TOPIC: Hold out for a possible higher price, or sell now with prices dropping?

So here is the million dollar questions guys, do we sell now with the sang price going south, or do we hold out to the usual 2nd to 3rd week of November with hopes of it rebounding? It almost seems like the foreign buyers are trying to play a game with us sang diggers......stop buying thus making the demand for sang look like its going down, which is driving the price down. The foreign buyers know full well that many of us diggers rely heavily on the income from our sang. It seems like they are testing the waters to see how many of us will bite when everyone hollers that the price is headed south.

It makes no sense to me that with the digging season being cut short because of the drought why on earth the price is lower than it has been in a few years. I have heard rumors that the chinese economy is bad which is affecting the ginseng market as well. Well, I am here to tell everyone that the chinese economy is no worse off this off this year than last. So does anyone have any ideas as to what may REALLY be going on?

By the way i'm in WNC

its just a game there trying to get prices down there profits up. It's still a mystery of how much profit they make.I do believe the digger and the oversees buyer make the most profit but i'm sure theres is larger than the diggers.

hold on,don't give it away ,only to regret it later.

Guys I\"m not willing to get into another drawn out debate on the subject..we have already done that.

But, I'll say this. I think there are going to be some rough times ahead in the ginseng market. It is only worth what someone is willing to buy it for today. And, today, few are willing to pay much for anything.

BCastle wrote:

I think there are going to be some rough times ahead in the ginseng market.

..what makes you think that.?????

Nothing new or secret. The economy here and in Asia are not the best. And, Asian buyers are in the country, but not buying in quantity like they normally would be. We are late enough in the season now that if they were going to buy in earnest (enough to move the market upward) they would be doing it by now I think. They might buy some here and there, but not enough to support the market and certainly not enough to get the prices we all would like to see.

I wish the news was different.

I've called 5 separate buyers here in the last 2 weeks,they have all went up in price from 5 to 20 dollars in this time frame.[none have dropped their prices].are they just speculating or is the market moving up slowly.?

Chieftain, I can't say for certain what is going on there. We all know it isn't hard for a dealer to advertise 'top price' or say $500/lb but when you get there after driving two hours, find that top price of $500/lb is only for ginseng that you do not have. I'm not at all saying this is what is going on, I just don't know.

Another more likely possibility is that they are speculating and also competing with one another. Say one dealer (dealer A) thinks this is all a game designed to bust the market down. So, he goes ahead and buys everything he can at a higher price than his competitors in the area. Dealer B on the other hand, sees A buying at fifty dollars a pound higher and doesn't necessarily understand why, but figures A must know something. B knows for sure he is not buying as much as A is and doesn't want to be left out. Sort of like a bidding frenzy at an auction.

Another possible option is that they were able to move a barrel or two and like everyone else wants to see the market go up and become overly optimistic.

Again, I can't say for sure what is going on with other dealers. I can only comment on what I am doing, and what might be possible with others.

i think its a game their playing and i have over 100 pounds that i know of so when they are done with their games they can call me at (931)743 1574 My buddies work hard every day for what they have and wont give it away for less than what is deserved. we all have other jobs too and next christmas will be the best ever if too many games are played.

we all that have dug sain since we were little know that one year is different than the next, so don't count on it. At least that is what grandad taught me. But he also taught me that if you can make a lot of money at one time it is a lot better than dragging it out, you have more time to do other things. so the thing that we are going to do is wait either it pays off or we hold. there is drought in china and also the radiation factor from japan xo sales are up which means demand is up