Hey everyone.
I have been talking to some diggers who I know are holding their root hoping for higher prices. This isn't a problem, it is the way things have been done for many years. As a digger, you want -and rightfully so- to get as much for your work as you can. So do I.
Now here is the point. Just because a dealer like myself is paying $430 today, doesn't mean I am cheating or taking advantage of anyone. You see, the market is based on the free system, and therefore anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay for that thing. So, when I buy for $430, I know that I am paying you as much as I can so you will sell your root to me, yet I am still trying to make a few dollars on the root when I sell it. If I can sell it higher, I'll pay more.
The problem with the market right now is that China has not come in with an order. Hong Kong is being very quiet, with only some inquiries. What I do know, is that I have an order for several hundred pounds for the retail market, and I suspect one other dealer has a small order for Hong Kong. But, this isn't enough to push the prices up to $600 per pound where most of the diggers are saying they are willing to sell. In fact, it isn't enough to sustain the market at THESE pricess unless someone comes into the market in a significant way in the next week or so.
So, my advice right now is to do what your heart tells you to do. Just understand that the market might just as well go DOWN as it might go up. Also, understand fully the legal requirements of holding your root from this year to next.
Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-40-02 Ginseng registration permit; dealer record requirements.
(B ) No person shall buy or otherwise acquire or possess Ohio dry uncertified wild or dry uncertified cultivated ginseng from April first through September fifteenth of each year, or green uncertified wild or green uncertified cultivated ginseng from April first through August thirty-first without written authorization from the chief of the division of wildlife. Live immature cultivated ginseng plants and seeds from cultivated ginseng plants sold by commercial growers for propagation purposed within the United States are no regarded as harvested and are exempt from the certification requirement and may be possessed at any time provided any person possessing such cultivated ginseng supplies proof of purchase, upon demand, to any law enforcement office having jurisdiction.
Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-40-03 Ginseng certification for exportation.
(I) Dealers, buyers or any other person shall submit for weighting all uncertified wild and/or cultivated ginseng on hand as of March thirty-first of each year. The chief of the division of wildlife or his agent shall weigh and receipt the number of pounds and ounces of uncertified ginseng on hand. Such uncertified stock is to be documented as to the source, the date harvested, the weight and date of transaction, as is required in the regular certification process. These records as well as the accompanying ginseng shall be open to inspection by any authorized agent of hte division of wildlife at all reasonable hours. Future export certification will be _base_d upon these weight receipts in a drawdown process until all documented stock has been certified. Any uncertified stock acquired from April first through August thirty-first of each year requires prior written approval of the chief of the division of wildlife
