by Bob Bowen When we started in the farmers market, we sold chickens and meat with a small (and CHEAP!) set of table scales. They weren’t sealed for retail sales but no one caught us. And we kept checking them to assure us that we were being fair. And we tended to charge to the […]
Pricing
Creating customer bonds with presence, abundance, and generosity
June 22, 2015 CategoriesTraditional retailing wisdom says it is of the utmost importance to give customers exactly what they pay for. Any less, and you are cheating the customer; any more and you are cheating yourself. Being rather non-traditionalist myself, allow me to offer an amended view. Many markets and farmers have a budget for what they refer […]
Setting prices synthetically rather than analytically
January 30, 2015 CategoriesAnalysis tries to understand things by breaking them down into their components. Synthesis tries to understand a thing by combining and processing information in its surroundings. Do you determine your prices by building them up from their component costs? Or do you look at how your prices will fit into the entire market ecology that […]
The role of subsidies in determining the price of produce
January 30, 2015 CategoriesFirst off, it is important to note that pricing of our products is probably third or fourth (or even further!) down the list of why most of our shoppers buy from us. Nevertheless, discussions about pricing tend to bring out the economists who are willing to provide us with a lesson in Economics 101. Often […]
Displaying prices: On a blackboard or on the produce?
November 28, 2014 CategoriesDetermining what price to put on your produce is certainly hard enough, but putting some price on your produce is itself an important aid to selling. No matter how appealing your display, how luscious looking and tempting, by not displaying a price on it you are losing sales. There are shoppers who may like the […]
Who says, “Eggs is eggs?”
November 28, 2014 CategoriesThat was my response in 1987 when a customer remarked that my eggs were too expensive; that supermarket eggs were less than a dollar a dozen, and that, after all, “eggs is eggs.” I marveled at the wisdom embedded in this homily, not for its truth, but for the comfort it provided the speaker when […]
Triple bottom line
February 9, 2013 CategoriesWe don’t just do it for the money… Assuring our ethics is displayed in our economics. The “Triple Bottom Line” is concept that has gained popularity and credibility since its first introduction in the mid 1990’s. TBL, or 3BL, refers to the social, ecological and economic bottom lines of any business, whether for-profit or non-profit. […]
Quick tips for selling at market
July 10, 2012 Categories1. View Your Stand Like A Shopper. During a pause in business, take a walk away from your stand, then turn around and approach it as a shopper would. Then walk on past and approach your stand again from the other direction. Take note of what strikes your eye and consider how you could make each […]
What do I need for setting up at a farmers’ market?
June 22, 2012 CategoriesSo you’ve decided to try selling at a farmers’ market. The gardens are weeded, the harvest is starting, and it’s time to sell. What equipment and techniques will you need to help sell your produce? This pamphlet was written by two farmers (Kate Slattery & Tom Roberts) from opposite ends of the state—one with 10 […]