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beastcoast
Stranger
Registered: 03/29/15
Posts: 92
Last seen: 4 years, 7 months
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$300 for farmers market vendor insurance?
#22039356 - 08/03/15 07:53 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Met with the local market manager today. Very sweet, helpful, and devilishly hot. She is very keen on bringing mushrooms into the market. She has no vendors that sell them and she supposes I'll do quite well for myself. But there are more hoops. I need to have vendor insurance. Running rate is between 250-350 dollars from what I've seen. If I had to guess, I'm already in about 800 bucks on my grow operation. Given plenty of mushrooms away and tossed plenty. Still looking to make my first nickel. I just need the insurance, a folding table, a quick-fold canopy, and some way to package these guys.
I'm 21 and don't know the first thing about insurance. I'm assuming this is something that has to be renewed yearly? And I'm also guessing it exclusively covers market sales? Well the market really dies down after September. So I figure I'll have about 8 good weeks if I count this one. She expects I'll do well, but 300 dollar insurance well? I don't know. What do you guys think?
https://www.farmersmarketinsurenow.com/quotes.asp And does anyone know anything about this company? Are they legit? It looks like I can become insured within 5 minutes. I would have expected there to be a lot more processing and formal procedure with this sort of thing. But if it's really that simple, awesome, because I really wanted to take part in the market this Thursday.
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champinhom
Lord Justhappensness


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 987
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Re: $300 for farmers market vendor insurance? [Re: beastcoast]
#22040350 - 08/04/15 12:26 AM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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If you are not sure about the legitimacy of this company, you might want to ask others who participate in this market who insures them.
From what I've seen of the type of people who frequent farmer's markets, they certainly have the money to spend on mushrooms if they have a mind to.
-------------------- My father used to say: I don't care what else you do in life, just don't be an asshole. People, forgive me when I forget what my daddy said. Cut back the proliferating list of people whose opinions can hurt you. Unless they have done or want to do you some good, their views are just not worth tracking. Saul Bellow “People are just cannibals unless they leave each other alone.” Doris Lessing Those whom the gods would save, they dower with compassion. Mr. P. Silocybin
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poofterFroth
Feel Like A Stranger



Registered: 03/15/14
Posts: 1,012
Last seen: 25 days, 48 minutes
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Re: $300 for farmers market vendor insurance? [Re: champinhom]
#22041181 - 08/04/15 09:11 AM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Insurance can be expensive, but can often be paid in smaller monthly installments over the year. My liability insurance is a bit over $300 yearly, but I only have to pay $20/per month which makes it much less of a hit. Overall, it's worth it to have the peace of mind.
I'm lucky enough to live in the town with the best farmers market in the state and can easily bank over $300 on a Saturday, on fresh mushrooms alone. Unfortunately, not all markets are as profitable so you may want to do your research. Politely inquiring with other vendors is a good way to start.
I think you'd be better off calling some local insurance companies rather than going with the link you provided. Just call some up and they'll write up a quote and outline what it covers. Chances are some of the places you call will already be dealing with other farmers at your market. It's also a good idea to ask around to the other vendors about how they handle their insurance.
But honestly dude, September is very close and that means you don't have many markets you can miss if you want to recoup your insurance investment. Growing quality mushrooms on a continuous schedule can be trickey and a big investment. It might be best to scale back and focus on restaurant or grocery store sales till next season when you have the whole vending season on your side.
There's a big learning curve that goes with selling and marketing your product. I would focus on nailing down a continuous grow schedule with high quality mushrooms. Harvesting and storage have their own ups & downs that will need dealt with. When next season rolls around you'll be much better off.
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That_Idiot



Registered: 04/12/15
Posts: 35
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Re: $300 for farmers market vendor insurance? [Re: beastcoast]
#22042196 - 08/04/15 01:29 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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At my farmer's market there are vendors who are willing to take on your product if you don't have enough product or time to invest in a full table. It would be on their table and under their table. They do it as a way to encourage people to join - also having greater diversity at the table draws more buyers for her/his own goods as well. The guy who "took me in" doesn't charge me anything, but it would be reasonable to expect to pay something - maybe a small percentage of sales.
And consider taking not just mushrooms, but also fruiting blocks/baskets/books/whatever. Nothing gets farmer's market people delirious like a bunch of mushrooms that haven't been harvested yet. Hand them the pinning block and an instruction sheet and let them worry about the 2nd and 3rd harvest. YMMV.
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beastcoast
Stranger
Registered: 03/29/15
Posts: 92
Last seen: 4 years, 7 months
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Re: $300 for farmers market vendor insurance? [Re: champinhom]
#22043167 - 08/04/15 04:56 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
champinhom said: If you are not sure about the legitimacy of this company, you might want to ask others who participate in this market who insures them.
From what I've seen of the type of people who frequent farmer's markets, they certainly have the money to spend on mushrooms if they have a mind to.
Everyone at the market uses the same one or two insurance carriers. I was really hoping I could do it through this company because it can all be done online, within just a few minutes. Which means I'll be able to go Thursday
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Toadstool5
A Registered Mycophile



Registered: 01/22/15
Posts: 1,359
Loc: The Golden State
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Re: $300 for farmers market vendor insurance? [Re: beastcoast]
#22044513 - 08/04/15 08:56 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Sounds legit, normally for a small business in a low risk market for 500k to 1.5M in general liabilty its between 250 and 550 if you pay annually. You can pay monthly too but they normally offer a discount to just pay once a year.
Talk with the agent about what incidents are covered and if there is anything that isnt covered. Your main concern should be whether or not food poisoning is covered. Also wouldnt hurt to ask if there is a deductable you have to meet before they pay-out.
-------------------- If you do not know where the mushroom products you are consuming are grown, think twice before eating them. - Paul Stamets AMU Teks Stro's Write Ups
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