Selling price 8oz jar of honey?

[Robert Clark]

I hope you have more luck with the replies to your posts?

Short replies are ok.
Long rambling ones can be an issue

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That's Eric boogered then

 

[ericbeaumont]

explore the the potential price point of selling any excess honey

Good plan; many don't bother and rush to the bottom of the market, to get shot of it cheaply and quickly.

multiple plans

In which case, have one plan to manage swarming next year; learn it, practice it and have the kit ready to put it into action when you find queen cells. For example, the Artificial Swarm is a doddle that takes a few minutes, but it does need another hive and stand to carry it out.

The Haynes Bee Manual is the best beginner guide, is stacked with photos and may be less of a trudge than you imagine. If you can deal with smaller chunks of reading, try The Apiarist blog: here he is on equipment, swarm control and beginners. Dip also into Dave Cushman's A-Z; both of these sources will help you plan this winter.

 

[Robert Clark]

Good plan; many don't bother and rush to the bottom of the market, to get shot of it cheaply and quickly.


In which case, have one plan to manage swarming next year; learn it, practice it and have the kit ready to put it into action when you find queen cells. For example, the Artificial Swarm is a doddle that takes a few minutes, but it does need another hive and stand to carry it out.

The Haynes Bee Manual is the best beginner guide, is stacked with photos and may be less of a trudge than you imagine. If you can deal with smaller chunks of reading, try The Apiarist blog: here he is on equipment, swarm control and beginners. Dip also Dave Cushman's A-Z; both of these sources will help you plan this winter.

Thank you

 

[Peterjay]

Short replies are ok.
Long rambling ones can be an issue

A fiver

 

[Robert Clark]

A fiver.

Perfect thank you
Was the full stop entirely necessary?

 

[Robert Clark]

Had an interesting email from a local farm shop to say that they would like to buy all my excess honey!

They buy 1lb jars for upto £6

Not as profitable as selling direct at our village market and on Facebook Marketplace, but a lot less hassle and potentially faster turnaround of cash.

Thoughts ?

 

[robinharman]

View attachment 41736Lots of my regular want their honey in large sizes so I now do 1kg in plastic tubs (eBay) and glass jars (Bottle Company South).
The saving in jars/labels/time makes up for the price saving the customer gets per gram.
They also tend to use it quicker, which is the only complaint i have had...

 

[pargyle]

Had an interesting email from a local farm shop to say that they would like to buy all my excess honey!

They buy 1lb jars for upto £6

Not as profitable as selling direct at our village market and on Facebook Marketplace, but a lot less hassle and potentially faster turnaround of cash.

Thoughts ?

Well ... it depends on what you want from it. Retailers tend to like continuity of supply and with only a couple of colonies and new ones at that you may only see two or three supers in your first season.. 100lbs would be optimistic, 50 to 60lbs would be more realistic. Until you get to a good few hives you might be better advised to stick to 'farm gate sales' .. 12oz jars .. well branded, priced realistically and build up your customer base.

You should get between £6 and £7 easily for 12 oz hex jars so you are losing a lot of profit selling at £6 a pound. Your profit will all get swallowed up in the kit you need to keep your bees and extract the honey - why give it away to someone else selling at rock bottom prices ?

I think you should leave worrying about how you are going to sell your honey until you have some to sell - buy in a few 30lb plastic tubs as it's best to store your extracted and strained honey in bulk and then jar up as you need it.

It's fine forward planning but early years beekeeping is a long game - don't be tempted to run before you can walk. Keep your planning broad brush - the detail will sort itself out and the bees will have their own ideas to confound any plans you make !

 

[Robert Clark]

Well ... it depends on what you want from it. Retailers tend to like continuity of supply and with only a couple of colonies and new ones at that you may only see two or three supers in your first season.. 100lbs would be optimistic, 50 to 60lbs would be more realistic. Until you get to a good few hives you might be better advised to stick to 'farm gate sales' .. 12oz jars .. well branded, priced realistically and build up your customer base.

You should get between £6 and £7 easily for 12 oz hex jars so you are losing a lot of profit selling at £6 a pound. Your profit will all get swallowed up in the kit you need to keep your bees and extract the honey - why give it away to someone else selling at rock bottom prices ?

I think you should leave worrying about how you are going to sell your honey until you have some to sell - buy in a few 30lb plastic tubs as it's best to store your extracted and strained honey in bulk and then jar up as you need it.

It's fine forward planning but early years beekeeping is a long game - don't be tempted to run before you can walk. Keep your planning broad brush - the detail will sort itself out and the bees will have their own ideas to confound any plans you make !

Thank you

I appreciate your opinion and feedback as ever

 

[ericbeaumont]

local farm shop ... buy 1lb jars for upto £6

They would.

Wonky label, ropey old design, 340: https://groombridgefarmshop.co.uk/p...LACuOHyADBHgKaIdlcKFEvM1SvhlOXkBM61aKZXlHEf7h
Nice label, wrong lid colour, 340: https://www.sussexbeefarm.com/product-page/local-sussex-blossom-honey
Plain but decent label, under-priced, 340: https://thesussexbee.co.uk/collections/honey/products/wildflower-honey
Decent label, small producer so sold out, 340: https://lifestylehealthstore.co.uk/...Ba3xs6-z5WKhKGxgy4h-VaFyvisuNvwXuVjsOq1hyIRG1
Worst label in the world, creative price, 340: https://radicalliving.co.uk/products/cuckmere-organics-sussex-honey-340g
Same creaking label, big jar, small price, 454: https://www.flaxfarm.co.uk/flaxseed-flaxoil-products/traditional-raw-sussex-honey/
Something not right here: odd weights, v low price, unusual hive in photo, 400: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/130...ick_sum=eed8ae45&ref=shop_home_active_2&crt=1
Note: also sources honey from 'sustainable regions across the world': https://greenvalleys.uk/green-valleys-is-a-successful-brighton-base-company/
Niche sale, over-priced in a big jar to the opera market, 454: https://www.glyndebourneshop.com/pr...0Iep_L1_uecj3KtNG3gzP-S50X_nFQlK-NgJvL6f_mSpu
Dull label, big jar, sold out so under-priced or not much produced, 454: https://westsussexhoney.co.uk/shop/
Boring label, silly name, decent price: https://happyhoneyhome.co.uk/shop/pure-runny-honey

You get the picture.
Bonus info:
https://hwbka.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HWBKA-Honey-Sales-and-Food-Hygiene.pdf
https://www.mantelfarm.co.uk/latest-news/bee-market-18th-may/

 

[Robert Clark]

They would.

Wonky label, ropey old design, 340: https://groombridgefarmshop.co.uk/p...LACuOHyADBHgKaIdlcKFEvM1SvhlOXkBM61aKZXlHEf7h
Nice label, wrong lid colour, 340: https://www.sussexbeefarm.com/product-page/local-sussex-blossom-honey
Plain but decent label, under-priced, 340: https://thesussexbee.co.uk/collections/honey/products/wildflower-honey
Decent label, small producer so sold out, 340: https://lifestylehealthstore.co.uk/...Ba3xs6-z5WKhKGxgy4h-VaFyvisuNvwXuVjsOq1hyIRG1
Worst label in the world, creative price, 340: https://radicalliving.co.uk/products/cuckmere-organics-sussex-honey-340g
Same creaking label, big jar, small price, 454: https://www.flaxfarm.co.uk/flaxseed-flaxoil-products/traditional-raw-sussex-honey/
Something not right here: odd weights, v low price, unusual hive in photo, 400: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1303986183/sussex-honey?click_key=a225ecf223cad5920100bb8f16c52d75dd8545f0:1303986183&click_sum=eed8ae45&ref=shop_home_active_2&crt=1
Note: also sources honey from 'sustainable regions across the world': https://greenvalleys.uk/green-valleys-is-a-successful-brighton-base-company/
Niche sale, over-priced in a big jar to the opera market, 454: https://www.glyndebourneshop.com/pr...0Iep_L1_uecj3KtNG3gzP-S50X_nFQlK-NgJvL6f_mSpu
Dull label, big jar, sold out so under-priced or not much produced, 454: https://westsussexhoney.co.uk/shop/
Boring label, silly name, decent price: https://happyhoneyhome.co.uk/shop/pure-runny-honey

You get the picture.
Bonus info:
https://hwbka.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HWBKA-Honey-Sales-and-Food-Hygiene.pdf
https://www.mantelfarm.co.uk/latest-news/bee-market-18th-may/

Great work - thank you I’m sure your post will be really useful to others in the future as well as myself.

A valuable lesson I’ve leaned throughout my working / business life is that there is seldom a ‘going rate’ for products or services. The price just has to be small enough to ‘fit through the hole’
The greater the customers perceived value and desire / need, the bigger the hole.

I spent the last 30 years building a customer focused, value driven online retail business. In my (semi) retirement I’m looking to achieve maximum pleasure from minimum effort.

I’d rather not deal directly with consumers any more.

Selling online? Been there, done that. Don’t have the time or motivation to do that again. Building a successful online business takes a great deal of time and effort to get right.

Selling whatever excess I have to a retailer, could be the perfect solution.
It won’t make me the greatest profit, but I just want to enjoy taking care of my bees and enjoying the rewards, whilst having time to peruse my other interests.

 

[pargyle]

I’d rather not deal directly with consumers any more.

Selling whatever excess I have to a retailer, could be the perfect solution.
It won’t make me the greatest profit, but I just want to enjoy taking care of my bees and enjoying the rewards, whilst having time to peruse my other interests.

Selling honey, to commtted honey buyers, who recognise that it is directly from the beekeeper, is really easy - it does not have any downsides ... if your product is good, well packaged and priced right it's the easiest sell anywhere - and repeat business - I have one customer who consumes a jar a week - buys six at a time regular as clockwork. Nothing to hate in this - all my sales are through word of mouth, no internet sales, no advertising. Your past experience may be clouding your thinking.

If you want to dispense with the hassle just sell in bulk - 30lb tubs will sell for between £3.50 and £4.50 a pound - by the time you have added jars, labels, jarring up etc, the time you will save will more or less equate to the £6.00/lb (and they will knock you down) price you were thinking your retailer will pay for jarred up stock.

But .. like I said earlier - even thinking about honey sales at this stage is premature - better to concentrate your thoughts on producing it first !

 

[Robert Clark]

Selling honey, to commtted honey buyers, who recognise that it is directly from the beekeeper, is really easy - it does not have any downsides ... if your product is good, well packaged and priced right it's the easiest sell anywhere - and repeat business - I have one customer who consumes a jar a week - buys six at a time regular as clockwork. Nothing to hate in this - all my sales are through word of mouth, no internet sales, no advertising. Your past experience may be clouding your thinking.

If you want to dispense with the hassle just sell in bulk - 30lb tubs will sell for between £3.50 and £4.50 a pound - by the time you have added jars, labels, jarring up etc, the time you will save will more or less equate to the £6.00/lb (and they will knock you down) price you were thinking your retailer will pay for jarred up stock.

But .. like I said earlier - even thinking about honey sales at this stage is premature - better to concentrate your thoughts on producing it first !

Great suggestion re the bulk buckets

Please excuse my premature questions, but now I have a plan, ready for when needed.

 

[Peterjay]

If you like to eat honey, and you want to be generous to friends, family and other people with whom you interact, then with only a few hives, you will be surprised how litle surplus you have to sell.
As has been said by others, selling at the gate will generate a sporadic but reasonable rate of honey disposal and "pin" money; I rely on an honesty box, and haven't been diddled over three years of selling.

 

[Peterjay]

Perfect thank you
Was the full stop entirely necessary?

Adjusted.

 

[Robert Clark]

If you like to eat honey, and you want to be generous to friends, family and other people with whom you interact, then with only a few hives, you will be surprised how litle surplus you have to sell.
As has been said by others, selling at the gate will generate a sporadic but reasonable rate of honey disposal and "pin" money; I rely on an honesty box, and haven't been diddled over three years of selling.

An honesty box could be an ideal solution - thank you !

 

[Newbeeneil]

An honesty box could be an ideal solution - thank you !

I sell via an honestly system from shelves on the front of my house, payment via cash through the letterbox or via a QR code.
Last year I sold about 800 jars this way and it looks like I’ll be just shy of the 1000 jars unless I get a Xmas rush.
It is a great way to sell with very little effort.

 

[Robert Clark]

I sell via an honestly system from shelves on the front of my house, payment via cash through the letterbox or via a QR code.
Last year I sold about 800 jars this way and it looks like I’ll be just shy of the 1000 jars unless I get a Xmas rush.
It is a great way to sell with very little effort.

Are you in a prominent location?
We live down a quiet lane which leads nowhere

 

[Newbeeneil]

Are you in a prominent location?
We live down a quiet lane which leads nowhere

No a little road on the outskirts of a village. We do have several footpaths that converge in the area which helps to sell to walkers but the main sales come from locals who consistently return to pick up 2 or 3 jars at a time. Those locals talk to their friends and I now have customers who travel 15+ miles to get their honey supplies!