# Pricing



## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

This is my first year and I got 125 lbs of honey to sell, so I bought the 1/2 and 1 lbs queenline jars and filled them. I looked ABJ and saw the price per pound in my are was around $4.50 per pound. By the time I got the shipping on the jars they were about .75 cents each. So I have been selling 1lbs jars for $5.50 and 1/2lbs jars for $3.25. My freind was about 40 miles up the road at an old store yesterday and said they had some local honey in pints mason jars for $4.00 or quart mason jars for $7.00. 

What am I missing? It seems to me like you would go broke selling it that cheap. I am afraid I am way over priced and next year people won't want to buy from me because I am too high. I don't have a lot to compare to except I do know there is another local beekeeper who sells quarts for $10.00.


I am figuring that if the hives made an average of 100 lbs of honey, and using an aprox weight at 11.7 lbs per gallon then 100lbs would yeild aprox 68 pint jars. Then if you sold them at $4.00 per pint you would gross about $272.00 then once you took the price of sugar syrup and any chemicals and foundation, jars, and any other supplies off of that in a years time, you would be down to around $100-$150 profit per hive and that is before you calculate the expense of time. I did not get into beekeeping to make money, however I would like to make some money so could someone please show me what I am missing? I know the guys out there running their selves crazy with 50 hive are not doing all that work for $6000 per year, at least I hope not.

Thanks again

Ruben Showalter


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## buz (Dec 8, 2005)

I like the $10 a lb. price myself. When I sell at the museum, I kick back a dollar a jar to them. For the general store, my price is reduced a bit....for volume sales. But they still get $10 with tax. 

Yes the supermarket sells 'honey' for less. Probably a lot of it. I always run out before the new season. If you have no problem selling it, why drop the price? I figure they like the product. 

Good luck with your sales. If this hobby covers it's own costs I'll consider it queenright.


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## Hillside (Jul 12, 2004)

You want to try to charge what the market will bear. Remember that all markets are not the same and you might get more or less than someone in a different area. 

You can also affect the market by how you present your product. Some people are just better marketers than others.

Try to figure out what a similar product with similar presentation is going for in your area. 

My preference is to start not too low, but just a little low and then work your way up over time until you reach the "magic" price. If you start too high with the idea that you can always lower the price, you run the risk of being labeled as too high -- a label that seems to stick forever.


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## gardenbees (May 8, 2005)

There is an old beekeeper in my area who sells his honey for $3.00 per pint. When a new boutique store opens up he is all over it to get his honey in there. He's a hobbist who doesn't really want to make a living and he's a realy nice guy so I just let him have the new stores. But I value my and my bees time and effort too much to give my honey away like that. I charge $5.00 for 1/2 pint and $7.00 for a pint. I don't even sell it in the quart jar because I would have to sell it for around $10 and to me it's worth more than that. I sold out of 200# this year already. People love the product and love to know who produced it and how. They are willing to pay what I charge and come back for more. I package it very nicely and make sure the labels are straight and the jars are not sticky. Attention to detail is very important. If the customer percieves a quality product they will be willing to pay for a quality product. I truly believe that when you underprice your product it tells the consumer that it's not worth their time or money. The supermarket sells honey for much less but it's like comparing apples and oranges. Local honey doesn't taste anything like what you get in the store and that's why people buy it. Just my thought after selling for a year direct to consumers and also wholesale to stores. Theresa.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

well first off ruben the prices listed in the abj should tell you whether the price is wholesale or retail. for the retail price this is (at least in my mind) a bottled and labeled price.

a couple of cheap and dirty observations about other comments on this thread...

first ruben sezs:
I know the guys out there running their selves crazy with 50 hive are not doing all that work for $6000 per year, at least I hope not.

tecumseh replies:
think a bit longer ruben. and I could likely make the same case for folks running 500 or 5000 hives with little problem.

gardenbee adds:
There is an old beekeeper in my area who sells his honey for $3.00 per pint.

tecumseh replies:
a very long term problem of agriculture (and just about worldwide) is that primary producers are competing their way right into the poor house. 

it is quite easy to give something away or sell some product at or below cost. most time in regards to 'price discovery' (see hillside's comments) they confuse what something is worth to them (the producer) for what something is worth to someone else (the consumer).

the local supermaket is of little value since the product you have in the pail is not going to be on any supermaket shelf. this price 'may' represent a 'floor' for pricing your own product. the establishments that do work for me are: health food stores and road side produce stands. which is to say that in terms of the local market these represent comparable product and price.

if you sell out too fast (and with 125 pounds this would seem likely) then your price is too low. on the other side of the coin... simply because your product is not moving does not necessarily translate into your product being priced to high (there are other factor that may be at work here).

my personal approach is to check the price at grocery stores, health food stores and (as I did this past weekend a bit of se Texas) the better stocked produce stands. I then determine a price that is fair for both you and the consumer.

two final comments: where you sell is likely more important than price and most of my customers purchased my product because the see a real beekeeper attached to the product (which is to say their uncertainty about the origin of the product is diminished).

good luck...


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## Pete0 (Mar 30, 2002)

Fifth year of hobby beekeeping and selling honey. The hobby pretty much pays for itself, wooden ware, packages, containers, etc. but not my time. I figure the rewards I get from the pollination are the payback for the time I invest. The wife handles sales and she has been selling 1# containers for $5.00 since the start. This has been relatively close but higher than the listed price in Bee Culture for our area. Sales are made out of our home and at 2 local festivals each year. We have sold out every year even while competing with cheaper honey in the same festival stall. I think your prices are very reasonable for Virginia and for your area you may be a little low.

Pete0
Bena, VA


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## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

I sold out! I guess I was not too high.

Pete where is Bena, Va?


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

Here were my prices for 2006.

1lb $3.75
Pint$5.25
2lb $6.50
3lb $8.75
Gal $28.50
5Gal$120.00

12oz comb honey $4.50
pint w/ chunk honey $ 7.25

My prices are not expensive. Some might say too cheap. However, it is very location dependent. I live in a very rural area and there isn't alot of disposable income here. There are also some older beekeepers who have been selling it for $2/lb for years. Even at my prices I have people say its too expensive but most buy and I refuse to lower them.

I had 800lbs to sell and sold almost all of it within about 8 weeks. Most of it sitting on a corner down the road from my house with a table and my pickup. On Sat for around 5-6hrs each time.

I work full time and have two small children so I cannot afford to spend alot of time sitting at flea markets etc...So there is a trade off. I could raise my prices and hold onto it longer and spend more time selling it or I can price it to move. 

I haven't decided yet on my 2007 prices.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Ruben, are you in this to make money? This is your first year. Don't expect to recoop your investment any time soon.

If you got into beekeeping to make a living off of bees then you should have started with a lot more then you did. But you probably got onto bees for another reason.

If you look too closely at the bottom line at this time you will be nothing less then discouraged. I'll bet if you looked at what you've earned for the number of hours you put into this venture you'd come up with a figure well below the minimum wage. Don't do this. You'll only get depressed. 

I know from experience. Over thirty five years ago I had a job and living situation that I really enjoyed. But when I did the math on salary and hours worked I found out that I wasn't being paid much and much of the joy went out of the work. 

I suggest that you shouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to prices printed in the Bee Mags. Do a survey of honey sold in your immediate area and base your prices accordingly. Maybe even a litte higher. If you don't think that your honey is the best around then neither will anyone else.

As far as what you saw on the shelf and wondering how one can afford to? Well you gotta buy in bulk and produce loads of honey and base the wholesale price where it will sell. Marketing any product has loads of things going on that you are just beginning to find out about.

If you are selling your honey from the house at the prices you mentioned they sound good to me. Have you run out yet?


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

>Even at my prices I have people say its too expensive but most buy and I refuse to lower them.

Good move. I have found that a lot of folks associate cheap prices with cheap quality. When I first started, I set prices at or below grocery store prices thinking that will move the honey quicker. It was a mistake to try to "compete" with the grocery stores.

It was a hard concept for me to grasp being a lifelong tightwad, but most people who want homemade honey expect a better product and actually expect to pay more. Unless your selling honey by the ton, I think fancy jars and gourmet labels (and corresponding prices) are the way to go. If someone says I can buy honey cheaper at Wal-Mart, I say buy it.


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

Actually I think the tightwad gene is closely related to the beekeeping gene.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

{Actually I think the tightwad gene is closely related to the beekeeping gene.}


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## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

>Ruben, are you in this to make money? This is your first year. Don't expect to recoop your investment any time soon.


No not soley to make money but it would be nice, I just want to be in the right ball park for price. Yes this is my first year. I make a good living as an auto technician, I got into beekeeping because it interested me but I have a 6 year old son and a 4 year old daughter, I plan to build up to between 25 and 50 hives and use beekeeping to teach my kids how to work and make money, that it does not grow on trees. I thought about paying them a commission to sell honey, let them build up and service a customer base of their own and teach them about bees and nature, give them the fundamentals of how life works, plus have fun! 


>If you got into beekeeping to make a living off of bees then you should have started with a lot more then you did. But you probably got onto bees for another reason.


I was spending a crazy amount of money playing golf several times a week, I found a hobby that can put money in my wallet instead of taking it out.


>I suggest that you shouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to prices printed in the Bee Mags. Do a survey of honey sold in your immediate area and base your prices accordingly. Maybe even a litte higher. If you don't think that your honey is the best around then neither will anyone else.

>As far as what you saw on the shelf and wondering how one can afford to? Well you gotta buy in bulk and produce loads of honey and base the wholesale price where it will sell. Marketing any product has loads of things going on that you are just beginning to find out about.

>If you are selling your honey from the house at the prices you mentioned they sound good to me. Have you run out yet?


I did not want to sell it at $4 if I could get $5, and did not want to sell higher and scare them away for next year if that makes sense. I don't plan on making a living doing this I was just wondering why some do if there is not much money in it per time spent. Mcdonald"s pays $10 per hour if you know what I mean. It sounds like 300 hives would keep one person going wide open all year, if you sold that honey at as cheap as they do in bulk at wholesale it sounds like you would go broke just after the expenses and that is before you calculate time and effort. The whole thing just puzzles me. Yes I did sell out!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

"I don't want to sell it at $4 if I could get $5,..."

I understand. One thing to keep in mind is that you'll never know how much you can sell something for until you ask too much. Set your prices high and see what the market will bear.

"Yes I did sell out!"

Well maybe you didn't charge enough. Charge more next year. Expect this years customers to wonder why though.

I have had a wholesale price for the stores and a retail price that I charge people who come by the house. The address is on the label. I had been selling 5 lb jars at home for the same price as the wholesale price. Over the holidays I raised the prices for wholesale and home. The guys who came yesterday to buy a case of 5 lbers didn't bat an eye when they had to pay $10.00 more per case. So, maybe I need top take my own advice.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Ruben, nice pix.


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## Sport (Dec 11, 2006)

Ruben

You said that you are an auto technician. You can try selling it at the counter at the garage. Your customers will appreciate that it is local and from a guy that they trust. Also, compared to the cost of auto repair, $10 a lb will seem cheep.


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## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

Yea Sport, that is where I sold all of it. Only problem is now they are coming back for more and I don't have any


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## Hill's Hivery (Jan 7, 2005)

Ruben,

Thought I would drop my 2 cents worth also.
I have been keeping for 3 years and harvested for 2 years. I normally go by the Bee Culture report and add about $.50 to it. My region average was about $3.50 for a 1# jar retail. I was selling them for $4.00 each. In fact I sell through our local natural foods store and she completely bought me out this year. I saved back enough to fill my continuing customers orders and 12 1/2 pints for gifts, but The store owner cleaned me out. She sells 1# jars for $6.00 and Qts for about $13.00. She normally sells out also!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Jack those prices up to where it won't sell and then back them down a little.


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