Is it just me or are some people taking advantage of this new trend?

[beth59]

Before we even got our hens last year, my husband's German secretary kept bugging (well not really bugging) him to get some chickens so that she and her other German friends (we have a large German community nearby) could have some fresh eggs. She gave us a price of $4doz., up front, that they would pay. That's about what Egglands or other free range organic eggs cost in our area. At our local natural food coop, they're over $4. We have a very small flock of 7 hens right now, so we're able to sell most of our eggs to the German ladies. I have noticed that the guy I've seen at our Saturday farmers' market doesn't seem to be selling many of his to the locals that visit the market. We just happened to be lucky find a niche that really wants good fresh yard eggs.

Beth

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
I guess you have to decide if you want to help people eat healthy cheaper or get whatever you can out of them..farmers are like everyone else,,they want the most they can get for their product..just because I raised it doesnt mean I am going to sell it cheaper,,heck if I raise it I want top dollar,and if I can get people to pay it yahoo for me..I priced my rabbits at $20 off the farm live,$3.00 a lb processed,I have meat chickens priced at $3.00 lb processed,and I have people telling me they can get it cheaper at wal-mart..yes they can but I am certain it is not as good tasting or healthy for them or raised on green grass and sunshine..I refuse to sell for less and will feed them to my own dogs before I do.

 

[Mervin]

chikadeedoodah

I agree in principle. In fact, when my hens come into lay I don't plan to charge at all. I'm hoping the friends and family that make use of them kick in a little to offset the price of feed. The reality is that I have these birds b/c I want them and I want the eggs. My kid's wanted pets, my wife doesn't like dogs and I don't like cleaning up dog pooh for no return on investment. So, if you pardon the pun, two birds one stone.

BTW...I think that b/c you're part of this forum that you're part of the revolution so to speak. I can't afford to pay $5 for a dozen eggs and I do like good eggs. My solution, keeping chickens. Now, my family and those close to me, will have the opportunity to eat fresh, cage-free eggs for as long as I can afford to produce them. If battery hens and $5 "organics" are ever to become a thing of the past, then there has to be a cataclysm in market. Not to go all Marxist, but the Proletariat (common folk) have to reclaim the Produktionsmittel (means of production) so to speak. If keeping chickens isn't sticking it to the poultry bourgeoisie, than what is?

 

[chikadeedoodah]

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I wish you lived closer, I am desperate to find a chicken producer! Not common where I live. I def. don't want Walmart crap, I just think that the price changing based on the market smells like greed to me. I do TOTALLY get it though, we price what we can get for our products and if they get a better week of $$$ then why not? Except the fact that they are pricing many consumers and children out of the market, but that is the way capitalism works. Supply and demand, and last week the demand out-did the supply! I'm happy that the chicken guy will be there next week to settle the prices back down to $4. (Which is STILL high to me, but ONLY because my chickens aren't my business, they're my babies).

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

I'd have to agree and disagree. I don't doubt that there are folks out there overcharging, but I also think there has to be more consideration of the product. Sure the guy down the road from me can charge $2 a dozen and break even. He's buying the cheapest feed on the market, shoving as many birds as he can fit into a coop, no access to extra greens, etc. His eggs are still "Farm Fresh". I spend $32 a bag for certified organic feed, supplement with flax seed and fish for omega-3s and free range. For me, charging $4 a dozen is breaking even, $5 a dozen would just start to turn a profit. Just like other products that are stratified based on quality, why not eggs? My customers chose to pay more, because they know they get more from my eggs.

 

[chikadeedoodah]

Mervin -
Well said. I just am hoping that at one point we are going to make healthy food (not just eggs) more affordable to all. I can tell you that since the Omnivore's Dilemma, Food Inc., and the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (and others) that eating healthy is becoming a trend. Trends are expensive. I DO expect to pay a premium for meat, eggs, dairy, and produce raised right. But, I don't want to feel taken advantage of.... JMHO. I'm buying a grass-fed local steer that WILL be more expensive than the supermarkets, but not quadruple what the commercial price is! Chickens are easy to raise and WAY more economical to rear than a steer. Now if I could only find someone I could buy local chicken meat from. I have had the HARDEST time with that. I just can't afford $10 a pound on chicken. Maybe I bite the bullet and raise meaties next....

 

[chikadeedoodah]

Quote:
If the market will bear it in your region, then go for it. These folks were NOT doing anything extra or special, they changed their prices that day based on who was at market. It sounds like you don't jack your prices all around. You did a break even analysis, discovered what the market would bear, and people pay it. But, people also have the choice of using your guy down the street too. The people here changed the price based on the selection. I just think that when people change their prices they are gouging (they already had a set price of what they could take for the eggs).

 

[homeschoolmama]

Selling at a Farmer's Market costs more than selling out of your home- gotta factor in what the Market charges the vendor to set up a booth, transportation, cost of tables and signs, valuable time spent sitting there at the Market selling, etc. on top of what it takes to actually raise the chickens and the cost of rasing chickens should include labor not just supplies if you are doing it for a business. We own a small business and many people just don't get why our prices are higher than big chains or why we would even mark up productt. We HAVE to have a decent markup to pay for all the stuff it takes to run a business and then make a small profit so we can get a (not great) income. People can charge whatever they want but you don't have to pay it. The guy wouldn't be selling for that price if people weren't paying.

 

[CorralitosSunflower]

HALF a dozen "Pastured" eggs here sold at a farmers market or through the local CSA's are $6! I think that is really expensive! Having chickens though I do understand that there are many more costs than just the feed, so for a small family farm who is doing it for profit as their sole income I can understand they would have to have high prices I just don't know who could afford it regularly? If I were to sell our eggs which are all organically fed and free-range daily I would probably have to sell for at least $4 a dozen to even come close to breaking even for our organic feed costs. We do live in a somewhat pricey area....... I do it for my family though, so we can eat eggs that are just as good, healthy and humane as the $12 a dozen ones!!!!! I don't think it is greedy necessarily, if that is actual cost to small farmers for feed, as well as security and biosecurity, and any other legal hoops they must jump through. I know the big corps probably make a much larger profit off of the suffering of their animals and subsizided GE corn feed......

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Quote:
If the market will bear it in your region, then go for it. These folks were NOT doing anything extra or special, they changed their prices that day based on who was at market. It sounds like you don't jack your prices all around. You did a break even analysis, discovered what the market would bear, and people pay it. But, people also have the choice of using your guy down the street too. The people here changed the price based on the selection. I just think that when people change their prices they are gouging (they already had a set price of what they could take for the eggs).

I agree with you, it was wrong for this guy to up charge his eggs not because of their quality, but because of the willingness of customers to pay. However, that is unfortunately how the free market works. What I don't agree with is an overall condemnation of "high" prices. I'm not in this for profit, so of course my situation is different than a lot of folks. You are right, the guy down the street is open for business and my customers are welcome to go buy from him instead. Will that stop me from continuing to feed the best and provide my hens with the highest quality of life and continue to charge $4-$5 a dozen because in the end that is what they are worth? No.