I attend a weekday market and weekend market at the same location - I make $30-40 at each weekday market and $800-900 at the weekend market (during peak season). The people who tend to attend weekday markets tend to be low-income and/or not interested in buying fresh vegetables. That has just been my observation.

I think I did pretty well on Sat considering that it wasn't my farm, so people were coming to see the tractors and cattle, not interested in veggies. Also, I only took tomatoes (several colors of cherries and some heirloom beefsteaks as well as "regular" tomatoes) since I didn't have time to pick beans or peppers, was too hot/hard to keep greens cool.

People bought jams/jellies and the "fancy" cherry tomatoes plus Black Krim/Cherokee Purples (again, 1 couple bought 3 CPs of varying ripeness). The "regular" salad/slicers didn't sell and interestingly, neither did Brandywines.

But at market I've been selling the "regular" tomatoes, all kinds of cherry tomatoes, some heirlooms, a few pounds of beans - not too many jams this year. More regular "grocery" shopping items whereas on Open Farm Day it was the impulse purchases. So I wouldn't necessarily expect that in a weekly market, even if it were on a weekend. But then again, on a weekend market you get the best of both worlds - regular grocery shopping customers and also people just looking for something fun/different to do, be it locals or visitors?

I have to do something to get more traffic to my booth at market, and also to the house. House is a tough one - I made this cart this morning and put it by the driveway, but then I walked out for the mail, went to the intersection (we're at the end of a cul de sac) and looked, you can't even read the "Fresh Produce" sign - or at least I can't - from there. Even if someone looks to their right when they stop (pause) at the stop sign.

This post was edited by ajsmama on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 16:17

when you go to the market and make $50, how much could you make if you sold out of produce? it sounds like you need a busier market.

I haven't weighed everything, and wasn't sure what to price bok choy and tatsoi at ($5/lb was apparently too much), but I'd say last week I had roughly 25 lbs of heirlooms, 10-15 lbs (?) of colored cherries (so many I decided to sell by the lb this week instead of pints), 20 lbs of red cherries (same), 25 lbs of slicers, 20 lbs of salad tomatoes, and 10 lbs of pastes plus 5 gal of green beans (sold by the lb not quart but let's say those were $2/qt as another vendor had). I was selling my slicers/salad/red cherries for $3/lb (dropped to $2.50 then $2 for red cherries by end of market), heirlooms and colored cherries for $4/lb.

So $465 plus Asian greens plus jams and jellies. Oh, and a few cukes I sold out of, maybe $5 worth (bacterial wilt). I didn't bring squash this week either, first crop was ending (SVB) and I only had a few.

Yeah, I'm heavy on tomatoes. I didn't even have time to pick peppers but will bring those this week (jalapenos, serranos and non-bell sweets but they're all green, except the sweet bananas).

If I can fit this old berry picker (what I was told it was) in the truck I don't know if it would draw people into my booth. I do have old wooden boxes I was piling up to put my white bins of tomatoes on, but cooler is old and beat up green, table just covered with plastic red gingham tablecloth so not appealing. And I don't have a big banner with my farm name like other vendors. I'm on the end near parking so people have to walk past my booth (unless they go in the other end by market manager booth, but then they have to walk between booths and storefronts in the strip mall).

But they do just that - walk right past. They head to the big guy with stuff piled high and a double space to the other side of the honey lady next to me (she does a pretty good business), or the maple syrup & produce guy who's loud right next to the Italian ice cart, or the orchard, or the certified organic vendor across from the manager's booth who has people pick up their CSA shares there.

I'm definitely the little guy at this market. This is my 2nd year there, and I've also noticed some fairly large vendors (meat, cheese, another certified organic produce) aren't there this year. I know the certified organic farmer didn't do well there last year b/c we were talking last summer. I haven't talked to beef or goat cheese people. I know the cheese vendor does a lot of other markets.

My story at the local market. I started going in mid July this year. Market is open Thursday and Saturday am. I had ordered a banner and business cards from Vistaprint for very few dollars. I had done research on how to set up booth on youtube and by visiting markets. The first market day we were hoping to make enough to cover setup fee. We were friendly and pleasant to everybody who walked by our booth. We did ok the first day and have increased our sales $$ very time except one rainy Saturday. We have learned a lot this year Market goes till mid Oct. We are already making plans for next year to have the mix of produce for the season. I have set a goal for sales for next year. I am sure that with good weather and positive attitude I will make my goal.

You think a banner would grab people's attention and make it look more "professional"? I know I have to do something with signage at home, a home-made (stenciled at least, not my lousy handwriting) sign on the main road saying "Organic Vegetables" with an arrow isn't doing anything, and I will see about putting another at the intersection b/c if people aren't looking to the right when they get to stop sign, they don't see my "Farm Stand Open" sign or this little cart.

I don't think there's any traffic on this road except for neighbors though, since it's a loop with a cul de sac at our end. Not on anybody's way to anything. Maybe during leaf-peeping season I can get more drive-by traffic with better signs on the main road and all the way down. Though most people are looking for PYO apples and pumpkins and things then, not veggies.

I think you should apply for a larger weekend market. It sounds like your current market just doesn't have a sufficient customer base.

You don't think it's a problem with too much competition, and my booth looking like a home gardener bringing stuff with no banner? This is what it looked like last week - I was just throwing stuff out b/c I was late (so were other vendors) and by myself now that kids are back in school. The booth at Open Farm Day didn't look much different - just didn't have the wooden boxes and coolers on the ground. Still had only 1 jar of each type of jam on the table, and rest in boxes under/behind (but barn behind me not truck). I need another table. Would bring that cute little cart to put out front help? Banner instead of white board, prices on the bins (I try) instead of white board?

I've been trying to get into this Sunday market (that starts in May and ends at the end of October) for years, but they are just so small they can't take another veggie person. They were willing to take my fruits, but said I can't bring veggies at all b/c it would compete with their existing vendors.

This post was edited by ajsmama on Tue, Sep 9, 14 at 13:51

This is my both. Notice how everything is on the same parallel so that people do not have to walk back into my stand, which people seem to hate.

get everything off the ground, including the coolers. Get at least 1 6' banquet table (2 would be better) and neaten everything up as it all looks very haphazard to me. With the space you have and 2 more tables you can make a "U" with the bottom of the "U" being closest to the customer and the sides going back toward the back of your stand so people can browse easily and you have much more control over what they do with your produce. i would also box tomatoes so fewer people will pick them up and abuse them.

I hope this constructive criticism helps

I usually put cherries in pints but just have too many right now and not enough table space. Salad/cocktail tomatoes would be no problem but do you box the big slicers and heirlooms? Sometimes I can't snap the stems off, and I try to place them so they won't poke others. Most people handle the heirlooms pretty carefully, but others really dig through the slicers - someone heaped them all up on 1 side digging to the bottom of the other last night, though I kept rearranging in between customers when I could.

I do need another table - but don't know if I can fit 3 in the truck with all the other stuff. This one is 8ft but pretty lightweight, I wouldn't put a cooler on it. I don't see a cooler on your table - what do you do with stuff like beans and greens?

And would you put out all of the jams/jellies, or keep some in the truck easily accessible to restock? That's what I did last night to clear out stuff from under table. I didn't bring a cooler. I did have 1 box of tomatoes in my little cart (pic above) to draw people in but it was hard to keep an eye on (why I didn't put heirlooms in there) and then stacked 2 other barn board boxes (seen in booth photo to left when viewing from front) and put 2 bins (salad and cherries) on top but moved them back near the table right near the scale. I should have taken a picture last night.

You should build a rack for the truck to hold tables/produce/etc., like what contractors use for ladders and other equipment. But in lieu of that you can usually use tables to support other produce or simply lean them up against the side of the bed and bungie them in place or put them at the bottom of everything (but this means everything has to come put before you get to the tables which can be a big PITA setting up).

I put big heirlooms into quart pulp containers, usually 2 to 4 of them and I get the stems off no matter what (it is kind of an obsession with me and I will yell at a harvest crew if they do not share that obsession)

I put my 1 table on the side sandwiched between EZ Up and wheel well so it doesn't tip over. I need better stacking bins - I don't like to stack these in the bed b/c I'm afraid top one will slip and crush stuff under. I do stack them in cab wedged behind driver's seat. I keep jams and jellies in the shallow underbed boxes (still in the cardboard flats with dividers) and put the bins of produce on top of those.

I do try to get stems off but sometimes when they're just-picked and still green you can't get them off until they've dried a bit.

A lot of my heirlooms would fill a quart with 1 but I like to sell by the pound since even if 1 fills it, weight could vary between them. I am obsessive about weighing pints of cherries to make sure they're all the same. But maybe if I can find flats with the cushions with the depressions in them, that would work for heirlooms? People would still handle them but hopefully would put them back in a depression and not on top of each other. I think they'd still handle them if they were in quarts. Of course, anything in a single layer is going to take up more table space than in bins.

I wish I could build a rack for the truck but it doesn't have those square holes in the top of the bed edges to put verticals in. Actually, I've been thinking about giving up on market so I can get rid of the truck b/c the insurance, gas and maintenance just aren't worth it - those are the majority of my expenses. But no one's coming down to the house/stand, so trying to spread the word this coming year, maybe starting a CSA would be the only way I could do without a truck.

I agree, get everything up off the ground. Here is my booth on a Wednesday evening. I have been getting away from table clothes on this night, to save time. I have 45 minutes to drive 30 miles and set up for this market after school.

I also like to alternate shapes and colors of produce.

At our Saturday market, I have a corner stall that is 10 by 20 deep. I set up long wise with tables on both sides. People can enter the market along the one side (yellow mums were in the way) and people can shop on that side. What is hard to see is the 6 foot empty table that is my "Cashier table" It is empty so people can set their purse, bag, coffee and their selections on to pay.

So for a 10x10 spot (I did see some vendors going 20ft deep but I don't know if they pay more, and I only have 1 EZ Up) do you think it's good to set up a table on each side (truck will still be parked in back)? 1 of the vendors with deep booth had set up his tables running down the middle, with flats/baskets propped at angle up on empty flats down the center. I didn't see where his cashier was. He had a hanging scale towards the back - cashier may have been on tailgate of truck (extra deep spot, he pulled in and set up canopies in back of truck). My spot isn't that deep, I'm parallel to the road.

I haven't gotten another table yet, but I did set up the wooden boxes again with bins on top, no coolers so nothing on the ground, kept the underbed bins with extra jams in the truck so didn't have those under the table either.

But I really don't understand this - last week was a really slow market, so slow the MM didn't even charge a fee, just told me (us? I don't know how many week-to-week vendors there were) she was just glad we were there. It ended up being about $40-45 in sales so not paying the $20 definitely helped.

This week there weren't noticeably many (more) customers, but there were hardly any vendors! No entertainment, let's see, the certified organic farm was there as well as the maple syrup/no spray farm up the road from me. The big multi-location conventional farm was there, so was Italian ice, and I as surprised to see the meat vendor. There was also a local goat's milk soap/detergent/knitted items vendor from last year (she said this was only her 2nd time this year since this market is not a lucrative one for her).

I set up on the end of the row but the MM (substitute) asked me to move next to soap lady (who was next to MM tent, there were only the 3 of us on that side).

But I did my best day yet this year, as good as Open Farm Day, and only sold 4 jars of jam so it was mostly tomatoes, with some peppers thrown in. First customer there before bell (while I was still setting up from the move, we walked the table and EZ Up over but I loaded scale and bins back into the truck to drive 100ft) was a lady who was looking specifically for me, she couldn't remember where she bought the tomatoes last week (guess I really do need a banner though I was wearing the same "Open Farm Day" green shirt I've been wearing all month).

So many people commented on the dearth of vendors, last market is next week and I warned them that if it rains, I won't be there, and I don't know if many others will either. I don't know if that made them buy more since they don't really keep (my tomatoes were really ripe, I picked Saturday and there were no in-betweens, either just blushing or really ripe, I dropped off about 30 lbs that needed to be used ASAP at the soup kitchen on Tues).

I can say there were a couple of impulse buys (a jar of Blueberry Chipotle Jam, I gave the guy a recipe for chutney using it, and a lady who wanted help picking out a "sandwich tomato" for 10 minutes later so I found a nice BW that didn't have a big core or blossom end scar, she had been looking at Mark Twains that were a bit more gnarly).

But there were just a lot of people buying a pound or so of tomatoes, maybe a pound of beefsteaks and half pound of cherries, so $2-3 sale, a few people buying 2-3 heirlooms so $6-8 sale, 1/2 lb of peppers for $1.50. Not stocking up, maybe enough to last a week but some people just buying for that night's dinner. So while there weren't crowds, there must have been a good number of people since I count 25 separate sales and there were still people (incl 1 mom I've known for years from Girl Scouts) who just came to pick up their CSA shares and walked right by me.

So were my sales so good b/c I was the only one with tomatoes? The organic farm only had yellow beefsteaks, the no-spray farm had Juliets in quarts, and I think the Yellow Pears I saw people with might have come from conventional farm, I couldn't see if they had any beefsteaks.

Another organic farm in neighboring town, which has market tonight, only had a few round red tomatoes at their stand for $3/lb, I was selling mine (OP, but round red) for $2/lb, they didn't have any heirlooms at all.

Why do you one week sell more, the next week sell less and you take the same amount both times? Who knows, but if you figure it out let us all know.

Last weeks Saturday market was a really slow market, not sure why. I wasn't able to go on the Thursday prior, so i had more stuff than usual. It ended up being the best market for me since August 2nd.

We have a market today, beautiful weather, sunny and 75 degrees, very light wind. Hoping it will be good. I have 150-200 pounds of tomatoes, two coolers full of zucchini and cucumbers, plus a few other minor crops. I still have more to pick at home, but I was out of space to keep it cold until market time. Once school is in session, I have to load up at 6 am, add ice and keep the coolers closed til 4 pm. I park in a shady spot and everything keeps nice.

Jay

I probably have about 100 lbs of tomatoes right now (I just picked again, supposed to rain this afternoon), in various stages of ripeness. But the cherries (except maybe the yellows) are done, all I will have from now on are the heirlooms and maybe some Latah.

But just as I was thinking (as Slimy and randy said) I needed a busier market, here it is a "slow" day, overcast, cool, mostly the senior citizens out shopping and it's my best day yet!

Should I look for a busier market next year, though that means more competition? I've been thinking of asking the town where my driveway starts (house is in a different town) about starting a weekend market since they'd approached the MM from my old market (which hasn't run in past 2 years) in next town over to do one. A friend of my sister has a small farm, mostly lavender, some tomatoes, strawberries, trying to start a vineyard, but they have a commercial kitchen, other than him I think I'm the only farm in town (stretching it, I only own 1 acre there and no buildings, it's all driveway). Of course we could attract vendors from nearby towns, maybe not the one that was approached (she might not have wanted another market, she got tired of managing the one in her town).

The lavender farm is just 1/2 mile from the fairgrounds where I'd like to have market so he may not want to pay the fee, just benefit from driveby traffic if we start one. There's also a nursery in town, has a sign at the intersection but it's a ways up some back roads, they may start at market just to get visibility and then drop out once they're established.

The fairgrounds are located in a historic "village" in town that just had sidewalks, nice streetlights installed, there is a small upscale restaurant and some antique stores, a glass studio, a quaint general store, and a B&B there. The fair is always Columbus Day weekend (market would end before then, or skip that weekend) and is the last of the year, very well attended, but the fairgrounds and buildings (nice if it's raining) aren't used the rest of the year. The town has been trying to get more tourist traffic into the village but it's been tough since the historic furniture factory (Hitchcock Chair) closed.

Or do I stay with this market, esp. if they take the suggestion to extend the season, or have a monthly winter market and maybe a Mother's Day or Memorial Day plant sale?

I would find a busier market. More people equal More Sales. Your competition isn't the vendors around you. Your competition is the grocery stores and walmart. You need to have the vendors around you to get the customers. The customers will come when there are more vendors around you. It is a dancing act, too many customers and not enough vendors, unhappy customers everyone is sold out. Then next few weeks, too many vendors, not enough customers, vendors not happy and they don't come back. It is a delicate dancing act.

I have nice blue polo shirts that I wear at market with our logo on it. Also a blue hat with our logo on it. I forgot my hat and people noticed. I wasn't in my "Market Uniform"

Jay

What do you think about starting a market in the historic village?

I was wearing my farm day shirt all month (I did wash it each week!) as a "uniform" and that way people would know I was local. I did just pick up 3 blue aprons with deep pockets and thought about seeing how much it would be to embroider the farm name on them to wear instead (sometimes a T shirt gets a little chilly).

In one of your post, " a lady couldn't remember who she got tomatoes from last week" . From our first time as a vendor, we worked at our brand identity. We had business cards, a banner and farm tshirts. They are all matching logo and come from vista print. maybe cost $50 bucks on sale or special offer. At our market, the reg ulars know who we are. IMO, this is a good investment build up our customers .

its good to set up at the market in the same place every time. this is more important than uniforms.
as far as big v small markets goes, until this year i sold at a busy upscale market. a bad day there is the same as a good day at the smaller and less busy market i sell at now as far as dollar volume goes.

Does anyone think the historic village market has potential? There's another one in an old mill town, very small space, not accepting new vendors (I've been trying for 4 years), bad parking but it's a yuppie town. They're going to be re-doing the intersection next year, and I don't know how that will affect the market (I think it will probably close during construction, it will be a mess). But it's Sunday morning, and it's very busy.

The village I'm thinking about might not have the cachet of the other since the Hitchcock Chair factory closed, but both are on rivers, scenic drives, historic districts, and IMHO Riverton is more quaint and walkable than Collinsville. The fair grounds are spacious and well-known, the fair has been going on for over 100 years and is pretty well-attended, being the last fair of the season in the area. But that's the only big draw to the town now, they don't use the fairgrounds for festivals or anything the other 51 weekends a year. Of course we would have to advertise heavily but the town might help out (market fees or a large portion would have to go to the Ag Society that owns the property) since they've been trying to get more tourists into the historical/retail district. Of course I expect locals might do some shopping there too, though an awfully lot of people have gardens there (as opposed to Canton/Collinsville with the McMansions). So there won't be as many local regulars in Riverton but it's the best I can come up with since other markets are full, expensive, and/or have absurdly short seasons (a new one started in Avon this year was only July and August and $30/week!).

I looked into a banner at Vistaprint and it's $60, will have to wait for a good sale (33% off just ended). As I said, I have been wearing the same almost-JD-green shirt all month, and they only had me move my booth this week b/c there were half the vendors that we usually have, and I would have literally been stuck my myself at one end. The move up to the MM's end seems to have helped - I think the lady was confused b/c there was NOBODY at the end where the apiary and I usually are, near the entertainment at the end of the row where the orchard and BBQ sauce guy usually are. There were at least 5 booths missing from that row this week, maybe it wasn't 100ft from where I usually set up, but it was definitely more than 50ft (the length of my house) - the entire width of the parking lot from the building (strip mall) to the curb. I could have set up in the apiary's spot and been next to the conventional farm's double booth, but I don't think the MM wanted their stall and the soap lady's to be the only ones on that side.

I do plan on getting a banner, but have been spending $ on the HT this year. People don't really read anything anyway - I have the white board out with prices, sometimes I also put prices on the "CT Grown" bin tags, no one reads the white board, lady asked if my tomatoes "would taste like local" (?) another asked if they were CT Grown(???), and everyone asks me how much something is, even if it's priced in both places.

The banner would just be something memorable for the graphic like (hopefully) a distinctively colored shirt. I don't expect people to actually remember the farm name or any other info, just recognize the graphic when they see it. If I can get shirt(s) in some color other than white I'll do that, that's why I'm thinking blue full-front apron with embroidered name, my business cards (which I've been handing out a lot of, but no new hits on my FB page) have a blue floral design and farm name in script, I've designed a banner with similar (gray) floral corners and blue script, with address/phone in block print. Just waiting for the price to come down, will get that for next year.

When a customer ask a question, no matter how dumb, that customer is saying to you tell me about your products and make me want to buy it. You are the grower. give them facts about the product, tell them the variety, BS them but ask them to buy the product. If customers don't read your white board, don't use it. You are a sales person of your produce. sell it or take it home. Spending money on marketing items may be expensive, but I feel will pay off in the long run..
I would rather spend my time on the production end but why grow it if you can't market it. Since the farmers market season is coming to an end, we are making our production plans around our marketing plans. Having the right product available and having an abundance is what the experts say to do. johnn