What you have to determine, in my opinion is are they growers of is this their hobby? If it is a hobby for them they do not consider the true costs of their production. Well run markets usually do not have this problem, but there is always a few. Talk to others and promote the Idea that you all work hard and deserve to be paid a very fair price. I do not do markets for this reason and the fact that good markets are not near to me, the latter mostly.

Mark

If they aren't making a living wage they won't last long. Is this a true farmers market where only farmers sell or are they allowed to buy wholesale and resell?

Robin_Maine, No wholesale or reselling (thank god) but one lady I watched with her baked goods cant be making a cent, and the other is an older guy who has been selling for years and im sure he is just doing it for fun. Im not ready to give up this market yet but Im sure not going to under cut myself.

Thanks Brian

I thought the people in charge of running markets are suppose to forbid cutthroat underpricing???

PP

One way to solve the problem of customers comparing prices is try to sell unusal vegetables and varieties, That can't be compared. It may be early enough in your growing season that you could change things around.
Your the new guy. Try new stuff that may get people to stop at you booth Samples , recipes , pictures of your farm etc.
Check out a couple of past threads that may help you

what good unique crops to sell at farmers markets?
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/market/msg01145650450.html?37

Presenting yourself and you product at the farmers market.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/market/msg0211445919505.html?15

The Garlic Lady

i have had this problerm in the past and solved it by growing and selling much better quality. though at one market the big under cutter was an old guy who grew produce to show at county and state fairs and it turned out is the all time champion vegetable show person in the state of Ohio (and he does some incredible displays). he would show up after the fairs were over to get rid of his extra produce and he grew great stuff.

Instead of fighting this i got to know him and gained some wisdom from him.

I also learned how to market my stuff so it now does not matter if some one comes in and undercuts me, my customers are loyal and know my stuff is always high quality and are willing to pay for that quality.

I remember reading about one person who would buy out the undercutters at the start of market and sell their stuff at a marked up price.

"I remember reading about one person who would buy out the undercutters at the start of market and sell their stuff at a marked up price". That's referred to as, "Frontloading." Many of the larger markets have bylaws pertaining to this practice. It could get one suspended from selling at market. Every market seller has issues with daily vendors, old timer vendors who haven't kept up with costs, dumpers, or whatever. It does take some time for a new vendor to get established in the marketplace. But, once you do, and your product and display stand out from the crowd, the customers will come. A seller is always going to get their fair share of, "well thats way more than...." One learns to turn a deaf ear to some it.
Good luck with your selling at market.

could you be more specific as to what is being undercut?

I'm gonna respond even though my circumstances are way different - and I don't follow the rules of conduct for most vendors.

Customers that start off with price complaints are NOT THE CUSTOMERS YOU WANT! Don't waste your time with them. Smile, act like you can't hear them, silently cuss them out but whatever you do DO NOT CAVE IN TO THEIR DEMANDS! They will have you jumping through so many hoops that you will eventually hate what you are doing. Spend all your efforts on the customers that recognise that you offer a superior product or at least something they might want. You can impress these people. You can build a wonderful business on these people. Nothing good will ever come from the "other" people.

As I see it, you are not competing with the grocery store or some vendor at another marketplace across town - you are standing in front of THIS CROWD. Impress THEM. They are regulars. They have money in their pockets. They came here to spend it. Your job is to build a relationship with them so that if they want what you offer they think of shopping at your booth first. Someone else can ALWAYS offer a cheaper product or even a better one (everyone cannot possibly grow the best tasting tomato, someone's will always taste better). Your job is to offer the best product you can grow. Sell it the best way you know how (everybody sells differently, you don't have to do it the same way). Keeping track of what other vendors are doing and what they are charging is a full time job and a waste of time. Know how much it cost you to produce your product, know how much it cost you to stay in business and price it accordingly.

Don't give special deals or free samples to everyone that walks by. Focus on the folks that actually seem interested in what you are selling. Get to know them. If your product is too expensive for that segment of the audience, figure out a creative way to re-package it and re-price it so that it appears cheaper.

I sell live plants (mostly herbs and ornamental plants) at the huge flea market in the city. There are numerous vendors selling ornamental plants, bushes and trees, and produce (some resellers, some dumpers, some home-grown). Every day I have thousands of people walking past my booth. Not all of them are there to spend money and not everyone there spending money is spending the kind of money I want them to spend. I quickly learned that when a nearby vendor is selling hanging baskets for $8 (these would sell for $15 at Home Depot!) there was no way I could compete. There is tree/shrub vendor selling large, perfectly tended plants for as low as $15, so cross that off the list. I sell small rooted cuttings and seedlings for $1 - $2 often in dixie cups. I offer a few combo planters and hand painted birdhouses for $25 and up but I mostly sell small plants. People always comment on how cheap my plants are. I sell a tomato seedling for $1 in a 4 cent dixie cup with about a nickles worth of soil and care. You could go down the street and buy a six pack of seedlings at Home Depot for 98 cents! So it is all in perception. You don't make money growing plants. You make money SELLING plants.

OOps! my bad! Home Depot sells 4-packs of veggie seedlings for $1.53 which after tax comes to about 39 cents per plant. I could just buy mine from them and stick them in a dixie cup and still make money.

I am dealing with some hagglers over price. It often seems to be a cultural thing, with foreign-born folks expecting it as was the custom where they came from, but also some looking for a bargain. I have been able to satisfy some by sweetening the deal with some culls rather than lowering the price.

One tactic is to explain how you aren't just a mark-up business selling Tv sets, etc, for which you can lower prices to get volume and maintain profit. For growers, lowering prices is really taking a pay-cut on your labor. Ask the customer just how much of a pay-cut they would be willing to take, and see what they say! Most buyers actually make far higher wages than us growers(at least that's true for me). Have you ever figured just how much you are making on labor? Do it and when you tell them it's minimum wage, or maybe less, it might help them to understand.