Selling my syrup

[Samuelvw1]

How do u sell your syrup I have 150 people like my Sam & Sons site when ever I post a pic of syrup for sale nobody wants to purchase it they like the picture what's the secret

Sam
Shelton, Connecticut

[NHarcher]

Social media is a PITA if you ask me with people that just hit the "like " button. That being sJd my wife posted a picture for me that's said "syrup for sale if interested " and then listed.the prices. I have to ship to 5 states this week.....Are you maybe asking too much price wise?

[Samuelvw1]

100ml=7.00
250ml=14.00

What are your prices
Sam
Shelton,Connecticut

[jmayerl]

Hmmm....quick math shows 250 ml is just about 8oz. I sell very few that smal as it is my smallest size other than maple leafs for wedding favors. Our 8 ounce is $5.......

[johnpma]

We sell our 8.5 Oz glass bottles for $6 and have been averaging (selling) a couple a day. All sold at my wife's work with the inner company website

I also put an honor system in the lobby at the shop I own and grab all the salesmen.women that come in wanting to sell us something :)

[sugarman3]

I sell hundreds of bottles at that price,with all the work,why would you want to sell it any less or give it away.

[georgelineman]

Don't sell your self short Sam . We are about an hour and a half from you in Cornwall NY. We get $ 12.00 for a 12oz bottle and $8.00 for an 8oz bottle. We are small time and only sell 75 to 100 bottles a season. People tell me we should ask more for it. Of course we are on the same road as the Storm King Art Center. People that come up from NYC to go there pass our place. Anythings cheep outside of NYC. With the exception of our land tax!!!! Hold your price just get the word out better.

George

[johnpma]

Don't sell your self short Sam . We are about an hour and a half from you in Cornwall NY. We get $ 12.00 for a 12oz bottle and $8.00 for an 8oz bottle. We are small time and only sell 75 to 100 bottles a season. People tell me we should ask more for it. Of course we are on the same road as the Storm King Art Center. People that come up from NYC to go there pass our place. Anythings cheep outside of NYC. With the exception of our land tax!!!! Hold your price just get the word out better.

Georgeyou brought up a great point! The value of the dollar in the city vs. out in the country side!! Always amazed me that in two hours you can go from people living in trailer homes to multi million dollar homes in the state of New York

[Cedar Eater]

you brought up a great point! The value of the dollar in the city vs. out in the country side!! Always amazed me that in two hours you can go from people living in trailer homes to multi million dollar homes in the state of New York

This is important if you can tap into the tourism market. If city people are going to be visiting your area for campgrounds or recreational lakes or whatever, they will want things to help them remember their good vacation times and they will pay more. If you can get a local store that caters to them to sell your syrup, it's a win-win for you and the store owner.

[Atgreene]

Not for nothing, but try to refrain from turning a hobby into something that drives down the price of a product for others. The number of people I see coming here learning to make syrup with no established market to sell to is eye opening. Personally, I think we're on the way to self ruin with too many producers and not enough consumers. The free market will settle itself out eventually, but in the meantime, longterm producers are apt to take a beating. We have a market, we'll survive, but many others are investing money into a "hobby" turned business that is quickly becoming saturated.
Make a quality product.
Promote a quality product.
Don't sell for less than it costs you to produce.

[Atgreene]

And fwiw, don't take my comments as directed at you, more as a general rant and word of caution.

[Rangdale]

The PTA at my daughters school holds a craft fair each November. She thought it would be fun to get a table and try selling a little. We sell an 8oz bottle for $10 and a 1.7 nip jug for $3. We bring 25 of the 8oz bottles and 30 of the 1.7's and we sell out before noon every single year. I'm sure if we hit more craft fairs (and made more syrup) we could make a decent amount of cash.

[Cedar Eater]

Don't sell for less than it costs you to produce.

I can agree with not selling below market price, but when you add up all that it costs for a small scale operation to produce, there is really no way to break even for a very long time, at least not here in Michigan. You just have to hope that you will eventually get your money back on your investment in an FDA compliant sugar shack. I think a lot of small scale producers probably don't fully comply with that law, they sell product that was boiled outdoors and finished in their home kitchens or garages, but even then breaking even can be difficult because they don't have the economy of scale that large producers have. Cheap hobby labor is their only real advantage.

[johnpma]

Not for nothing, but try to refrain from turning a hobby into something that drives down the price of a product for others. The number of people I see coming here learning to make syrup with no established market to sell to is eye opening. Personally, I think we're on the way to self ruin with too many producers and not enough consumers. The free market will settle itself out eventually, but in the meantime, longterm producers are apt to take a beating. We have a market, we'll survive, but many others are investing money into a "hobby" turned business that is quickly becoming saturated.
Make a quality product.
Promote a quality product.
Don't sell for less than it costs you to produce.

I certainly understand what you are saying and it makes very good sense.

I would ask this question to the big guys........."Did you start out big"? I would guess that over 75% started out small and grew from there based on demand. The hobbyists are not the only ones influencing the industry. Tractor supply sells buckets, bags, bag holders, hydrometers, "how to" books, thermometers, spiles ect.....

My local hardware store in town sells taps with drop tubing, and food grade 5 gallon buckets.

I look at it like this.......To be a carpenter you need a few basic tools and you can start building decks, sheds, and maybe small additions. To be a general contractor you need a crew, maybe a bobcat, or an excavator, trucks ladders, and other various things the small guy doesn't need. The big contractor is not going to do the small jobs the little one guy operation is doing and be competitive because the little guy has less of an investment.

I think the same can be said for small farms that grow fruit and veggies as well and have roadside stands.

I think the most important thing to any business is the quality you produce, and how you price yourself. I have owned a machine shop for 24 years. The worst place to be in any business is " to big to be small and to small to be big"

Just my opinion.

[brennansmaple]

I am making maple candy to sell, but I don't know how much to sell at a time and with what price. I was thinking maybe a 1/2 pound box for $10.00???? That's just a rough guess. To make 21 2-inch pieces, it will cost me $2.24 due to syrup purchases. I wont be boiling my own syrup into the candy so I must pay for a $2.24 bottle. I am also in Maryland and there is no competition in my area with maple candy.

[Woodsrover]

We're heading to our first farmers market this Saturday. 8oz bottles in glass with a nice, pretty labels are $10, 12oz are $15. (We will also be selling maple candy, maple fudge and maple pecans). There will be two other syrup vendors at this fairly small market but I hope to stand out with attractive packaging, a nice EZ-UP tent printed with our logo and two small blond-headed boys running the stand. We will also have a large picture of our sugar shack so people can see where the syrup is made.

We've also had a sign made up stating "Think Beyond the Pancake!" and will have a dozen stacks of recipe cards free for the taking using maple syrup in different recipes.

I think selling is about marketing. If you sell at a farmers market with a folding table out of generic plastic bottles, you're not selling anything that they can't get at the local grocery store (for probably cheaper).

Our new tent!

16499

[southfork]

Good luck Woodsrover, sounds very nice.

[markcasper]

I am making maple candy to sell, but I don't know how much to sell at a time and with what price. I was thinking maybe a 1/2 pound box for $10.00???? That's just a rough guess. To make 21 2-inch pieces, it will cost me $2.24 due to syrup purchases. I wont be boiling my own syrup into the candy so I must pay for a $2.24 bottle. I am also in Maryland and there is no competition in my area with maple candy.


Keep in mind if your selling "candy", you need to be collecting sales tax.

[wiam]

Keep in mind if your selling "candy", you need to be collecting sales tax.

Not necessarily. Each should check their local tax laws.

[maple flats]

Those selling 250 ML bottles for $5.00 make me wonder. Are they the rather cheap handle bottles or similar priced glass or are they the pricey bottles like the fancy elk, moose, deer, and such or the Leaf bottles? If the latter, you pay from about $2 to over $3 for the bottles, if the cheaper ones you pay about $1 each. Are you figuring how much you make on a gallon packed that way, what the glass costs and the time it took you to fill the bottle along with the price of the labels on each? Are you making anything on the sale or are you just moving product so you can make more next year?
You should calculate what each costs you to pack and label and the time it took for getting the syrup ready to pack, the filtering and all other costs (yes your time has a cost regardless if you take a pay or just fill idle time)
Are you working for less than $1/day, that's what the pay rate was 120 -130 years ago or so. If you are pricing your product that cheap you will be better off selling your syrup bulk by the pound even at today's low prices and going fishing.

[Woodsrover]

Those selling 250 ML bottles for $5.00 make me wonder.....

Good point. Standard handled 12oz bottles and custom labels front and rear cost me $1.37, 8oz bottles and labels are $1.29. I sell them for $15 and $10 respectively.

[n8hutch]

Those selling 250 ML bottles for $5.00 make me wonder. Are they the rather cheap handle bottles or similar priced glass or are they the pricey bottles like the fancy elk, moose, deer, and such or the Leaf bottles? If the latter, you pay from about $2 to over $3 for the bottles, if the cheaper ones you pay about $1 each. Are you figuring how much you make on a gallon packed that way, what the glass costs and the time it took you to fill the bottle along with the price of the labels on each? Are you making anything on the sale or are you just moving product so you can make more next year?
You should calculate what each costs you to pack and label and the time it took for getting the syrup ready to pack, the filtering and all other costs (yes your time has a cost regardless if you take a pay or just fill idle time)
Are you working for less than $1/day, that's what the pay rate was 120 -130 years ago or so. If you are pricing your product that cheap you will be better off selling your syrup bulk by the pound even at today's low prices and going fishing.

I know that prices are different from region to region but I agree with Dave on this one, I wouldn't sell a Glass half pint/250ml for less than 8 dollars wholesale, I get 10$ for them and I get 7 for Plastic. Some sugar makers stop by and I can tell they think my price is high. But I never have any leftover come March. In fact most years I have had to buy syrup.

[Woodsrover]

Good point. Standard handled 12oz bottles and custom labels front and rear cost me $1.37, 8oz bottles and labels are $1.29. I sell them for $15 and $10 respectively.

BTW, I'm hanging a sign that says; Don’t toss that empty syrup bottle! Return it here for $1.00 off your next one! with a little recycling emblem.

[BAP]

BTW, I'm hanging a sign that says; Don’t toss that empty syrup bottle! Return it here for $1.00 off your next one! with a little recycling emblem.
Are you reusing the bottles? Depending on your State's regulations, reusing containers may be illegal.

[Woodsrover]

Are you reusing the bottles? Depending on your State's regulations, reusing containers may be illegal.

Good point I guess....We recycle beer/soda/etc bottles so I figured why not syrup bottles? Of course they'd be washed with boiling water as I do with new bottles so they'd be just as clean, but then again, with the state of CT, who knows?!?!

[Woodsrover]

One of the signs my wife made up for the farmers market;

16500

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[Parker]

Great flyer, mind if i use it? This is exactly how we are going to grow the market........

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I didn't try hard this past weekend just through out a 8' plastic table set some jugs of syrup on it. 30 for gal, 20 for 1/2, 5 for pints. It was a huge town wide yard sale weekend. I just dubbed around the house and garage when ever a car stopped I would run out. I had so many people say they are using syrup for more than pancakes. At that point i would start talking about how good syrup is for you than processed sugar.
Virginia was the farthest state I sold too.
Only one person who stopped didnt buy because they wanted Fancy.
I cleared close to 200.00 this weekend just on syrup and not even trying. So I am thinking about having a large banner made with a logo on it.

[blissville maples]

Keep in mind if your selling "candy", you need to be collecting sales tax.

Oh right, yes pay more taxes- wheres the line I wanna be first. Support some more dirt bags, I would NOT pay taxes simply​because the stupid government is wasting money on these sanctuary cities when certain mayor's and governor don't seem to wanna uphold the law.. ya know what last year I got pulled over with no seatbelt I told the cop it wasn't a big deal he said it was the law.... apparently we can decide which laws we wanna uphold? Not good example for it's people- why can't I decide which taxes I want to pay.....put the cash in your pocket for the candy and put some food on your table or clothes on your back-to-back you must look out for yourself because noone else is going to it's a cutthroat world and government is #1