Dave let me say this and I don't want you to take it wrong. Personally I like to get top dollar on everything I sell. I put a lot of effort into buying and digging or catching and preparing my product. The point I make is this. Why sell your seng green when you can most usually hold onto it fot a couple months and make more money for it. I agree the price Jason is paying at 200 a lb. on the 20 year old roots is a great price. But, I personally want more for that particular root. I want that root mixed into my poorer grade root to bring me a good price when the market gets to poping. I have never sold select root by itself, but if I did, I would have to have no less than a thousand a pound for it dry.
The reason for that is to make sure that all my 75.00 and 100 dollar root has a buyer. I sell a mixed bag of roots for x amt. of dollars each year. If I sold all my select root, I would very soon have a lot of very angry buyers looking at my second quality root and telling me they will offer me 200 a lb. less than my good mixed lots with my select roots still mixed into the lot of roots.
I won't try to buy a persons roots that have all the select root gone from the batch. Nobody wants to buy inferior small or young roots without having a good base to the roots bag.
Dave if this works for you, then by all means do it. But looks to me like if you dig a sizeable amt. of seng each season, and, I suspect you do, you would want top price for your goods.
At this time of the year, nobody knows what top price for seng might be. Most of the if not all of the export license have not been issued as of this time as a general rule. The Chinese hardly ever give info about what they might be willing to pay untill they get a good idea on how much seng might be in the country or just how much their competition is paying.
Dave sorry I ruffeled your feathers and never make the mistake that I might think your a fool,. Unless I am getting the wrong info, you must be quite a top notch trapper and Ginseng digger. So a old man such as myself, would never try to pull the wool over your eyes. Your much to smart for that trick. Dave I hope you have a great seng digging season and a super trapping season.