I've sold larger tomatoes, cukes, zukes, bell peppers that way. Tried to price them around what conventional grocery store prices were (I'm "sustainable") also looked at weekly farmer's market price survey from state. I don't have a certified scale so I have to sell by the piece or by the bag (hot peppers), dry pint (berries), etc.

Seemed to work pretty well for cukes and zukes, not so well for tomatoes, and the only comment I got on bell peppers was that they were small. I think people are used to buying cukes each (or 3 for $1, or whatever), zukes by the pound (but didn't seem to mind by the piece, I was trying to see if people were going for the big seedy ones and they were - maybe just b/c they thought they were getting a bargain, they actually asked for larger than I will let them get). But they're really used to buying tomatoes by the pound here (unless they're cherry toms by the pint) so even telling them that the tomatoes I had in a pint basket were roughly 2lbs didn't sway them. And I was too afraid to bring my digital scale to market just as a rough check.

I am not sure, but I know in Kansas the weights and measures dictate how you should sell produce and by what method. Check it out for your state. I have never heard of anyone coming around enforcing this, but I guess they could. I have heard of the scale inspections, but that is only if there is a complaint.

Here is what they say,
'2.3.2. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
(L&R, 1979, p. 176; 1980; 1982, p. 152; 2008)

Guideline

Recognizing the difficulty faced by consumers when more than one method of sale is employed in the same outlet for the same product, noncomparable methods of sale (e.g., weight and measure) for the same produce item in the same outlet should be minimized.

This guideline applies to all sales of fruits and vegetables. There are two tables, one for specific commodities and one for general commodity groups. Search the specific list first to find those commodities that either do not fit into any of the general groups or have unique methods of sale. If the item is not listed, find the general group in the second table. The item may be sold by any method of sale marked with an X. (Amended 2008)'

I follow all these rules. I know there are few who don't. The one thing I see that is not followed is selling Okra by weight, not by the pint or quart. Many vendors sell it in pint boxes. It isn't weighed. It is difficult, because they are asking more for less. When I weigh out a pound of Okra from me, they see they are getting a better deal from me. So I usually have a basket sat out with a pound in it to show the difference.

Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: Method for selling fruits and Vegetables

Jay is right about State of Kansas guidelines however, at the markets at which I have sold here in the Kansas City area, I and others often sell by the piece, 3 turnips for a dollar, 8 radishes for a dollar, 2 cukes for a dollar, bunch of parsley or mint for one dollar. Or, people will sell a pint box of cherry tomatoes or okra for a couple bucks. This is because we accept vouchers from the state issued to elderly and these vouchers come in increments of $3.00 and we are not allowed to give change. The vouchers can only be spent on produce or honey grown within the local area. Because we get so many folks with the coupons, we have learned to customize our products to the coupons and it works. We also have a locally subsidized program called Beans n Greens which supplements the coupons or the SNAP (supplemental nutrition assisttance program or food stamps). http://beansandgreens.org/markets/program_info.aspx

Here is a link that might be useful: Kansas Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program

I sell both, by the piece and by the pound. Corn, cucumbers, zucchinis, bunches of radishes, green onions and carrots.

I sell tomatoes, potatoes, and sometimes winter squash by the pound. Mainly because the various sizes.

Lots of vendors put things in baskets or boxes and sell by the container.

Marla

I don't use a scale, they are expensive because they must be state certified, and they stop by the market every year, you never know when, to check scales.
I will sell bunches of onions, radish, carrots and anything else that can be bundled. Sometimes I will fill baskets full of veggies, selling 2 or 3 for $1, letting people pick the ones they want. I also use pint and other containers, fill them up and sell for $2 or $3 each.
I think people like knowing that they are paying me $5 instead of wondering what the scale will say.

No one at my market uses a scale; everything is quantity priced. The only things I have marked a price for each are: leeks, onions, garlic, melons, squash, jumbo tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant, ghost chilies, cucs (burpless), sweet corn. That is all I can think of. I bunch all root crops and sell the rest by quarts and pints. For mixed sizes of squash and melons, I weigh them at home and put an even price by size so a big watermelon and a small one are two different prices. I get free price tags at work to stick on.

I certifyable scale is not as expensive as they used to be. I spent $300 for one 10 years ago, then about 3 years ago I found one on ebay, new, for less than $100. You just have to shop around.

It's really worth having one, you can get full price for those items that really needs to be weighed.

Marla

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate your input. This is our first year to sell. We plan to 'truck farm' two days a week ~ one at a location three miles away and the other at a location 20 miles away. We are a small intensive operation with usually only one person in the field, namely me. I want to eliminate as much handling time as possible and feel that selling by the 'piece' and not having to pre-weigh and pre-package too much will help cut down market prep time.

Our plans are to sell tomatoes, onions, garlic, corn, squash, cabbage, cukes, pumpkins, and melons at an individual price; bunch the carrots, beets, turnips, herbs, and greens; pre-pack okra, beans, southern peas, and sweet peppers into quarts (we're only selling sweet banana this year), and pre-pack sugar peas and hot peppers into pints. Does this sound like it will work?

We are not certified organic but we do raise our crops using organic production methods. We are chemical-free and only add natural amendment to our soil. I don't think any of this will impress folks here too much, though. They just want a tasty tomato; it doesn't matter too much how it got that way.

Our city only has one grocery store and this will be our only competitor at the 3 mile location. The 20 mile location does have other produce vendors but that's exactly what they are, produce vendors. I mean, no one in Alabama farms bananas or starfruit or coconuts, right? I'll be able to set up any where I choose (its actually a flea market) and won't have to be right beside a 'produce vendor.'

I suppose we'll determine our selling price when it gets a little closer to market time by checking out the grocery store prices first. I know our quality beats theirs but around here, with the economy so terrible, money seems to rule. Folks will not buy something if they can save $1.00 on it down the road no matter how good it tastes, and they'll drive ten miles to do it. :)

I would not suggest selling tomatoes by the piece as what happens is people pick up many maters looking for the right one, and you end up with about half the tomatoes bruised and unsellable by days' end.

I would not suggest selling tomatoes by the piece as what happens is people pick up many maters looking for the right one, and you end up with about half the tomatoes bruised and unsellable by days' end.

Just an aside, I saw bundles of 3 small beets,with small blemished and wilted tops, at the grocery store the other day for $1.99. Other very average produce was similarly priced.

Try not to sell by the each. People man handle your produce as was stated above. Pre-package into bags, etc. I now only sell tomatoes by the package of 6 for large tomatoes or by the half pint, pint and quart for cherries. Keep in mind that if you advertise using terms like pint, half-pint and quart containers that your state may have standards for how full they need to be.

We sell by using terms like small medium and large for the containers. Garlic is sold by the bulb and by containers (which are pre-weighed by us to have 3 or 5 lbs.)

Whatever you can do to limit people touching your produce, do it. Grocery stores have a LOT of margin so can afford shrink. I know, I worked in grocery for 14 years from stock boy up to assistant store manager. Much of our produce had 30% or more shrink. If you notice today, MANY of the tomatoes are shrink wrapped in the store. Only produce with hard shells is left for the customer to grab. The higher cost of packaging is paid for by less shrink and higher prices.

I agree about the tomatoes. LOL. I have sold the jumbo ones as each because of their size but wouldn't do it again. I sell them by quarts. The only problem is that it takes more time and table space to sell them by quarts. Don't you think selling by pound causes a lot of touching too?

I put heirloom tomatoes separate from the others and put them in a little flat box with a note telling people not to handle the heirloom tomatoes because they are more delicate and bruise easily. It works most of the time.
If I see someone that isn't listening, I DO ask/tell them not to handle the heirlooms and explain why. I didn't do that for a long time because I thought it would make people mad, but a few of them actually bought heirlooms because I told them. They said things like, I wondered what was different about heirlooms but I felt too dumb to ask.

I let my customers pick their own tomatoes out and we sell by the pound. I don't have a problem with tomatoes being bruised or beat up. Maybe it is because we go through them so fast that most people pick them up and put them in their bowl to be weighed or someone else will take them. Occasionally, an heirloom will crack, but usually not a big problem.

I don't have the man power on market days to fill baskets with produce. I also believe that selling by the pound sets me apart from the other vendors, most who sell in baskets. I get business from the ones who only one 1 or 2 tomatoes, not 5 to 7. When I have put tomatoes in smaller baskets I see more people inspecting them, grabbing, touching, than the ones I have in my tubs for them to select from.

The only thing I have in baskets is cherry tomatoes. I also put a pound of okra in a bag to show how much 1 pound is. Everything else the customer selects the bunch or the piece.

Jay

I prepack as much as possible the day before as I have found if you sell by the piece you lose product and if you sell by the pound you lose customers because weighing produce takes about 30 seconds (weigh than figure up cost) which doesn't seem like a lot of time but if you do this 100 time that is almost an hour of time and people waiting at the end of the line tend to quit waiting and leave (and you don't even know you lost a sale).

So the evening before a morning market I am boxing up lots of tomatoes, among other things. I will also take loose tomatoes to refill the boxes, if needed as well as to sell by the pound to the occasional person who wants one or two medium to small sized tomatoes (single older people for the most part with anorexic college co-eds being a strong second for this service)

having everything weighed out and ready to go makes set up in the morning really quick as well.

I have have always thought that about weighing, but I am going to stay with it. It doesn't take me 30 seconds to weigh items. I usually run 2 scales at my busiest market.

Also, to make things faster to weigh and check out, I have big plastic bowls that customers use like shopping baskets. I put a bag in each one and I pull it over the edges. In my previous picture, you can see two of them in the upper left corner. I zero out my scale for the bag and bowl. That way when someone gives me the bowl of tomatoes, I sit it on the scale, see the weight and tell them the price. Then grab the handles of the bag and pull it out of the bowl. They pay, I give change (if needed) and I move to the next customer. I am always waiting on the customer more than I am waiting on the scale. Which would be true if I put things in boxes too.

If I was at larger markets, losing customers would be a problem. However, at my smaller markets it works for me.

Jay

One other issue about weighing is the calculations. It is more math and more small change. I keep things to the dollar and sometimes 50c. It helps when it is hot and I can't do math (b/c my brain doesn't work when it is too hot LOL).

If you are going to buy a certifiable scale, then spend the little extra for a price computing scale, THEN no math needed. Except when multiple items, and some of the scales will do that also.

I usually round down to the nearest quarter, if I'm feeling generous. Or the nearest nickle, if things are tight that week. Any way, the customer is getting alittle more for their money, and they DO remember that and come back. Everyone is watching their money these days.

Jay, I would take the bag out and then weigh it, myself. But that's me. If anyone else, does this, BE SURE the customer sees that with the bowl or container, the scale reads ZERO. I had an adjoining vendor that alot of people thought he was cheating them by using the container. He wasn't, but they didn't realize that the scales can TARE items.

Marla