movement in price till after the 1st of the year at least.

I wouldn't be surprised if you see $400.00 to $500.00 a pound shortly before or shortly after X-mas.....but all bets are off with the way the market is ....it maybe a $100.00 a pound by then ....who knows....i figure around x-mas there will be a influx's of money in all the market's so upward movement in price is possible..jmo