Selling Eggs?

[me&thegals]

Sometimes we collected twice a day, sometimes we miss an entire day (get home late from a trip, etc.) Our cartons are spotless, our eggs are always washed. Anything thin-shelled, stained or misshapen does not get sold. I believe in giving people excellent quality. After all, I am not charging factory prices, so they should expect higher quality food

 

[Rebecka]

I think I am being over critical. I did ask for todays eggs. Which means he didn't get a chance to sort or maybe did not have enough better quality eggs from today to make a dozen?

 

[me&thegals]

Shrug. Does it matter? You can set your own standards and your own prices, and you will draw the people who match them best

 

[savingdogs]

Don't worry about the competition, just do your own thing. I'd be totally grossed out by egg yolk in the used carton......ewe!!!! And I re-use cartons, but I always toss cartons that begin to look worn or soiled and do wash the eggs that are going into cartons that will be reused.

I have a co-worker who has chickens and she is actually very nice. I've tried to talk about chickens with her a few times, and she just isn't very interested in the conversation. So not everyone is going to be chatty about their birds. For him perhaps it is just his business and not a fun hobby like it is for some of us. I know for my friend they just are not very important although I'm sure they are well cared for. When I told her I spent a lot of time on BYC she raised an eyebrow like I am a crazy kooky chicken lady.

But perhaps I am...............................

 

[Farmfresh]

I went to a place about 10 miles up the road and bought some 1.50 a dozen eggs. I could not see the coop, but I could smell it. I asked the guy if I could have todays eggs. He disappeared and was gone for some time. Then returned with a carton and told me that these were the ones he just took out of the coop and some of them might be yesterdays if that was okay. I took that to mean he does not collect eggs daily. I found that very odd. I collect eggs several times a day. Am I odd?

Anyway, the yolks were pale , the shells were thin and brittle and the carton he gave me had dried egg yuck in the bottom. If he is getting 1.50 for that, I can surely get 3.00 for mine, I think. It wasn't my intent to stalk the competition or anything, I just wanted to see what one gets for 1.50 around here and maybe talk with him a bit about how his sales are. I had intended to asking him about breeds and maybe seeing the chickens. I even brought a few pints of jam and apple butter to give him in trade for the anticipated friendly conversation. That didn't happen. Am I being overly picky about this guy? I know I am a bit on the obsessive side about my girls and it would be unreasonable to expect everyone to be that way.

You are NOT odd - you are correct. Eggs should be collected daily, or several times a day, especially eggs that are for sale!!!

You are absolutely right. Quality and freshness will bring steady customers.

 

[Rebecka]

Have I mentioned recently how much you all just rock? No? Well , you people rock! I can't express how much I appreciate all your thoughts, ideas and feedback. I am a tattooed , dreadlocked and pierced computer geek that suddenly took up farming and raising live stock. While I love every single second of it, the locals are sometimes taken aback by me. I think that was the case with this guy. Since no less than 6 of my tattoos could be seen. I should have started with offering the jam and apple butter and maybe I would have gotten farther with him.

I really wasn't sizing up the competition. I just wanted an idea of how things are done around here. The eggs themselves, I think came from older chickens or maybe chickens that dont get the best of feed. Everyone does things their own way and I take a good bit of ribbing for insisting that my girls have their nest boxes cleaned every other day and the coop at least once every 5 days. I do no less for my indoor cats. There is not a single hen in my yard that you can't walk up to , pick up and she will be glad for the affection. The roosters.. well thats another story.

So, thanks to your thoughts, here is our yet again revised plan. The eggs are gathered based on my OCD, which is about 6 times a day. Then they are washed in warm water, sorted by shape, color and size , then into the fridge.

Once we have gone through our gifted cartons, I think we will buy new. Now that the eggs are sorted , I really dislike the fact that the cartons say things like Pioneer Farms. We started this because we do not like the treatment factory production chickens get and wanted fresher , healthier eggs. I think I would rather not have ours associated at all with that horrible environment. Until this thread, I didn't even know one could purchase new cartons. Heck, we can get our own printing done up on them if we are so inclined!

Any thoughts on the sign? I was thinking something simple like 'Farm Fresh Eggs Today' With a flip down part for the word No on the occasion we don't have eggs. Should I put a price on the sign? There is never an odor , we keep everything in order. My girls are so sweet, I can even offer to let them pet a chicken if they want. The place looks like somewhere I would feel good about buying food from and the previously mentioned OCD is the cause of that

 

[Dace]

I did not read this whole thread, so please forgive me....but if your girls are free range, I would include that on your sign, in some way.

We have a group that comes to our farmers market with a sign that says Fresh Local Eggs.....yeah, they are a local egg factory with thier hens in cages, because quote (I swear!) "we don't want them eating icky things, like their own poop off the ground"

So I would suggest that you make your sign be evidence (wording or paint a nice pic of some hens in grass...be clever) of how your girls are treated....you are not just selling fresh eggs, you are selling fresh eggs from happy healthy chickens. I think there is a difference.

And good for you for wanting something different and going out there and getting it done!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My sign says, "Fresh Yard Eggs" and thats what it is, because my chickens do get a bit of range and some bugs and grass to scratch in.
Now the man up the bayou from me has a better coop than me, but no range. His coop is pretty much preditor proof. Even a 2 legged preditor would need special equipment to get in, but his chickens look bad and I personally saw one of them feasting on an egg in the nesting box. He is a nice guy and I would buy eggs from him before the store. He sells 50 cents less than me and I talk straight to him and explain why I'm not going down on my prices and before I do that I will stop selling and just trade. He hears me out and we would help each other if needed, but he is still sorta competition for me. But truthfully, his sign says the same thing as mine and thats not really true. His probably should just say Fresh Eggs, or Farm Fresh Eggs. IDK.
If something happens that I can't check my eggs in a timely manner, I will have eggs for my home use off of what didn't come in the house. I don't need a bad reputation.
Apparently my chickens were the last to molt in my town and I hope the first finished too, because I inherited some new customers a while back. I have learned that my eggs are better, so you let the others conduct the price wars and concentrate on taking good care of your chickens and it will show in the taste of your eggs and in the shells also.
Unless it has been raining forever, it doesn't stink here. Thats good for you too.

 

[freemotion]

I really dislike the fact that the cartons say things like Pioneer Farms. We started this because we do not like the treatment factory production chickens get and wanted fresher , healthier eggs. I think I would rather not have ours associated at all with that horrible environment. Until this thread, I didn't even know one could purchase new cartons. Heck, we can get our own printing done up on them if we are so inclined!

Any thoughts on the sign?

A couple of ideas...first, check out Vistaprint.com for a sign. Once you are on their email list, you will eventually get an offer for a "free" sign. They will charge you shipping and when you go through the ordering process, they will try to upsell you about a hundred times....but that is just good business. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to offer it for free.

Then there are those of us who resist the upselling and just take the freebies! So go through the process of designing your sign and save it for later. That will generate an automated "free signs this week!" ad in your email inbox fairly quickly. You can also use other freebies creatively....small postcards as informative inserts in your cartons, etc.

As for labels, I made some really cute "labels" for my dad when he got his laying hens a couple of years ago. I simply measured the top of a typical egg carton and made a Word document with the printed area to fit that size. I put a nice picture of a hen in the grass and some phrases like "cruelty-free, cage-free, pastured" etc. I called the farm "Dick's Chicks" because my dad is Dick and my mother's family nickname for her is Chickie. I printed them on cardstock and cut them out, and gifted them with a can of spray glue. It was really, really cute. They just glued them on top of the cartons, over the words.

 

[Farmfresh]

If you check with Eggcartons.com they sell mis print cartons at a lower price as well. When I was selling I would buy new cartons and then painted over the wording with blue paint and added a little thank you note inside.

Recently I purchased some organic free range eggs at the health food store near us and they contained a little note about the chickens. It was too cute!