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hey traders,
well, I made a roadside stand this year. sales are great!! but I got robbed. only took two weeks to find a loser. so installed a game camera. so I,m looking for some ideas. maybe I put out to much and the prize was too big. what do you guys do, and how do you handle theft.
Game camera and limiting the amount you have out are good steps. All of my pickup business is email or text in advance. They write what they want and I let them know when they can pick it up - usually within a day depending on when I see the email. I leave it on a table on my porch for them with their name on it, so we both still have flexibility with our time. They leave the money under a brick or use Venmo.
I’ve used game cameras in the past, but they are very limited on how long they can record a video. I now have a Lorex camera system that records 24/7. I will only put small quantities of Half pint, pints and quarts in the stand. Half gallons and gallons they must come to the house. The time I did have a problem with theft, it came down to one individual. Good luck!
well, thanks for the replies. went with two game cameras. one for their face and one for their license plate. my driveway is 800 feet long so a Lorax camera would not work for me, but they do look nice! we will see how it goes.
I don't use a stand. My local customers either call, I tell them the price, and I put it on a chair on my porch, they pick it up and put the money or check in my mailbox. Alternatively they pick it up at the one local retail outlet I have. The only other way I sell is thru my webside and I ship it to them, they pay both syrup and shipping total.
Before Covid, I had several who would call and we'd set a time for them to pick it up at my hose or the sugarhouse.
had a guy stop and leave me 7$ for two pints. four hours later he stopped again and dropped 12$ more.pints are 10$? thought about starting a wall of shame on the side of the roadside stand. thoughts?
Ha, ha. At least he came back to try to settle up. I thought you were going to say he returned and took the $7 back!
People have been really good here. I've only been shorted one time in many years and it was a genuine mistake. More often than not, people round up and I credit their next purchase. It was getting confusing to figure out how the amount of money from a few customers didn't match what it should, so I've started leaving old envelopes and pens for people to note their names.
My only nuisance has been when people pay with coins. They are not scraping by. They just want to clean out the change in their car. I get it. I hate having a lot of change, too. Now I have even more! Quarters are one thing, but the nickels and dimes are nuts. It's not like I make night deposits. It's just going from their change bucket to mine. Maybe I should put my kids' piggy banks out there just to same me the effort!:lol:
Built a stand myself this year. Made it look look like a sugar house! Before I got the cameras up(took two weeks to get) had two small thefts. One *** took a half gallon, and left a buck!! I only put 2 of each product up there. I get an alert on my phone now, and have two way talk. Works pretty well even when I'm at work 15 miles away!
Hey 68 bird, what kind of camera you use? does it use wi-fi? I have none at the stand and it is hard to find a security video camera that will send alerts to my phone.
I use a game camera currently however i am thinking of switching to ring door bell app for the notification and two way conversation ability.