Egg selling Etiquette.

[redhen]

Quote:
yup...

if your neighbors have fresh eggs... and they are selling for $2.00....
why would they go to your house and pay more?? lol
I know i wouldnt....

 

[redstars]

All very good points

So... If I under price Their are pros and cons.
If I over price probably more cons than pros with them being so close.
Maybe if I price the same with a discount if they return the carton?
With more input I am sure you guys will help me make the correct choice.
I am fairly certain they don't offer any savings for returned cartons.

 

[bucketgirl]

Lots of people shop for the lowest price. Lots of people do not. When you set your sign out, you are making a choice about the market you want to cater to. If you lower your price, you are trying to attract people who are focused on the lowest price. Their loyalty to you is now based on you having the lowest price. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but keep in mind you will always have to chase the lowest price to keep their business. Someone else can easily make the same value proposition and undercut you. To keep your lowest-price focused customers, you must continue having the lowest price. In a sense you are putting yourself in competition with a factory farmer.

On the other hand, you can choose a different market. There are people who are attracted to the best value, or the highest quality, novelty, or the story behind the product. The most successful things in the world are not always the cheapest things. Customers who are interested in stories, relationships, quality - these are my favorite customers. It is easier for me to find ways to increase quality, get creative, tell a more compelling story, or demonstrate value, than it is for me to lower my costs.

If you are looking at straight dollar costs, why would anyone pay us $200 to take their family photos when you can get it done at sears for $20-$40? Well, those are two different products entirely. Sears is better equipped to provide people with a low cost solution, they are all set up for high volume. I absolutely can't compete with that. And I don't want to, either. As a small producer of photography, we have to consider what we can bring to the table that Sears can't. We lose customers I suppose because we aren't cheap, but that's fine because we end up working with a lot of people who are interested in what we offer creatively.

Quite often, the low cost supplier for common items (eggs, paper, clothing) already exists, and typically it is a huge corporation who can offer lowest price. That's great - it raises the standard of living for commodity items. People who take the time to make something homemade, like a pastured egg, should be rewarded for everything they put into it. It's a different product entirely and should be priced appropriately.

Look through Mother Earth New's pastured egg study, and you'll see what you are selling isn't really an egg at all, but a kind of culinary miracle

 

[bucketgirl]

I do want to add that maybe the key is to offer a different value if the egg availability in your neighborhood is saturated. At the farmstand here, a dozen homegrown eggs is $5, same at the health food store. At the farmstand I know they are not inspected or anything. It might be worth the extra effort to place them in different markets so you are not directly competing with your neighborsd.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
Oh yes, I forgot to mention. I do price mine at $2.25 or $2 if they bring their own carton. So far I have not collected more than $2 per doz but at least I'm not running out of cartons either.

 

[ElioraImmanuel]

As SAHM of 4. I have to make every single dollar stretch. For years I cooped w/friends and traveled to Amish Country in Central Ohio to obtain eggs, grain, honey, maple syrup, spices etc. We paid $1.50/dozen. Now, I live 90 minutes East of our last home and I've searched to find eggs. They were $1.75-$1.85/dozen (and I had to travel 30 minutes round trip to get them,) but it would cost far more to travel 90 minutes (Even when getting 18 dozen, at a time, for myself!) Now, our neighbor and friend has been given nearly 30 laying chicken and I'm once again able to get eggs for $1.50 and she delivers! I supply the egg cartons. I couldn't care less about a story or creativity. I care about quality (free range/types of feed), freshness, size, availability, price.

Hopefully, I'll soon have my own layers and I'll be the supplier!

I'm not out to supply the township...just us and some friends and family. I'm also not into making it into a business, at this point, anyhow. Although, I don't want to see eggs go uneaten, but the way we go through them.....lol. We could easily polish off a dozen a day!

So, price your eggs so that you're able to sell each.and.every.one! If you need sell them at $.25 less in order to do that, so be it. You could also try blessing those you love with them.

 

[redstars]

Quote:
I do give them to family and friends but I still have extra. So I figured I would sell a few just to help with the cost.
I am not looking to make a business. Just to sell any extra.

 

[Stonerowfarm]

We sell our eggs to business associates (his and mine) for 3.00/dz for large and 2.00/dz for banty eggs. We are both out and about every day and this has worked the best. No one around us sells at farm stands but we are getting so many eggs we will hopefully be setting up a stand this weekend - at 3/dz. We'll see how it goes.

I believe price them competatively, but fairly. You have put a lot into those hens, you should be able to get fair market price. I wouldn't necessarily undercut your neighbors, but offer them at the same price and let your customers decide whose stand they want to stop at.