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poofterFroth
Feel Like A Stranger



Registered: 03/15/14
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: drake89]
#22238337 - 09/14/15 07:52 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Yeah dude, I sell my mushrooms at market every week - its enjoyable and profitable without overpricing. 
Obviously its great to bank on $20+ lbs, but I don't think its a fair price for common oysters, even if they're super primo & organic. It doesn't leave much room for pricing other varities.
I agree that others like pinks, and yellows should bring a few more bucks considering the lower yield, fragile and short shelf life but still 20 is pushing it in my view.
Here's my typical pricing scheme:
Oysters : $12/lbs King Oyster : $16-24/lbs Shiitake : $16/lbs Lions Mane : $20/lbs Wine Cap : $16-24/lbs Pioppino : $16/lbs Reishi : $1/gr. Chanterelle : $24/lbs Chicken of Woods : $16/lbs Maitake : $24/lbs Morel : $40+/lbs ------------------------------------ Dried oyster : $2/half ounce Dried shiitake : $3/half ounce
I also find that having $2 and $3 dollar options on your table opens up a lot more sales. Not everyone wants to drop a 5 every time they wanna try something.
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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$60+lb for morels. i never find more than a pound though in the south and all. $30+ for chickens and maitakes. i don't do farmer's markets any more though unless I'm desperate. for me it's not a very efficient way of making markets. i'd rather sell them all to chefs or wholesalers and still have my day to enjoy, even if it's less money in my pocket. if you care to listen to joel salatin, he says it's not worth showing up to a market if you don't make over $2,000! i'm not as extreme as him, but if it's your livelihood, I wouldn't settle for less than $100/hr.
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: drake89]
#22239158 - 09/14/15 11:08 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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$100/hr especially when you consider 3X the labor hours invested in spawn, substrate and harvesting
Edited by Gr0wer (09/16/15 09:23 AM)
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midnightmaraude
Stranger


Registered: 05/09/14
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: Gr0wer]
#22239887 - 09/15/15 06:49 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Holy crapola. I am in the wrong line of business here. $100 an hour!? $40-60 a lb for morels $1 a gram for Reishi, oh my! lol
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Quote:
midnightmaraude said: Holy crapola. I am in the wrong line of business here. $100 an hour!? $40-60 a lb for morels $1 a gram for Reishi, oh my! lol
nah most mushroom farmers you will find are struggling to start up. I planned only to make $20/hr. yet to see much of that 3 years in. but for 'off farm' time, you need to be making maybe even more than $100/hr. cause think about how much value in mushrooms you can make per hour by processing substrate or whatever. then if you're delivering $100 worth of mushrooms in 2 hours you are actually losing money.
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shroombasa
Sojourner



Registered: 05/02/15
Posts: 364
Loc: 'Merka
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Quote:
poofterFroth said: Yeah dude, I sell my mushrooms at market every week - its enjoyable and profitable without overpricing. 
Obviously its great to bank on $20+ lbs, but I don't think its a fair price for common oysters, even if they're super primo & organic. It doesn't leave much room for pricing other varities.
I agree that others like pinks, and yellows should bring a few more bucks considering the lower yield, fragile and short shelf life but still 20 is pushing it in my view.
Here's my typical pricing scheme:
Oysters : $12/lbs King Oyster : $16-24/lbs Shiitake : $16/lbs Lions Mane : $20/lbs Wine Cap : $16-24/lbs Pioppino : $16/lbs Reishi : $1/gr. Chanterelle : $24/lbs Chicken of Woods : $16/lbs Maitake : $24/lbs Morel : $40+/lbs ------------------------------------ Dried oyster : $2/half ounce Dried shiitake : $3/half ounce
I also find that having $2 and $3 dollar options on your table opens up a lot more sales. Not everyone wants to drop a 5 every time they wanna try something.
I'm just starting to ramp up my production for the purpose of farmer's markets and this thread has been great food for thought. With the prices you listed, how do you market them? Do you sell by weight, volume? Do you prepackage or package on the spot?
-------------------- Trade list
Peace and long life.
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popok
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Registered: 07/31/13
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Loc: athens, greece
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: shroombasa]
#22244777 - 09/16/15 08:17 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Here, in greece, blue oyster are $3.5 a pound in supermarket, you dont realize how lucky you are to sell at $20 a pound.
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poofterFroth
Feel Like A Stranger



Registered: 03/15/14
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: popok]
#22259151 - 09/19/15 06:50 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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@ shroobasa.
Fresh: I mostly sell directly from display baskets by weight, using a scale certified by the weights/measures dept. and put into paperbags at the time of sale.
Prices are clearly marked on my signboard by 1/4 lbs prices. (ie, oysters $3 per 1/4lbs. etc.) Its a little more welcoming when your not advertising a full board of high dollar prices, but instead breaking it down into smaller amounts.
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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I love the idea of 1/4lb pricing but hate as a consumer. I remember when me and my wife went to a NYC candy shop and saw the price not noticing the 1/4 and paid like $18 for a bag of mixed candy.
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: Gr0wer]
#22261626 - 09/19/15 07:10 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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At stores they do like 3.5 oz pricing to really confused you
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Jim Morrison
Lizard King



Registered: 03/20/15
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: drake89]
#22261653 - 09/19/15 07:15 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
drake89 said: At stores they do like 3.5 oz pricing to really confused you
Yes, the Hy-Vee store here does that for oyster mushrooms. When you figure it out, it ends up being $18.50/lb.
-------------------- Jim Morrison's Trade List Live Long and Myceliate! The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Ayn Rand
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shroombasa
Sojourner



Registered: 05/02/15
Posts: 364
Loc: 'Merka
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: drake89]
#22264114 - 09/20/15 10:28 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Gr0wer said: I love the idea of 1/4lb pricing but hate as a consumer. I remember when me and my wife went to a NYC candy shop and saw the price not noticing the 1/4 and paid like $18 for a bag of mixed candy.
Quote:
drake89 said: At stores they do like 3.5 oz pricing to really confused you
Yeah, a friend of mine bought some store bought oysters the other day and asked me how much I was planning on selling mine for. When I said $16-$20 a pound, they looked at me like I was crazy and said that they were only $8 a pound at the store. I pointed out the weight on the box and after the mental math, they realized they'd been had.
-------------------- Trade list
Peace and long life.
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poofterFroth
Feel Like A Stranger



Registered: 03/15/14
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Last seen: 25 days, 48 minutes
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: shroombasa]
#22264937 - 09/20/15 01:29 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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People sometimes have a tendency to see what they want to see. The pricing isn't neccasarily at fault. One thing about pricing at lower quanities is it conveys to people that they don't have to buy a whole pound.
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Edited by poofterFroth (09/20/15 01:29 PM)
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Cleared $100 today at the market! We had pinks and they drew a crowd hopefully as the variety and rapport with customer build we will hit the $200 mark soon!
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: Gr0wer]
#22330411 - 10/03/15 09:37 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Gr0wer said: Cleared $100 today at the market! We had pinks and they drew a crowd hopefully as the variety and rapport with customer build we will hit the $200 mark soon!
i'm going to bed early for market in the AM. it's a grueling 12hr day door to door. last week we did $200 and it was the worst week in a long time. we did $75 our first market. average is $300. some people I know clear $1000 in mushrooms at market which blows my freakin mind!
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: drake89]
#22332882 - 10/04/15 02:01 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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2-300 is what me and my associate figure we can cap out at this local market. Were looking to expand and split up to two separate markets for more $$. His backyard patches are averaging 1-3 lbs a week and im already at 6 lbs this week from my martha. And now im going from 6 sq feet to 70 over the next two weeks and he is expanding all his patches.
What does everyone else sell there dried mushrooms as? I just dried 13 oz and only got 1.7oz dried. I was thinking sell in dried wet lb bags or 2oz dry for like $15??
Edited by Gr0wer (10/04/15 02:04 PM)
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: Gr0wer]
#22333897 - 10/04/15 06:08 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Gr0wer said: 2-300 is what me and my associate figure we can cap out at this local market. Were looking to expand and split up to two separate markets for more $$. His backyard patches are averaging 1-3 lbs a week and im already at 6 lbs this week from my martha. And now im going from 6 sq feet to 70 over the next two weeks and he is expanding all his patches.
What does everyone else sell there dried mushrooms as? I just dried 13 oz and only got 1.7oz dried. I was thinking sell in dried wet lb bags or 2oz dry for like $15??
yes I sell a dry ounce for $4 or a dry lb for $50-60. My mushrooms are really wet when they start and really dry when they finish. So 1 dry pound takes me about 15# wet starting out.
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solarity
mm... my favourite food



Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 1,590
Loc: UK
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: drake89]
#22335459 - 10/05/15 01:39 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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£3.50 for 25gr
-------------------- Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: solarity]
#22360930 - 10/10/15 09:45 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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So yea i sold ~8 lbs in less than 2 hours today... I sold out before 9am! I talked to another vendor who sells produce and he said 300 is the norm for him and he can sell $500 if he has exotic produce. I was easily twice as busy as him so i can definitely see making $4-500 a market. And to top it off the venue is a restaurant and the owner said if i ever have leftovers they will buy them for the kitchen. Now i need to really work on hitting 15-20 lbs a week!! Free samples worked wonders too. Another pointer is get a facebook page and be sure to post on the markets website when they post your pictures. I got 9 likes from actual customers today which will be handy with giving people a heads up on what market(s) ill be at and making sales on the side.
Edited by Gr0wer (10/10/15 09:47 PM)
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solarity
mm... my favourite food



Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 1,590
Loc: UK
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Re: Farmers market experience [Re: Gr0wer]
#22361217 - 10/10/15 11:05 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Don't extrapolate too much from your first market. There is a novelty value that might not last. Though at such small volumes the only way is up! Also do not forget to factor in rain, major sporting events and all your produce being ready the day after the market.
-------------------- Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!
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