cross country sale prices.

[Rhino]

I have a friend who is a snowbird (someone who travels to warmer climates in winter), that is leaving sunday and heading to San Diego California for awhile, then Texas for the remainder of winter. Had a idea of him takeing cases of syrup and see how it would sell at the different r.v parks he stays at. Does anyone know what the going rate for syrup goes for in those 2 states? I would think San Diego would be outrageous!?!? I would sell to my friend the price i get here in Wis. but i want him to make good on it also for messing with selling it. He has one of those big coaches so room isn't a factor but i thought of sending him with 1/2 pints and pints to test the market over there. And i think people in smaller r.v's wouldn't want to have a big quart in the small fridge. Anyone who knows what my friend could sell it for it let me know. Thanks.......Rhino

[bison1973]

Rhino,

I try to sell most of my syrup out of state. This is because the WIS market is so low. Too many people here just want to give it away. For retail you could sell for $9-$10 a pint. What do you sell them for now?

[Rhino]

Bison, We charge $5.00 a 1/2 pint $7.00 a pint Our quarts are $13.00 I know what you mean about Wis. low prices. I see some producers selling their quarts for $10.00 at times!! I was thinking of my buddy doubleing the price and see what happens, I know to ship it out there almost doubles it anyways. Thanks for the response.

[MillbrookMaple]

I ship a lot of syrup to NV and AZ. 12 pints fit in a large flat rate box and that costs around $18 with insurance. I charge $130 per box so I'm making $9.33 a pint. We shipped over 120 pints so far this year and people are so happy with the price. Hope this helps.

[maple flats]

I sell in several states. My pints are $8, qts $15 etc. I sold lots at 9 and 16, just dropped the price to spur even more sales. Bottling all sizes again tomorrow because I'm almost out. Need product, Christmas sales will start pretty soon. However, I've not sold to Wis. I refuse to cut my throat to sell. You guys need to wake up.
Last year I sold out ('10 crop) with $9 pt, $17 qt, $31 half G and $54 gal. Then I decided to try for even more volume with double the taps, so I dropped the price. I am more than doubling again so I cut slightly more to my new prices. My thought is that it's better to sell most retail rather than bulk prices. I'm even blending med with good tasting C to make dark, and B, both of which I have a good market for. After I pack tomorrow I'll be out of all my med but will still have up to 50 gal C with a great flavor. I have no off flavor C in stock.

[Rhino]

Mapleflats, you are right when you say Wisconsin needs to wake up as far as our prices go. Like i said before though, we see so much of that $10.00 to $12.00 a quart prices. My buddy who lives where alot of producers are,.. is one of them who sells for $10.00/ quart. He makes a beautiful product with a flat pan. I crunched the numbers to him explaining the bulk price and his expense and labor bottling etc. and he said it would be hard to get more for it when so many are selling it for $10.00. I bought 12 cases of quarts from him at that price and made the easiest $432 dollars ever raiseing it to our price of $13.00 a quart which is still to cheap also.

[maple2]

we make around 1000gal a year, and pretty much sell out at $20qt. if we have a couple of barrels left over,we consider it money in the bank. if we have a poor year,thats one less barrel we have to buy. as for lowering prices, did it cost you less to make that gallon of syrup? if its too cheap,people think there must something wrong with it.

[jmayerl]

Mapleflats, you are right when you say Wisconsin needs to wake up as far as our prices go. Like i said before though, we see so much of that $10.00 to $12.00 a quart prices. My buddy who lives where alot of producers are,.. is one of them who sells for $10.00/ quart. He makes a beautiful product with a flat pan. I crunched the numbers to him explaining the bulk price and his expense and labor bottling etc. and he said it would be hard to get more for it when so many are selling it for $10.00. I bought 12 cases of quarts from him at that price and made the easiest $432 dollars ever raiseing it to our price of $13.00 a quart which is still to cheap also.

I am thinking of doing the same thing with someone near me but then I saw his operation. WOW, maybe the state should get more involved. Nasty falling apart shed full of mice with a very dirty evaporator. he draws it off at 217 regardless of brix, then takes it into his chemical room(farmer) to bottle it into used mason jars(not hot packed) then sells it for $10.
I wish some of his neighbors would see that, but maybe they don't care. this year I was at 6-3/4pt 8-pt 15-qt with a few half and gals also sold. after crunching the numbers I ended up at an average of $52/gallon. Next year prices are going up 10-15%.
I just sent some of my last 3/4 and pts with my parents to florida and they sold them for $8 and $10 without a problem. They have talked to alot of people that want to preorder so thats going to be nice.

So when we all speak bad about people in Wisconsin and low prices its only a few places and if there all like this guy I can't beleive that someone hasn't died from there syrup yet.

[driske]

there seems to be some sort of warped thinking (or time warp) in Central Wi regarding syrup prices. As recently as a year ago I saw a local business offering quarts for $6.50 each. My hide isn't thick enough to argue prices, nor do I enjoy dealing with the public enough to entertain customers. My crop goes out in bulk to a reputable packer, and I am grateful for the time and effort they put into marketing it profitably.

[jmayerl]

At 6.50 a qt you could actually buy every drop they have and resell it to a bulk packer and make about 5 dollars per gallon(2.75/lbs). They still got it there?

[red maples]

I have sent some to Cali, Very hard to fine out there. He said you can find it in high end specialty food stores. Which happen to be all over in San Fran. but he was very excited by my prices and even with shipping from coast to coast it was still cheaper than buying in the stores out there(he couldn't give me an exact price). He did say ,with out shipping, he could have easily paid double for the amount that sent him!!! which he bought a $10 pint and $18 Quart, and if I remember correctly shipping was around $13 for reg old USPS snail mail.

I feel bad for you guys that have to sell your syrup for so cheap. We all know the work that goes into it. I like the fact that prices for maple are very similar for all that I have seen around here everything seems to be within dollar or 2 for the most part. Not including specialty food stores and tourist places they are just rediculous and people still spend over $80 a gallon. :o they don't even know they are getting ripped off!!! But "thats where I get my syrup from and its really good" well yeah what ever. ;)

[beetree]

Any body ever here of three tier pricing? It sounds like the guy with the r-v should be considered a distributor. This is a common mistake with us small business people. If you want this to be a long term thing with this guy,you need to make it a real sweet deal for him. The way I see it ,everybody should be able to make a 40% mark up from distributor, wholesale, and retail. There are always markets that will demand more,but this guy should be able to mark it up 80%,from distributor to retail price. The price per quart that I keep seeing should be a wholesale price. My retailers are marking my quarts up 40%.From $12.50 up to $17.50. Another thing I keep seeing is illustrated in the usda syrup report. If you look at the pricing across the maple reign,you will see a huge difference in some reigns. The only reason I can come up with for this is producers thinking bulk is wholesale. Or they're just not being honest.

[bison1973]

Yes central WIS is really low for prices. One big factor, among others, is the Amish (they're good hard working people and I know many of them) but that's just who you're competing against here. Most have next to nothing into thier operations therefore the low prices.

[michiganfarmer2]

Yes central WIS is really low for prices. One big factor, among others, is the Amish (they're good hard working people and I know many of them) but that's just who you're competing against here. Most have next to nothing into thier operations therefore the low prices.

we have a lot of amish here too and that keeps the prices down. I retail pints for $9.50, quarts for $15, half gallons for $27, and gallons for $45. I cant get much more than that. I did send a case of pints to a freind in Arkansas. He hasnt paid yet, but he says he can sell them for $18 each, so when he pays, I willl get my $9.50

[Bucket Head]

I have friends and coworkers who send my syrup to their friends and relatives in other states, primarily down south and the west coast. All the feedback I get is like this- "they can't find any there", or this from a friend of my fathers, "it's hard to find, and if you do find some, hold on to your wallet!". I don't know what the going rate is for the states my syrup is sent to, but I'm certain if anyone could devise a way to get their product there, they would be pleased with the returns.

Got any family or friends in the states that do not produce syrup? No? Got any friends here with family or friends in those states? Getting in touch with someone there about finding an outlet for your syrup would be the first step.

Steve