Selling my syrup

[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!

tent large.jpg

[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.