# NEED HELP ON PRICING



## Laurence Hope (Aug 24, 2005)

I sell mine for 75% or what I retail it for, and expect the market to sell similarly to my retail price.


----------



## Tia (Nov 19, 2003)

I sell it at the prices listed in ABJ or Bee Culture.


----------



## lazybeestudio.com (Aug 24, 2006)

Retail:

12oz. $4, 1 Pound $5, 2 Pound $8

Wholesale:

12oz. $2.50, 1 Pound $3.25, 2 Pound $5.75

I have upped my prices some this year, as the demand is there--but, the supply is wayyyyyy lowwwwww.

Also, if they are too local--don't be scared to say "NO" if you sell it from your house. It will eat into your sales/profits. I had to tell the store a mile down the road I couldn't sell this year to them. There's just not enough honey to give it away . . .

http://www.lazybeestudio.com - 866-LAZY-BEE
Beekeeping and Soapmaking Supplies


----------



## Judy Bee (Jul 4, 2006)

How do you sell honey from your house? Do you have a sign that says "local honey"? Do you advertise??? I've been able to sell my honey at work, but I've recently retired and have all kinds of honey taking up room in my house. I'm a good beekeeper, but a lousey sales person!


----------



## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

judy bee ask:
How do you sell honey from your house? Do you have a sign that says "local honey"? Do you advertise???

tecumseh replies:
well my answers to your list are....

1)no
2)no
3)no

and finally judy bee sezs:
I'm a good beekeeper, but a lousey sales person! 

tecumseh replies:
I sell my honey one on one and face to face. Now this strategy would likely not work if I had an enormous quantity, but it certainly works for a limited volume. I BELIEVE that most foks who eat honey would rather acquire their honey from a bad beekeeper rather that the best salesperson.

as to price...
go to a health food store (or some feed stores in a rural area) and see what they get for 'local-unprocessed' honey. at this location I have no problem is selling mine at or about 75% of this retail price.


----------



## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

My local healthfood store sells their "local-unprocecessed" honey for 25% less than what I charge. They charge (or did) $2 for a 12 oz honeybear and $5 for a quart, and I'm at $3 and $7.

I would check out the local store prices (all items) compared to the local supermarket, figure out what the price differential is, and then figure that you will get about 75% of what they retail.

I'm in the suburbs, and I put up a sign and a table by the road, and I don't sell a ton, but definately see some patterns and still get customers stopping by the house asking for honey even if there isn't a sign up.

I also sell at some local private school craft sales.

And I'm a horrible salesman, partially because I cant stand talking to them for some reason. It is to the point that I almost tell people why they shouldn't buy my honey. But even with all that I'm still selling plenty 'cuz its so good.

-rick


----------



## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

I sell mine for $3 a pound. Period. If I can't get that for it I would rather give it away.

I do not have the time or place to sell it from home. 99% of it I sell to a local farm market. I tell them to charge whatever they want, but my price is $3 a pound. I don't want people coming back my lane at all hours. If I was retired then that would be different, I would ask more then. I would sell them the EXPERIENCE of dealing direclty with a real beekeeper









The market that sells my product has been doubling the price and sell out regularly.

Whoever the supplier is to that health food store they are selling too cheap IMO. If you truly have a quality product you ought not to be afraid to ask a fair price. I wouldn't worry about the health food store.


----------



## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

>lazybeestudio.com 

Retail:

12oz. $4, 1 Pound $5, 2 Pound $8

Are you calling a pound 16 oz? My calculations if correct is 1 gallon of honey is 11.7 lbs, 1 qt 2.925 lbs, 1 pt 1.4625 lbs. If so a pound of honey would be roughly 12 oz. Or is it standard that when people talk about a pound of honey that they are talking 16 oz? I ordered 1lbs. queenline jars from Brushy Mt. so how many oz will they be?


----------



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I think a gallon is 13 pounds


----------



## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

ruben sezs:
Are you calling a pound 16 oz? My calculations if correct is 1 gallon of honey is 11.7 lbs

tecumseh sezs:
a pound is a pound and yes that does mean 16 oz. but all honey does not weight the same... moisture content being the largest variable. 

so a one pound honey jar should contain about 16 oz . the honey here is about the same weight as in your location.

everyone seems to get hung up on the old lymric.... a pint is a pound the world around.... which is correct for water, but hold no water when it comes to honey.

at this location a pint is about 22 oz. and a quart 44 oz (+ or - a smidge).


----------



## SilverFox (Apr 25, 2003)

Mines out the gate, and I do have a sign that goes up when I've got a surplus when I have enough to sell that is.
1/2 pint $4.00
1 pint $6.00
1 quart $ 12.00
1 gallion $ 30.00
My brother-in-law sell it where he works and gets a comission, other than that it is word of mouth. Or people I've given it to in the past as kinda a teaser (a small sample).


----------



## Dwight (May 18, 2005)

I check prices in my area and try to price mine about the same. But I also figure supply and demand into the equation as well as particular markets. It sells at higher prices in a gift shop for example than it does at a farmers market or a road side stand.
Judy, when I started I gave a lot of small samples away and now I get a lot of repeat customers who stop by every year to buy Honey. It seems to sell well around the holidays!


----------



## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

Tecumseh I am confused, when everyone says they gat say 50 pound of honey off of a hive, does that mean 50-16oz bottles? Or are they talking actual weight?


----------



## SilverFox (Apr 25, 2003)

Ruben; 50 pounds would equal approx 4 gallons +/-. In the old days, from what I've been told, honey was sold in the crystallized form and not as a liquid and that has carried over into today's market. The label can have both on it and be correct, as long as it has both on it.


----------



## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

<and finally judy bee sezs:
I'm a good beekeeper, but a lousey sales person!>

Judy bee, bee-ing a good saleman/woman is not what you need to sell honey. Know thy craft and thy product. We sell at green market in NYC and my family talks to 400-500 customers in a given day. We never try to sell our honey, we sell ourselves and our operation by talking with customers, one at time, as if they were our best friends ( and many of them will be). When people see how much you love what you do it is infectious. People are fascinated by the miracle of beekeeping and the amazing products that we make from the beehive. Once people know you your products will sell them self. My advise is get to your farmers market and just be a beekeeper, the rest will happen!

As far as pricing, we too glance at Market Reports like Tia. This weekend a fellow marketter who plans on making $50,000/year with 20 hives told me I could get more than Avg. $4.00/lb we get for our honey. He is of course right. Our attitude has always been we want the common man, like me, to be able to afford and enjoy the wonders of the beehive. By being fair, competitive and consistent we have quadrupled our sales over the past 6 yrs.

[ October 08, 2006, 10:11 AM: Message edited by: Joel ]


----------



## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

SilverFox, yes I agree that by weight it is just over 4 gallons. But if you then bottled it in 1lbs(16oz bottles) and sold them then you would have only sold about 33lbs because by volume because 16oz is about 1 1/2lbs. So when beekeepers say they get 100lbs of honey off of a hive are they talking weight or volume.

Also when ABJ says honey for instance is going for 4$ per pound in a region are they talking 16oz or the actual weight of a pound? Weight or Volume, which is the standard?


----------



## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

Honey prices are based on the weight of honey only and do not include the weight of the container. Tare is the term used. A 55 gallon drum of honey, for example, weighs 679 lbs. gross weight. A drum weighs 49 lbs so the cusotmers pays for 630 lbs tare weight of honey. Having said that the container costs is usually hidden in the honey cost.

I am not aware that of any regulations that would prevent you from selling your honey by volume as long at is labeled correctly such as a quart or gallon of honey. Your state weight and measures division will have more information for requirements in you area.

[ October 08, 2006, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: Joel ]


----------



## GeeBeeNC (Aug 23, 2005)

It looks like some are confused about the difference between dry ounces and liquid ounces.

There are 16 fluid ounces (volume) in a pint regardless of the substance. 

There are 16 dry ounces (weight) in a pound regardless of substance.

A pint jar of honey contains 16 fluid ounces and if the moisture is in spec. 22 dry ounces.

Pound jars are calibrated for dry measure. Pint jars are calibrated for liquid measure.

A properly labeled honey container will be labeled by weight and may also be labeled by volume but don't need to be.


----------



## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

Ruben

It is the weight we go by, not the volume.


----------



## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

joel sezs:
We never try to sell our honey, we sell ourselves and our operation by talking with customers, one at time, as if they were our best friends ( and many of them will be).

tecumseh replies:
an excellent example of why I so sorely missed joel presence on this board. what can you say beside..... exactly.

then ruben sezs:
Tecumseh I am confused, when everyone says they gat say 50 pound of honey off of a hive, does that mean 50-16oz bottles? Or are they talking actual weight?

tecumseh replies:
well I am confused also ruben, but perhaps geebeenc has shed some light on the problem. in real terms I figure the honey price in any kind of container by it's weight. 

so yes the yield per hive would be 50 pounds which should fill approximately 50 1# honey jars (which are about 2/3 the size of a standard pint mason jar which at this location will hold aapproximately 22 oz or 1 3/8 pounds).


----------



## Judy Bee (Jul 4, 2006)

Honey is sold by weight. In my area (western Oregon) a 12 oz jar holds 1 lb of honey and there are approximately 11 lbs of honey per gallon jar if you fill it to the top. 

The weight per volume depends on the water content of honey, which will differ depending on where you live. I presume there is much less water content in Nevada honey than in Florida honey. One woman from Nevada once told me that her honey was 12% water and was disqualified at a state fair because it had too low a water content.

By the way, a properly labeled jar now needs to have the weight in both lbs and grams...gotta go and relabel a ton of jars!


----------



## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

I bought some 1 lbs queenline jars and filled one with water, then poured the water into a measuring cup and it was 12 oz


----------



## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

Fill your 1 pound queenline jar up with honey and weigh it.

If it weighs one pound, then you have one pound of honey!


----------



## Mitch (Jul 7, 2003)

Wow what a deal, back to the origanal question.

I sell my honey to a reseller at 80% of my retail price aqnd leave it up to them what they want to charge.

Ruben Hope this helps you.A 1 LB queenline jar is made for honey as with any other container made for honey it will hold the stated amount by wieght

It is like Dave said if you fill the 1 lb queenline jar with honey it will wiegh 1 lb.

Water is about 8lbs per gallon and honey on average is about 12 lbs per gallon.

In the State of Ohio honey must be labled by wieght.And i think it is pretty standard in every state.


----------



## johnE (Jul 11, 2006)

if we were going to sell our honey from our location.. with my father beeing retired someone is home all the time. we only have one problam we live on a dirt road about 2 miles off the nearest main road.. could anyone give me some help on how to get people to my home ???

thanks 
Ole English Apiary


----------



## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

#1 Contact your Farm Bureau or even better Join. Let the members know you are selling honey. They will support you.

#2 Have signs on the main road and some type of attraction such as an observation hive, empty display hive that folks could paw through and a place to present your honey.

#3 Give a few jars to the town highway guys next time they are working and ask them to pass the word. Make certain they take one back to the town clerk, she talks to everyone.

[ November 16, 2006, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: Joel ]


----------

