What have you or would you pay for home made jam..

742 Views 13 Replies 12 Participants Last post by R. M. Reed, Jun 15, 2011

ValeriGail

Discussion Starter · Jun 12, 2011

at a farmers market or local trade days/fair?

I have a fig tree that went nuts and was giving us two large plastic easter buckets of figs a day for two weeks. So, here I sit with a ton of tasty jam and am looking into selling at the trade days that happens one weekend a month here in town. I've tried searching online for good prices but I can't get a good feel from that. So I thought I'd come ask here and see if any of you might have an opinion to share.

They are 8 oz jars.. strawberry fig, Apple fig, and Blackberry fig (if that matters).

So what would you pay or have you payed for a jar of really tasty home made jam? And, for those that have bought at a local event.. what was the one thing that helped make the decision to buy? Was it price, display or the taste test? If your willing to give me your opinion, I'm willing to listen.

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BTackitt

· #2 · Jun 12, 2011

When I was making soap, pricing was total cost x3 divided by however many bars a batch made.

Since you grew the figs they are a negligible cost.. so add in to the total cost say Minimum wage... if it takes you 2 hours to process a batch, that's $14.50 divided by however many jars you have per batch. plus the cost of jars, lids etc.

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R. M. Reed

· #3 · Jun 12, 2011

You could always go to the local farmers market and take notes on prices before you start actively selling. I'm sure people are willing to pay more for a home made product than a store-bought one.

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telracs

· #4 · Jun 12, 2011

odd comment, but make sure you have your price something easy to make change for. So 5 dollars (which is what I'd probably pay for a decent size jar at a farmers' market here), not 4 dollars. Two dollars, not two-fifty.

also make sure you hit the bank before you sell and stock up on quarters and singles (if you do decide to go 2.50, you will DEFINITELY need quarters).

i like places where you can taste the stuff, so make sure you keep a couple of extra jars in the back for tasting. keep the crackers kind of bland, so the taste of your jam shines.

as for why i buy where i buy, display matters. if the labels look cheap, i'm going to be wondering if i can trust the product. the booth must be clean and the sellers most look neat.

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ValeriGail

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 12, 2011

Thanks guys!

I did do some looking around locally, but then life sorta exploded on me. At one local consignment shop I found that they were selling jars of jam and pickled stuff for $7 for 8ozs. But after a second inspection, they appeared to be commercial mimicking home canned. Not good Mrs. Renting that Consignment booth! My next stop was a true farmers market west of me, but life had other plans and I've been stuck at home since. Trying to find this info on the internet is like trying to pull teeth. Most of the stuff I find is years old. That is when I decided to hit here in the hopes that maybe some of you were "shoppers".

I did do some cute labels. I'm a digital scrapbooker, so it was one of the first things that I knew I had to do when I knew I'd be selling.

I've still got to figure up all my cost. I wasn't thinking about selling when all this started, just about getting the figs done. We are looking at it totally differently now. I've got a whole second crop still sitting out there on the tree too!

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valleycat1

· #6 · Jun 12, 2011

At our farmers market homemade jams start at $4/8 oz. Fig would probably go higher.
Be sure to check with the trade day management to see if you can participate one time only (some require an ongoing commitment), and how much it costs to participate (a set fee and/or percentage of sales, plus any required type of table/awning, signage etc) and price to recoup that too - not based on selling every single jar!

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Ann in Arlington

· #7 · Jun 13, 2011

I have a friend who sends us homemade jam and such for Christmas every year. . . so I'd probably not be willing to buy at any price.

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Cindy416

· #8 · Jun 13, 2011

I make my own jams, so have never bought anyone else's. Just have to say that I can't find ANY fresh figs to buy anywhere around where I live, so I am a bit jealous! Good luck selling your? I bet they are delicious!

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Carol (was Dara)

· #9 · Jun 14, 2011

I get all my jelly at Wal-Mart so I have no idea what a good price would be for homemade jam.

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Sandpiper

· #10 · Jun 14, 2011

Rhubarb, please. Not strawberry-rhubarb.

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Not Here

· #11 · Jun 14, 2011

I just bought some pear butter for $4 for and 8oz jar. I'm with the other poster who said that fig could go for more. So wish I lived close by since both my mom and I love fig jam. Makes me want to whip up some. Good luck with the venture. Do you have to worry about an inspection? I know that is sometimes a problem with homemade goods.

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Shana Norris

· #12 · Jun 14, 2011

The usual price at my local farmer's market seems to be $6 per jar. But they usually also do special pricing, such as 3 jars for $15 instead of 3 for $18.

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kCopeseeley

· #13 · Jun 15, 2011

I think it depends on what state you're in. Here in Norcal, I got paid $6 a jar for my peach blueberry jam. It was a private sale, though, from a woman who wanted to give out gifts to her spa clients. I don't know what you'd get for it at farmer's market. Ours is mainly local farms, featuring meat and vegetables. I don't think I've ever seen any jam.

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R. M. Reed

· #14 · Jun 15, 2011

It's good you are using the figs that grow in your yard. There are a lot of fruit trees in yards in the LA area but people usually just let the fruit fall and rot.

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