# What Price Should I Sell A Pint of Honey For



## AdamBeal

Wondering what price I should sell my pint jars (22oz by weight) of honey for. At a local farmers market on Saturday I saw 3 people selling honey all were selling it for $10 a lb. I was thinking maybe pricing it at $12 for 22oz pint without comb and $15 with comb. What are you getting for pint jars in your area and does my price sound correct in being close to the price others are selling for one pound of honey here? I know I can charge whatever just getting an idea what others think.


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## jakec

i plan to sell mine for $1 more than the highest price i find locally. its about $8 to $10 a pint here in glass mason jars.


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## Gumpy

$10/lb is 0.625/oz. That comes to $13.75 for 22oz. 

I wouldn't personally buy honey at that price, but I'm cheap.


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## AdamBeal

Thanks I hear you Gumpy I wouldn't pay that much either which is why my gut told me $12 but not sure. I am cheap also and I have a lot of honey so I don't need it at that price. I searched some old posts about pricing honey from 2011 and saw this quote from TWall which made sense:
"The value to the consumer is usually greater than the producer. A farmer with 20 acres of sweet corn is not going to pay very much for sweet corn!"


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## COAL REAPER

$18/pint here. treatment free, no feed added, raw, un-heated and un-filtered hooks them.


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## Gumpy

AdamBeal said:


> "The value to the consumer is usually greater than the producer. A farmer with 20 acres of sweet corn is not going to pay very much for sweet corn!"


I don't have honey yet, but I was buying honey for wine making at $3/lb in recent years. Unfortunately, my supplier died last winter.


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## bobbybee

I'm a bit on the frugal side myself, but i think that you have to look at it from an economic point of view. Supply and demand. I know very few beekeepers that still have local, raw, un-pasturized, unmedicated honey at the end of the Summer. They are all sold out by then. Obviously that means that the supply is too low or the demand is too high.
If you goal is to just get rid of your honey, then sell it for the lower end of your price range. If your goal is to make money, then bump it up a bit and the fruits of your labor!


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## bibbster

I recently paid $7/lb over here in West TN if that helps you any.

You can also check the national prices on the National Honey Board for some guidance.

http://www.honey.com/honey-industry/honey-industry-statistics/unit-honey-prices-by-month-retail/


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## Fusion_power

I'm selling honey for $15/quart or $8/pint for the average wildflower honey. My premium honey from chinese privet or Sourwood goes at $22/quart.


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## jwcarlson

$8/lb and $20/qt for me. Seems like a fair price. I think people should charge whatever they can. I just talked to my great aunt's daughter and she pays $42 a quart in Chicago area and said it doesn't look half as good as mine. I'd sell her quarts for $30 all day long and she could make a good margin reselling for $40


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## hex0rz

bibbster said:


> I recently paid $7/lb over here in West TN if that helps you any.
> 
> You can also check the national prices on the National Honey Board for some guidance.
> 
> http://www.honey.com/honey-industry/honey-industry-statistics/unit-honey-prices-by-month-retail/


This is how I'm basing my honey prices too. 6 for a half pint, 12 for a pint. Looks like a quart is going for 23 this year.


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## Jim_in_PA

The local honey I've been buying (because I like the particular taste) typically sells at the local farmer's market for $17 for the pint, although I got it for $15 today. Until we have our own, I'll continue to buy this local beek's product, both because he's local and because it's the one I enjoy the most compared to other local choices. Things like this tend to be a little pricier in our area "just because" for some reason. Same goes for the locally roasted coffee I like...

Geography and local demand matters.


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## J and R Apiary

We sell our 16oz plastics bears for $8 
You need to look around your area and see what it goes for. Everyone's area can produce different prices.


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## Jim 134

jwcarlson said:


> $8/lb and $20/qt for me. Seems like a fair price. I think people should charge whatever they can. I just talked to my great aunt's daughter and she pays $42 a quart in Chicago area and said it doesn't look half as good as mine. I'd sell her quarts for $30 all day long and she could make a good margin reselling for $40


 I do know it all the New England states. To the End customer you need to sell honey by weight not by volume. I do like building value in my product.  I sell one pound classic honey jars and custom labeling. for $12 to $14 a piece. 12 ounce bears go for same price.



BEE HAPPY Jim 134


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## Knisely

In southern New England, I have been selling Mason jar pints for $13 and quarts for $20. That's for raw, but strained honey. My customers seem to want to have the local pollen, but not the bee legs or wings.


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## m0dem

jakec said:


> i plan to sell mine for $1 more than the highest price i find locally. its about $8 to $10 a pint here in glass mason jars.


Is that a strategy? :scratch:


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## gone2seed

It depends on the locality. At the local farmers market pint prices range from 9.00 to 15.00. Pints with comb go for 15-20 a pint. The 9 dollar guy usually sells out by the end of the day.
There are five honey sellers at this market.


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## Andrew Dewey

Honey is sold by weight in the US - not by volume. Once you know the ounces it is easy to stick the weight on the label. I have gotten $10/pint, $20/quart without issues. I priced it as I did so not to have to mess with change. Most of my crop is wholesaled.


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## Mefco

I have heard of a beekeeper in my area sells in many retail shops in the area - and one store sells his honey for $9.99 a lb, another store 200 yards away sells it (same label, same size) for $12.99, both are selling well, (and beekeeper gets $7 wholesale from both) Premium product, premium price, if you always sell out, raise the price to slow sales and make more $$. Sell the sizzle, people will pay...


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## Hive Onthehill

It's easier to come down on a price than it is to slowly come up on a price. Judge it by your sales and you'll find a price that works for you and you clientele. 
If you always sell out than I'd go I high a price as you can get away with from the start but if you aren't moving product then you need to adjust.
Build you network of clients and keep them happy and it should all work out fine for you.


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## buffaloeletric

Fusion_power-how do you go about determining what your honey consists of?


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## shinbone

My honey sells in a local shop for $13.00/pint. The shop is literally about 2 miles from my hives. Local people absolutely love local honey. 

I am mainly a hobbyist, only produced about 400 lbs last year, and this particular store is my only sales outlet. This year I sold out in about 6 weeks. I know that is small change for many of you guys. I'll probably bump the price up a $1 for next year. Hopefully, I'll have more than 400 lbs after this year's harvest, but I think the scarcity is actually part of the attraction.


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## jakec

m0dem said:


> Is that a strategy? :scratch:


its my strategy.


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## Tommy Hodge

I sell mine for $10/lb., so my pint jars are $15 without comb. Muth jars are $12/lb., as those jars are more expensive.


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## GSkip

Prices vary in my area based on tourist population. We don't have as much tourist traffic as our neighboring county or the travel routes into the area. We also have three honey collections, end of March is the early flow which is call "Red Honey" (wild flowers,blue berries, black berries, spring TiTi) $5.00/lb local, $8.00/lb in tourist areas. Next is Tupelo (April- mid May) this year local $20.00 to $23.00 per lb anywhere. Last is Gallberry (mid May - mid June) again $5.00 to $8.00 based on area. My brother-in-law has a fruit vegetable stand at the Fla-Ala state line (50 miles from me on main tourist route to the beach) he sell everything $3.00 to $4.00 per pound over my prices. He gets $3.00 for a 2oz bear of wild flower or gallberry and sells everyone he displays. 
Bulk honey is cheaper Gallberry or Orange Bossom averages purchase price is $2.35/lb for 60/lb bucket. I try to price mine in line with the other locals, we are a small community with a lot of honey producers so you never know when you may have to go to a competitor and buy honey if your short. My .02!


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## larrypeterson

My wife and I have been selling our honey (raw but strained) for $5.00 a pint and $10.00 a quart. We use the labels sold by the bee supply places. We also offer a $1.00 discount if they replace the bottle at the time of purchase. this works out to be about $3.00 per pound. Last year the Miller Honey Co. in Salt Lake City, was paying $!.80 per pound for light honey. I have seen dark honey for $3.00 per pound at Sam's Club in past years. I want to keep our bee operation a hobby and am reluctant to move it into a business. The paper work, quarterly tax payments, and the "red tape" of operating a business might be worth it for some folks but for me, I'm in it for fun. Honey is a welcome Christmas gift and my Great Grand Children really look forward to their honey from grandma' and grandpa'.

Another "big Payoff" is the time I can spend out in my "Bee Lab/shop" building stuff and working on my inventions. I have designed "what I think is the worlds greatest Pollen Trap". It has 4 top entrance openings that go through a slide out gate so the bees are used to their entrance directly into the top of the frames. When I want a little pollen I just slide in the gate which forces them to go down through the #5 wire mesh and the pollen drops down into the drawer. When I am satisfied, I pull the slide out and they are back to normal. This is great fun!!!

Somehow, the pushing for High dollar and the business aspect takes some of the magic out of it all. I guess it all boils down to "What rings your bell", so, I wish you well.

Best wishes, LP


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## GSkip

LarryPeterson,

You described bee keeping/honey production perfectly. I just want it to be fun and not a job. I began my second retirement at 59 (Jan 2, 2016). I consider myself very blessed to have retired twice by this age. So now I do things for enjoyment without an expectation of income. Thank you for your description!!!!!

Greg


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## johnbeejohn

While I think 5 dollars and 10 dollars is to cheap I would much rather sell all my honey in one day at a farmers market then sit there every weekend


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## pinkpantherbeekeeper

Don't forget to factor in your costs for containers and labels. 

If your selling honey at say $10 LB and container cost you $1, your container is 10% of the price. If you are still paying $1 per container and selling a half pound at $5, you now have your container costing 20% of the price. 

Pricing of your containers can eat into your profits real quick.


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## Dan. NY

I think I am undercharging. 15.00 for a quart mason jar. Just about sold out of last falls goldenrod/aster honey.


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## COAL REAPER

Dan. NY said:


> I think I am undercharging. 15.00 for a quart mason jar. Just about sold out of last falls goldenrod/aster honey.


i could get at least double what you are currently charging. turn it up some!


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## bobbybee

It's amazing the range of prices posted even here on Beesource. I think that we have to remember quality is what is being sold by the hobby beek. SUE-BEE Honey is $3/lb at Kroger because it's Sue Bee Honey (low quality sold to the masses). On the other side of the scale is boutique type honey selling for $20-$30/lb in some be cities. There has to be a middle.
I love for people to feel they have value in what they buy, but I won't try and compete with the large scale honey suppliers in price since they can't compete with me on quality. 
I price mine at $8/lb which I think is a great price considering all the hard work I put in it. 
Would I buy $3/lb honey, probably not. Would I buy $20/lb honey? No.


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## Hogback Honey

Man, and I thought the local honey at $15.00 a Quart was expensive, at the local farmers market  And that's California prices, ah, that may explain it, Calif has lots of colonies.


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## usngunr

jwcarlson said:


> $8/lb and $20/qt for me. Seems like a fair price. I think people should charge whatever they can. I just talked to my great aunt's daughter and she pays $42 a quart in Chicago area and said it doesn't look half as good as mine. I'd sell her quarts for $30 all day long and she could make a good margin reselling for $40


We're over in Geneseo, IL, I think we're going with $8 a lb. Although after seeing what the Chicago Coop gets, I'm half tempted to go to $10!


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## DFisher

$9 per pint in Central NC.


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## aunt betty

Have been selling 12-ounce bears for $5 each and they go fast. 
Pints are $10 and quarts are $20. 
$80/gallon and that's that. 
The chunk honey and comb is different. 
$15/$30 for pints/quarts 
and I sold a few 1-pound clear boxes for $15 each.
Ross Rounds are $15 too. 

So far have not hit a farmers market or anything like that. Just word of mouth, family, and Facebook sales. 
Not even close to a ton but it's getting to be a challenge extracting and bottling with a 4-frame extractor and one of them 5-gallon buckets with the honey gate. Bigger and better things are in the future. Honeybees are awesome.


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## DavidZ

10/pt 20/qt at our local farmers market in Grants Pass, Oregon all day every day for local raw honey. creamed or not. 
prices are pretty much stable at that point right now.
I'm word of mouth and sold all 230lbs of my blackberry in 5 days through the Ace Hardware cashier I told, all his friends
bought me out at 20/qt
The moment people hear I have bees they give me their phone numbers or ask for mine, ask where's the honey, and thanks for taking care of the Bees.
Here in Arizona not so much, it's can I have free honey...


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## appalachianoutdoors

I agree with a lot of poster that honey pricing should be based on weight, not volume. A pint jar fill with metal lid and ring weighs 2lb 1oz approx, but holds 22-23oz honey. If you're selling at $10/lb., these pint jars can fairly be sold for $15. I sell my pints for $15 in Central Va.


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## WWW

Pricing is dependent on your location and outlet, I sell one pound squeeze bottles for $6.00, I know that this is the top price for my location because when I raised my pricing from $5.00 to $6.00 about half of my customers stopped buying from me but after the sticker shock I think they will come back one of these days, I sold completely out last year. 

I have an Aunt that buys bulk honey from me and sells the small 12 oz bears for almost as much as I get from the 1 lb bottles but she has a farm market with a high volume of customers, I peddle mine by word of mouth.


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## WWW

Duplicate


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## rolftonbees

I am selling mine for 5.00 Per half pint. 

This seems to be what people will pay at a small farmers market. They think my larger jars are a good deal, but this is what moves. It's more bottling work, but I get the cheapest jars I can on sale. 

Had 6 buyers last Sat at a little market on the corner. There were only 12 sets of customers. So I sold to half. 3 of these drove back buy and bought more. 

5.00 seems to be what folks have in their pocket.


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## usngunr

I'm getting $8 a pound in squeeze bottles with no balking what so ever. It's selling fast. Regardless of size, $.50 an ounce seems to sell fine. My wild hive honey sold out in 3 days at $10 a lb. Market to it's strengths, there is a demand out there. Given a pint is a pound and a half, I'd price accordingly.


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## Bee Bliss

Hobbyist here. Harvested in July and August this year. These two honeys are different tasting, both light in color. Local, raw and strained only. One tastes a bit like caramel and the other is tangy. YUMMY! We have a lot of Linden trees in our area.

This is our first year selling to co-workers. Getting rave reviews and word of mouth is great for sales! Some repeat sales and I feel next year these customers will be back. There was a little surge for Christmas gifts. 



$10 for 20 oz. raw honey in pint mason jar.

$20 for 40 oz. raw honey in quart mason jar.

$6 for 10 oz. creamed honey in mason jelly jar.

$12 for 20 oz. creamed honey in pint mason jar.

Creamed honey involves more effort, so value added.


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## dennis crutchfield

I usually sell at 5.25 a pound, 10.00 pint and 18 quart. no complaints


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## clyderoad

at some of these prices do you cover your costs?
anyone have an idea of how much it costs them to produce a pound of honey?
knowing may help you price it whether you keep bees for fun or for a return on investment.


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## MissHoney

bobbybee said:


> I love for people to feel they have value in what they buy, but I won't try and compete with the large scale honey suppliers in price since they can't compete with me on quality.


I LOVE that statement!!


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## CindyMas

A friend offered me a a pint for $9 only. Maybe, pricing will depend on how it has been prepared. Consider your expenses and capital.


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## Andy_K

I am always asked what I sell my honey for.
I don't sell any.
I refuse to.
I do this for fun and am really scared that if I charged for honey it would be a job.
The last thing I want would be to have another job or business.
I am really small scale compared to most of you folks.
Last year with six hives we did/made just a bit over 10 gallons of harvest and didn't have to feed at all.
We live in a a good area and have some cool tools like a 3100p so the work is not all that hard.
This year we have eight hives that might max out to twelve hives.
The wife and I do a lot of business in our work.
We give our honey away to family,friends and business associates.
I am not sure why but it makes me happy to give it away.
I just kinda dig it.
I don't expect nor want anything in return but I don't give out to "takers".
Surprising enough it seems that we receive more than the premium going rate in return than we give out.
I feel blessed to have this situation.
Andy


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## Mefco

I think it is fun to sell it. 
You might change your mind about selling it if you start getting 50+ pounds per hive (600 plus pounds potentially) and those 5 gallon pails are stacking up, and your friends are starting to avoid you so they don't have to add another jar of honey to the shelf with the other six that they haven't used yet&#55357;&#56832;
There's nothing wrong with selling something to people that want to buy it


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## Branman

Edited


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## missybee

Here the "normal" price at farmers markets for a lb of honey in a squeeze jar is $10.00, and it sells fast. 12oz goes for $8


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## Mason Rice

I sell my honey for $10.00 a pound in jars that I got at Family Farm and Home in Big Rapids Michigan. I bought the jars for $14.99 and they came in a pack of 12. I gave away maybe six 1 pound jars to friends and family and I sold 17 jars and kept four of them for my-self. I think the average price for one pound of honey is 7-8 dollars.


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## SydneyBarrett

Bee Bliss said:


> Hobbyist here. Harvested in July and August this year. These two honeys are different tasting, both light in color. Local, raw and strained only. One tastes a bit like caramel and the other is tangy. YUMMY! We have a lot of Linden trees in our area.
> 
> This is our first year selling to co-workers. Getting rave reviews and word of mouth is great for sales! Some repeat sales and I feel next year these customers will be back. There was a little surge for Christmas gifts.
> 
> 
> 
> $10 for 20 oz. raw honey in pint mason jar.
> 
> $20 for 40 oz. raw honey in quart mason jar.
> 
> $6 for 10 oz. creamed honey in mason jelly jar.
> 
> $12 for 20 oz. creamed honey in pint mason jar.
> 
> Creamed honey involves more effort, so value added.


This is correct prices!


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## Hillbilly tom

Wow.now I feel bad. Ive been buying wild flower honey for mead making from a amish guy down the road who has hives for 3 $ a pound in jars or 120$ per five gallon bucket if I supply bucket


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## larrypeterson

Friends,

Marketing honey is a really interesting challenge. In my local area, the wholesale price offered by the distributors runs from $1.80 for the light honey to about $1.40 for the dark. They supply the 55-gallon drums and you have the responsibility to deliver the bulk drums to their dock. I have friends that sell their own honey for $9.00 a pint and have a lot on hand that they can not sell. The laws of "supply and demand" really determine what price you can get. I personally like to keep the demand a little higher than the supply. My June and July honey is really light and comes primarily fron alpha alpha. The later honey is much darker and has a different taste. We just finished botteling the dead out honey from colonies that perished with "CCD" and it is dark and has the "heavier taste".

I am really excited for those who have found "high end markets" to sell thier honey. I wish you well, LP


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## aunt betty

Right now have a few angry customers who can't believe it's mid-May and I don't have any honey to sell.
Sell a lot of 12-ounce bears. 
Pints, quarts, and gallons. 
It's all the same price-rate. 
Roughly $6.66/pound or $5/cup.
$5 for a 12-ounce bear and nobody even blinks.

Light vs Dark? I think I could get more for the late-summer goldenrod honey. I get hounded for that starting when it's blooming. Wish I could produce more in the fall. Our fall flow is very iffy.


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## Banemorth

I'm an hour out of NYC and sell at $16 a pound. My 200lb harvest last year sold out in about three weeks. Been told I need to raise the price but I'd feel bad at that point. Prices in my area range from $12-$20 a pound so I settled in the middle.


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