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Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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Posted by naturemitch 4 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 17, 05 at 13:57
| Hi,
I have noticed on a couple of other posts the mention of subscriptions for tomato seedlings. Right now I grow heirlooms(tomatoes and peppers) and cutflowers for market(my front yard..but the FM this year as well), but am very curious about subscriptions on seedlings and wonder if anyone could share some advice.
Do you have a set number of varities that you offer to people or can and do you take special requests? How do you go about what to charge? For exm. if I am selling my tomato plants at market for $2.00...do you charge more for the plants, tack on a delivery fee, have minimum order size or????? when you do a subscription.
Any advice or help would be appreciated...this year I have my hands full with what I have going, but I thought I could start looking into something extra for the following season. What do you all think???
Thanks
m
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| It is a good Idea, you could run an add in the local area and a lot of those ads are free here, and see the response you get. Mark |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| I price mine $2.50 each, what I would sell them for at a Farmers' Market or whatever, or five for $10, with an heirloom cherry as a bonus. Ten for $20 dollars, with the heirloom cherry plus an Aunt Gertie's Gold (or comparable nicety) as bonus. (My carriers hold six plant cups.) I have a set number of varieties, five, that you get in my variety pack. No substitutions. I use something of an assembly line to put the packs together and it's too easy to make mistakes by customizing each pack. You can also order five of a single variety for $10.00 with an additional plant of my choice included. 48 plants to 95 plants of the same variety, with no extra plants included, cost $1.75 each. 96 plants minimum cost $1.50 each. I also offer a six pack mixture of modern and heirloom cherry tomatoes for $10.00. I deliver to central locations; delivery to anywhere else is $5.00 within a 20-mile radius and is made sometime the week following the central distribution. Plant people being as they are, I seldom have to make a delivery; people seem eager to get their plants. Ray |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| Ray, Could I ask what size pots your planting into? I am assuming that those are larger than the typical 606 Jumbo inserts. I don't seem to have much luck selling 4' pots of tomatoes. I usually stick with the jumbo 6 packs. HEIDI |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| I use faux-Dixie cups. I put holes in the bottoms of a stack by using a nail gun. Ray |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| This is an interesting idea. What have you guys found to be the best way to find people who are interested? Last spring and this spring I sold/will sell seedlings at the FM, so I could promote this for next year to my current customers. Kevin |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| I collect info from my customers at any selling opportunity--a sheet with name, email, gardening interests, would you be interested in receiving a newsletter, would you be interested in more info on heirlooms--whatever comes to mind, but keep it short and have one sheet per person. I use them as the base of my mailing list. I also piggyback with my friend's nursery newsletter I make the rounds at any market, etc., and collect business cards from everyone. I make notes on what they sell, strengths, weaknesses. That's where I found several of my most consistent commercial customers. Ray |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| Ray, out of curiosity, is farming/growing etc your full-time job? and, what are faux-dixie cups? Kristen |
RE: Anyone doing tomato seedling subscriptions?
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| I'm the full-time stay-at-home parent for ten kids, three of them pre-school, and farming/gardening is done as I can do it. It's one of the reasons I don't even try for a weekly market. "Faux-Dixie cups" are just generic paper cups with no logo on them, the kind used by local or non-chain establishments. Less expensive, just as good. Ray |
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