# What size jars of honey sell most?



## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

In my area, the pint mason jars (22 oz. net wt.) sell well. I charge $15. Jar and label cost about $1. Most of my sales are word of mouth so I do not do the farmer's market route as there are only so many hours in a day.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

JWPalmer said:


> In my area, the pint mason jars (22 oz. net wt.) sell well. I charge $15. Jar and label cost about $1. Most of my sales are word of mouth so I do not do the farmer's market route as there are only so many hours in a day.



Same here. I offer 1/2 pints $10, pints $15 and quarts $25. Pints sell the most. I sell out of my house with a self serve cabinet. I have been selling here for 47 years.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Word of mouth here also. I also don't sell much. I thought pints at $10 would sell the most but found quarts at $18 are actually more popular.
Cheers
gww


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## dr4ngas (Mar 19, 2014)

I sold 12 oz. bears $10, 16 oz. skips $15, pint jars for $20 and the quart jars for $35. The bears and skips sold the best. Then the pints, maybe 2-3 cases and about half a case of quarts. Don't forget the 2 oz. bears $2 were a favorite for those that are not sure. The wife gave them out a lot to friends, co-workers and doctors/nurses when she had appointments. It did help a little on the sales of the other sizes. You wont to think about honey sticks 25 cents each or 5 for $1 was a little help on off days.


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## angels and bees (Apr 14, 2017)

Thanks for your replies. It is helpful having replies from a cross-section of the country. 
Do you find a preference for plastic or glass from your clients?


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## dr4ngas (Mar 19, 2014)

Those with kids preferred the plastic over glass. The rest did not care that much either way.


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## Grins (May 24, 2016)

angels and bees said:


> Thanks for your replies. It is helpful having replies from a cross-section of the country.
> Do you find a preference for plastic or glass from your clients?


I sell raw honey so I naturally thought the buyers would prefer glass to plastic. Nope, every single person I asked preferred the squeezable plastic. I quit glass. I sell 1 1/2 and 2 lbs, $10 and $13 respectively. I may add 3 pounders this fall. My price is $6.00 a pound plus a buck for the container. I've found some folks are looking for the smallest container they can buy, others are looking for an even dollar amount. I sell through FB and local bazaars. The bottles I ship are generally larger purchased through PayPal, the face to face sales are either cash or square. Cash buyers like even numbers, cc buyers less so.

Lee


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## Doug B (Jul 15, 2017)

Squeezable plastic is better here as well. Seems like people prefer the simplicity of snap cap, easy portion control, and no spoon or dipper needed.


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## NewbeeInNH (Jul 10, 2012)

I like glass better than plastic.

Does anyone have a favorite place to order lb. or 1/2 lb. glass honey jars?


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

It depends on the market. Whole sale pints for me. Out of the house qts. At shows every thing from 8 oz jars to qts. I manly do glass. But when customers as for something you need to be able to supply it. A piece of knowledge that I learn a long time ago. Is that is learn to say yes. To their ?.like credit cards do you take them if yes you may have a sale. If no they can walk.


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## Sickdog5 (Jun 8, 2016)

JWPalmer said:


> In my area, the pint mason jars (22 oz. net wt.) sell well. I charge $15. Jar and label cost about $1. Most of my sales are word of mouth so I do not do the farmer's market route as there are only so many hours in a day.


 i thought pint mason jars were 16oz?


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

Honey is sold by weight, not volume. A 16 fluid oz. jar (pint mason jar) holds 22 oz. by weight of the honey my bees produce. Some honey is denser, lower moisture content, and may weigh more in the same size container. I use a scale when filling.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

JWPalmer said:


> Honey is sold by weight, not volume. A 16 fluid oz. jar (pint mason jar) holds 22 oz. by weight of the honey my bees produce. Some honey is denser, lower moisture content, and may weigh more in the same size container. I use a scale when filling.


That is the one I sell most. If someone asks the weight, I tell them it is just shy of a pound and a half. That gives me $6 a pound for the honey and as JWP says, the dollar for the jar and label. Selling at _farm gate_ removes the stipulation that the weight must be accurately printed on the label. Putting it on the shelves or reselling is different conditions.

I really should up the price but $10 is such a nice easy figure for the honor stand. Easy for people making their own change.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I will add to my post #3. 
My self serve cabinet has had a huge increase in sales due to Covid 19 food hoarding, home baking during quarantine and that it is socially contactless. I have a smartphone scannable QR code for Venmo and PayPal payments. Most sales are cash or check into the dropbox.


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

odfrank said:


> Same here. I offer 1/2 pints $10, pints $15 and quarts $25. Pints sell the most. I sell out of my house with a self serve cabinet. I have been selling here for 47 years.


OMG, I'm so lucky, when I run out of honey, we use a LOT, and I have only 4 hives, I purchase from a local Beek with a roadside stand. Their prices just went up, use to be $32.00 for a Gallon, and $15.00 for a quart. Gallons have gone up to $40.00 this year, just had to purchase a gallon for our sun tea.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

I do every thing from 8oz to 5 gallon buckets. It all depends on the person and market. Some plastic a lot of glass.


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

Hogback Honey said:


> Gallons have gone up to $40.00 this year, just had to purchase a gallon for our sun tea.


Wow. Gallons around here fetch about $60, or just at $5 per pound.


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## Sickdog5 (Jun 8, 2016)

odfrank said:


> I will add to my post #3.
> My self serve cabinet has had a huge increase in sales due to Covid 19 food hoarding, home baking during quarantine and that it is socially contactless. I have a smartphone scannable QR code for Venmo and PayPal payments. Most sales are cash or check into the dropbox.


Do you ever have a problem with people stealing


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## fatshark (Jun 17, 2009)

An interesting thread, both for the prices and the preferences.

For a comparison with the UK - 90% of my honey is sold in 227g or 454g (8oz or 16oz) glass jars through farm stores, organic cafes, artisan cheese (and honey!) shops etc. None of these have any honey in plastic. I only see that in large supermarkets. Sales at the gate account for the remaining 10% where people usually choose the larger jar. $10 to $13 for a 16oz jar is not an issue for customers ... but then nor is the $5 for the same size jar that some beekeepers have been charging for the last 15 years


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## Sickdog5 (Jun 8, 2016)

So i went to a local store trying to sell my honey. Mine is RAW. There they had 32oz. for $16. This is not RAW honey and this guy who sells it is commercial. She told me she gets a case of 12 for $8 a bottle. She said she would also sell mine. Question is should i even waste my time? Not going to sell that cheap. If i should take her up on her offer any suggestions on how much i should sell for? Normally i sell 22oz. pint mason jars for $15.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Really depends on location. Farmers markets in upscale neighborhoods in metropolitan areas that have ZERO farms nearby tend to pay a LOT MORE than small towns with lots of beekeepers. 

Find an area with a "health food freak" culture and sell honey-in-the-comb at $20 per ounce. Elsewhere chunk combs inside pretty, round glass jars of liquid honey sell for a bit less, but they usually go quicker than ALL the sizes of liquid honey.


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## Amibusiness (Oct 3, 2016)

Ummm, Charlie: $20/oz?!
At farmer's markets we sell the same number of 2.5# jars as 2oz (plaatic) bears. We have an assortment of jars in between. It is often hard to justify the time spent....
If selling to a store that already has honey: set your price so you make money. They can mark it up as they please. You both will find out if it sells. If they balk at your price you can offer to take back what they don't sell. In order to keep the customer you have to be able to keep them in stock. We have a local retail store that sells 3# glass for $22-$50 depending on supplier. Don't compete with the big guys. You know your honey is local, (raw?), and unadulterated. Over time your customers will know that as well. The ones who don't care can keep their fake carbs. The ones who do care often make great customers. Good luck!


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## bushpilot (May 14, 2017)

I sell only by word of mouth so far, without problem. I might need to sell a little more aggressively next year.

I sell 1 lb plastic squeeze bottles for $8.00, 1.5 lb (1 pint) jars for $10.00, 1 lb 14 oz (1 qt jar) for $17.00. (I weigh the honey as I fill, so the apparent disparity between weights of the pint and the quart is a real thing ...)

The pound squeeze bottles sell best with the younger crowd, and the quarts sell best with the older crowd. Many of the quarts sell to those who previously bought a squeeze bottle.

I do not sell larger quantities, as I am unwilling to go cheaper than what I do for the quart.


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## Gray Goose (Sep 4, 2018)

I sell for 9 a pint and 18 a quart, next year already am informing of 10 a pint and 20 a quart.
I offer a choice, granted a small one of 2 items. Not sure I want 6 or more sizes.
There are a lot of "cost conscious shoppers" so the cheaper per OZ would sell faster.
Agree with Bushpilot, I do not want to sell cheaper.
Agree will above sell at your price and either they buy or they do not. Do state Raw and Local if it is, as these seem to help sales.

with my pricing i actually make more on the quart as it is 1 less jar , lid, ring, label.

I guess, shop around, and then set your prices where you feel they need to be, I see many places are different.

GG


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

$15 / pint, $25 / quart is cheap here for raw / local.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

$240 for a 12 ounce comb? Find that hard to believe.




kilocharlie said:


> Really depends on location. Farmers markets in upscale neighborhoods in metropolitan areas that have ZERO farms nearby tend to pay a LOT MORE than small towns with lots of beekeepers.
> 
> Find an area with a "health food freak" culture and sell honey-in-the-comb at $20 per ounce. Elsewhere chunk combs inside pretty, round glass jars of liquid honey sell for a bit less, but they usually go quicker than ALL the sizes of liquid honey.


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## bushpilot (May 14, 2017)

odfrank said:


> $240 for a 12 ounce comb? Find that hard to believe.


I have a hard time selling comb honey at $1.00/oz, $20.00 would be amazing! I do sell some chunk honey in pints for a couple dollars more than the same pint with just liquid honey. 

Financially, so far chunk and comb are not doing it for me.


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## G3farms (Jun 13, 2009)

Seems to me that every year more and more of my customers are wanting chunk honey


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