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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Market Price Standards

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  • From: "Mike Emers" <rosie-ck AT mosquitonet.com>
  • To: <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>, "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Market Price Standards
  • Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:18:56 -0900

Hi Alex

You have touched on a problem near and dear to my heart (and wallet). We
have this very same problem at our market. Our problem is that we have
a very low ($20) membership fee and there is an across the board 10%
sales assessment. That means that the backyard gardener or part-time
crafter who wants to sell at market for the social aspect might pay $10
for his or her space for the day when I'm often paying $200 to $300.
These are the same people who undersell their produce to get rid of it.

We tried to change the rules and create an assessment cap and have a
daily minimum we got slammed as being the "big vendor" trying to squeeze
out the "little guy". (We are way outnumbered at our market by
part-time crafters and gardeners). The reality is that the "big vendor"
often is making a living selling at market when the "little guy" has
other sources of money and doesn't need the extra income. I think the
solution is to create a fee structure that encourages enough of a
monetary commitment that a casual vendor needs to think twice about
selling while not making it impossible for someone just starting out to
sell. This can be accomplished by a high membership fee (~$100) with a
daily minimum.

I hope you have better luck amending your rules than we had.

Mike Emers
Rosie Creek Farm
Ester, Alaska


-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Alex
McGregor
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 8:48 AM
To: Market Farming
Subject: [Market-farming] Market Price Standards

Greetings all,

We're having a meeting in 3 weeks to amend the rules for a market we
started in North Georgia last year. Some of the vendors are retired and
selling well below the retail prices in stores because they "don't need
to
make any money." This has a negative effect on farmers who depend on
sales
to make a living.

I know this is a common problem at markets. Have any of you out there
addressed this with rules or pricing structures? I would appreciate any
info so I can take a number of possible solutions to the members/vendors
to
consider.

Alex McGregor
Walden Farm

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