jimsenger66 wrote:I think it looks a lot like the wild I get around my place. We have fairly rich soil so we also have a good deal of the feeder roots on truly wild. That bigger one on the left if left a few more years would be the size of the largest part and the largest part would be twice that size or maybe a bit more.
I know if I took in wild roots that look identicle to that and the buyer downgraded it for any reason that would be my last visit to that buyer and I would leave with my roots. Seems everyone from fur buyers, to seng buyers, to oil companies try to screw over the initial source person. If it weren't for the initial source they couldn't make their profit. But it's been going on since the gold rush in America so the middle man always looks for the pettiest reason to screw over the one who brings the product to market. That's why a lot of folks look down on businessmen and companies. Because of the ones that can never be happy with the person bringing the product to market making the most profit, but in my opinion that is who should make the most since without us they make nothing.
Jimsenger,
I agree that this root will look much better in a few years. I did not say it would be downgraded in a few years. I was asked for my opinion specifically on this particular root based on my experience as a buyer in this market.
It really astonishes me that more and more people just jump to the conclusion that someone is being dishonest or petty with the overarching intention of taking advantage of someone. As we have seen here in recent weeks, buying or selling doesn't matter. As we have seen nationwide of late, it isn't reserved for the ginseng business either. It seems that more and more people believe they get what they personally think is fair (whatever the hell that is...life isn't fair and never will be) or a favorable exchange in business or legal process or they throw childish fits. Of course, when adults throw these fits they cause harm to others, destroy things, burn things, and loot whatever they want from whomever they want in order to fulfill their sense of entitlement.
It really is basic economics. Your product is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it at that moment in time. Not a dime more. This is why huge amounts of money are spent on market research. Any producer needs to produce what the market wants to get highest prices or more sales. You cannot simply produce a product regardless of market needs/desires and demand whatever price you wish. It just doesn't work that way.
Don't forget the rash of people on here last fall who were calling any dealer who did not pay $2000/lb a dishonest cheat. At the end, I paid as high as $765 and made about $25/lb. The grade was the toughest I've ever seen. But, they have never posted here what they got for their roots last fall. The fact is that many dealers lost money last year because they bowed to the pressure from diggers who thought they controlled the market. Why would anyone pay more for something than they could sell it for?
My buyers downgrade roots with excessive roots because that turns into fiber in shipping. Fiber only sells for about $100/lb. The average wild lot has about 7% fiber, whereas the average woodsgrown has double that. That means they lose twice as much on woodsgrown (or roots that resemble it because they have excessive hair roots). As a result, they downgrade the lot if much of it has excessive small roots.
The shape is becoming more and more important in the ginseng trade as we move forward. Remember, ginseng does not all get ground up and used as additives and powders. The market I deal in pays the best and seeks high quality which can be given as gifts. Would you give an apple as a gift if it had a chunk missing or a bruise...or was grown long and thin or in some other odd shape? Short and stubby roots are higher in quality. Just as darker skin (because of soil and other conditions), wild character, age, and other factors such as density figure into whether the root is higher or lower quality.
Hillhopper specifically asked my opinion as a buyer. This is indeed a nice looking average root for his part of the country. If I were paying $700/lb in Ohio for the best root, I would not pay more than about $450-$500/lb for roots like that in the picture. In a few years, it might be worth more. Right now, this specific root is a good average commercial quality root. It might well bring near top price in his region of the country, however.
