The Great Yang Qing Hao Price Drop/ Re-Release

While it looked like it might be time for a Yang Qing Haoorder through Emmett Guzman’s group buy thingy when I noticed something that really caught my eye on the pricing page…

Not sure whether it was a few too many Chinese bombers buzzing a bit too close or whether it was a Chinese New Year’s gift, but Yang was somehow motivated to really shake things up.  I asked Emmett what was up?  His reply:

“They dug up more stock they had although some may have bug bit wrappers, but most are not damaged at all from what I just ordered for myself… tea is all the same Yang storage.  The ones that are relisted are low stock and prices are temporary dropped (on these) to move the tea quickly.  Some prices will go up after Chinese new year”

It looks like Yang Qing Hao re-released a bunch of stuff that they have been holding for years now some of which was thought to be long sold out by many.  It is interesting because it shows that there are only really three Yang Qing Hao productions that are truly sold out- 2005 Yiwu Chawang (Special) 500g, 2006 Lao Banzhang Wang, and the 2007 Huangshan Lingya.  I had already knew that Emmett had bought out the last of the 2007 Huangshan Lingya- he now has the power to re-release and set the price if or when he wants to re-release it.  It was announced by Yang this year that all of his personal stash of the 2006 Lao Banzhang is sold- it’s all gone.  But it still surprised me a bit to see all those rare Yang Qing Hao cakes up on the site, specifically how much they are valued at by Yang.  This is not nessassarily now much they are worth but rather how much they are valued.  By looking at the prices, part of what you are paying for some of these might simply be the” limited supply”.  It is common for vendors to raise the prices of the last remaining inventory- this is standard practice with puerh vendors.  It’s actually also quite common for puerh vendors to hold on to stocks despite the site showing that it is “sold out” it should actually be indicated by  “not currently available” unless it is truly sold out.

It is also interesting to note that a lot of the price adjustments both up and down seem to follow my recent appraisals both good or bad of these Yang Qing Hao products here on the blog.  Although, this is less likely a blogger effect and more likely just adjusting the price to the actual quality of the cake.  I was inquiring about re-ordering 2006 Shenpin Chawang which I think is a brilliant blend and the other potential was 2010 Longtuan Fengmai which both significantly went up in this latest price increase.  I missed my window on these.  Others that people have been more recently critical of such as 2004 Dingji, 2006 Chawangshu, and, to some extent, the 2006Qixiang (which I like), have gone down to prices not seen since before 2015 when we started to pay attention to such things.  Overall, a fresh breath of air and positivity to combat the recent criticism.  

I think, Yang Qing Hao is one of the only brands who actually partly bases their prices somewhat on how that particular product is doing taste wise at that moment in time as the puerh ages.  This has led to some of the prices of things to go up and down (then up and down again) throughout the years.  I think he also bases the price adjustments partly on market demand.  Thirdly, he adjusts the price based on remaining stock as mentioned above.  I suppose these are all interrelated.

Buying Yang Qing Hao throughout the last 4 years is almost like playing the YQH stock market for me.  With me trying to buy low and forgoing some more favorable purchases for later because I feel that they might go down in price and buying others ones up quick thinking that this is the cheapest they are going to be.  Other considerations include leaving them in Yang storage longer or wanting to take them out to my very dry storage sooner. Anyways, so far it has pretty much worked out for me, I think.

Anyways…

This whole Yang Qing Hao price drop probably presents the best opportunity to buy Yang Qing Hao for those that are interested in this type of puerh and storage in a least a year or two or more.  The prices are private but all you have to do is contact Emmett through his site and he will send you the current price list.

Peace