TOPIC: Should I Separate My Ginseng For Sell ?

The question that has been asked in my e-mails and also on the site is this.

Billy should I separate my Ginseng and Pick out the high quality Roots before I sell my Ginseng ?

I have not answered this quickly,but after alot of thought and thoughts of what my dealer taught me I am going to answer this now.

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The answer is absolutely NO.

I will tell you why.

Lets say that you have stoped digging for this season and you have 6 pounds of good ginseng.You then go through your ginseng and pick out the highest graded,or shall we say highest quality ginseng the ball shaped,the oldest,the largest roots.You have 1 pound of this very high quality ginseng for sell.

It is now time to sell and you go to sell.The price is say $500:00 dollors a pound well you have 6 pound and that is worth $3000:00 dollors.

But before you decide to go your dealer you sell that 1 pound of great roots to another dealer or a guy named Joe for lets say 650:00 dollors and that seems very good for that 1 pound of ginseng.

But now you have 5 pounds left to sell and you go to your locall dealer or another dealer and he notices right away that all the good ginseng has been taking out of the batch and immediatly he tells you that you have only common ginseng and that there is no quality ginseng left.

You have a problim because At that point he will offer you $400 to $425:00 dollors per pound for that remaining 5 pounds of ginseng that is if he is even interested in it and some will not be,but if he is at the end of this sell you have now collected $2,125:00 dollors for that 5 pounds.And you are ready to tally up this years harvest.

You sold 1 prior pound for $650:00 dollors so once you have added it together you came out with a total of $2,125:00 + $650:00 and that = $2,775:00 dollors.

Now you realise that you could have just sold you ginseng for $3,000:00 at $ 500:00 dollors a pound all together and that by letting go of those high quality roots for that great price you actually lost money $225:00 dollors to be exact.

Now guys I have been a digger a whole lot longer than I have been a dealer and I am not willing to take a $225:00 dollor loss on my ginseng at all because I need some new 4 wheller tires

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Near $600:00 dollors a Pound

I am about to purchase some high Quality roots from a group of diggers sevral pounds because these folks want to sell it to me this way.They dig together as a group so they dig 25 pounds are so a year dry.I am willing to give them there asking price of nearly $600:00 a pound for these large,old,ball shaped prized roots.Even though they know that I will not be interested in the rest of the roots later because I told them that,they still want to make the deal.

What I am saying is this,

If you offer me or another dealer these roots we would be crazy not to purchase them sure we can resell them higher,so if you want to do this I will be happy to buy from you,if you live in Ky,and if you live in Va,Tn etc your local dealer will be as happy to assist you over there,but it is on you at the end because you have told the truth of it.

Most dealers would not tell you these things,but my dealer taught me this before I was a dealer and he was and is right.I want all of you good hard working diggers to get the most you can from your ginseng and keeping it together is the best way.

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Above I mentioned -- Common Ginseng -- and High quality Ginseng lets get a definition to these.

Common Ginseng -- is smaller roots,from 5 years to around 8 years old,it is also what is left of the batch of ginseng after all of the high quality has been picked out,it is also the roots that got cut,or choped while they where being dug by accident ---It is the broken hair roots and dust in the bottom of the bag all these = Low Quality or Common Ginseng.

Trust me any exsperienced digger or dealer can see if you have brought them Common Ginseng and the price will drop and if you do not like it then they will agree to let you keep it and go somewhere else to sell it.

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O.K. lets look at this High quality Ginseng

High quality Ginseng -- Older Roots whether very large or not older roots have long curls where you can count long age spands the root does not have to be realy big to be very old a 3/4 ounce root can have 35 neck scares,,also Ball shaped roots,,Also very well dug roots with all parts in tact not broken up and these roots start at around 10 years of age and older.

There are some other exsplanations for both but this is enough to show you what you need to know.

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Last of All -- Buying Ginseng from a Dealer.

High Quality Roots - Do not exspect to get these roots for the same price as any other roots.Because simply put they are worth more for sevral reasons.

1 - It takes more time to dig a perfectly dug root and will most likely cost the dealer more to purchase them.And all Major to Small buyers want well dug roots.they are also what makes the lot of ginseng worth more overall.

2 - Older Roots ar hard to find,and they are getting harder and harder to find and it will for sure cost the dealer more to purchase them.whether he gets them in a lot or seperate from the digger,they are also what makes the lot worth more overall.With out them the lot is not worth nearly as mutch.

3 - 10 years or older - this means that the dealer must seperate these roots from many others that are from 9 years old and younger,because most states allow the diggers to dig ginseng that is from 5 years old and up so to get 10 years old and up you must leave alot of root out of each purchase that does not qualify for 10 years and up sales.they are also what makes the lot worth more overall.


Yea it gets technical...................

So when you want to purchase ginseng from the dealer.

You must consider his time and money he has invested,his travel,etc,but

Most of all when you want the very best roots and nothing else will do
You must consider that the dealer is now stuck with the Common Root that you did not want
And he has still got to sell that some way some where,and he will also at this point take
a loss on his sale........

So when you look at the prices quoted on the threads for the different States you must consider that these are quoted for a general buy from the diggers that bring the ginseng to dealers in Ky or whatever State you are in.And it does not represent what the dealer may have to ask for the ginseng that you order from him as your order may be specific and of detail as listed above.

For example My thread

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Ginseng Prices In Kentucky 2010

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States This......

Wet ginseng is paying from $8:00 to $9:00 dollors per ounce different dealers are paying different prices now it is starting into the bidding war as it does every year.

The dry ginseng is anywhere from $415 to $450 a pound different dealers are paying different,,again it is starting to go into the bidding war as it does every year.

Now then that is the price that me and other dealers are giving for the ginseng that is coming into us and when someone wants a specific order from us we cant just give them the best sized roots,,or the best dug roots,,or a certian age of roots,,,,without considering after we do that we are left with the bottom of the bucket,,the common ginseng,,

So if you call me and want perfect seng it will cost you more than the price I am giving....

If you want my oldest seng it will cost you more as well

If you want my age grouped seng you gussed it,,that will cost you more,,

Seperated picky orders are fine to any dealer he can work it out,but it is higher to do it that way.

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Example 1

So if you called me and wanted 1 pound of ginseng from me and I gave $450:00 dollors for it I may let you have it for as little as $550:00 a pound just as long as you are willing to buy it as it was when I got it,,,,no special orders....

Example 2

If you called me and wanted 1 pound of ginseng from me but you want top age,or top dug and age,or the oldest roots then at that point I will have to charge as mutch as $600 to $700 for 1 pound or more because I may have to pick through 3 or 4 pounds that I purchase from the diggers to get your special order filled.

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O.K. This is the end of this book LoL,but seriously I hope that I have helped you with the questions that where asked and with the understanding of the market a little better,and that you do not make a mistake and loose money selling your ginseng to others.

Also I hope you understand that if you purchase from a dealer or dealer to dealer that his asking price will very on the quality of what you are asking him for instead of assuming a price for him,as that is not possible.

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Billy.

Well put. If someone is trying to pay you 125 bucks extra per pound for the older quality ginseng, don't take it. Actually wether to separate them or not depends on the 1. price premium and 2. how much older roots are in your mix.

For example, I pay twice market price for old quality ginseng. So if you had a good day dug 10 pounds of roots, and 8 pounds were very good old quality roots. If you sold me the 8 pounds, you just got 16 pounds' worth of money, with 2 pounds to keep for yourself. No dealer will pay you 60% more for a good batch of mixed roots. But as I buy for my own consumption, that's fine.

Now, if you only got 4 ounces of older roots, and so I can pay you only a couple of hundred, it may not be worth it.

I think most of you can figure out the math of what works for you.

Billy, your selling prices for your separated older roots (in example 2) are real good. Please e-mail me, I'd like to buy the sorted older roots from you.

billy,
Thank you for the book you wrote, it really was worth it's wieght in dry sang,lol. Everybody on this forum should read it and soak up what you wrote. Thank you again.

Jeff wrote:

Well put. If someone is trying to pay you 125 bucks extra per pound for the older quality ginseng, don't take it. Actually wether to separate them or not depends on the 1. price premium and 2. how much older roots are in your mix.

For example, I pay twice market price for old quality ginseng. So if you had a good day dug 10 pounds of roots, and 8 pounds were very good old quality roots. If you sold me the 8 pounds, you just got 16 pounds' worth of money, with 2 pounds to keep for yourself. No dealer will pay you 60% more for a good batch of mixed roots. But as I buy for my own consumption, that's fine.

Now, if you only got 4 ounces of older roots, and so I can pay you only a couple of hundred, it may not be worth it.

I think most of you can figure out the math of what works for you.

Billy, your selling prices for your separated older roots (in example 2) are real good. Please e-mail me, I'd like to buy the sorted older roots from you.

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Jeff makes a good point if you could dig 8 percent of 10 percent of hi quality ginseng on a dig that would be great and at that point you would come out.It will be very hard however to dig 2 pound of this type of root for every 7 or 8 pounds that you find.

As Jeff quated you can do the math and know what to do,you have all of the information to work with.

Jeff Thank you for your comment and compliment.

Billy.

billygoat - thank you

we'll said billy

Thanks mifflin fur