How To Be Successful At The Farmer’s Market

I’ve learned a few things about how to be successful at the farmer’s market after years of selling our farm products.

Selling at the market is a great way to get your farm products to your customers, but there are some things you need to know ahead of time. Here’s how to make the most profit at the market!

How to Be Successful At The Farmer’s Market

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What We’ll Cover

How to Be Successful At The Farmer’s Market
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Final Thoughts On How to Be Successful at The Farmer’s Market
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Build relationships

Building relationships is the very first step in being successful at the farmer’s market. That’s true for every business, but especially the farmer’s market.

There will always be other goods available to the customer, either at a grocery store or another vendor. However, people will buy from you because of their relationship with you.

Building a relationship goes further than just smiling and saying hello. Customers want to know your story.

They want to know the why behind your product and your values. They appreciate buying from someone they can align with.

It’s important to know why you’re selling a particular product. If you’re selling sourdough, discuss why you bake it and why you think it will benefit your customer.

Also, always stand and smile in your booth behind your display table. Standing creates a welcoming atmosphere and shows that you genuinely care about your customers.

Be Honest

Being honest goes hand in hand with building relationships. People expect honesty when they’re buying your products.

You can expect to answer questions about pesticides, herbicides, ingredients, and conditions when you are selling your product.

I usually get a lot of questions about the type of feed we give our chickens as well. It’s important to know your product forward and backward.

Also, explain why you do what you do. If you free-range your chickens, discuss why you do that and the benefits.

Educating your customer and being honest will ensure people return to you again and again.

Price Your Product Right

Pricing your farm products is possibly the hardest part of selling at the farmer’s market. If you compare your prices to grocery store prices, you’re always going to feel as if you’re way overpriced.

However, you know the amount of work and effort that goes into your product. You also know that the quality is much better than anything store-bought.

Keep really good records of your time, supplies, and losses. For example, if you’re selling fresh eggs, account for your feed costs, bedding, coop maintenance, time, chicken care products, and any other costs you have.

In the case of laying hens, you also need to account for animal death and molting.

Divide the total cost to get a price per dozen eggs. Increase that price to make selling the eggs worth it.

You also need to consider the cost of the booth to sell at the market, taxes, fees, and gas to transport your goods.

Large purchases that you’ll use for many seasons like freezers and chicken coops, can be divided up over a period of time.

It’s also important to do market research. Look around your area at a similar product and what it’s being sold for. This will give you an idea of what the customers’ expectations are.

You don’t want to be too cheap or too expensive. I like to find a middle ground that I feel is fair.

And remember, you’re selling a premium product!

If you are pricing items by the pound, you will need a certified scale. While having a scale isn’t hard and sometimes necessary, it’s easier to put one price on items.

I price all my packs of chicken the same, according to the weight at the butcher. For example: 1-2 pound chicken breast packs are the same price. Pricing this way helps to speed up checkout when things get busy.

If you learn to price your products right you’re sure to be successful at the farmer’s market.

Displaying Your Products To Be Successful at The Farmer’s Market

How you display your products at the market is very important. The display can mean the difference between a sale and someone just passing you by.

Organize your products by placing like things together. You want items to be clearly visible and easily seen.

Bring enough display tables to make sure your items aren’t crowded. You can also use tier shelves to help with this.

Make sure your products are clearly labeled with the labels visible. This will ensure your customer knows what they are browsing.

If you are selling items that are in a cooler or storage container, have a sample out on your display for customers to see.

For example, when you sell fresh eggs, some markets will want you to keep them cool. In this case, place a dozen on your display table that aren’t for sale. This will allow the customer to see your products while they are passing by.

Try to make your booth aesthetically pleasing. Draw customers who are browsing different booths into yours out of curiosity.

Make sure your signs and prices are clearly displayed. I have found that homemade signs tend to work better at a farmer’s market. People are looking for homegrown or homemade products, so a homemade display sign is more authentic.

We started bringing a glass-top freezer for our meat cuts. This allowed our customers to choose their own cuts of meat and was a great way to display our products.

A small freezer isn’t heavy, and it isn’t hard to transport. Small changes like this in your display can make a big difference in your sales.

Have business cards readily available, too. That way, your customers can remember you or contact you outside of the market. This is especially important if you are selling products year-round.

Keep your booth neat and tidy. Don’t have empty boxes are trash spread around.

Creating a beautiful, tidy, homemade booth will ensure everyone stops in!

Know The Trends

Try to keep up with what is selling at the market throughout the seasons. Pumpkins sell great in the fall, but might not be a top seller in the summer months.

Larger cuts of meat like brisket, steak, and Boston butts tend to sell better around the 4th of July when everyone is barbecuing.

Look around at your competitors. Which products are selling well with them? You can adjust your products throughout the season and position yourself to make more sales.

This is important when you are diversifying your products as well. We added eggplants to our produce and increased our sales just from one product.

Be careful not to copy other booths and their products. You want to be unique. Deciding what to sell and when really takes some thought.

Keep track of your sales throughout the market season and pay attention to trends. This is very important when deciding what will sell best.

Always Have Correct Change

Having the correct change is very important. A lot of people come to the farmer’s market expecting to pay cash. Having lots of cash and change on hand can help increase your sales.

If a customer wants to purchase something, but you are unable to change their bill, they may decide not to purchase it.

I’ve found it helpful to have plenty of ones and fives on hand. Larger bills are not as necessary.

I’ve also found it easier to price items using whole numbers. For example: instead of pricing your squash at $1.75, price it at $2. This will help to eliminate the need for small change.

Bundling items also helps with not needing small change. Sell tomatoes by the basket for $5 instead of pricing them per tomato. This also helps to make the checkout process smoother.

Collect Contacts

It’s important to get to know your customers. Knowing your customers and what they want will help you build a base that returns to you again and again.

In order to communicate with your customers about their needs, you’ll need to collect their contact information.

No one likes to be called, but communicating over email is great. You can let them know about your current stock and sales you’re having on your products.

It’s also a great way to let your customers know where they can find your products or which market you’ll be at that week.

I like sending out notifications for my pork shares via email. This lets our customers know when they need to choose their meat cuts and have their freezer ready.

The possibilities are endless when you are able to contact your customers outside of the market.

It’s easy to display a QR code on your table for customers to sign up.

Collect email addresses and add them to a program like KIT for organization. I love using KIT because I can create landing pages as well as keep separate email lists. There’s a free version to get you started.

A newsletter is also a great way to keep your customers up to date with what is going on at your farm! Begin collecting email contacts as soon as you can!

Believe In Your Product

It’s important that you really love and believe in the product you’re selling. Be excited about it, and enthusiastic when you discuss it with your potential customers.

You will burn out very quickly if you don’t believe in your products. Customers realize that you don’t truly believe in what you’re selling them.

We sell pasture-raised meats at our farm stand. I truly believe that raising animals on pasture is the best method for both the animals and the consumer.

I can talk for hours about the benefits of pasture-raised animals and why they are superior in quality to animals raised using other methods.

If you truly believe in your products, your customers will too.

Be Prepared For The Market

Make sure you have everything ready the night before the market. Prepping ahead ensures that you have what you need.

You don’t want to scramble right before the market and forget something important.

Make sure you have enough bags, egg cartons, stock, and cash the night before.

Plan which products you’ll bring, and load the ones you can in advance.

Planning ahead and being prepared are essential to success at the farmer’s market.

Final Thoughts On How to Be Successful at The Farmer’s Market

Selling at the farmer’s market can be a great way to get your products to customers, as well as grow a great customer base. It can also be challenging to get started and be successful.

With experience and pre-planning, you’ll grow your business as well as provide a great income to your farm. Give it a try and keep going!

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