Egg selling idea

[JohnG]

I sell them for 2$ dz. Minus the .25cents if they bring a carton. I think it is just the idea of getting a discount. Because, I have had people call and want me to hold eggs for them until they saved up some cartons. I only sell from my house and I always wash the cartons when I get them. I know I could buy the cartons cheaper but, this keeps me from having to worry about running out of cartons. And some people seem to like the idea of reusing the cartons. Being "green" you know. I live in a good sized city which helps. I am sure a more rural area may have trouble selling eggs. The only advertising I have done has been on Craigslist. It is an awsome site.

 

[bossynbella]

I live in a pretty rural area in eastern Iowa, I take my eggs to the daycare I work at and post a sign. FRESH BROWN EGGS $2 A DZN. IF INTERESTED TALK TO MELISSA. I never have enough eggs and now some of the kids are requesting that I add some of the Green eggs for them!
I have never had to ask for cartons but the parents are always bringing me them. The top of my fridge is full of them but I never say no I just take them.

Melissa

 

[ole-crone]

Whether we deliver or they pick up; I clean or they take them straight from the nest (yes, I have customers who prefer 'as is') - we sell them for $4 a dozen and Dh says we are still losing $1.50.

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

we have 26 chickens her (one is a roo) and when they are in full laying mode (summer/spring) we get about 4 dozen+ eggs a week, and cant keep enough on hand for ourselves it seems like. We sell ours for $3.00 a dozen and are hoping to have 3x's the amount of chickens laying this coming spring and we will have no problem selling the eggs. So far the flock has been able to pay for their own food (that is changing now that it's so cold...no one wants to lay). I couldnt imagine not being able to sell my eggs. There are times when we have 4 people calling in a day and have to turn 3 of them away.

~Tiff~

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Don't undercut yourself, If your in a somewhat urban area, you will sell your eggs. We sell ours for $4.00 / dozen and our customers don't even blink their eyes.

We don't sell at farmers markets or deliver, everything is a pick up at farm basis.

Don't forget that fresh eggs from a farm are for a niche market, and you only need to sell to a small number of people. If you get 5-10 good customers paying a premium price, your gonna get 15 more within a few months. Word of mouth is the best marketing tool for people like us. Be patient, they will come.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
I use to sterilize mine with radiation but I stopped when giant killer chickens started hatching.

The chickens are coming

the chickens are coming!!

 

[Wifezilla]

It is very much how you market your eggs, yourself and your "girls".

There are a lot of people who will pay a premium just to know the chickens that lay the eggs aren't locked in a cage all day.

If you use craigs list, post pictures of your happy healthy chickens. Post some of the names of the girls. Show a picture of a basket full of your eggs.

If you free range at all, be sure to brag about it.

And yes, I work in advertising and marketing. Having a good product is nice, but it seldom is enough to sell your product. You have to stand out.

 

[briteday]

I live in an area near the West Coast where we just got a Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes. Many of the people around here have been buying their free range organic eggs for $4-5 per dozen at the store. So they don't even think twice about buying eggs from me where "they know the eggs were just laid yesterday." Most of our egg buyers are people we know at work and then they spread the word. My teenage daughter printed up payment envelopes with nutritional information about pasture fed organic eggs:

Eggs from hens raised on pasture and organic feed may contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene.
Have a healthy day!!!

Name ________________________________________________

She did a bit of clipart dancing chickens at the top of the envelope. The envelopes help to remind people that they owe us for the eggs, makes it easier for me as I don't have to track them down to let them know that I brought them eggs that day or to remind them about payment or returning egg cartons, and gives us a way to track who gets the next dozen eggs in the fridge.


I put the eggs in the office refrigerator and leave the envelope in the person's mailbox. For the neighbors I include the envelope when I leave the eggs on the doorstep and they return the envelope to a hanging basket on my front porch. At home I place their envelope on the back of the pack clipped to the refrigerator door. (all of our egg buyers bring their own cartons for me to re-use) We only have 6 RIR and can't make eggs fast enough even though my hens are laying right through these cold days.

I figured this out recently (just got my pullets a few months ago so I had no idea of the economics!)...if they lay 14 dozen eggs per month and we eat 4 dozen eggs, leaving 10 dozen to sell @ $3-4 per dozen = $35/month. I have yet to receive a feed store bill for more than $20 per month. The only other expense is running into town weekly (and I trade off with another neighbor with chickens so I only have to go in every other week) to pick up produce castoffs from the new Whole Foods store. We are able to get enough to supply our chickens for a whole week.

Given these statistics (and a daughter in college!) I have been thinking about getting 6 more pullets in the spring. I have plenty of scrap wood around here to make another coop and there is no limit in our county regarding poultry. Since the egg buyers here have a thing about colored eggs (the perspective is that colored eggs are better for you than white eggs...), and I already have brown eggs, I'm considering getting 6 EE's or americaunas.

Another thing I've discovered is that one of the RIR hens is a bit broody, sometimes not laying for a day or two, always sitting on the eggs until I take them away. I thought about trying to break this habit until I realized that in this cold weather she is doing a fine job of keeping my eggs from freezing! I think I'll just live with her occasional broodiness in return for not having to go out at the crack of dawn to collect eggs...

 

[chookchick]

Briteday
Thanks for all the really good info! You are not in the Seatttle area are you? I would like to sell eggs locally, or that is, have my stepson sell them--he is really excited about the idea! I really like the envelope idea, so if a person is not home, we can easily collect. Plus this gives me an excuse to get a bunch more hens and also build a bigger coop (don't see a lot of profit coming!!). Are your chickens free-range or in a run?

 

[red star11]

Thats a great idea. i am going to start doing that