How did you guys get sooo many buyers?

[stephhassler]

WildBurroShirts.com :

---I just gave away13 DOZEN for FREE last week! All told since they started laying in late May I've given away more than 40 dozen eggs for free.

One person has purchased eggs from all those freebies, and I think it's just because I have a part time (4 hours a week) job at her office, to be truthful.

So. I think maybe the way to go is go print up a really "pretty" ad that says something like:

"Are you hungry for arsenic, pesticides, petroleum products and other icky things? Then please DON'T buy my organic eggs! Because here's a pic of the labels from what goes into my chickens, combined with free ranging, homemade organic yogurt, and homegrown organic veggies. And here's a pic of what comes out of them. Because between you and me...pesticides and other icky stuff is not something I associate with breakfast food."

Then maybe a blurb on battery hens (how they're tortured) and the health benefits of free range eggs (lower in cholesterol, etc).

But, I'm a newbie. And if your Manchester is in England...well, no idea at all about marketing over there.

So...I feel your pain. Luckily I love my chickens, and am willing to give it to this time next year to make it work. But...it ain't easy.

One thing I have figured out, and again not sure if it applies in England: if you really have a surplus, and don't feel like feeding them to critters or back to the girls, you can donate them to a local nonprofit, which will at least give you a tax writeoff.

And good karma.

Best of luck. If you ever figure out some great marketing tips please pm me...I'm always open to suggestions.

I couldn't agree with you more. I'd much rather give my eggs away to family and friends - or donate them - than to sell them for $1.00/dozen. We are in an organic buying club as well - but those folks all buy eggs from my sister - a certified organic farmer. I'm not certified and only do this part-time, so no plans to get certified. I think perhaps because I am in a rural area - Iowa not England - farm fresh eggs are nothing new.​

 

[stephhassler]

Mojo Chick'n :

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

I apologize if my opinion offended you. Perhaps stupid was too harsh a word. Self-defeating was not. It is my opinion that when a person can get grocery store eggs for $1.89/dozen it is self-defeating to sell a BETTER product for much much less. And yes, I would much rather have a refrigerator full of eggs than sell them for $1/dozen. I'll give my eggs away to family and friends before I will sell them for less than grocery store eggs.

And, by the way, I AM an attorney. There has been a lot of attorney bashing on these boards. I understand that not everyone will have a high regard for attorneys. But each person is entitled to his or her opinion - whether I agree with it or not. So, every time there is a negative post regarding attorneys I don't get all offended or up on my soap box. Again, I apologize for using the word stupid, but I stand by the remainder of my post. If that upsets you feel free to put back in all of what you edited out.​

 

[greyhorsewoman]

And if your Manchester is in England...well, no idea at all about marketing over there.

Just an FYI, I think the OP's Manchester is in Iowa.​

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
I apologize if my opinion offended you. Perhaps stupid was too harsh a word. Self-defeating was not. It is my opinion that when a person can get grocery store eggs for $1.89/dozen it is self-defeating to sell a BETTER product for much much less. And yes, I would much rather have a refrigerator full of eggs than sell them for $1/dozen. I'll give my eggs away to family and friends before I will sell them for less than grocery store eggs.

And, by the way, I AM an attorney. There has been a lot of attorney bashing on these boards. I understand that not everyone will have a high regard for attorneys. But each person is entitled to his or her opinion - whether I agree with it or not. So, every time there is a negative post regarding attorneys I don't get all offended or up on my soap box. Again, I apologize for using the word stupid, but I stand by the remainder of my post. If that upsets you feel free to put back in all of what you edited out.

Self defeating I can live with, the Stupid part sort of ticked me off. Yes, you have a right to an opinion, but it is usually courteous not to be calling folks stupid.

Our local stores sell eggs for 99 cents a dozen. I live in a very rural area, and most folks around here are farmers (lots of Amish). I understand that people in Washington and California can sell eggs for 5 bucks a dozen, and I'm glad for them - they also pay much higher feed bills than I do.

I guess my point was that prices/costs and "stupid" is relative to where you are standing at the moment. Sometimes we forget that we are not the center of the Universe

(I am guilty of this, also, not slamming you.)

My feed bills are more than likely MUCH less than yours if you are feeding organic - in which case, it would not pay for me to sell so cheaply, either. I can get a 50# bag of feed for $6.30 - feedstore mix 16%. So, a dollar a dozen pays my feed bills pretty well.

Self defeating - sometimes

but usually the "cost" is outweighed by the pleasure of having them around. My family is smaller, lately, and we don't eat that many eggs - I could cook the eggs to feed back to them - or I could give them away. I actually attempted to give them to neighbors for free - they didn't want them unless I charged them something - so I began charging a dollar a dozen - sometimes they pay me more than that, but I never ask for more. I could not give them away, but I can sell them at a dollar a dozen all day long.

I might be able to get more, but I basically have two customers - my neighbor and his father. My neighbor is one of the best neighbors we've ever had - he is married, self employed, his wife works, and he has two young children - they are not rich by any stretch of the imagination. His father is my other customer.

My neighbor usually takes a couple dozen at a time, but his father, who fosters four boys (ages 12 - 17), takes 7 or 8 dozen at a time if I have them, and he pays me more than I ask. I do not have the resources or the patience to deal with foster care - if he does, I will support him whatever way I can.

So, yes, in some cases, it might seem stupid to sell for so cheap - but without knowing the whole story, it is hard to say.

eta because I can't spell this morning
meri

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

I have heard from others that "hobbyists" can spoil the market for the guy who is trying to make a business of producing a product.

Non-chicken examples from my locality: A local farmer traditionally raises Halloween pumpkins to sell at the farmer's market. For him it is a business. He needs to cover his costs at least, prefers long run to make a profit.

A local hobby gardener gets a surprise bumper crop of pumpkins, brings them to the market and "dumps" them at below the cost of raising them, just to get them off his hands. He doesn't have to make a profit, it is more than he expected to be able to off-set some of his costs.

Of course the farmer sells no pumpkins or sells at a loss. Next year, he decides, I won't raise pumpkins, as they are not profitable anymore.

And next year, the hobby gardener plants less pumpkins and has no surplus to sell.

And the village children have no Halloween pumpkins unless they drive a distance to get them.

Using this model, if I am selling surplus at the farmer's market, I walk around to see what they are charging and make mine comparable. I do not want to ruin a market for those who are making a business of what is just a hobby for me.

It seems the original poster lives in an area with lots of hobby chicken raisers, who are willing to off-set their feed costs a bit, rather than business-driven folks who need to make a profit selling eggs. It's just your local market, and it sounds persistent.

I am sorry you are frustrated with your business attempts.

 

[Wifezilla]

This is the same problem facing many crafters. I have had really good years at my craft booth and years where it doesn't even pay to get out of bed. If I charge for my actual labor hours, I would never sell a thing.

 

[Rae_37066]

Mojo Chick'n :

Quote:
I apologize if my opinion offended you. Perhaps stupid was too harsh a word. Self-defeating was not. It is my opinion that when a person can get grocery store eggs for $1.89/dozen it is self-defeating to sell a BETTER product for much much less. And yes, I would much rather have a refrigerator full of eggs than sell them for $1/dozen. I'll give my eggs away to family and friends before I will sell them for less than grocery store eggs.

And, by the way, I AM an attorney. There has been a lot of attorney bashing on these boards. I understand that not everyone will have a high regard for attorneys. But each person is entitled to his or her opinion - whether I agree with it or not. So, every time there is a negative post regarding attorneys I don't get all offended or up on my soap box. Again, I apologize for using the word stupid, but I stand by the remainder of my post. If that upsets you feel free to put back in all of what you edited out.

Self defeating I can live with, the Stupid part sort of ticked me off. Yes, you have a right to an opinion, but it is usually courteous not to be calling folks stupid.

Our local stores sell eggs for 99 cents a dozen. I live in a very rural area, and most folks around here are farmers (lots of Amish). I understand that people in Washington and California can sell eggs for 5 bucks a dozen, and I'm glad for them - they also pay much higher feed bills than I do.

I guess my point was that prices/costs and "stupid" is relative to where you are standing at the moment. Sometimes we forget that we are not the center of the Universe

(I am guilty of this, also, not slamming you.)

My feed bills are more than likely MUCH less than yours if you are feeding organic - in which case, it would not pay for me to sell so cheaply, either. I can get a 50# bag of feed for $6.30 - feedstore mix 16%. So, a dollar a dozen pays my feed bills pretty well.

Self defeating - sometimes

but usually the "cost" is outweighed by the pleasure of having them around. My family is smaller, lately, and we don't eat that many eggs - I could cook the eggs to feed back to them - or I could give them away. I actually attempted to give them to neighbors for free - they didn't want them unless I charged them something - so I began charging a dollar a dozen - sometimes they pay me more than that, but I never ask for more. I could not give them away, but I can sell them at a dollar a dozen all day long.

I might be able to get more, but I basically have two customers - my neighbor and his father. My neighbor is one of the best neighbors we've ever had - he is married, self employed, his wife works, and he has two young children - they are not rich by any stretch of the imagination. His father is my other customer.

My neighbor usually takes a couple dozen at a time, but his father, who fosters four boys (ages 12 - 17), takes 7 or 8 dozen at a time if I have them, and he pays me more than I ask. I do not have the resources or the patience to deal with foster care - if he does, I will support him whatever way I can.

So, yes, in some cases, it might seem stupid to sell for so cheap - but without knowing the whole story, it is hard to say.

eta because I can't spell this morning
meri​

I also live in an area like yours. I live in near the KY/Tn line in a rural area. More people getting chickens everyday around here(for some reason everyone thinks the economy is going to tank) I like my chickens and they love me, giving me an average of 17-18 eggs a day. I sell my eggs to my hubby's, daughter's and my co-workers. They sell great. I charge 1.00 if they bring back the cartons and 1.50 if they don't bring the cartons back.

I have a lot of egg cartons and happy co workers that are excited to see us. I also give eggs to my neighbors because they have to listen to the roo's.... I say charge what the market will bear, I am just thankful I can get some help with the costs of feeding these chickens. now if only I could figure out how to do that with the dogs.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

Mojo Chick'n :

My feed bills are more than likely MUCH less than yours if you are feeding organic - in which case, it would not pay for me to sell so cheaply, either. I can get a 50# bag of feed for $6.30 - feedstore mix 16%. So, a dollar a dozen pays my feed bills pretty well.

Good point!!! I suspect many people here are very small scale and are paying over $12 for a 50 lb bag of feed.

A laying chicken requires about 0.4 lbs of feed per day. Thus at $0.126 per lb ($6.30 per 50 lbs) for feed times 0.4 lbs per day equals $0.05 cost per day. This is about the price of one egg assuming the hen lays everyday. So, a dozen eggs costs about $0.60 in feed if they don't free range.

So, why would I want to pay $3 for a dozen eggs? Is it because they are getting frozen peas for desert?

Personally I can't tell much of a difference between the eggs at Wal*Mart versus eggs from someone's back yard.​

 

[Junkmanme]

It has been my observation and personal experience over decades of involvement in various businesses that it is generally not nearly as effective to compete on the basis of price as it is to compete on the basis of QUALITY of the product or service offered.

IF you can justify a higher price to your customers based upon a higher quality of your eggs, THEN you can successfully sell your eggs for $2.00/dozen while competing with others selling at $1.00/dozen. AND, I believe, you can sell just as many, if not MORE.

It is more a matter of marketing than a matter of price-cutting/price-fixing.

just my 2 pesos worth,
-Junkmanme-

 

[SproutGirl]

Quote:
Oooo! There's a big difference between Walmart eggs and backyard eggs. The color, the nutrition, the freshness, the thickness of the shell, the richness in flavor. I could go on for a long time, really. But, I'll spare you!