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letsgarden64

Cost

letsgarden64
14 years ago

How can I find out how much to charge for the veggies? Last year I was undercharging. I don't want to make so they don't want to buy from me. Cand you you help with this problem? Thanks so much

Comments (3)

  • randy41_1
    14 years ago

    When i go to the market i check with other vendors to get some idea of the range of selling prices.

  • prmsdlndfrm
    14 years ago

    This is a buisness problem. First you want to stay in buisness, and if your losing money by not recouping your cost , you are not going to stay in buisness, second you want to be paid something for your labor, this is the land of the free, and as such we generaly dont want to work for free, third you want some profit, otherwise why are you doing this, Im sorry I, I love to farm as much as anyone, but Im not going to work this hard for no reward for anyone other than me or my family. The only exception might be as Jack does, raising food for the less fortunate,
    So you have to keep a record of all expenses, everything, and record hours of labor, record milage and trips made to market, and to pick up supplies, record water use, even if from well or pond, as all have cost associated, such as infrastructure (pipes, hoses, sprayers etc) record land rents, mortgage, taxes, record use of tools and machinery.
    List all these in colums of association. ie: machinery/ Land/ seed/ etc then under each list the material. After that, put life expectancy of each item by that item ie: tiller-5 years or whatever its life is. With the life expectancy, take the cost of said item and divide by its expexted life ie: tiller $500 / 5 years = $100 per year, so each year that tiller cost you $100 plus the cost of oil, fuel , and maintenance.
    This is what is called your overhead, this is what will be divided up , by the amount each crop uses, then divided up per item for sell, then you add your expected margin of profit.
    This may seem a lot of math, and you may be as I was in the beginning and just hoping that someone would tell you what to charge, depending on how serious you are this is the only way to see if a certain crop is worth growing, and this is something your going to have to do so you can get your taxes done and not have to pay more than your fair share of taxes.
    josh

  • myfamilysfarm
    14 years ago

    While Josh is right, but it is overwhelming. I usually check the grocery store prices, not sale prices, the day before. I keep in mind those prices. I also check my fellow vendors prices, if they have the same items and quality that I have. I tried not to upset my fellow vendors by cutting their prices with mine. If they don't have equal produce, then I just guess and hope for the best.

    In the early part of the seaon, it is very hard to determine your costs. I have also compared my prices with others from this forum, if nothing else than to re-assure myself that I'm not TOO high.

    Also, at a farmer's market, depending upon location and cliente, prices will be different than selling from your farm stand or as a contract grower.

    I have been guilty of lowering my prices at my market, IF, I find our that there are several other vendors lower in price. As one old-time vendor told me YEARS ago, "You can always take your price down, but raising a price is difficult". So I price high to start with. Many times I have been the 'price setter'.

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