[andy harris]

We have 19 hens in all .When we first started there eggs were going like hot cakes .Now is a diffrent story we are not selling nowhere near as much .We wont drop the price of the eggs cos £1.20 for half doz is bloody good here in west midds .What can we do ?

[plumseverywhere]

We had a slow down in egg sales the other week and I just happened to say on my facebook page that we had eggs for sale and sold out in one day. now have several mums from the playground who've placed a regular order.

I'm in W.midlands too (worcs) and some local farm gate sellers are selling at 90p for 6 grrr. I've kept my prices at £1 a box but thinking of increasing that inline with increased chicken feed prices.

other thing you could do, is perhaps give away the odd half dozen (if you have a glut) to neighbours (just the once!). then, they might realise how gorgeous our eggs are compared to many supermarket jobbies and become regular customers. After all, a lot of people don't realise the difference until they try.

[Fleecewife]

I find egg sales are slow at this time of year.  They usually pick up again at Easter. 

[shrekfeet]

I think £1 for six is plently. Do you tell the tax man about the income and pay tax on it, do you have any marketing costs, shop rent, liability insurance, parking provision or any of the other things that supermarkets/shops have to pay. You are not paying a margin to your suppler, it is nearly all bottom line. You are probably even getting people to give you their old egg boxes.

Why be greedy, you should be able to sell them all day long at £1/half dozen. Can you take them into an office, send them to school, sell them to neighbours. You have to remember, they may be lovely, but you are competing with the supermarkets in the middle of a recession.

If you need to then cut your overheads by finding a paper shredding company and get you bedding from them or speak to your local shoot and ask them if you can buy some wheat from them. Supplement this with greens not sold from the grocer and give him a box or two of eggs each week in exchange

[Slavo]

We found that if you give someone their first half dozen eggs for free, it's a way of letting them know they're for sale and giving them a price at the same time. Very often you will have to stop them from paying you. Our favourite line is "You haven't tried them yet, if you like them, then buy some more" along with the kind request to keep their old egg boxes.

Ask you friends and family to spread the word to their friends and family. You'll soon be having a waiting list for them

All the best!

John

[NorthEssexsmallholding]

do not reduce your price, you need to do some marketing and advertising, or look into other outlets like markets, but then I think you need to be a registered producer and packer.

[Eve]

I don't think you're being greedy at all, it's perfectly reasonable to want a decent price for a good quality product, it's not as if you're hurting the supermarkets

We pay £1.40 a dozen to a lady here in Herts, and it's worth it.


 

[plumseverywhere]

I agree, nothing greedy about wanting to at least cover rapidly increasing feed bills!

[doganjo]

If you can't sell you reduce your price - fact.  If you sell in a big way, someone will tell the authorities - fact.  If the authorities hear of it they will require you to follow their regulations if you don't already - fact.

For what it's worth I'd do the same as Slavo and Shrekfeet, and keep them at £1 a half dozen.

[knightquest]

£1.40 a dozen to a lady here in Herts, and it's worth it.


 

£1.40 a DOZEN??

Ian

[NorthEssexsmallholding]

its no wonder most smallholders do not make any money, you have to cover your costs at least, don't reduce your price, just try to find more outlets, yes do things by the book if you are crossing that threshold.

[shrekfeet]

Eve - £1.40 a dozen. That's my point £1 for half a dozen is plenty. Owrk out how much it costs to feed your cucks and at £1 a half dozen you are making a tidy profit. If your eggs are good and you can't sell them then you are trying to charge too much or you are not making enough effort to tell people they are for sale. Better £1 for 6 and people coming to you rather than £1.20 and you having to chase people

[Eggs, Chicks & Hens]

I only charge £1.40 per dozen, they are worth alot more, but at the end of the day it pays the food bill, so I'm happy as my chucks are for my pleasure not profit.

[Eve]

So sorry, it's £1.40 for 6! SORRY!!! 

So £2.80 for a dozen. Owwwww, dreadfully embarassed! 

But we live just north of London, everything's more expensive around here. Organic supermarket eggs aren't any cheaper, they start at £1.45 for a pack of 6 (I think, could be more!) and I just prefer to buy them from someone whom I know looks after her chickens really well (and it's very small scale), even though the feed may not be organic. Plus there are some little blue eggs in her boxes (I'm a sucker for differently coloured eggs  ).

That's the second time this week that my typing is faster than my brain...again, so sorry, dreadfully embarrased! 

Someone in Bucks, nearly an hour away from us, sells them at £2.60 a dozen, and that's from a 'proper' smallholding (rather than the back garden). Could it be location, location, location?

[shetlandpaul]

just think how many eggs you would need to sell for the tax man to be intrested. at our price we would need to sell 35000 just to hit the 7k tax allowance. when you have worked out the real cost of the eggs you sell your not in fact making anything or so little that you would be wasting the taxsmans time. and yes we do report it as part of my tax return.