# Price of Pint Jar of Honey



## Hoxbar (Mar 1, 2010)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

I'm charging $10 pint and $20 quart and I sell out before I even get it bottled!


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

what do you use for jars?


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## Hoxbar (Mar 1, 2010)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

I use small mouth mason jars. My customers love it! Don't sell yourself short. I thought my price was too high, but I sold out in about 2 days.


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

$5.00-$8.00 per pint......when ya only have a couple jars it's easy to sell to "friends" that are helping. When you start marketing to unknown individuals you enter the "common market". Less equals more..........greed is what is ruining this country ;-)


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## Hoxbar (Mar 1, 2010)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

I have no competition. That's how I can do it.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

My Grandpa paid a nickle a quart and thought it was high. What the market will bear is not greed - unless it's pacemakers or kidneys. I wish I could get $10 a quart but I can probably only get $7.

Ever heard the term sour grapes? Charge what you can get - if you can't get it *then *it's too high.

Close friends and relatives get a free quart from me. People I owe money get 2.


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## Bsweet (Apr 9, 2010)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

Been selling 1/2 pints for $7. and thats to folks I don't know. Another guy selling veggies on a road side had honey from a friend he was asking $8. for 1/2 pint and $16. for a pint but I don't know how much he sold. Jim


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## CentralPAguy (Feb 8, 2009)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

The price of honey is probably relative to how much of you have to sell. If you have thousands of pounds of honey, then you are in a different market than someone who has 500 pounds. I live in the Harrisburg area, a mid size city and last year, I got $6 a pound and no one challenged the price. I gave them a sample to taste and it works magic. 

I am looking at moving my price to either $6.50 or $7.00 per 1 pound bottle. Alot of my customers search out local honey just to get the benefits of local pollen for their allergies. I don't know about you, but everything is going up from gasoline to the purchase of bees to the purchase of bottles and I am not going to lose money trying to compete on price.

My thoughts are that one can always get cheaper honey (go to Costco - 5 pounds under $10), but really doesn't your customer deserve the good stuff. That is going to be my answer if someone questions my price.


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## Belpre Ohio Ken (May 13, 2014)

I got my first honey harvest this year, I just started keeping bees last year. I got 60 pints
3 qt. and 12 1/2 pints. From what I read on Bee Source I set my price at $10 a pint and I was about out in a couple of days. I am just new to this but when people buy it by the case or 4 at a time, $10 a pint must be OK ! The qts are for me and the 1/2 pints I gave away.


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## Belpre Ohio Ken (May 13, 2014)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

Also I have found that if you sell your honey to cheap, there are people that buy it all up and re-sell it, you do the work thay make the profit


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## atgreene (Jun 7, 2014)

With maple syrup my father's rule of thumb has always been "If no one complains about the price, we're too cheap".


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

edensway said:


> What should I charge for it retail? It's wildflower honey from Virginia.


As much as you can and feel good about yourself.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

atgreene said:


> With maple syrup my father's rule of thumb has always been "If no one complains about the price, we're too cheap".


Like


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*



CentralPAguy said:


> I am looking at moving my price to either $6.50 or $7.00 per 1 pound bottle.


What do you think would happen if you went to $14.00/one pound jar? Do you think people would stop buying your honey? Some probably would, but others would still buy it or buy it for the first time. It might take you longer to sell out, but is that your goal? To sell out? Or to maximize profit?

Were I to spend time standing at a farm mkt all day I would set the price high and if it doesn't sell back off some. But you'd have to give it some time.

What if you had the same honey, some priced $10.00 and some priced $14.00? I bet you'd be surprised at how many people would buy the $14.00 jars. If asked why the difference in price you could say that you like the $14.00 honey more than the $10.00 honey. Then your customers will too.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*



Belpre Ohio Ken said:


> Also I have found that if you sell your honey to cheap, there are people that buy it all up and re-sell it, you do the work they make the profit


You aren't making profit at $10.00 per pint? I'd love to sell my honey at $10.00 per pint to someone selling it for more. How much can I sell you at $9.00 per pint?


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## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

I wholesale most of my crop at $3.50/lb in 5 gal buckets but the little bit of "retail" I do is at $10/pint $20/quart. I am using "Golden Harvest" wide mouth Mason jars from the dollar store. I haven't had the patience to do farmers' markets though I may let myself get forced into one next year.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

Weird...I just hit "Post Quick Reply" and my reply vanished...it just brought me back to the thread in a flash... :scratch:

Ah, well. The gest of my post was that I only bottle quarts. I sell them for $15 per jar. My mentor's honey and my honey sit side-by-side on a shelf at work...his plastic liter jugs are priced at $12 each....sales are tit-for-tat. Our bees are about seven miles apart so the "local pollen" aspect should be a moot point for purchasers...go figure. 

If in the future if I decide to bottle some pints for sale I will most likely charge $8.50...if my quart price holds at the current $15. With the pints you have to buy more jars, fill more jars, physically carry more jars, and you have a larger number of jars that increases your chance of breakage. In my situation, for the $2 difference between a quart or two pints I think that most people that are buying honey will opt for the larger jar. Naturally there will be people looking for small jars for "gifts"...so that might be a niche for pints to fill. If I do bottle pints I won't be filling nearly as many of them as I do quarts, though.

Btw, I also use "Golden Harvest"...but in the regular mouth size...they're good jars.

Ed


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## Sharpbees (Jun 26, 2012)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

I sell out every year at $10/lb., I'm only harvesting 300-500 lbs./yr. so am in no big hurry to sell out, at this price I can usually have honey until Dec. or Jan. I don't do pints and quarts anymore since that's what most of the beekeepers around here sell. I don't sell anything larger than 1 lb. for the most part. I sell some $25 quarts to a couple of longtime customers that run barbeque stands. Differentiate yourself from others selling in your area, talk to your customers and offer tips on how to use honey for cooking. With the holidays coming up in a couple of months I have no problem selling decorative 1 lb. jars at anywhere between $12 and $17. Packaging can make a huge difference in profit and sales. Pricing is all in how you market your product and how you get customers to perceive the higher value of your product versus the next guy. I never worry about what other beeks price their honey at, because what others are doing may be profitable for them but may not be for me.


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## Irmo (Jan 9, 2012)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*

The price depends on where you are. I am in northern VA near Washington DC. Wildflower honey at farmers markets near me goes for $9 or $10 a pound.

Driving home through more rural Middlesex County in VA, I stopped at a produce stand and saw honey from two different local apiaries on the shelf. One was $6.50 per pound, the other was $8.50 per pound. 

In a specialty wine and cheese store in Cape Charles, VA; they had local honey on the shelf for $7.50 for a half pound. I saw them sell several jars in the hour or so I was there (there was live music out front). So pricing is highly variable.

Go to a market or produce stand near you and see what the local price is.


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

I have questions for those that sell pints (canning jars). 

What do you put on the label for ounces of weight? 
Do you also have to list in pound and ounces (a pint of honey would weigh more than a pound).

What would you charge for a pint of honey with a chunk of comb in it also?

Thanks!


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## jjohnsind (Apr 24, 2014)

I'm a newb but common sense tells me this much: Package & market it fancy and get top dollar. Use cheap generic labels & plastic squeeze bottles and get bottom dollar. When my turn comes, I plan on using custom designed proprietary labels & as fancy of a glass jar as I can find (preferably not something the typical bee supply house sells).


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I sold quarts for 15 and sold out last weekend at a big flea market in packwood Washington I had increased my price $3 from the year before and was still the cheapest on the street. I sold 12 0z bears for $5.50 and when I bottle pints, I get extra for the smaller containers. I would get half the price of the larger container plus the half dollar or dollar. I priced gallons a dollar a quart cheaper and people were satisfied. I don't want to sell honey so high people think it is beyond their reach. I hate to see it priced out of the market! I sold the 3 oz bears for $1.25 and after thinking about it that is way too cheap when you consider their price and how cheap the honey in them was! I sold out so that price will definitely go up. Sold out of creamed honey at $6 a pound too. Could have sold my twenty or so chunks of cut comb for anything I wanted! But, most people have no idea what it is these days.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

I get $70 a lb from a couple customers. It is only when I bounce a check the bank people refund my 35 and I give them a 6oz bear. So it works out to equal to 70 a lb.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Bee Bliss said:


> I have questions for those that sell pints (canning jars).
> 
> What do you put on the label for ounces of weight?
> Do you also have to list in pound and ounces (a pint of honey would weigh more than a pound).
> ...


Maybe 22 Ozs. It's pretty hard to get a pound and a half into a standard pint jar. None of you folks selling pints are listing a net weight?


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

> It is only when I bounce a check the bank people refund my 35 and I give them a 6oz bear. So it works out to equal to 70 a lb.



Since there are 16 oz in a pound, 6oz for $35 is $93.33 per lb.


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

$14/pint in a golden harvest mason jar this year. was $10 last year. gonna have to think about how much to increase for next year...


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

jim lyon said:


> None of you folks selling pints are listing a net weight?


Mine are labeled 22oz (623g)


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

I tried to copy and paste the picture of my honey jars but I don't have the original file accessible, so I have to settle with a link to my blog post. Scroll all the way down to the last picture and you can click on it to make it bigger. 
http://suburbanrancher.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/honey-harvesting-part-deux/

The square jar is known as a victorian square. I can only find it in the size I need from 2 online vendors, the shipping doubles the cost of the jars. I order the labels from evermine.com and I use a tamper-evident seal on the square jar and shrink bands on the muth jars.
Hands-down, my favorite is the victorian square, no one sells honey like that but it costs me a pretty penny to use those jars. I'm not in this to make money as it's a hobby, but I would like my beekeeping to cover its own costs by selling honey and nucs. It'll probably take a few years to break even... As someone else mentioned, packaging is what catches the eye. Then you hook 'em with tastings 

But to skip the cost of the pricey jars, I'm considering a different jar, either a Paragon or the 58mm neck queenlines. My requirement is a one pound jar for which I can get a black metal lid. I'm planning to design my own labels this winter, also to cut costs. Lots of experimenting this winter...

I charge $10/lb and the muth jars are $12/pound.


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## JohnBeeMan (Feb 24, 2004)

I must be under priced. I am selling pints at $9 and quarts at $16.


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## IAmTheWaterbug (Jun 4, 2014)

*Re: Prince of Pint Jar of Honey*



sqkcrk said:


> What do you think would happen if you went to $14.00/one pound jar? Do you think people would stop buying your honey? Some probably would, but others would still buy it or buy it for the first time. It might take you longer to sell out, but is that your goal? To sell out? Or to maximize profit?
> 
> Were I to spend time standing at a farm mkt all day I would set the price high and if it doesn't sell back off some. But you'd have to give it some time.
> 
> What if you had the same honey, some priced $10.00 and some priced $14.00? I bet you'd be surprised at how many people would buy the $14.00 jars. If asked why the difference in price you could say that you like the $14.00 honey more than the $10.00 honey. Then your customers will too.


And if you did a labeled taste test (e.g. _not_ double-blind) the vast majority of your customers buying the $14.00 stuff would swear that they can taste the difference.

If you're uncomfortable selling the exact same thing at two different prices, then make a subtle change that doesn't cost you too much. Change the jar, or change the label, or include something free with the $14.00 product.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

suburbanrancher said:


> I tried to copy and paste the picture of my honey jars but I don't have the original file accessible, so I have to settle with a link to my blog post. Scroll all the way down to the last picture and you can click on it to make it bigger.
> http://suburbanrancher.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/honey-harvesting-part-deux/


You don't need the original file to display a photo here. There are a couple of possible approaches, but the easiest is to just _*link *_to the photo at your blog. For instance, that is what I did here ...











You can do this by using the _Insert Image_ icon in the Compose Message window and selecting the "From URL" tab, pasting in the link to your image, and *DE*-selecting the checkbox.

You can load the link to your image by right-clicking on the photo on your blog, then choosing "Copy Image URL". Once copied, that is the URL that gets pasted into the "From URL" box referred to above.


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## Beekeeper23 (Mar 5, 2014)

A pints a pound the world around as my mother would say.


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## franktrujillo (Jan 22, 2009)

i sell honey for $1.00 per honey oz


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Beekeeper23 said:


> A pints a pound the world around as my mother would say.


Well, not always. With water its close enough - and granulated sugar is not _as _close but still reasonably close.

But in a thread about pricing honey, it certainly does make a difference that a _pint _of honey weighs substantially _more _than 16 oz. A _pint _of honey typically weighs just under 24 oz.


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Beekeeper23 said:


> A pints a pound the world around as my mother would say.


Yep, for water. "A pints a pound and a half the world around" is more like it for honey. 

Wayne


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

"The pint's a pound the World around." (Don't forget the apostrophe, please.) This saying refers to Beer, not water. When it was first penned people didn't drink water as regularly as they do know.

"One US fluid pint of water weighs approximately one pound (16 ounces), resulting in the popular saying, "The pint's a pound, the world around." In fact, 1 US pint of water weighs 1.04375 pounds. However, the statement does not hold outside of the US because the imperial pint used in Britain and its former colonies weighs 1.25 pounds. A different saying for the imperial pint is "A pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter." " Wikipedia


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

COAL REAPER said:


> $14/pint in a golden harvest mason jar this year. was $10 last year. gonna have to think about how much to increase for next year...


Wow, that what I Like to hear......... hope the market bears that here next spring. G


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## v45 (Apr 1, 2012)

I bottled some pints & quarts last night, my little digital scale after zeroing with a empty bottle I got weights of pints @ 1.4 lbs or 22 oz & quarts @ 2.8 lbs or 44.8 oz.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

The amount of *water *that _comfortably _fits in any given "pint" jar is not necessarily 16 oz. Getting in 16 oz may require filling to the absolute brim, and that is normally not done.

Similarly, the amount of *honey *that _comfortably _fits in any given "pint" jar is not necessarily 24 oz. As several posts above have pointed out, more often there is about 22 oz of honey in a "pint" jar, but that is likely because the jar is not filled to the absolute brim.

From the National Honey Board:


> *How much does honey weigh?*
> 
> Eight fluid ounces (or 1 cup) of honey weighs 12 oz. Be careful in buying and measuring quantities of honey. Honey is typically sold by weight, rather than volume. It is heavier than water; the standard for "fluid ounces", which is why one cup of water is considered 8 fluid ounces, but one cup of honey will actually weigh 12 oz. A gallon of honey weighs approximately 12 lbs.
> 
> http://www.honey.com/faq/c/honey-properties


Also, note that not all "pint" jars have the same capacity. I watched a demonstration at our local bee club where the speaker showed that supposedly "pint" jars from various different manufacturers actually held *differing *volumes from each other.

A given volume of honey does not have a fixed weight. As honey can vary in moisture percentage, (usually somewhere between 14% and 19% water), the weight of a given volume of that honey will change. A "pint" of honey with 14% moisture will weigh more than a "pint" of honey with 19% moisture.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

There are 2 other factors that significantly impact the net wt. of any container of honey. 
1. The temp of the honey. Warmer is less dense. 
2. The moisture content of the honey (drier = heavier)
Given the fact that you want a reasonable amount of headspace, 22 ozs. Is a pretty comfortable net wt. for a pint jar.


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

v45

Better check your math.

1.4# x 16 oz. = 22.4 oz. (ok to round down)
2.4# x 16 oz. = 38.4 oz.

I had a little digital scale also and found that going up to the first thread in the pint jar yielded 20 oz. My scale read 1# 4.4 oz. I marked the honey label at 20 oz.


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## v45 (Apr 1, 2012)

Bee Bliss
It was late
I was going from memory and stated wrong weight on the quarts, I just looked at my notes when filling the Two jars Pints & Quarts
pint was 1.4 lbs 
quarts was 2.8 lbs or approx 44.8 oz


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

v45, Yes, I figured that must have been what you meant after I posted. Do you fill past the first thread for either quarts or pints? I'm trying to keep honey off the cap.


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## v45 (Apr 1, 2012)

Bee Bliss
I wanted the honey to be above the first ring on the bottle that is approx 3/4" below the top because I didn't want anyone telling me it wasn't a full jar. I tried to fill to the first thread approx 1/2" from the top + or - One pint reading was 23.25 0z which is mostly alfalfa light amber
This is my first year filling mason jars I have no idea if honey expands much if heated? I agree I don't want the honey touching the lid and or making a mess


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Bee Bliss said:


> I'm trying to keep honey off the cap.


Why?


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