TOPIC: Looking for prices in kentucky

Everyone just up and quit talking prices in kentucky, surely everyone didn't sale already did they? lol I live in the southeastern part and I know one dealer for sure that is giving 450/lb monday I am going to call around to check on others.. Just wondering if anyone has heard about any higher prices?

I live here in Pike CO. still holding 9 poundsI like to here some prices.

Yea same here.. some prices be nice. Me and my father in law has about 14lbs and still holding..

I'm still holding on to mine!!! I would like to hear some Ky prices also....I may do a lil bit of calling around next week...

Guys I have not posted much on prices in Ky: this season because of to many conversations that seems to be saying all dealers are crooks,but by now I do think that everyone can see that ginseng prices just have not done well in our beloved state this season.Their are sevral factors involved in this,the whitch i am not going to get into conversations over or about,but this one thing i can tell you,as a digger for many years,and as a dealer I have been dissapointed in the entire system of things this season,and I want to share this much with you all.IT IS NOT your local dealer that has kept the prices messed up this season.

I can`t speak for all other dealers in the state,but I have not pay`d under $400:00 a pound this season dry and I have been between that and $450:00 a pound all the time I have payd $450:00 about 3 weeks of this season and once reach $458:00 for 3 days before i went back to $450:00 where i am now.I have tryed to get the market up,but i can not do anything with it as i am a grain of sand in the ocean,which i had more power,but thats the facts for me and your local buyers.

I myself will most likely end up holding over alot of ginseng this season due to low prices.

I will also go ahead and say something i most likely shouldnt,but here it is....I do not think that no ginseng is better than Ky ginseng I have saw ginseng from many different states & I eat ginseng and i have eat ginseng from many different states,and i do not think for one minute that ohio or north carolina has better ginseng than Ky and as far as that goes no other stare either.

We have rich dark hollers of mountian soil high in all the main needed natural resources of earths soil conditions for mountian ginseng.

Do this get ginseng from the other states have it checked out learn the properties and the amount of the properties in each states root and you will see that it is just a lie,and their is a reason behind that lie $ $ $ $ dollors,,,

if you can buy 8,000 pounds at $525 and then 25,000 pounds at 425 and all you care about is money gaines then well why wouldnt you lie about the quality of the major producer compared to the smaller producer.

They lie useing dollor value to do the work,but keep their open voice silent,however they only decieve those who do not look into the facts,,,it is a perfectly planned,,,theft by deseption legal act...

Once again Buy you a root from,Ky,Nc,,Wv,Ohio and have the properties of the ginseng tested find the overall true quality of the the roots,and then think about what i am saying and compare each individual root with Ky,or if you like what ever state that you are in --note-- their is lower quality ginseng in some states,but i am talking about Ky:

Now I want to say something here ----it is not the dealers in any other state who have caused this or had any thing to do with it,and it is not them that is wrong.

This is a trick of those above and beyond them or us.

I am glad that the buyers and diggers that are in those states are getting their price that they are today and only which they could get more than they are no matter what we get,also I am sure and actualy know that they have good ginseng,dont misunderstand me,that is not apart of this letter and this letter is not intended towards or two our other states.

I am shedding the truth about the price diffuculties and where the true fault is in favor of those who are not to blame ,but are getting the balme falsely for ginseng prices,that being the local dealers of America.

If I had complete controll of Ky ginseng ( whitch I do not ) They would not buy another peace untill they got their hearts right p.e.r.i.o.d. and they would crack fast withn in 2 years i/m/opinon.

!!! Listen to this !!! if the problem was with the local buyers,then the 2 years that the ginseng sored,,why then did they not pay us 425 when they where making 900 ? or pay us 425 when they made 725 ? just because they got 900 once and 725 once does not mean that they had to share it with us diggers now does it ? No it does not and they are not in a comittie voting to see whether they will let the diggers know or not,when the local dealer can pay you more,then you will be first to know it,because he wants your business.The small dealers do what they can,basicaly what they are allowed to do.

The Asian market does not deserve our ginseng for the bare fact thath they have openly insulted it and lied about the quality of the ginseng its self and while many many people are fooled I am not.

Ky is most seasons,but not all seasons,the no#1 producer of wild ginseng in this Nation,so if they can throw off at it or say that other states that produce no where near the ginseng that Ky: does has better ginseng then they can deceive our international dealers into selling them our ginseng to cheap and therefor cause a problim for us in this state all the way down the line.

The reason I have not posted much this season is because their are to many things said without knowldge or understanding of the true problim that we have faced.

Who has enough money to cut them off ( the asian market),your talking multi millions of dollors,,,,does our international dealers have that to hold ? must not be so,because if it was,then why have they not bucked up against the Asian market and said when you get your hearts right then we will sell you some ginseng,if they could do that you can believe that the market would sore,but that is not going to happen this season and maybe never....

I have said all this to say one more thing,,,,

Quit hammering your local buyers it is not their fault that the market is the way it is,,,the truth is they can only pay a little under their own profit to make it even worth their time and investments to fool with buying and selling ginseng.

The fault is in the main markets who confuse the quality of the ginseng on purpose.

Dont even blame it on our international dealers,,,they also can not pay us locall dealers more than they can buy and resell it for a profit from us once we have bought it from you all.

The fault is in the assian market who has not only got rich off of wild american ginseng,but are steadly without loss getting richer and richer.

I have been asked how much should the dealer make,how much should the diiger make,well I am a digger 1st i want to make all that I can for what I dig,I am a dealer 2nd i want to make at least $15 dollors a pound on a bad year and $25 dollors a pound on a good year,and if i can be good to my diggers and feel good in my heart that they are being treated fair then i would like to make more than that,if that can ever happen.

Their may be local dealers that want 35 on a bad year and 50 or 60 on a good year,,well to me it is up to you,the digger at that point to figure out who is the dealer that you prefer,that is the one year after year that always does you right,then your wory of that situwation is over.

The bottom line is your local dealer will not be able to set the prices,the international dealer will set them according to the asian market,and then the profit margin at that point is with the loacal dealer and he will decide if he is happy with 10,15,25,35,50 dollors a pound profit and adjust the price back to that percentage.

You can always find the dealer that does not care to make a little less,but you will never find a dealer that will settle for nothing and do i think their awful men ?

No i realy dont,,,I just think that I can work on a little smaller profit than they can.It is the diggers responseability to find the guy that is willing to work ona lower profit bases if they want the better price,but it is not right to judge the guy that is 10,15 dollors lower than your dealer...

Let me ask you this if a used car dealer buys a used car for 1000 dollors and then hauls it to the lot,cleans it up,pays labor to the guy working for him and then charges you 1800 for the car when you go to buy it has he done you dirty ?

If your answer to that question was YES then brother/sister you have been done dirty all of your life,every time that you ever bought a new/or/used vehichle.

If you pay $3.00 dollors for a pack of tomatos but the store got them for 1.75 was you done dirty ? if so you are needing to wash your hands because they are dirty every time you go to the grocery store.

Everything that we buy is marked up and we do not go crazy most of the time,,,,,whats strange is why do we think if we go to sell something,it is not going to be marked under its value ?

If the car dealer sold that car for 1,000 what did he make ?

If the farmer decided his tomatos where worth 3,00 what would the grocery store provider make ?

I hope that this will help many to realise that their local dealers are not to blame because they can not pay 600 dollors a pound for their ginseng when they cant get 500 for it them selves.

And does it bother a dealer for people to say i am hloding mine untill i get what i want,NO IT DOES NOT,you no why it does not ?

Because they are not the one trying to beat you,or rob you,again they didnt hold out on us when the 2 years the prices did actualy go up like everyone wants them to do every season.

I myself will hold over some ginseng this season most likely.

That is your right and mine,and it is not my fault or your local dealers fault that you or me has got to do that.If it was I know a few dealers that would demand greater profits,because as I they are diggers also.

So Hold it by all means,eat it if you want to,but try and understand why that you are having to hold it.

With the profit that i have seen this year on dry ginseng,buying and selling that is,it has not been worth the trouble to even fool with it,this is a bad year,a bad year so shall i loose all faith,God forbid,if the first bad Corn Crop had failed to produce masses and the farmer gave up then we would not have corn,and I love corn,dont you ? I also will not complain against others that have done no wrong.I will again dig and buy and sell ginseng if the Lords will another year and hope it is better in that year,butif I complain,let me complain in knowldge,and not in the bliss of ignorence.

Billy Taylor
202 Longwood Rd
Middlesboro Ky
40965

606 302 1187

Dry Ginseng $450:00 a pound

Billy.

e

Bcastle,
Care to reply on this???
I say you are right billy, i don't think ther is that mush difference.
But i think and hope the price is going to start moving between now and the middle of jan.
well put billy.

Bcastle,
Care to reply on this???
I say you are right billy, i don't think ther is that mush difference.
But i think and hope the price is going to start moving between now and the middle of jan.
well put billy.

Well Triton, I can't say for sure if Billy is right about what the powers that be in the Asian markets think or what their motives are. Therefore, I have no idea if there is some sort of conspiracy to lower the cost of ginseng from a particular state or not.

However, other than that Billy speaks the gospel truth from my perspective. Some of the folks on here seem to forget that I'm a digger. Then, I'm a grower. Then, that led to my becoming a dealer... which in turn lead to my becoming a licensed exporter. I am not a huge dealer by any means. There are country dealers around that buy more digger root than I'll export this year.

But, the fact is the same regardless of your level...ginseng, like anything else, is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it today.

What was your home worth four years ago compared to today?

What were the dot.com stocks worth before the bubble broke?

What was gold worth two years agao? Five years ago?

What were soybeans and corn selling for ten years ago compared to now?

The price of everything changes. Everything.

Free markets are made up of basic economic forces which are the same for every comodity. The most basic of these rules are that it takes two people to create a market. Someone must produce and sell, and the other must buy and pay. Either side can affect the price, or value, of the thing being traded.

Sure, if the consumers (the ultimate buyers) of the product are willing to pay more for it, then I can increase the price I charge for my product. However, if the consumers...or anyone in between me and the consumer...are unwilling to pay more for the product, I will not sell it. I can tell myself its worth $4000 a pound all I want, but in fact if someone is unwilling to pay $600 a pound for it...it isn't even worth $600 a pound in reality. So, now I have a sack full of product that I think is worth $4000 a pound. But, I still have the product, not the $4000.

We each have to decide...as Billy suggests...what our part in this market is worth. When I dig, I decide what my root/time/labor is worth what I can sell it for. If I am buying, I decide what a lot of ginseng is worth after I figure the time on the phone, the gasoline, advertising, etc., compared to what I can sell it for.

One thing really sticks with me though. How many of you actually make $100 an hour at your day jobs? Yet, if it takes you an hour to dig a pound of ginseng and you can sell it for $100 (about $350-400 a dry pound price), you suggest someone is trying to cheat you. (Please try to understand the concept the numbers represent, not just whine about the numbers I am using to try and get the idea across)

You see, I've sold a lot of ginseng for under $300 a pound. So, what makes it worth $600 now? Someone is willing to pay more now..that's the only difference.

If we stopped selling for a couple years one of three or four things could happen. First, the ginseng market might never recover from the secondary effects we arn't even thinking about. But, if we stopped selling, the market might cry out for more and the powers that be in the Asian market might say ok and pay a much higher price to get the ginseng we have. A second option is that the powers that be might find another source for ginseng (not our wild for sure, but close enough for them -cultivated will certainly increase in price) and then the price of our ginseng wouldn't be as high again when we decided to start selling it again. Another option is that those in the Asian market might simply raise prices on what they have in storage for a couple years, make a ton more money than they are currently. This might cause them to stay very low in price if we decide to reenter the market after a couple years.

I would bet if truth be told, every person on here who is whining about a dealer trying to cheat them have sold ginseng for less than $400 a pound. So why now is it the dealers trying to cheat them out of money they feel is rightfully theirs? They themselves have admitted it was worth less than that some years ago by selling for less...right?

Fact is, I\"ll be lucky to get out of this season without losing money. Period. The phone and oil companies don't care if I make a profit or not...they make theirs regardless.

I am speaking in generalities in an attempt to not offend folks here. But, clearly some will be offended and start clicking away. Let me ask you something...how does whining and clicking on me cause someone else to be willing to give me more money so I can give you more money for your stuff??

Billy and Castle, Me being a small dealer know somewhat of what you go through.

I wonder if the digger ever considered he may be the cause of prices.
The asians may have been burnt a few times.
For instance; Seng thats been kept over too long loosing taste, color and texture.even bugs in it.
I know I empty meat and vegetables out of my freezer every year. Ginseng is also a perishable item. It's no wonder fresh ginseng goes at a higher price.
I think we should strive to have some of the best ginseng the asians could want and there would always be a great market for our roots.

rootman