Prices for this year

[Starlight]

I am curious as to what you all are charging this year for your tomato and pepper plants, the size container and also what you are charging for fresh fruits?

The past couple of years we have had a chain store bring in thousands of tomato plants in 6 packs and sell them for 72 cent a 6 pack. That is 12 cent a tomato. These folks go home, re pot into a 3 or 4" container, bring out to market and sell for a buck a piece.

The plants are of a poor quality and are always mismarked. I call these hit and run vendors. They come in with cheap, weak plants for a week or two, sell hundreds of plants and then disappear.

The thing is folks buy them, and when they don't grow or get diseased they come looking to you for help or new plants and expect you to sell them your nice healthy plants that you have spent months growing for the same buck.

I am amazed that folks will pay so much for Bonnie plant, who now has tomatoes all on sale for two bucks this week at big box, but they expect you to sell them a quality plant for the same or less.

I don't like to be rude to anybody, cuz you never know what other customers are listening, but sometimes I get tired of explaining, I am not big box, I am not chem treated and I am not going to give you a plant for 50 cent.

I'd be interested in learning how you deal with these customers too. Some when you tell them sorry no can sell at 50 cent they will walk on. Others will stand there and argue with you that you way to high and they are not quiet about it either.

They seem to forget that we have to buy the seed, pay for shipping costs which are usually more than the cost of the seed, get seed starting mix, pots, soil, ferts, water, heat and everything else, and forget the time involved. They don't seem to want to hear that. They want you to give them the plants for almost free.

Now if I know there is somebody wanting plants to feed their family and they struggling big time. I will load them up for free and send them on their way.

There are several of us vendors who work together. We all sell plants, but we don't really compete against each other. We sell some things the same which is good, because if one of us runs out, we send to the other person, or if it something we don't carry we send to one in our circle of real growers who does.

What gets to us real growers is those customers that go spend their money with the hit and run folks and then come to us and say " I spent all money money with them, all I have left is this much will you take 50 cent for a plant.
Do any of you get those type of folks and if so what do you tell them?

And discounts? Do any of you give discounts? Folks round this area are always asking if I buy two or three will you give me a discount.

The funniest thing I had happen to me at market was the one year where a woman had bought a tomato plant, took it home, grew it, ate all the tomatoes, didn't save seed, didn't over winter the plant and came back the following year asking for a refund for her plant because it did not come back like a perennial plant.

[Redbaron]

I sell my extras cheap personally. But I am not actually trying to make money on seedlings. I just sell whatever extras didn't make it into the fields.

PS I also don't pot them up into 4 inch pots either. Mostly 6 pack and 9 pack cells which if they get too big I will pot up in small homemade paper pots.

[FarmerShawn]

I know there will always be regional differences in prices. Rural northeast Vermont (where I am) will never tolerate the prices my son sees at the San Francisco market, or my daughter sees at the Ithaca, NY market.
And I know that folks can get plants cheaper at other venues. Let 'em, I say. I know my plants are good, and am pretty sure they are true, and folks will never find the variety choice they will see at my stand, with around 150 varieties of tomatoes alone. I may change the numbers a bit this year, but in the past I have charged $3.50 a plant for ones that are big, and potted up into 3.5" pots. If they are willing to take a chance (not much of one, but they do look different, admittedly) on a good-looking plant rising out of just a 2" soil block, I charge $2 each. I figure I don't have the investment in a pot, or the extra potting soil, or the labor of potting up. Nor do I have nearly the space requirement, as I will have 50 blocked plants in a flat, where I only get 18 pots in one. So transportation is even a consideration. I usually start an abundance of one variety that might be a bit lesser-known but that I know works well (last year it was Juliets) and will toss one of those in free if someone buys four or more plants. And on a case-by-case basis I will dicker on larger quantities if someone shows interest but price hesitation. But I offer no apologies for my prices. I've got quality and variety unavailable elsewhere, and I think my stuff is worth it! My stand does just fine, and it seems to do better each year with more and more repeat and loyal customers.
Grrr - now I'm itching to get going, but our first market isn't until May 16th.

[Salsacharley]

I agree and concur with everything you've said. If you aren't trying to make money you should get out of the way for those that need to.

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

I know there will always be regional differences in prices. Rural northeast Vermont (where I am) will never tolerate the prices my son sees at the San Francisco market, or my daughter sees at the Ithaca, NY market.
And I know that folks can get plants cheaper at other venues. Let 'em, I say. I know my plants are good, and am pretty sure they are true, and folks will never find the variety choice they will see at my stand, with around 150 varieties of tomatoes alone. I may change the numbers a bit this year, but in the past I have charged $3.50 a plant for ones that are big, and potted up into 3.5" pots. If they are willing to take a chance (not much of one, but they do look different, admittedly) on a good-looking plant rising out of just a 2" soil block, I charge $2 each. I figure I don't have the investment in a pot, or the extra potting soil, or the labor of potting up. Nor do I have nearly the space requirement, as I will have 50 blocked plants in a flat, where I only get 18 pots in one. So transportation is even a consideration. I usually start an abundance of one variety that might be a bit lesser-known but that I know works well (last year it was Juliets) and will toss one of those in free if someone buys four or more plants. And on a case-by-case basis I will dicker on larger quantities if someone shows interest but price hesitation. But I offer no apologies for my prices. I've got quality and variety unavailable elsewhere, and I think my stuff is worth it! My stand does just fine, and it seems to do better each year with more and more repeat and loyal customers.
Grrr - now I'm itching to get going, but our first market isn't until May 16th.

[BigVanVader]

Never sell your plants for less than what you need to sell them for or everyone will want them for that "discount price". When people ask me if I will take less, I smile and say not a penny. I think the main thing is to market the crap out of your plants. I email a list with embedded links every year so customers can look at and read about each tomato I will have that year. I also keep a alphabetical list of each variety in a binder with pics/info at the stand. This usually makes people linger which attracts even more customers. Get some shirts made, hand out business cards, make big colorful signs. Make it seem like your tomatoes/plants fell straight from heaven and its a sin to sell them for what you do. Marketing plus a great product and soon you will have them all sold before you even start.

[LDx4]

I sell both tomatoes and peppers in 3.5 inch pots for $4 each. Occasionally I will have a sale on the tomatoes when they begin to get leggy and overgrown for $2 each, just to move them. I only give discounts (3 plants for $10/4 plants for $12) to my regulars who come back year after year. Of course, I do get those people who say "I can get these same plants at Costco (Home Depot, etc etc) for much less." That used to bother me. Now, I just say, "Of course you can, so maybe you'll want to buy them there." I smile, and move on to the next customer. I sell a lot of dwarfs and lesser-known varieties, so if they want a cheap Big Beef, they can certainly go to Costco! I think that my customers come back each year because they know I will give them growing advice and they can ask me questions, which they can't do at the big box stores usually. And they're willing to pay extra for this.

Lyn

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

But I offer no apologies for my prices. I've got quality and variety unavailable elsewhere, and I think my stuff is worth it! My stand does just fine, and it seems to do better each year with more and more repeat and loyal customers.
Grrr - now I'm itching to get going, but our first market isn't until May 16th.

I like that. That is the way I feel. I try to make sure that I have the most perfect , best looking plants I can grow and I try and carry different things every year. I tell my customers that way you have something unique and different from the same ole thing everybody else has.

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

I agree and concur with everything you've said. If you aren't trying to make money you should get out of the way for those that need to.

I need to make sign and change that a bit to " If your not here to spend money, move out of the way of those who do."

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Never sell your plants for less than what you need to sell them for or everyone will want them for that "discount price". When people ask me if I will take less, I smile and say not a penny. I think the main thing is to market the crap out of your plants. I email a list with embedded links every year so customers can look at and read about each tomato I will have that year. I also keep a alphabetical list of each variety in a binder with pics/info at the stand. This usually makes people linger which attracts even more customers. Get some shirts made, hand out business cards, make big colorful signs. Make it seem like your tomatoes/plants fell straight from heaven and its a sin to sell them for what you do. Marketing plus a great product and soon you will have them all sold before you even start.

I never thought about a binder. Great idea!!!! That way I can those folks that take two hours to make up their mind which one they want can stand off to the side and look and read through the binder. Might help on saving the voice too, so I don't have to keep repeating the same thing over and over. Love the other ideas too.

Originally Posted by LDx4

I sell both tomatoes and peppers in 3.5 inch pots for $4 each. Occasionally I will have a sale on the tomatoes when they begin to get leggy and overgrown for $2 each, just to move them. I only give discounts (3 plants for $10/4 plants for $12) to my regulars who come back year after year. Of course, I do get those people who say "I can get these same plants at Costco (Home Depot, etc etc) for much less." That used to bother me. Now, I just say, "Of course you can, so maybe you'll want to buy them there." I smile, and move on to the next customer. I sell a lot of dwarfs and lesser-known varieties, so if they want a cheap Big Beef, they can certainly go to Costco! I think that my customers come back each year because they know I will give them growing advice and they can ask me questions, which they can't do at the big box stores usually. And they're willing to pay extra for this.

Lyn

Here for the common like Sweet Banana, Hot Banana and Cayenne peppers most folks buy them in a 6 pack and have fits when you are charging 2.50 for them. I wish I could get those kind of prices.

I like how you do your discount. I have lots and lots of repeat customers. The ones that get me are the ones that bought one plant and say "Hey I'm a repeat customer, I want this plant, will you make me a deal. "

"Of course you can, so maybe you'll want to buy them there.

I like that. Lots nicer to say than what is running through my mind sometimes.

Folks here sometimes are unreal. You would be surprised at the number of customers who when you say sorry, I can't take less, turn around and say " Well, I'll just talk to the management," and they do. Excuse me. I am an independent vendor and I am my own management. I set my own prices.

One day mgt. was walking around and overheard the vendor next to me telling a man sorry, he couldn't take less. The man put up a fuss. The vendor was calm and not rude at all. Couldn't believe mgt. told the vendor he should have sold it for what the guy wanted. All of us had fits that day mgt thinking they could price control us.

Have any of you noticed that if you make signage using the word heirloom that folks say they don't grow good and walk on. Maybe it is because of the heat and humidity here I don't know.

I did change my sign to say Specialty Tomato and Pepper Plants and then they will look and buy.

[LindyAdele]

I live in Ontario, Canada so things are different price-wise. I expect to pay $3 for herb plants, or more. Lowes and Rona and Superstore charge $2-$8 a veggie plant. There is a guy who sells heirloom tomato plants at the big market in my city for $5 each. They are beautiful plants, he has 25 varieties and has very loyal customers! If I didn't grow my own, I would buy from him. $1 a plant is rediculous! I woud expect to get garbage for that price.
I am just a consumer, not a seller but don't feel bad about charging a fair cost. Your price should be actual cost to you, plus time, plus profit. You are not a charity.

[joseph]

I haven't decided on pricing yet... I'm expecting to have tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, chard, mullein, etc in 10/20 six packs, and tomatoes and tomatillos in 3.5" pots. I'm kinda leaning towards $2.50 for either one of any species... Subject to change based on how well or how poorly they sell. The local box stores are carrying Bonnie plants in 3 to 4 inch pots for $3 to $4.

Fruit pricing depends on time of year... The first of season fruits will be pricey!!! Towards the end of season I expect to ask $13 per half bushel. Any lower than that isn't worth my time to want to pick them. I can't sell peppers, so I'm likely to only grow them for seed and as gifts.

Last time I calculated, I was making $2 per hour as a farmer. I have little sympathy for rich people that ask me for discounts.. I give away much more than I sell, because I grow primarily for a food pantry, and sell just enough to cover operating expenses. The prices I ask for things varies depending on who's doing the asking... The mayor can pay higher prices than the widow who's husband died last fall. She needs the dignity of paying something.

I don't argue with anyone about price... Either they pay me what I ask, or I direct my attention elsewhere. There are a couple of ladies that always used to want to haggle over price... I understand them now... Whenever I see them at market, I give them a gift. Whether they buy anything from me or not they always get a gift, even if I have to chase them down to give it to them. They've stopped trying to haggle.

Honey is the worst!!! People always want bulk discounts... We will sell every bottle we can produce at the asking price, and wish we had more. It's not the slightest bit perishable. There is no benefit to us by offering a volume discount... If I have way too much of something, I price it at the beginning of the market so that I think it will sell before the end of the day. Or I make worm food from it, or can it.

Sometimes I sell bushel quantities and pint quantities of the same thing... On a per pound basis the small quantities usually cost around twice as much as the bushel quantities... But I don't see any need to offer 3 for the price of 2... The prices I ask are more than fair.

There are some people that come by the last 10 minutes of market hoping to score end of day discounts... Some of them are greedy predators. Some of them are poor as dirt. I usually prefer to make worm food rather than give my farm's fertility away to the predators. I'm delighted to load the poor up with as much as they can carry off.

I consider it very fortunate that our market is "Producer Only", and we do farm inspections to assure that the farmer's really are growing what they claim to be growing.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by joseph

I don't argue with anyone about price... Either they pay me what I ask, or I direct my attention elsewhere. There are a couple of ladies that always used to want to haggle over price... I understand them now... Whenever I see them at market, I give them a gift. Whether they buy anything from me or not they always get a gift, even if I have to chase them down to give it to them. They've stopped trying to haggle.

Very good point. I do a similar thing for almost everyone. I grow quite a lot of basil simply as a companion plant. My tomatoes simply produce measurably better interspersed with Basil and other herbs and flowers. So every customer gets two free gifts. I start by stuffing a sungold F1 in their face! Then I let them choose what they want. After I get their money I fill them up with various types of basil samples free. sometimes tarragon dill etc... too. Maybe even a mouse melon. I have even picked flowers for those ladies commenting on my flower beds. One particularly hard core haggler I once gave a whole grocery bag of culls I was going to turn into sauce. I don't get much haggling anymore.

Originally Posted by joseph

I consider it very fortunate that our market is "Producer Only", and we do farm inspections to assure that the farmer's really are growing what they claim to be growing.

Luckily for me there is enough traffic on my road that I can sell from my front yard. Anyone who can't believe I grew the tomatoes get's an instant invitation to tour my tomato plants complete with a long discussion of my unique methods.

[natural]

I sell 8 week old plants in 3.5 inch pots for $4 each. I have over 100 varieties to sell.
We are in a mixed market (some resellers allowed), so I will get a set of customers that grumble about the price. I spend approximately 2 seconds with them. I do not even try to persuade them to buy. They are only in the way of customers that are waiting to buy.

Bill

[mmm123]

You might as well add 20% to your asking price and then you can give a 20% discount to anyone asking for a better deal. Some people will only buy something if they think they got a deal. I always tell people they can pay more then the asking price. It's all fun I think? Nothing seems to go down when I am buying it?

[rhines81]

Farmers make their most money from individual sales, versus selling off wholesale but at the cost of spending their time (or paying someone else) to do so. This is their career, this is their income and they deserve to drive market prices within reason. I respect that, but I just love to grow things. People like me, should not get involved with controlling the price of goods. If the goods being sold are not quality, then it's a different story. But please don't step on the 'career' farmers toes if possible.
It's always nice to get my investment back, but I grow what I need and always have way more. I don't make income from farming and give away my excess to family, friends and coworkers. When I give, I usually receive back something that I did not grow. That is my trade-off. It's kind of a barter system. All said and done, it's probably break-even for me each year since I am not buying produce.
My free time is way to valuable to dicker with people over the price plants or produce. I can spend 1 hour in my underwear trading stocks over the internet and make 100x more than 8 hours spent at a farmer's market selling tomatoes. I am not a stock broker either, it's a hobby just like gardening. Just trying to put use of free time into perspective. My free time... I want to spend drinking a beer or two, puttering around the house, sitting with friends or doing other recreational things that don't involve arguing over 50 cents for a plant.

[bower]

I sell the extra plants I don't manage to give away, and always offer a deal up front for multiple plants, partly because I don't want to take any home after the market. I have sold 7-8 wk peppers in 16 0z cups for $5 each or 3 for $12, about 6 wk old peppers and tomatoes $4 each or 3 for $10. I made some clients a special offer one year, 6 tomatoes in the 16 oz cups for $10 at 4 weeks old - I needed the space, and they liked the deal - they just had to care for the young plants on their own windowsill, because it was too early to plant out.
I also have noticed that customers preferred smaller pepper plants in 10 oz cups at a lower price, rather than the bigger plants. I sell those $3 each or 2 for $5. Tomatoes have to go in the bigger cups, and take a lot of space under the lights, so likely $4 is the minimum unless they are very young plants.
No one has complained or asked for a lower price, but you know they like the deal when most people buy four or eight instead of one - even though it's early spring and they'll have to give some care to the plants indoors themselves.

Fresh tomatoes we sell for $10 a kilo here - that's about $4.50 a lb. Even a lb of "fresh tomatoes" in the supermarket here goes for $4 to $5 most of the year so it's a great price for the quality product. Peppers are expensive in the supermarket too, so anyone who grows a nice pepper plant is likely to get their money back, at least!.

[Cole_Robbie]

Market rate at my market for a six-pack of tomatoes is $1.50. I try to sell individual plants in 4" pots. I charge $1.50 each, 4 for $5. Almost everyone spends $5. Most people have small gardens, anyway, and prefer to choose one of each type of tomato. I don't have many pepper plants, but I price them the same. I'm the only vendor at my market selling unusual heirlooms.

Large tomato plants in a 1-gallon pot go for $5 at my market. I sell a few, but I rarely have the money to buy enough pro mix to have very many. I'll grow a couple hanging baskets and get $10 out of them.

The plant business is really only good for me for about a month. Then everyone's gardens are planted and they stop buying plants. Selling actual tomatoes, by comparison, I can do for about four months. I'm trying to cut back on my greenhouse hours, so I can spend more time on the garden, because it makes more money.