dog eat dog out their ?

[white mt]

I have sold at a nh flee market for years now. and the last month I have not sold much of anything and I could not understand why? off $200-$300 hundred a trip I know sell about $25 worth a trip. well I know now. Come to find out some one out their has crossed over into nh from ,I wont say . Now my price is not high at all $15 a qt and they are under cutting my selling price by many dollars a jug .I would not have known it but someone spoke up as they went buy and told me of it. Im not saying they cant do this but ,just me I would not cross over into a dif state and sell my syrup in the jug of the state I am from and undercut everyone who lives their and still sleep well . I also wonder if nh syrup inspectors would have any thing good to say about it.I don't now if it has proper ID on the jug like grade and the farm its from but I intend to look. all respect given to the 99.9 % of good and ethical syrup makers who make up not said state and the rest of New
England .

[wiam]

I do not know how your market operates, but the market that I go to has an unwritten rule that we keep track of other prices and try not to be too far under anybody else. We just had somebody new in and was way low(not on maple) and the market manager spoke to them. Now they are close to our prices. Most are friendly at this market and would respond to a gentle nudge.

[white mt]

sounds good Ill give it a try let you know how it turns out.

[oneoldsap]

This economy has people doing things they wouldn't normaly do ! This could be one of those instances , I'd like to think so anyway . He should be able to sell at the same price , everybody knows that Vermont syrup is the best .

[red maples]

yes I would speak to him as well. It is that unspoken rule that you stay competetive to your area and your competetion low balling your prices is just unfair. oh yeah and VT maple syrup is the best in VT not in NH.;)

[Greenwich Maple Man]

I have sold at a nh flee market for years now. and the last month I have not sold much of anything and I could not understand why? off $200-$300 hundred a trip I know sell about $25 worth a trip. well I know now. Come to find out some one out their has crossed over into nh from ,I wont say . Now my price is not high at all $15 a qt and they are under cutting my selling price by many dollars a jug .I would not have known it but someone spoke up as they went buy and told me of it. Im not saying they cant do this but ,just me I would not cross over into a dif state and sell my syrup in the jug of the state I am from and undercut everyone who lives their and still sleep well . I also wonder if nh syrup inspectors would have any thing good to say about it.I don't now if it has proper ID on the jug like grade and the farm its from but I intend to look. all respect given to the 99.9 % of good and ethical syrup makers who make up not said state and the rest of New
England .

Remember competion brings good business. Sooner or later this guy will relize he is not making enough money and will have to raise his price as well. People usualy sell cheap just to make the sale but then relize they aren't making any money after figuring there cost. Stick with what has worked in the past, he will not last if he is selling to cheap.

[tapper]

Too many are spending time and money bottling syrup for retail and selling it for less than the price of bulk.

[maple flats]

I have encountered the same thing at the NYS Woodsman's Field Days. There is a guy there every year from Lowville, NY, a big maple producing area. This guy sells his syrup at give away prices. He gets $37/gal lt, med and $35/gal dark. There are at least 2 other venders at the show selling at normal pricing ($45-50/gal) which is most typical in this area. I have spoken to the cheapo guy about him cutting his own throat. He pays good bucks to have his booth indoors in one of the most expensive spaces at the show.
I did however buy a pint to sample his product. Have not tried it yet. I also got his bulk price for light, he is at $3.00/lb. I thought he might be way low on that too but apparently not. Even if his syrup is good I think I'll buy closer to home, as he is about 2 hrs away and there are at least 3 places I can buy at that price within an hour. I will be needing a bbl of light in a month or so to blend with some C I have that has an excellent flavor. I blended some earlier from very light med to middle road dark at the rate 2.2 gal C to 5 gal of the very lt med. With a lt amber I may be able to mix a little more C to get more dark A and I get my biggest demand in dark A.