Egg Prices and Colors

[TurtleFeathers]

Hi Everybody -

I'm wondering, what is a fair price to charge for cage free or pastured eggs? And do your customers prefer brown eggs, or white eggs? Are any of your customers opposed to blue or green eggs? Do you charge the same price for all colors and sizes?

I've been charging $2/dz for my bantam eggs (silkies, polish, EE's) and $4/dz for my LF eggs (EE's) or a mix of bantam and LF for $3/dz (I try to keep the mixed dz at 6 and 6, but sometimes I can't, depending on what I have available). Some people are more than happy to pay what I charge (usually for the LF eggs), and sometimes they may even give me extra - while others have said "Wow, THAT much? They're cheaper in the grocery store!". I try to explain the difference, but some people just don't seem to get it. I don't press it, but for the life of me, I just can't figure it out why FRESH eggs from cage free/pastured birds that eat fresh foods and aren't subjected to antibiotics and hormones wouldn't be WORTH $4/dz to some people, and would be worth MORE to others???

And most of the time when someone sees the "Fresh Eggs" sign on the gate, they ask about price first - and I give them the info in the above paragraph. Sometimes they then ask "Are your large eggs brown or white?", to which I reply "Neither - they're blue". That's when they say "EWWW!!!" and decide not to buy any. I try to explain that "an egg is an egg", but some people don't get THAT either!!! I just can't figure out WHY someone be put off by a blue egg???

So, I went out and brown egg layers - a BR, a BO/Wyandotte mix, 2 BCM/BO mixes, a Dominique, and a couple BLRW's, plus I'm looking to ad some Welsummers (I like variety) - so that will solve my "blue egg problem" when they start laying. But can anyone tell me, do your large brown eggs and large blue eggs sell for the same price? Do your customers prefer one color over the other? And, am I THAT far off on my prices, or does it depend on the area and what that specific market will bear?

Thanks so much! (ETA: if this is in the wrong section, I apologize - please feel free to move if necessary!)

 

[Teach97]

location, location, location

Where I am at you wouldn't get $2 per dozen on the big ones. Nobody would buy the bantams. They would want the brown eggs but would not be opposed to the blue ones. It is pointless trying to explain their worth to someone. Folks either want the darker yolks or they don't.

 

[corancher]

We charge $1.50 a dozen for large brown eggs. Our new customers want brown eggs because they associate brown with free range. Our customers that we have had for years are happy to get whatever eggs they can. We don't have bantams and I use pullet eggs for our own use until they get to at least a medium large size.

 

[kelidei]

Quote:
I have to agree. At the moment I have all standard brown egg layers but they produce many shades from light to dark to speckled. Some people don't like the fact that they are all not uniform in color and size--- which I don't get because I think the variety looks attractive in the carton--- none the less they fly out the door with no problem at $4.00 a dozen--- BUT I live just outside Chicago and am surrounded by some pretty affluent areas--- anything organic or "locally grown" sells. My small town has a weekly farmer's market on main street through the growing season and it is swamped with people from near-by communities.

 

[henningheather]

I live in rural Idaho. I charge $2/dozen for large brown eggs. I have 25 hens and 3/4 of them are laying now at 25 weeks. We have people stop all the time wanting to buy our eggs. If I had 50 chickens, I am certain I could sell them all at that price. I was in the grocery section of Walmart the other day and the all natural, organic eggs are selling for $4.97/dozen. I think $2 is very reasonable. Tell them to buy the anemic gross watered down eggs from the store if they don't like your price. You can always advertise on Craigslist or similar. The people with half a brain know the difference between store bought and home grown, sell to those folks. I have also read on here somewhere the technical health difference between store bought and home raised, free range. It had to do with omega 3's, protein, cholesterol, etc. Maybe you could print up a little flyer on a quarter sheet of paper to hand out to interested folks explaining the benefits. My friends in California beg me to ship my eggs to them. They pay $8.00/dozen and up for farm fresh, cage free, free range eggs.

To sum up, I think your price is right on. You'll never make much profit but you may pay for feed.

 

[shaggy]

they are all yellow in the middle

 

[ridgefire]

I was asked if my EE eggs taste like the brown eggs or the white eggs.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

We had to drop our price down to $1.50 dozen for large brown. And actually just got back from dropping off 16 dozen to the local food bank because we haven't been able to get rid of them.

 

[Akane]

Middle of farming country. No one cares what color they are and if they are more than $2/dozen they will just go down the road to the farmer's market or their neighbor and get them cheaper. No one will buy bantam eggs. They will sometimes take blue bantam eggs for free because they are cute.

A friend of mine near a big city gets $8/dozen for his blue eggs and $5/dozen for his brown since all health fanatics know the more uncommon the color of egg the better it is for you. City people

All depends where you live. And how smart the people there are...

 

[hcammack]

Im in the suburbs of Baltimore and I get $6 a dozen for blue, dark brown, light brown, and white eggs mixed. I don't know if people will want bantam eggs because I am just getting my first. I mostly sell my eggs buy the half a dozen to neighbors. I can only ask this much because I am in the suburbs and no one else has chickens plus my birds are pastured and fed naturally.

Henry