Topic: How much to charge?

[Trevor_D]

I know this has cropped up before, but....

On Sunday - for the first time ever - we've got a stand at the local Primary school's Summer Fete.

I'm still not sure what plants we've been able to gather, but I know there are pots of herbs, plus strawberries, courgettes, pumpkins, perhaps some tomatoes (a bit late for those) and who knows what else....

So what do we charge? (Obviously, we keep the change simple, so it's not 35p or £1.97!)

And as it's the first time, it's a bit of a PR exercise as well (both for the school as much as us), so we neither want to undersell nor oversell.

Any advice, guys?

[manicscousers]

just been to trebaron garden centre..a pot of radish or carrots 3.00  :o
a pepper with peppers on 5.00 :o
anything less than that is a good start  ;D
our pumpkins and squash (in may) were2.00 each, we try to keep everything to round numbers, i.e 50p or multiples of, just so we don't need small change  :)

[flitwickone]

£1.50 a pot is fair

[lincsyokel2]

find out what the nearest supermarket is charging and undercut them.

[Allotment-junkie]

the best way to sell stuff is to charge what you are happy with even if its any 3 for a Quid as long as you are not out of pocket and if selling on behalf of an association you add to the funds , with me its not what they cost in a supermarket / garden centre but the knowledge that they are going to people that will take care of them and get the most out of the plants not going to waste or sat on a shelf until they are half dead
I personally give all my extra stuff away

[Flighty]

My horticultural society often sell donated plants for 50p or £1 depending on what they are. It's a nominal amount with the money going to local charities.

[shirlton]

I agree that 50p or £1 is within most folks budget for run of the mill plants such as squashes and herbs. If the plants are a bit bigger then put em up a bit

[sunloving]

Hi good luck with the sales
I used to sell plants at the car boot sales
roughly tomatoes peppers in single pots 50p
larger pots of annuals such as lobelia, marigolds, sunflowers 75-100p
perrenials -pots of montbrecia , lupin, etc £1-1.50

and posh pots planted £3 and up

things to bring -a watering can as things get dried out
a marker pen and cardboard, lots of bags

if things arent in flower pictures of what they look like and a fluid approach if you cant shift things then offter multibuys 75p each or 3 for £2
but a tomato get a pepper free.
Oh and have a donations box, becuase people might want to give but not really want a plant

I found that this time of year what went the best was bunches of sweet peas, gladis, roses etc much faster way to make money and theres a higher price placed on cut flowers than plants. Also I did envelopes of seeds so at the moment it would be helbores, poppies marigolds for 40p.
x sunloving

[Old Central]

From experience of both school and allotment plant sales I would avoid underpricing at school events. Visitors go with money to spend and so will find that a "donation" for a plant is an easy option if the school is getting the proceeds (or a share of them).  So make sure you are near the exit as people don't want to carry plants around with them and are likely to offload their loose change on you on the way out.

Remember that you can make deals (haggling is great fun)  or cut prices as the event proceeds but you can't put prices up if everything sells at the beginning.

Enjoy it.

OC

[Trevor_D]

Thanks. I was thinking 50p and £1.

I hadn't thought about seeds.

And I hadn't thought about a watering can either. So obvious, too!

[Trevor_D]

Just reporting back:

Hottest day of year so far, so we were very grateful for the gazebo we took along!

Initial pricing was £1 for productive plants and 50p for simple stuff, like herbs. We had a very mixed bag from plot-holders - first time we've ever done anything like this - but there was masses of stuff to sell. (Hordes of tomatoes, which sold like hot cakes!) At the end we halved our prices and finally "no offer refused", but some actually paid over the odds. The remnants have gone onto the swap table.

So we're nearly £60 better off - which I know is a nothing compared to those of you who do this on a regular basis. But - most importantly - all the plot-holders who came along to help have put it in their dairies for next year.

So, thanks for the advice. It worked....