Selling price 8oz jar of honey?

[pargyle]

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

Makes no odds - people get to know - sign at the gate 'Local Honey for Sale' ... get one regular customer you get their friends ...

 

[Peterjay]

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!

Proper local honey seems to attract afficianados who return regularly.

 

[Robert Clark]

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!

That’s great thanks
Can I ask how the QR code works ?

 

[pargyle]

Makes no odds - people get to know - sign at the gate 'Local Honey for Sale' ... get one regular customer you get their friends ...

You mght also consider a flyer and spend an hour or two putting them through doors of your immediate neighbours .. make the point that your bees will almost certainly be foraging in their gardens (I sell more during the hay fever season to local people who claim it alleviates the hay fever symptoms). One of my neighbours children brought me 'one of your bees' that had been found looking ill on their window cill. Brought it back to me in one of my (empty) honey jars and asked if I could look after it - they get involved. My next door neighbour asked me last night for 10 jars he is giving to some of his family for Christmas ... my wife is meeting up with her friends for coffee next week and has orders for another 5 jars ...all my friends ask about my bees when I see them - and I can bore for England on bees and beekeeping.

Trust me - the only problem you will have selling local honey is providing enough of it. I use 1.5 oz jars as samples ... tell people you are a beekeeper and the two first questions you get:

1. Do you get stung ?
2. Do you get some honey ?

At that point the answer is Yes and Yes and I sell some, would you like to try it .. a few pence giving away a 1.5oz jar and you've usually hooked another customer.

 

[Robert Clark]

You mght also consider a flyer and spend an hour or two putting them through doors of your immediate neighbours .. make the point that your bees will almost certainly be foraging in their gardens (I sell more during the hay fever season to local people who claim it alleviates the hay fever symptoms). One of my neighbours children brought me 'one of your bees' that had been found looking ill on their window cill. Brought it back to me in one of my (empty) honey jars and asked if I could look after it - they get involved. My next door neighbour asked me last night for 10 jars he is giving to some of his family for Christmas ... my wife is meeting up with her friends for coffee next week and has orders for another 5 jars ...all my friends ask about my bees when I see them - and I can bore for England on bees and beekeeping.

Trust me - the only problem the problem you will have selling local honey is providing enough of it. I use 1.5 oz jars as samples ... tell people you are a beekeeper and the two first questions you get:

1. Do you get stung ?
2. Do you get some honey ?

At that point the answer is Yes and Yes and I sell some, would you like to try it .. a few pence giving away a 1.5oz jar and you've usually hooked another customer.

Thankfully we’ve had a two colonies of bees in our garden for a couple of years already. So hopefully nobody will notice any difference now that I’m taking over as custodian.

Unfortunately we don’t really get on with many of our neighbours since they all objected to a planning application we made a few years ago (that’s another story)

Though an honesty box means we don’t have to interact with them.

Great idea re sample pots for a nominal fee.

 

[Erichalfbee]

1kg in plastic tubs (eBay)

How much are you paying for those.
I sell in 1 litre tubs which hold 1.3kg/3lb. I don't bother with labels at all. The tubs are clear, which I like and are 69p each with postage

 

[Newbeeneil]

That’s great thanks
Can I ask how the QR code works ?

I have a SumUp card machine that I use on the rare occasions I have stalls at a fayre/market. It has the facility to generate a QR that I print and show on my sales board with instructions.
Although SumUp charges 1.7% when the machine is used as a card reader, using the system with a QR code is free!

 

[Robert Clark]

I have a SumUp card machine that I use on the rare occasions I have stalls at a fayre/market. It has the facility to generate a QR that I print and show on my sales board with instructions.
Although SumUp charges 1.7% when the machine is used as a card reader, using the system with a QR code is free!

Thanhs for that
I’ve been looking online and it seems like a readily available option.
Fees seem to vary from 1.4 to 2% plus 25p,
Definitely an option.
Plus some allow you to turn your smartphone into a payment terminal - how clever is that !!

When I stated in business, mobile payment involved a paper based machine, with 6 copies and carbon paper followed by a telephone call for authorisation

 

[pargyle]

When I stated in business, mobile payment involved a paper based machine, with 6 copies and carbon paper followed by a telephone call for authorisation

Time has moved on ... until Covid it was always cash sales - when people stopped wanting to handle cash it became necessary to change and I bought a Zettle. So simple - connect to your smart phone -put in the amount or bring up the product in your stock list - customer flashes their payment card or phone and you can opt for an emailed receipt or no receipt. 24 hours later - money is in your account - I think Zettle charge me 1.25%. People tend to spend more when there is the card payment option available - it's not REAL money is it ? Zettle provide sales reports, lots of options for stock tracking and can take just about every sort of payment - including the QR code option Neil is using with his Sumup. Best thing invented for small businesses or hobbyists that sell ...

 

[Robert Clark]

Time has moved on ... until Covid it was always cash sales - when people stopped wanting to handle cash it became necessary to change and I bought a Zettle. So simple - connect to your smart phone -put in the amount or bring up the product in your stock list - customer flashes their payment card or phone and you can opt for an emailed receipt or no receipt. 24 hours later - money is in your account - I think Zettle charge me 1.25%. People tend to spend more when there is the card payment option available - it's not REAL money is it ? Zettle provide sales reports, lots of options for stock tracking and can take just about every sort of payment - including the QR code option Neil is using with his Sumup. Best thing invented for small businesses or hobbyists that sell ...

Apparently Zettle is part of PayPal now.
Their current rate is 1.75% according to their website

 

[Dodge]

I use Sumup best thing since sliced bread. You can use you phone now as a terminal to read cards.

At my work no one has cash and never have time to get cash or forget, I wouldn't sell 80% with out a card reader.

Mind you, you have to be carefull once you take more than 1k on it as there is then tax just implications and HMRC will know digitally you have gone over the point to declare. That said its easy to log on and pay the tax owed.

 

[Robert Clark]

I use Sumup best thing since sliced bread. You can use you phone now as a terminal to read cards.

At my work no one has cash and never have time to get cash or forget, I wouldn't sell 80% with out a card reader.

Mind you, you have to be carefull once you take more than 1k on it as there is then tax just implications and HMRC will know digitally you have gone over the point to declare. That said its easy to log on and pay the tax owed.

Theoretically if you have a tax liability on income you can offset legitimate expenses?

 

[ericbeaumont]

useful to others

Useful journey for me as well, and illustrated the minefield of pitching at the right price to the right market.

greater the customers perceived value and desire

Selling honey ..., to ... buyers ... who recognise that it is directly from the beekeeper, is really easy

Yes, we work in a niche market and ought not to stoop to compete with supermarket prices. The other part of the equation is that beekeepers often complain that they can't raise the price in their area, as if it is set in stone. Likely that an imaginary fear of offending the customer or of having stock sitting in the garage leads to inertia, but if they put it up 50p every couple of years no-one would notice; in fact, it would be expected.

I heard recently of one area where they find it impossible to raise prices: local honey outlets near Stanford-le-Hope are apparently dominated by one beekeeper who produces a lot and sells widely at 1967 prices. The others despair; I suggested they buy as much as they could of his stock and sell it properly, but of course, they would then have to re-train the retailers.

Great suggestion re the bulk buckets

Not if you want a regular increase on your return because UK bulk prices are linked to global prices, which are determined by big players and have hovered around £3.50 for a long while.

In other words, you have a Roll-Royce but aim to sell it in a yard full of knackered Ford Mondeos. Why bother? I recall a talk by Michael Palmer (at1.50) in which he decided he'd had enough, and stopped selling honey to packers because his hard work would end up diluted with corn syrup and put into junk sauces. Instead he sold it to other beekeepers, who would do the work to bottle it and make a margin.

 

[ericbeaumont]

connect to your smart phone

The Zettle Terminal is a stand-alone reader that needs no phone.

 

[Robert Clark]

Useful journey for me as well, and illustrated the minefield of pitching at the right price to the right market.



Yes, we work in a niche market and ought not to stoop to compete with supermarket prices. The other part of the equation is that beekeepers often complain that they can't raise the price in their area, as if it is set in stone. Likely that an imaginary fear of offending the customer or of having stock sitting in the garage leads to inertia, but if they put it up 50p every couple of years no-one would notice; in fact, it would be expected.

I heard recently of one area where they find it impossible to raise prices: local honey outlets near Stanford-le-Hope are apparently dominated by one beekeeper who produces a lot and sells widely at 1967 prices. The others despair; I suggested they buy as much as they could of his stock and sell it properly, but of course, they would then have to re-train the retailers.


Not if you want a regular increase on your return because UK bulk prices are linked to global prices, which are determined by big players and have hovered around £3.50 for a long while.

In other words, you have a Roll-Royce but aim to sell it in a yard full of knackered Ford Mondeos. Why bother? I recall a talk by Michael Palmer (at1.50) in which he decided he'd had enough, and stopped selling honey to packers because his hard work would end up diluted with corn syrup and put into junk sauces. Instead he sold it to other beekeepers, who would do the work to bottle it and make a margin.

My thoughts on selling are moving towards;

Contactless selling at the garden gate via honesty box and QR code. Currently thinking that selling price could be £6 for 1/2lb and £10 per lb. Though I will revise pricing at the time, to be no lower than locally available artisan honey in farm shops etc.

Dealing with consumers at village markets etc is non negotiable.

 

[Moobee]

Theoretically if you have a tax liability on income you can offset legitimate expenses?

Oh yes! Surprisingly how many things can be used for beekeeping….

 

[Newbeeneil]

Oh yes! Surprisingly how many things can be used for beekeeping….

And some not so little But you do have to fill out a tax return.

 

[ericbeaumont]

£6 for 1/2lb and £10 per lb

Couple of typos?

Think in grammes: I know it's modern and tricky but it is what retail uses, what a younger market expects, and is the only weight declaration required on the label.

At £6/235 your price point is .0256/gramme.
A 340 will then cost £8.70
A 454 will then cost £11.62
Your discount for the larger jar is a whopping 14%. Why?

If you mean to be consistent:
At .0221/g:
235/£5.19/retail £5.20
340/£7.51/retail £7.50
454/£10.03/retail £10

If you were to delete the outmoded 454 and include the 1kg:
At .0267/g
235/£6.27/retail £6.30
340/£9/retail £9
1kg/£26.70/retail £25/6% discount
1kg/£26.70/ retail £24/10% discount

Robin Harman's post 16 (in the wrong thread, I reckon) tells how he sells in 1kg plastic tubs at a discount, but bear in mind that Robin runs 150 and has tonnes of honey in his garage. At your scale you will find that honey discounted too heavily will go quickly and result in disappointed returning customers.

Continuity of supply is the aim, so either run 20 colonies to give you stock to play with or set a price to achieve a balance between maximising the return (and customer perception of value) and extending stock to satisfy customers over a longer period.

 

[Robert Clark]

Read online today that 25% of retail sales are now cash

 

[Dodge]

Theoretically if you have a tax liability on income you can offset legitimate expenses?

Not that I am aware of these days. MYbe someone out there can clarify (and also point to where it is on the HMRC site)