Egg Sellers--How's Your Business?

[chicksgalore]

I was selling all the eggs I could get last summer and lots of times I had to turn people away...So, I increased my flock and now I'm getting about 2 dozen or more per day and am not getting a single customer. It started dropping off around Christmas and we thought maybe it was just because it was cold and people didn't feel like stopping just for eggs. But it's getting warmer now...

So, then we thought maybe since the price of eggs came down in the store, we should lower our price, so I took it from $1.50 to $1.25 which I really didn't want to do because I have brown jumbo cage-free eggs and I really don't think $1.50 is too much but hey, I figured $1.25 is better than nothing.

Anyway, so far, still nothing... I just don't know what's going on and wondered if anyone else is having a drop off right now?

And, we've been eating deviled eggs, pickled eggs and all kinds of eggs like crazy and I still don't know what to do with them all!!

 

[bigredfeather]

My selling is starting to pick-up. It seems once you get people started, they can't get enough. Word of mouth is the best advertising. Perhaps you could try and drum up some new business. Talk to your neighbors, coworkers, and relatives(if you haven't tried this yet). Also, you could try putting up a sign outside for people to see. I have also seen adds on Craig'sList for "farm fresh eggs". I agree that $1.25/dozen is too cheap, but at this point, you're probably feeling desperate.

Another option is to try and sell items made from your eggs. Noodles are the first thing that come to mind.

Hope business picks up soon. Two dozen eggs a day is a lot of eggs to eat. You and you're family are going to turn into eggs soon at that pace. lol

 

[Chicken03]

Maybe if you tried advertising you would get more customers. You could hang flyers in a local store or try craigslist. I have been selling some of my eggs and more and more people want them!

 

[chicksgalore]

I do have a sign outside, advertising with the price. And my neighbor was my first customer and she used to rant about my eggs but she hasn't stopped by in several weeks now...

I put an ad on Craigslist, too and had one person interested but we must've lived too far away; they never showed up.

Last year, everyone just seemed so interested: this was great, could they tell their friends, etc. etc. Hello...where is everyone???

I used to sell to a local diner but it was much more of a pain to have to drive my eggs somewhere every week, plus I wasn't getting paid as well. I may call another place today and see if I can drop some off tomorrow--yes, I am pretty desperate at this point as the eggs stack up on the counter.

 

[tboneranch]

I don't know where you live, but are you familiar with a term, PERCEPTIVE VALUE??? If you are selling your eggs that cheap-you must not have good eggs...I am not saying that...that's what Value Perception is. If you don't think enough of your own girls to charge fair price, then there must be something wrong with them, you know what I mean? I think before I started a big campaign (either word of mouth or printed) I would go to at least $2.50 a dozen. I know your eggs are great, you know they are great. Ask what they are worth and see how that works out for you! Take the price off the sign. If people truly want farm fresh eggs they don't care how much they cost. Make sure your place and your chickens appear well kept if you have people coming in to buy. Other than that...stay POSITIVE

 

[Sunny Side Up]

It's taken me a while, but I've finally found a good number of people who appreciate the quality of fresh eggs, and/or who want eggs from chickens raised in more healthy & humane conditions. Some of them were referred by other customers, some I met at the poultry tent at our county fair. I spent many hours working there this year & gave out dozens of flyers with my phone # offering fresh eggs for sale. I deliver around town once a week, and sell the eggs for $4 a dozen. This is enough to pay for the chickens' feed, even the older semi-retired layers, and the gas to bring the eggs to the customers.

I usually have to call everyone the day before I deliver, once I see how many dozens I have to sell that week. Many people will forget to call me, if I don't call them first.

You want to get the word out to people willing/able to pay extra for quality groceries. Post a notice at the health food markets, gourmet grocery stores, local green markets. See if there are any organic co-ops organizing in your area. Even if your eggs aren't organic, many folks will want them anyway because they're fresh.

You won't be as successful if you're selling to people looking for a bargain from regular grocery store prices.

 

[chicksgalore]

Thanks for all the input. I like what you're saying and those are some great ideas. Sunny_Side_Up, I had actually given delivery a thought. That's interesting to know it works for you.

One more question for those of you who sell if you don't mind...I've recently gotten paranoid about all I've been reading about washing/scrubbing/refrigerating the eggs. I've always washed mine and not thought anything of it, but now I'm almost afraid to sell them to other people. Do you wash them or only keep/sell the perfectly clean ones?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

For me, it's better to go deliver to everyone one morning a week rather than trying to coordinate home pickups with lots of different people. And since I'm home alone with my kids & the chickens many days & nights, I prefer to limit the amount of visitors here. Most of my deliveries are in the end of town where the public library is, so I combine egg deliveries with our library day.

I know it works better for other folks to have people stop by their place for eggs, one person said they left the available eggs in a cooler by the gate and a coffee can to put the money in. That kind of trust & honesty might not work in every community, though...

My customers know they're getting "farm fresh eggs" that come from genuine chickens, not sanitized store eggs that come from styrofoam. I don't wash the eggs unless they're dirty, then I try to first scrape any dried flecks off with sandpaper, if not, then a quick hot rinse. I keep them in cartons on the counter all week and they're fine, most customers put them in their fridge when they get them. I tell them to adopt the old farmer custom of cracking each egg in a little bowl first before adding them to the pan or mixing bowl, just in case they find something in there they don't want. Even though we collect the eggs daily, there's always a chance a kid missed an egg for a day or two, or more. Or there might be a blood or meat spot they don't want.

I saw a brand of eggs in the store that are supposed to come from truly cage-free free-ranging-in-the-sunshine hens. They're sold by the half dozen, but what I liked is that they include a slip of paper with some interesting info about their hens in each carton. I want to start doing something like that, print out pictures of the hens, or some interesting facts about chickens, or poems or inspirational sayings that catch my fancy, and include them in the cartons. Just a little fun extra personal touch along with their eggs, to make them extra glad they're not buying store eggs any more.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Yeah I agree you should up your price to at least $2.00 / dozen I wouldn't go any higher as that will drive people away. You need to also take the price down on the sign as this will bring more people to your door. I honestly think that I can sell a dozen eggs to anyone regurdless of price.... as long as I can tell them my side of the story about eggs. Once a person is face to face with you most of the time they will here what you have to say... If they believe you then they will be back and even if they don't believe you... they will take in what you said and do some research on their own, and oddly enough they will find out to see that you were telling the truth. Also more than likely they will see other fams that are selling eggs and notice that hey... $2.00 a dozen for these are cheap!

Also like stated before, people have this thing that if it cost more it must be better... if your have a low price tag on something a lot of your better customers would rather pay the $3.00 for the organic eggs at the store and they have no clue what they are missing... All because it was $3.00 instead of $1.25. They would tell you that "hey I paid $3.00 for a dozen organic eggs... they have to be healthy" I've heard statements like these time and time again and I have to just laugh under my breath... but it's our job to educate the average consumer that has no clue about the difference in eggs.

So... Up your price to $2.00 / dozen and change the sign... Give it a couple of weeks and see how many people stop in just because the curiousity of "how much" is killing them... The key to the whole thing is to get them to you..... the rest is easy... that is if you love your eggs!

 

[Timbercrete]

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