How did you guys get sooo many buyers?

[stephhassler]

Ok, I just read the post and all the replies on the free egg post. It sounds like lots of you are selling lots of eggs. I usually end up giving mine away to family because I can't sell them. I charge $2.00 a dozen. There are several farms around here who charge $1.00 - which I think is soooo totally stupid and self-defeating. Why not just say my product is crap so I charge a pitance for it!!!! Anywhoo, my chickens are free range and I have printed up a little flyer on the added health benefits from free range eggs. At $2.00 a dozen I would think I could sell rather than give away. What am I missing? Oh, by the way, in the beginning I gave eggs aways to lots and lots of people - saying try these for free and if you like them let me know and you can buy the next dozen. I got lots of compliments on my eggs, but no regular buyers. Don't know what to think. Also tried farmer's market and ran into at least 3 people selling for $1.00 / dozen!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
I sell eating eggs for 1 dollar per dozen.

I do not sell "crap", and I do sell many eggs - enough to pay partial feed costs (the rest of feed costs is made up from hatched chicks sold).

If you can get 2 dollars per dozen, then more power to you. It is rude to call people who sell for less Stupid and Self Defeating. Maybe they are selling their eggs because they know what the market will bear and do not think that people should pay more because they happen to think their eggs are more special.

Even if they are more special, it doesn't mean that other people will go out in a bad economy and spend twice as much for their eggs when they can feed their families for less and maybe pay a bill or buy toilet paper with the money saved.


I edited out a lot of what I had planned to write.
I think you could have worded this without offending those who sell for that "stupid and self defeating" dollar a dozen (and no, I am not the only one who does sell for that).

eta - is it more stupid and self defeating to have a refrigerator full of eggs that you cannot sell, or to sell eggs and pay your feed bills?

meri

 

[Ol'FashionHen]

Bummer ... sorry to hear, it sounds as if maybe folks don't care what the chickens are eating around there, or if they are confined.
My chooks free range most of the day and all day on the weekends.
I actually stumbled upon selling my eggs, at first it was just my in laws buying eggs ( I only charge them $1.00 ), But when my second flock of girls began to lay I was getting extra eggs and so I began to give some away, mostly to family. Anyway, my son and I visit our local library weekly and have became friends with all the ladies there. So oneday I brung in a carton of extra eggs I had and thay were so excited that I had eggs and asked if I sold them. I said sure for $1.50 a carton, afterall most of the eggs were from new layers and were still small. So they save their cartons and buy all my eggs. If they do not need any they will ask other frequent visitor and friends if they want to buy some of the best eggs ever

, they are hilarious. Anyway I can't keep em' in eggs. Now,
they know with winter coming on that eggs will be sparse if any. So, come spring time I am going to inform everyone that they will be $2.00, because I will be purchasing my cartons so there will be no chance of the cartons being contaminated from being used over and over so many times. I am sure they won't mind because they sometimes give me $2.00 anyway. I always give them updates on how well the hens are doing, and that my flock is NPIP certified. I also show them pictures of the hens and my coop.

Good Luck!

 

[SproutGirl]

I sell mine for $3.00 per dozen, and I know some folks who sell theirs for $5.00 per dozen. You might like a book called You Can Farm by Joel Salatin. In it, he talks about getting a good price for your product and makes some of the arguments that you do, but in different way than you do.

Sometimes at our local farmer's market, (where I have a small business selling sprouts) when I see folks selling what I think are quality products that are priced way lower than what others are selling them for, I will buy them, and pay the farmer more than what they are asking. For example, I will buy a basket of beautiful strawberries that are selling for $1 while others are going for $3.50. I will give the farmer $4 and tell them what beautiful strawberries they have and that I think they are so lovely, that I am tipping them. They are usually sheepish, and offer me more strawberries in return. I accept, eat a few, and tell them what I think of the flavor, and that I think they deserve more for their hard work, which is why I paid them more. I leave it at that. More often than not, they will raise their prices to the going rate. However, it is up to them, and we do live in a free economy!

Good luck with your egg business, and with making peace with your fellow egg farmers!

 

[wombat]

I think that pricing depends on where you are. If there are a lot of farms selling fresh eggs, and a lot of people keeping their own chickens near you, and you live out in the countryside, you won't get as much. There's no scarcity.

I live in an area that is rapidly becoming more densly populated. The last true farms in the immediate area were just south of us, and they were carved up and developed and there are now over 20,000 people in high-density townhomes and McMansions where there used to be two large farms. All those Volvo-drivin' yuppies gotta be fed, and they all want to be fed well.

The health food / organic grocery store near us sells brown free range eggs for $5 a dozen. I could probably charge the same, if I were so inclined.

If you'd like, I can send you a dozen or so yuppies, and you could start your own colony. They're easy to catch, and they breed like bunnies. I'd give them away, but a lot of them are lawyers and you can imagine the paperwork involved in rehoming them, so I'd probably have to charge you.

 

[SproutGirl]

 

[ROOSTER_ROO]

 

[siriradha]

Snort! But you didn't mention the high maintenance costs!

 

[gritsar]

My DH put up a poster I made at the police dept. where he works. I now scramble to supply the entire dept. with eggs and about half of the fire dept. too. Even the mayor buys from time to time.
I've assured everyone that I'm getting more chickens in the spring.
They can all go to the co-op to buy, but say they prefer mine. Free range eggs ROCK!

 

[shelleyd2008]

I think it totally depends on the market in your area. My dad tried to sell his for a mere $1.50 a dozen. It worked in the winter, but as Mojo said, everybody and their brother has chickens around here, so there is no scarcity. The last time he tried to sell some at the local auction, he couldn't even get $1.25 a dozen for them.

I agree with what Mojo said as well, would you rather take $1 a dozen for them, or have a refridgerator full of eggs? Sure you can feed them to the chickens, but that won't off-set the price of feed that much.

It really irks me, the people that charge so little for their things. It really hurts the rest of us that are trying to get what our product is worth, but the market sets the price.

You could always list them on ebay as hatching eggs