# Price of Honey?



## oneraddude (May 30, 2012)

What are you guys charging for honey per lbs this year? 
Also any body have a good source for jars and lids?

Thanks

Eric


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

Well, since the only exposure I've had to local honey selling was at the local festival last year, I used that as my guide at first: They charged $8 a jar (I believe they were 16 oz jars) and took a small portion for the bee club, maybe 10 or 20%? The remainder went to the beekeeper. I used that as my starting point when telling my coworkers but after doing reaserch online I found prices much higher.

This year, I am charging $8 a 16oz jar. All other sizes were pretty much calculated at .58 per oz. I found though that most people didn't want to bother with any "cents" they wanted to give me whole dollars. And quite a few people gave me $10 for the 16oz jars. So next year I'll probably increase the prices. 
I used muth jars for the 16 oz and 8 oz sizes and since they are not exactly available everywhere, I told those that bought them they would get a dollar off their next purchase IF they returned that jar to me. 

After selling for just 3 days this is what I would do differently next year:
1. Charge more for my honey, calculate per oz.
2. Continue incentives to reduce my jar overhead OR increase prices to compensate.
3. Find more interesting jars--the muth jars were a HIT!
4. Improve attractiveness of packaging. I had nice labels made but I want to play with more choices.
5. Make cut comb honey and possibly comb honey--this would be a big draw.
6. I use crush and strain and will use the wax to make other items. 
7. Explore selling my honey at a local produce stand.
I don't expect my honey sales to cover my expenses, just give a little extra cash.


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## rtoney (Apr 20, 2011)

I am using 8oz bears, 1/2 pint, 1 pint , & 1 quart canning jars and am selling for:
5.00
5.00
9.00
16.00
I am getting my jars from wal-mart or Dollar General & the bears from e-bay.


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## joshk (Mar 31, 2010)

I am raising my prices this year. Qts. will be $15, and pints will be $8. I just get the cheapest canning jars I can, usually golden harvest at Dollar General. My price is a little above what bee culture had for our region this past month.


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## sammyjay (May 2, 2011)

I mainly sell 1 kilogram (2.2 pound) containers and I charge 7 dollars for them. I also sell glass bears (I think they are 375 ml) and I charge 3.50 $ for those. I get my containers from Bee Maid but Bee Maid is a Canadian company, so I really can't tell you where to get containers.


Nathan


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

How much does a quart of honey weigh?


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

sammyjay said:


> I mainly sell 1 kilogram _(*2.2 pound) *_*containers *_and I charge *7 dollars for them*. _I also sell glass bears (I think they are 375 ml) and I charge 3.50 $ for those. I get my containers from Bee Maid but Bee Maid is a Canadian company, so I really can't tell you where to get containers.
> 
> 
> Nathan


 7 dollars for 2 pounds???? I'll buy some from you and resell it!


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

Ive been selling my 1 LB plastic bottles with flip top lid for $10. I havnt even really set up a stand or anything yet and have sold almost half my harvest this summer to friends and friends of friends! Should be good enough to expand a little next year!! When the weather cools down a bit I will set up a small road side stand and see what happens with that!! If that doesnt work ad I havnt sold out, I have the owner of a pumpkin patch that said I could sell my honey there as well, and they see over 1000 people per day.

Dont be afraid to sell your honey above the retail price, even if you have to hang onto it longer you will make more money for less effort. And hey, its American made honey! Be proud of what you are offering, and if a customer wonders why its so high you can explain the time you put in, the gas money, how much a single hive costs and all the down falls that can happen while bee keeping. Oh ya, and mention the imported honey that is actually sugar water!!

As for bottles, I did a lot of internet searching and one of the best prices I have found is from Sailor Plastics, I picked up 225 one pound plastic bottles with flip top lids and saftey seals for $130 delivered, with $40 of it being shipping!


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

So I just looked up what a quart of honey is supposed to weigh...3 lbs. Is that correct for those folks that sell in quarts?


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## mgolden (Oct 26, 2011)

Just started selling and I package in pints. There is two pints to a quart and a fairly full pint is 1.5 lbs, so 3 lbs for a quart is correct.

Honey sells in Costco for $3/lb in a 6.6lb container.

Selling pints at $6.50.


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## Greg Lowe (Feb 3, 2012)

suburbanrancher said:


> a quart of honey is supposed to weigh...3 lbs. Is that correct


That's pretty close. Figure #12/gal and divide by 4 will give you 3#.


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

Hope this doesn't sound mean (hard to get the inflection when typing) but I'm not comparing myself to Costco or any other large retailer when I look at prices. It's _my_ honey, and it's worth way more than $3/lb. Well, it's my BEES' honey, but mine by default


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

Another question, those of you selling in quarts, are you labeling with varietals or calling it wildflower honey?


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## Sharpbees (Jun 26, 2012)

$22.00/qt = 2.75 lbs to 3 lbs
$12.00/pt= 22 oz
$9.00/16 oz
$6.50/12 oz
$5.00/8 oz
$3.50/ 5.5 oz
$2.00/ 2 oz bear
$2.25/ 2 oz hex jar
$13.00/16 oz wax sealed muth jar with raffia bow
$13.00/15 oz honey filled syrup jar
$ 13.00/ 1lb creamed honey
I was told by several guys at some of our regional meetings that if I sold at less than $10.00/lb I wasn't getting a good return on my investment, which honestly is true, if you figure how much you spend on hives plus your time. I was selling at $8.00/lb and upped my prices, still selling as much as ever just getting a better return on my investment. Consumers are getting more informed about the quality of the food they buy and will pay a premium price for your LOCAL honey. Don't underestimate the quality of your product, your selling something that is high quality and you should get a premium price for it. Unless of course your ultra filtering the pollen out of it and feeding syrup to up your poundage but that's a different topic all together.


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

I sold all my honey last year in less then two weeks, of course I only had 80 pounds to sell, and I sold it for $10 a pint. 
This year I hope to have Ross Rounds for $10 each. Any honey I extract will be $12 a pint.


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## John C (Sep 19, 2010)

$10/lb


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

oneraddude said:


> What are you guys charging for honey per lbs this year?
> Also any body have a good source for jars and lids?
> 
> Thanks
> ...


$5.00/lb


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

oneraddude said:


> Also any body have a good source for jars and lids?


I ordered muth jars and hex jars from my local Brushy Mountain dealer but I found these guys too and am thinking of ordering from them next year. They have fun glass jars with varied lids. http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/G2.html


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

$10 a pound and I only sell one pound jars.


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## gkempf (Jul 23, 2012)

I guess it depend on location, here in southeast Iowa it's 4 to 5$ a pound in the stores...


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## pom51 (Jul 28, 2008)

I try to sell my honey for .375 per ounce that is not making a lot of money for the amount of time that is involved not counting the cost of everything.


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## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

suburbanrancher....depending on how many you order and what they nail you for shipping, you could drive up my way to Dutch Gold/Gamber Container. Jars of all kinds by the case, including the muths. I figure it'd probably only be ~$30 in gas, less if you have a really efficient car. Of course they're only open normal weekday hours. I'm pretty spoiled living so close to 'em.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

suburbanrancher said:


> 7 dollars for 2 pounds???? I'll buy some from you and resell it!


How many barrels do you want? Or buckets, strained?


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## imkerwannabee (Feb 27, 2012)

$4. per lb plus 75 cents for jar and lid, regardless of size, cup through gallon. Would be glad to charge more, but a neighbor is already selling his for less at a roadside stand.

Strawbale


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Ignore that and sell your honey at a price you can live with.


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## delber (Dec 26, 2010)

From the research that I have done I'm selling 12 oz bears for $8 this year. I don't have much only one hive that produced enough to take honey this year so only about 60 or so pounds. I have an arrangement with a farmer that has a stand that said he'll buy whatever I get and mark it up $1.00 and it'll fly off of the shelf. I have my hives at his farm (an organic one) and he said that will assist in selling them. "The honey is made right here on the farm".


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> How many barrels do you want? Or buckets, strained?


Are you offering at $7 for 2.2 pounds? 
I was thinking about "flights of honey" divided by region. Offer small jars with samples of honey from the North East, South East, Mid West, etc. Kind of like "flights" of microbrews or wines...
Thinking, thinking...my poor husband, he doesn't like it when I have plans


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

If you want to buy 5 gallon buckets of honey at $3.20/lb plus shipping send me a PM and we can talk.


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## chaindrivecharlie (Apr 6, 2008)

I get 4.50 a half pint, 8.00 a pint, 15.00 for a quart. Some here ask 5, 9 and 16 for the same amounts.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

i am a new beekeeper this year and i have noone around my area selling honey for at least 100 km that i know of, there is some commercial raw honey around from our province , but they don't operate in the immediate area probably 150-200 km from our town . 
So i have kept looking for prices around and decided to go with 7.00 /lb plus bottle + label costs

so hee is what i have and i'm sticking with
i am using Mason jars for now, they look fine and remind me of "homemade" products in a way + i can find them almost anywhere
plus i think i might tell people if they bring them back i will refill them with a discount per bottle /keeping it green sort of speaking : )

250 ml jar = 7.00 
500 ml = 12.00
750 ml = 17.00
1 ltr = 22.00 

Ben


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## REFAK (Aug 2, 2009)

Here in Alaska it is selling for $1.00/ounce net weight.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

suburbanrancher said:


> I ordered muth jars and hex jars from my local Brushy Mountain dealer but I found these guys too and am thinking of ordering from them next year. They have fun glass jars with varied lids. http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/G2.html


We've done business in the past with SKS buying bottles for my wife's herb-infused cooking and dipping oils.
We were very pleased both with the product and their service.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Beregondo,
Being so close to Wixson Honey Inc, do you get jars from them too?


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

I haven't yet.
As I have been concentrating on increase, I've not harvested a great deal of honey.
What I do harvest is sold at a premium to a waiting list, and I just buy quart canning jars at best local price.

Next year I will probably make most of my splits until after harvesting at least part of the main flow, and will likely order jars from them.

I've heard that they have good prices, and Dundee is much closer to me than Waterliviet.

Have you purchased from them before?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Regularly. I am going down there next week to pick up a pallet of 5lb jars, some 2lb jars, 8oz jars, Bears, Inverts and boxes. Jerry Howell is a really good guy to work with. I can't recommend him and his business any higher. I think you should take time to make the trip.

Check their website.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

$5 a pound. In 1-pound plastic bottles from Sailor Plastic. It seems like a good round number and weight., people don't have a problem paying it.


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## Michael B (Feb 6, 2010)

1lb flip top $7
1 1/2lb flip top $10
12lb jug $45
60lb pail $180


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## dfortune (Aug 10, 2012)

Retail: $3.33/lb
Wholesale: $2.66/lb
Bulk: $1.2-$1.3/lb
I wish i got 10 dollars a pound like some of you guys. 300lbs off my best hive could've 
been $3000. Ya that wouldve been nice


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## xinmei (11 mo ago)

$4.20 per pound of honey in China


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## Haveuseen1? (Jun 21, 2017)

We do one dollar per ounce. That is the going rate around here and nobody complains.


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