Our market it's 51% but it's over the season. Now it's not spelled out if it's 51% of revenue, but I'd assume that would be it.

thanks sandy, we have one market here that's 75% and one vendor was removed because the day they checked his farm, nothing was ready and he brought stuff from other farmers. I'm glad I'm not at that market. We were for a couple of years, but when they came out to check our farm and the inspector did not want to 'ruin' her shoes by walking thru the weeds and a heavy dew, that decided for me that her market wasn't worth it.

The farmers market where I sell (and worked for 18 months to create it) allows 0% reselling unless you are buying reselling the goods from another Farmers market member. And even than I believe it is under 15%

For what it's worth..I really get bent out of shape when somebody bring in say apples from far away and sells them at the market. I thought it was if you can grow it yourself then you can sell it to the people because you know what's in it and how it was grown. I had to laugh at a woman a couple years ago selling pineapple right out of the "dole" box..I doubt that was grown locally here in Walla Walla Washington. I couldn't believe the admin allowed this person to do that. I'm a garlic grower, it would look real strange if I had anything else unless I could prove I grew it.

Let me make this clear, when I 'bring' in produce that I don't personally grow, I get that produce from farmers that I know and I know how they grow and where. It's not the idea that I buy from some 'grocery store' and pass it off as local. Even when I get tomatoes from FL, I do know the growers (we lived there and hubby rebuilt some of the housing).

I don't have a real problem with people reselling produce/fruit as long as it's still fairly local. With everything drowning this summer, our sad, little market was sustained only by other vendors bringing in apples and peaches from nearby orchards. Personally, I only sell what I raise. Other vendors in the area have hurt the image of local produce by importing products. One forgot to remove the "product of Peru sticker) from his melon. I think the public wants to support local agriculture and should know that their purchases are locally grown. I always encourage my customers to visit my farm and see where their food comes from.

Brook

I will gladly give directions to either my farm or the farm that the items are grown on. We have a few vendors that bring in items manufactured in China, and produce grown whereever. The bad things is those are the vendors that complain the most about what I do. Personally I think they are jealous, since I outsell them at least by 2x and sometimes 3x-4x on a Saturday basis. Little do they know that I've been selling items since I was a teenager and both of my parents (along with most of my relatives) have been salespeople for generations.

For what it's worth...I feel a market allowing anything over 80%/20% should be called a produce stand and they are a dime a dozen. To me a farmers market means a grower selling what he grows..but as I said, just my opinion.

Still looking for the answer to the question. How does your market determine the percentage? Is it by volume, weight or sales? This, of course, only applies to those of you that attend a market that allows you to sell more than just what you grow.

Sorry, I can't help with your question. I can only sell what I produce or craft.

If I was the market manager, I would base it on sales.

Eric
Double Dog Farm
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Thanks for your help. I'll need to watch the 'high-ticket' items that I bring in from other farmers nearby. 1 high-ticket like peaches could set me back on my home grown items.

This is a question that I have asked my farmers market for years and nobody can/will answer it.

We are now a 75/25 market...I asked at a board meeting last night on what the percentages would be based, volume, revenue, etc. and the answer was yes, all of the above...since it is not really possible to police, it doesn't matter on what it's based and we need to build a level of trust among vendors. I agree, and there really has only been 1-2 vendors in the last couple of years who would have been in question, but they were quite blatant and the board did nothing...I will just have to see how this board, of which I am now a member, handles it in the coming season.

To me weight or volume doesn't make any sense.

How do you compare 10lbs of raspberries to a (1) 10lb warermellon.

How about this extreme. 10lbs of goose feathers to a 10lb watermellow.

10lb raspberries have more volume and are worth a whole lot more.

Eric
Double Dog Farm
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Lannya, I'm glad you asked your board.

Eric, I agree that weight or volume doesn't add up, but then again, lots of sales of low priced home-grown items vs a few high piced items could mess things up also.

Here's is my situation.
This year I started LOTS of plants, basically tomato, pepper, eggplant and the such. Had a good time with them, sold LOTS of them. Our strawberries did a good job and sold several hundred qts.

THEN, hubby's health started to go downhill fast and we were able to weed/water and basically take care of our own fields and Mother Nature wasn't cooperating either.

So, I started to buy produce from our Amish friends, thru an auction (which was the ONLY way they would sell it) and I took their stuff to my market. I marked and told all of customers of my situation, the customers were ok with it or shopped elsewhere. Now other vendors (which have not visited or offered to visit our farm) are stating that WE were not growing ANYTHING. Very upsetting to me. Note; these vendors have not been doing this farmers market for as many years as I had. (Me, 11 yrs and the one that been there the longest maybe 5 yrs).

I am attempting to grow more, again, this next year, but am hoping that somebody from our board (that has a lick of sense) will actually come and walk my fields with ME.
To explain the above statement, we live back a lane so that you cannot see where the produce is grown, and between our place and the road, there are regular corn/bean fields.

Sorry I had to vent. I've had so many 'newbies' start up in the last couple of years that are young and too much money, and they seem to be the ones complaining. Also their booth can't match my booth for quality or quantity.

One would think that the market should already define how to determine your % of grown verses produced.

Could you do it on type of item only?

Example: If you have tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelon, cucumbers, zucchini, and onions to sell. You raised the tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers but you bought the watermelon, zucchini and onions. You would be selling 50% of what you grew.

Jay

Jay,

Yes, 50% by variety. This not volume, sales or weight. I don't think that's fair.

What if she grew only one pound of her's but purchased hundreds of pounds of the other.

That would not fly at our market.

Eric
Double Dog Farm
{{gwi:1037531}}

What we have been doing is growing as much as we can and supplementing with other growers items. Another vendor counts how many types of items, down to the green beans and yellow beans being different, and as long as he within the types he feels he's ok. This year, he just had another farmer sign his contract and the other farmer furnishes most of his produce. Maybe that's what I need to do, or just get out of this market again. I did it once before and some of my customers follow me, but when I came back the rest of my former customers were happy to see me.

Let me say this, when I buy and sell produce, I do not undercut the growers on prices. Yes, I might make alittle more but most of the time, I make about the same profit. I just have alot of mileage expense that others don't.

I have just found 2 more markets nearby that we might try next year. Of course, this market is HUGE and if I left I would be leaving a $30 market for a $2 market, but less expenses. Decisions decisions, always something to think about.

My luck, I'll leave and find out that everything I plant would grow and produce like crazy with no place to sell.

Well, my market has finally decided how to determine the percentage. Plus now our personally homegrown must be 65% instead of the 51% previously. It's based on the sales dollars, so I need to be growing ONLY high ticket items. Plus I won't be able to bring in anyone else's produce unless I list that farmer on my contract on the Feb/March before my market starts in May, plus list the items and varieties that each 'outside' farmer will grow for me. Hope nobody has a crop failure.

This will change my business and I will continue selling other farmers produce, but only at other markets and at my home. My customers that want those items will have to travel to a different location to get what they want.