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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] charging what the market will bear

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Del Williams" <delannw AT dlogue.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] charging what the market will bear
  • Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 21:01:57 -0600

Forget preaching to your vendors and set some realistic standards.

Our market dealt with it only in terms of selling against vendors who set
prices at wholesale. Vendors who sold at those prices were to be set aside
from the regular market and were required to sell in bulk. I never felt
that wholesalers belonged at the farmers market. And with those rules they
didn't either. Those folks meant to come in and sell against the rest of us
with their trailers of sweet corn, melons and what not at prices we couldn't
justify selling at retail.

I'm saying, if they want to sell at wholesale then they should deal as
wholesalers. If they want to run along with retailers, then retailers they
should be.

If profit isn't a goal, then they ought to set up a stand next to their
driveway.

I say that as a very small grower who had resellers offering wholesale
prices for what I was growing. And I had a great season that year. At the
same time, I thought, as small as I am and as profitable as I would like to
be... how much more effort would it take for me to go out and compete with
retailers? I think I did pretty well for the amount I had to sell.

Organize with your other growers to go over and buy out those hobbyists.
They'll go home. Donate the produce to the salvation army at market
value... and then go about your business trying to make a profit. And then
change your rules to keep wholesalers and hobbyists out of your farmers'
market.

The market is what you make it.

Del Williams
Farmer in the Del








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