Guys and any Gals (if there are some Ladies that are members),
I am sorry that I am so late in the game of reading this Thread and the Posts, I should have read it much earlier!
What you are talking about is a Ginseng Cooperative which is similar to the Thread I started earlier this month but two somewhat different concepts. Instead of starting a new Thread, I could have just responded to this Thread! The big difference between the two, is that this concept would organize diggers to pool their' Ginseng to get a better price, while my' concept would do the same but actually work like a Ginseng Bank with a Treasurer and the Diggers (the Members) as the Board (of Directors) which could not only store (Bank) the Ginseng as deposits for a later sell when prices are agreeable and also keep some funds set aside to help any members in need of funds. Either way could work if it were not for so many people that are out of work and needing money right away to put food on the table and pay bills. Also, there are so many diggers in far out rural or country areas that either won't get the word about these concepts (due to lack of computers or other) or won't participate for one reason or another but especially due to trust issues. The trust issues could be problems for others as well that are not from far out rural or country areas. The big problem in most States is the fact that for this to work, each and every digger/member would have to have a Ginseng Dealers License. The reason for this is because there is a great liklihood that every member of a Cooperative could not show up at the same time to get certified weights on their' Ginseng nor could they all show up at the same time to an organized Ginseng sale! Now, if the Cooperatives could hold the power to get the State to allow a Blanket Ginseng Dealer's License to be issued to a Cooperative, to get the State's Departments of Ag to come to a Ginseng sale to certify the weights of all Ginseng being sold on a specific day and get Ginseng Buyers and possibly some Exporters in the same place on that day, would be great but probably impossible.
I think that because of the problems and issues noted above, the best that we could probably envision, is to get all of the diggers and their' Ginseng from a specific region or geographical area of a State together as well as a large contingent of Ginseng Buyers and possibly some Exporters in one place at the same time on a specific day. As BCastle wrote in his response to my' Thread, we might be able to organize it as a Ginseng Auction. The more competition there is to get our' Ginseng, then we should be able to get a better price! If we work together in organizing diggers (with no Ginseng Dealer's Licenses needed) within specific regions or geographical areas into separate Cooperatives across each State, work together to obtain...create and share lists of Ginseng Buyers and Exporters, then work together to organize sale dates where everyone within a Cooperative and as many Ginseng Buyers and possibly some Exporters can attend, then this concept might work. One key to success would be to organize the sales in such a way that the Ginseng Buyers and/or Exporters can travel from one location to the next to ensure that their travel and expenses are used wisely. If they can attend several sales within a State on one day, then more on the next day, etc., etc., this would be a more efficient use of their time, travel and expenses. Most Ginseng Buyers already do this but this would be on a much greater scale!
I know that in our enthusiasm to come up with ideas on how to get better prices for our' Ginseng, we often overlook and don't consider many of the great Ginseng Buyers, what they have invested in their' ventures as well as their' feelings. I am sure that most feel that we want them out of the picture but with this concept above, they would not be left out! It would be entirely up to them as to whether to attend a sale or not or if it is even cost effective for them to do so!
Any thoughts, opinions, pros and cons are welcomed. In the meantime, happy sanging!
Frank
