Guest guest Posted November 20, 2002 Report Share Posted November 20, 2002 " I know what these products cost and $70 for a 2 week supply of powders is outrageous unless the dosage is extremely high. " I am curious as to what you would charge for a 2 week supply. In my limited experience of ordering customized powders/granules, the cost seems to come in around $.25 per gram including shipping. $70 does not seem to be such a high price. A 40% markup is not that unreasonable with the costs of doing business. The herb store I used to work at charged around $.32 a gram and then added an additional surcharge if capsules had to be made. They were paying less than .25 per gram (probably around $.15) as they ordered the powders in bulk and made the formulas in - house as opposed to sending out for a customized formula. I have also seen practitioners charge $115 per visit but include herbs. Is this somehow unethical as well? As a new practioner who will be opening a practice in the spring, I am very interested in others thoughts. I want to help my patients get better but I have no intention of charging cost + 10% on my herbs. Comments are appreciated. Howard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2002 Report Share Posted November 21, 2002 I would agree - cost + 10% isn't a very smart business practice - especially when you condsider the time etc it takes to stock and prep herbs. And really - $70 vs. $60 isn't that big of deal. I know this is probably an exception, but there is a Korean herbalist in Tacoma, WA, who charges $600 for a 21 day supply of herbs. He uses raw herbs and the Korean herb pressure cooker / packager, but still, he's very busy and charging that much. Granted - Korean herbalists tend to love using hong shen, but still, people are willing to pay those prices. When it's all said and done, you can only charge what the market will bear. As for being ethical - you're entitled to get paid for the work that you do, so filling, stocking, ordering, salaries, rent etc... Nobody is going to make it far if you work for free. If you feel like there's a conflict, then you can always write a prescription and have the patient fill it elsewhere. For me - I wouldn't accept the quality of herb they dispense in Chinatown here, but if patients want to save money, I'm very happy to fax their prescription in for them to the pharmacy of their choice (which has only happened once or twice). I just had to keep reminding myself that my patients aren't poor grad students like me! Geoff > __________ > > Message: 6 > Wed, 20 Nov 2002 14:28:47 -0800 > " hp " <hnp > Herb prices > > > " I know what > these products cost and $70 for a 2 week supply of powders is > outrageous unless the dosage is extremely high. " > > I am curious as to what you would charge for a 2 week supply. > In my limited experience of ordering customized > powders/granules, the cost seems to come in around $.25 per > gram including shipping. $70 does not seem to be such a high > price. A 40% markup is not that unreasonable with the costs > of doing business. The herb store I used to work at charged > around $.32 a gram and then added an additional surcharge if > capsules had to be made. They were paying less than .25 per > gram (probably around $.15) as they ordered the powders in > bulk and made the formulas in - house as opposed to sending > out for a customized formula. I have also seen practitioners > charge $115 per visit but include herbs. Is this somehow > unethical as well? As a new practioner who will be opening a > practice in the spring, I am very interested in others > thoughts. I want to help my patients get better but I have no > intention of charging cost + 10% on my herbs. Comments are > appreciated. Howard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2002 Report Share Posted November 21, 2002 , " Geoffrey Hudson " <list@a...> wrote: Granted - Korean herbalists tend to love using > hong shen, but still, people are willing to pay those prices. When it's all said and done, you can only charge what the market will bear. Geoff: Are his herbal formulas and treatments that unique and effective? Jim Ramholz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2002 Report Share Posted November 22, 2002 Jim, I had an observer in school clinic that was seeing that practitioner, and I heard he had good results. I didn't hear of anything miraculous though. I assume he is probably in great demand in the Korean community in the area, due to the lack of good Korean speaking practitioners - therefore the market is willing to pay a premium. I know of some herbalists who don't do much other than use Kidney yang tonics to make people happy, horny, energetic, and broke therefore it must be good, right? I love that passage in Unschuld's book 'Forgotten Traditions of Ancient ', I believe the chapter was called 'On Ginseng'. It's just as appropriate today as it was since people stopped dragging their knuckles on the ground. If you haven't read it, it says the same thing as above - since it's expensive, it must be good... At least in modern times, you don't have to sell yourself into slavery to pay for your father's herbs.... Hmm... Well, not in Chinese medicine anyways. Geoff > __________ > > Message: 5 > Fri, 22 Nov 2002 04:14:24 -0000 > " James Ramholz " <jramholz > Re: Herb prices > > , " Geoffrey Hudson " <list@a...> wrote: > Granted - Korean herbalists tend to love using > > hong shen, but still, people are willing to pay those prices. > When it's all said and done, you can only charge what the market > will bear. > > > Geoff: > > Are his herbal formulas and treatments that unique and effective? > > > Jim Ramholz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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