Wow, those bouquets are amazing and def worth more than 15$. Here in Canada, I could sell those for $25-30CDN. Pricing is such a complex issue - but it's important to price the product at its inherant value - just because one has a bed of ranunculus that didn't sell, doesn't make each bloom worth less - if possible to find another buyer then it should be priced to reflect it's inherant worth = corms+babying over hours/days/months+water+fertilizer+tunnel/greenhouse real estate. If there is no market at a fair value for a given bloom in the area, then we just have to accept that we can't grow it in that area...underselling is damaging to all of us as growers/sellers
I agree with pricing a product at its inherent value but I think how one arrives at inherent value is the main question. One should never price below cogs and value of time but everything beyond that is “perceived” value by the customer, typically driven by branding. I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t make sense to grow expensive specialized blooms for a farmers market bouquet because you are not going to get the inherent value of those bouquets with a typical customer walking through. This changes as you establish a customer base who you’ve educated over time and they come to look for you. But before you can do that, it hammers home the point that you need multiple sales outlets if you choose to grow stems that can fetch a higher price point. But yes, agree with what you’ve said!
I think you were really smart to take those bouquets apart and re-distribute into new arrangements. The flowers are beautiful but there were so many and each bouquet you would actually be setting your customers up to expect that many flowers every week from you which would be really hard for you to justify since you are growing your own as well. I think that was a very smart move on your part. I hope you do great at the market and I always like watching your videos since I am a former….. but still a Jersey girl ha ha
Those bouquets are beautiful! It’s awesome that you’re supporting local growers, too. You’re right about consignment issue. I tried going that route for Thanksgiving and Christmas at a local grocery store last year. Although I sold a lot of flowers, I don’t think it’s worth the time and low return. Have a nice day!
Sorry to hear that! At least it sounds like it was a great learning experience for you. Do you mind sharing how long the grocery store would keep the bouquets before they were considered a loss?
@@bareflowerfarm They had my flowers there for 4 days to 1 week. Here’s the detail of my experience if you’d like to read more: 1st trial: The grocery store wanted bouquets the weekend before Thanksgiving and another set the day before Thanksgiving. I had sold 7 out of 12 arrangements in 2 days. They were selling them for $12. Then, the store owner asked me to switch the flowers left over to vase arrangements so they could increase it to $20. However, they decided to keep the arrangements at $12. That meant I had to buy more flowers to increase the value & replace the wilted ones without the extra profit. Trial 2: For Christmas, the owner wanted flower arrangements in vases several days before. I also live close to the store so I would often come to check on them every other day. I found myself refilling the vases often. I think some of the workers also tried to help. Since they wanted to place the pricing sign up themselves instead of having me do it, I believed them. However, I realized that they never did have it up despite my reminders. Every customer interested would keep asking me about the pricing every time I came by to check on the flowers. I ended up selling about 9 out of 12 vase arrangements for $20. My boyfriend bought the last 3. Lol The workers were nice but since they don’t have a floral department, I found myself freshening up the flowers and replenishing the water every other day. It also helped me see which bouquets sold first. I had bought flowers from the store by the bulk and harvested some of my own things so I had a 100% ROI on my investment. However, I don’t think it was worth my time. Sorry the story was super long. Hope you learn from my experience.
Yes another well structured and informative video. Often overlooked is the business aspect as this is as important as the growing. It's great to see Eric making a contribution also. The soap and flowers combo has certainly peeked my interest as a complimentary product. Your trials and tribulations are an education of thoughts and things to consider. Thanks again.
Thanks! It’s funny bc when I ran out of bouquets, I definitely had less people come over to check out the soaps and candles. The flowers are colorful and attract interest visually!
Her $15 bouquets are huge! As for Nicole from Flower Hill Farm, I know in other videos she does talk about doing 20% commissions but also consignment. She sells out at one store, but another two she does not. It's hard to decide which would be better, wholesale or commission
Yeah they are! I didn’t even realize it until I unwrapped the bouquets that she actually gave me bouquets worth $20-25!! And good to know about Nicole mentioning that before. Given flowers are perishable, I personally prefer wholesale over commission unless a store has good traffic and the right audience where you can feel confident about selling out (and therefore commission makes more sense)
Your videos are always so interesting and informative. I recently discovered your videos when I was trying to grow a few stock plants from seed (big fail, but I might try again) and I subscribed. Even though I'm not in business, It's still interesting to learn about all of the things you have to consider to make your own business successful and profitable.
I really value your videos and find the info helpful. Unfortunately, here in Canada we have to charge tax on flower sales. Most flower farmers don’t charge tax at farmers markets but absorb the tax themselves. For me, that would mean I would owe $2.40 tax on a $20 bouquet sale. Based on gas prices to get to market and absorbing tax, I would probably be in deficit if I purchased flowers from another grower at around 60% of retail. Do you take sales tax into consideration when marking up your bouquets that you purchased from another grower?
Wow, $15 only? Here in Canada the original bouquet you showed would be closer to $35 and the revamped one $25. I’m getting nervous about my $20 price point for a bouquet that has way less than that with mostly zinnia and sunflowers. It seems markets differ so much everywhere.
I think there are a few things to consider. Sunflowers for whatever reason have a higher perceived value than alot of the spring flowers (with the exception of lilies). I was able to sell 8 stems of specialty tulips for $20 but could not do it with ranunculus but a part of that was bc I was low on filler. I do think I could have sold these bouquets at $20 at this market though may have come home with a couple. Given the rainy weather and therefore less traffic that passed through, I felt selling at $17 made more sense than selling at a higher price point and potentially being left with a few bouquets left. I had a few people pass on $17 despite being interested. The other piece I didn’t mention was that some of the flowers were not picked at their prime and I wasn’t confident of a 5-7 day vase life. At the end of the day, a $20 bouquet is going to look different based on geographical location but also where it’s being sold. Someone going to a florist is expecting to pay $35-50 for an arrangement. Someone going to a farmers market is not. Good luck to you, keep your price point and experiment!
Also can you tell me what variety of feverfew that is? My feverfew stays very short and kind of stump. It’s really cute but it doesn’t get very tall so I can only use it in a pint mason jar bouquet
This is Virgo! It was overwintered without cover. You can’t eat the grass actually tried overwintering in a hoop house vs outside and found no hoop house did better in terms of stem length
Curious to know if anyone just gave you a $20 and said "keep the change". I get that at my roadside stand a lot. People just round up and don't want coins. (here in Canada $1 and $2 are coins).
So we do accept exact change. There is a 2.75% transaction fee which does add up but honestly, in the past the time I spent to go to the bank to get change and that headache is worth paying that fee to me. I also have the ability to send email receipts which I can customize with additional info / messaging
