TOPIC: Selling certified ginseng in another state

I had 5lbs 9oz of ginseng certified this morning and my brother had 4lbs 4oz certified. Took it to Canton, NC. The NC price was $710/lb. The dealer looked at our seng and said he could give alittle more. When asked where we were from and we told him Va and gave him certified papers he called his buyer and the buyer said that he could just give top Va price of $650. The dealer said it was exceptionally good seng and offered to split his profit and give me $663. Can anyone tell me why the buyer could only give dealer $650 for Va seng when dirty seng was being brought in and getting $710. Mt Dan

This smells... This sounds exactly like a bad case of price fixing and market manipulation.

Seems to me that if its good looking ginseng and the only difference is that it came from a hundred miles away rather than a few miles is the big buyers doing some dirty work. Ginseng in one spot is different from Ginseng a mile away and the same goes for ginseng 100 miles away.

My seng was dug in Smyth Co. 20 miles from NC state line.

That dosen't sound right to me.sounds like somebody is making a little more money off your hard work...

That sounds like the same problem going on with some buyers in ky ,dropping prices when the bulk is coming in they are all playing games. And thats why having to certify it is not right. imo

If you will look at ginseng prices they are usually higher from North to South, as are wages. I think the upper level dealers manipulate the prices, they try to save as much as they can in areas where they think they can, taking advantage of regional wages and economy. 1st level dealers are only relaying to the diggers what they have been told and the next guy up the chain the same thing. There are very few people in the big scheme of things that actually know what is going on and they are playing the market for greatest profit and if that means squeezing certain areas because they think they can they will!

I do not think the final consumer knows if the Ginseng came from NY or AL, but I bet they are charged the same no matter where it came from.


SengNveins

I agree with all the others that you got shafted! You should have declined the $663 per pound and walked away. I would bet that the Dealer would have gotten back on the phone to his Buyer and sung a different tune within minutes!


Frank

Looks as if the buyer in NC was not familiar enough with roots collected in areas outside his local bioregion to make an acurate appraisal as he could not make a final decision without checking in first with his own customer for advise. Regarding clean versus dirty root.
From the picture you have posted the roots look above average for size and age for Smyth County, VA however they may be a little bit overwashed as most of the soil has been removed from the stress wrinkles. In the Gray/Yellow clay based soils roots need to be washed more to remove the clay which will remove the material from the wrinkles also. If the soil was dark black loam (typical in Haywood County, NC) it does not need to be aggitated in water as much and matter of fact is preferable to work it into the wrinkles to enhance the texture and darker bronze like color. Poplar cove roots are usually lighter in color than my preference Beech/Maple. It is hard to see the true color in the photo and to know the actual root density for me to make a final call.
Bottom line is there are roots naturally growing in VA that are almost identical to those growing in NC especially in Grayson County and along the boundry of the Blue Ridge and should be worth the same just as there are other more common roots looking like those in KY and vise versa. State lines are political boundries only not biological boundries.

Herbuyer wrote:

Bottom line is there are roots naturally growing in VA that are almost identical to those growing in NC especially in Grayson County and along the boundry of the Blue Ridge and should be worth the same just as there are other more common roots looking like those in KY and vise versa. State lines are political boundries only not biological boundries.

Herbuyer,

Well stated point!


Frank