Angry over prices? Don't be this guy
 

I went to a small town farmer's market today. It is a smaller crowd, with a lot of senior citizens. Everyone is looking for a bargain, and most customers buy from whoever has the lowest price. I know this from going there last year, where I lost out on a lot of sales, because I tried to get just marginally higher rates for a premium product. That works when you have customers who come to spend money, like at the other market I go to in a larger town.

Tomatoes were $1.50 a pound at the larger market four days ago. Mine all sold, but not as fast as I would like. They are the first of the year, and it takes at least a week to get repeat customers. I had a lot that I needed to sell today; heirlooms don't have much of a shelf life. So I priced mine at $1.50.

Apparently, everyone else at the market, all selling hybrids, still had theirs at $2/lb. I don't know this for sure, because I don't walk around and scope out everyone else's prices when I get there. I feel rude doing that. At my other market, I can see the tomato price on the sign of a large vendor across from me. I'm always very close to the going market rate.

The reason I suspect I had the lowest prices is that one of the other vendors, an older gentleman, late 60's maybe, accompanied by what I'm guessing is his 8-10 y/o grandson, came over to my table and literally started screaming at me:

[I]You mean to tell me you are going to start tomatoes off at $1.50 a pound?[/I]

"Really? You're this mad over fifty cents?"

[I]You're [/I][I][I]g**d*** right!!! You're [/I]gonna kill this g**d*** market!!![/I]

"Price fixing is illegal. Every vendor is free to set their own prices. I've been selling all week at this price."

He was wagging his finger at me and continuing to scream more profanity, when my step-dad, who happens to be huge, walked over and told the guy, "This conversation is over. Get out of here."

Then the guy went back around to all the other vendors, told them again what I'm sure were some fine compliments about me, and then sat at his booth and sulked for the rest of the market, pouting like a little kid while I sold everything I brought. I didn't see anyone else sell a tomato. I'm sure I did kill their tomato market.

I don't know how this man made it this far in life with his schoolyard bully approach to problem-solving. That's not how to get your way with people, and I think it's a horrible example to set for his grandson. The kid being there is the only reason I mention him cursing at me. I'm no saint; I curse like a sailor, but not in front of kids, and not as an example of how adults solve their problems. The child being there is what made me be so calm and professional with the guy. Someone needs to set an example of how adults are supposed to act.

In retrospect, and here is the biggest point of this story, if he had just been reasonable and acted like an adult, I would have been reasonable, too. I'm sure it would technically be illegal price collusion, but I would have offered to make mine $1.75 and let them drop theirs a quarter. I'm ok with having the same prices as everyone else, because I'm selling pesticide-free heirlooms, and they are selling hybrids. I think I have a better product.

So, to learn from my fellow vendor's mistakes today, anger is counter-productive in negotiations. If any other vendor at market makes you mad, not necessarily about prices, but anything in general they do, give yourself the chance to cool off before approaching them, and give them a chance to be reasonable and compromise when you do talk to them. Being mad doesn't get you anywhere. I never was mad at that guy today. I'm still not. If he's there next week, and wants to come talk to me like an adult, I'll listen.

You make very good points.

"If it's so cheap, why don't you buy my inventory and sell it at $2/lb?" :cute:

Having worked in customer service for many years, I am thoroughly familiar with that kind of individual. Probably why I am so cynical.

That is great advice for any part of life!! ��

I told the other vendor with red baseballs last week he should charge more, that we all should, but in a nice adult way. Half the customers at that market drive a $50k vehicle, I doubt $5 lb heirlooms would make a dent. So far the prices are pretty even there. He gets $3 lb for early girls and mountain pride.

Not exactly setting a good example for his grandson. Sounds like a major league idiot.

Cole, you did right.

You saw the bad example the grandfather was teaching his grandson. Children learn no matter what example we give them - good or bad. I hope the grandson learned that the way his grandfather acting like a jerk isn't how to be.

It does happen - some children grow up learning to be a better person by watching their elders doing things the wrong way.

I know this is growing for market - sell them for what you think they are worth. Today, my wife paid $7 for a seedless orange meated watermelon from a guy set up under a shade tree out in the middle of BFE. He was in his 70s, cut a piece of watermelon with his pocket knife for a sample. She was sold, and now there's a $7 hybrid tasteless sweet watermelon sitting in my floor for July 4.

I had an old man attack me at the post office I am sure he was just a jerk but who knows what really set him off.
The guy at your market may have had other problems and the tomatoes were the straw that broke the camels back.
The reason his grandson was with him may be because that kids mother or father was in jail for selling meth.
Not an excuse but a reason.
Being the type of person I am I would have changed my prices to $1.45.:twisted:



Worth

I am so sorry I have offended you with my $1.50 price ...

I will change the price and offend you no more ........$1.25:cute:

I am reminded I don't miss the farmers market scene.
Around here it's become the cool thing to start/run/ sell at/buy at a farmers market.
There are so many here now. I think every day of the week is covered.
Good job remaining calm and cool, Cole.
We had a guy join the market I used to do. Priced his chicken 1.50/lb under ours. Long story short, my buddy/biz partner went politely over to him and chatted with him like a neighbor, then brought up pricing. He raised his price to match ours.
He realized he worked too hard to raise and process those birds to not get a good price.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;573685]I told the other vendor with red baseballs last week he should charge more, that we all should, but in a nice adult way. Half the customers at that market drive a $50k vehicle, I doubt $5 lb heirlooms would make a dent. So far the prices are pretty even there. He gets $3 lb for early girls and mountain pride.[/QUOTE]


Always remember appearance is everything. They may drive a $50K car but nine out of ten are financed up to 95% and many are not owned but lease. Most of these folks are leveraged to the hilt! Many times the individuals driving the $18K car are the ones with the true liquid assets...

Aggravating that so often, by election or self-appointment, it's the alpha jerk who heads up negotiations for the group.

I love those guys, being the same dimensions as your stepdad, they rarely act out with me as their focus.

A good one to really push them over the edge, in as calm a demeanor as you can muster, casually ask these two questions in quick succession:

--Did you take your medication this morning? Are we gonna have to call them to come get you?

Because most of the time these idiots have had run-ins and court appointed therapy, so they know the drill quite well, and it just irks them that someone IDs them for what they are, mental cases.

Be ready for the next market, he's had a whole week to fixate and blame everything that's gone wrong lately on your $1.50. Louisville slugger.

[QUOTE=twillis2252;573726]Always remember appearance is everything. They may drive a $50K car but nine out of ten are financed up to 95% and many are not owned but lease. Most of these folks are leveraged to the hilt! Many times the individuals driving the $18K car are the ones with the true liquid assets...[/QUOTE]


I second that. I can count money too well to purchase through the banks and make money for them. My DH hates when I count exactly how much we will be paying if we are to take a loan.
We have a friend who owns few houses that he fixed mostly by himself or with help of his family members/he payed them. That guy is a millionaire if he sells the houses. He does not look like it at all. He drives old Pontiac and dresses like a bum.

[QUOTE=Gerardo;573768]I love those guys, being the same dimensions as your stepdad, they rarely act out with me as their focus.

A good one to really push them over the edge, in as calm a demeanor as you can muster, casually ask these two questions in quick succession:

--Did you take your medication this morning? Are we gonna have to call them to come get you?

Because most of the time these idiots have had run-ins and court appointed therapy, so they know the drill quite well, and it just irks them that someone IDs them for what they are, mental cases.

Be ready for the next market, he's had a whole week to fixate and blame everything that's gone wrong lately on your $1.50. Louisville slugger.[/QUOTE]

I strongly believe people like that do not change. They always blame others for their misfortunes, never themselves. They are like that their [U]entire[/U] life. They make life of people around them miserable. The poor kid is probably thinking that it is his fault every time grandpa yells.

This is the reason I dont go to bars.
It seems every time I do someone wants to fight me and I have no idea why.
I dont say anything and can be sitting not doing a darn thing and someone wants to fight.
The only bars I have been to that haven't been this way were old school biker bars.
Those days are long gone never to be seen again now they are full of doctors and lawyers that cant hold their alcohol dress up like bikers.

I cant see how some of you guys put up with the goings on at farmers markets.:lol:

Worth

Hey Let your Tomatoes Do the Talking ! and sell themselves

in worst case scenario defend themselves ...LOL

I'm sure you're not the only one who thought the man was a nut. My guess is everyone that he spouted off to about you thought he was ridiculous. With people like that, there's no need to argue with them- they do a fine job of making a fool of themselves.

ha. That's even uglier than the Black Amber I made a thread about.

Two unique circumstances about me in regard to physical confrontations are #1 - I'm a former mma fighter, and #2 - I also have a law degree. So I have both the ability to hurt people, and the education to understand the vastly negative consequences of doing so. The net result is that I am a very difficult person with whom to pick a fight.

One of the things I learned from mma is that appearances are deceiving. Sure, some fighters like having tattoos and purple mo-hawk haircuts. But the best fighters I knew never cared about having a menacing appearance. A lot of them looked like innocent choir boys. But they would have just annihilated an untrained opponent, one of any size.

There was a video going around last week of a 6' 6" drunk guy picking a fight outside a bar with a 5' 4" 150 pound little guy...who happened to be a Gracie purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Big guy got put in a guillotine choke and left laying unconscious on the sidewalk. No permanent harm done, by the way, he woke up after just a brief nap. One of the great things about training martial arts is that you not only learn to defend yourself, but you can do so without seriously hurting the person who is attacking you.

So all of that helps with my calm demeanor about confrontations. That guy at market didn't come looking for a physical fight. But he was certainly scared of one from my 300+ lb step dad. He moved like the wind when stepdad told him to leave.

[QUOTE=BlackBear;573879]Hey Let your Tomatoes Do the Talking ! and sell themselves

in worst case scenario defend themselves ...LOL[/QUOTE]


I told you that wasn't nitrogen you put on the plants!Now, you'll have orthodontist's bills for the tomatoes.

Cole, sorry some one acted the fool, but you did get free entertainment out of it. <grin>

This is one of the reason Farmers' Markets are so frustrating. It is very hard for managers to control supply when most farmers want to bring things like tomatoes.

We left our last farmers' market at the end of last year, and I miss a few customers, but certainly not most of them, and I certainly don't miss the inefficiency built into selling that way (unless one has a completely unique product, and can set the price in a way that has no relation to other growers at the market.

Sounds like they are like swap meets or flea markets.
I have yet to even by anything from one.
-------------------------------------------------

I have always wondered why large people aromatically think their size is an automatic winner for them.
I have worked around people like that, always bragging about their size like they are invincible.

Worth

[QUOTE=imp;573906]I told you that wasn't nitrogen you put on the plants!Now, you'll have orthodontist's bills for the tomatoes.

Cole, sorry some one acted the fool, but you did get free entertainment out of it. <grin>[/QUOTE]

The good people at Monsanto assured me they were a quality product .....

what could go wrong ??? :roll: LOL

Not necessarily about size. In this specific situation and when people are trying to play the "crazy" card, they tend not to do it around you if you're a larger person. Something about the testosterone visually-based pecking order. Works the same if you show no fear at the approaching whacko, irrespective of your size.

It's fun to get choked out by a smaller person; krav maga sure is fun too. Ah the good ol' days.

As C-R said, best to avoid all confrontations, and just in case remember not to leave any marks.

He was probably angrier at his product not being up to par.

Here is a bummer, do not say the price, ask the customer what they will pay for your tomatoes...
Sometimes they will pay more than what you will ask. Cut small slices and offer to taste.

:cute::yes:mmm... will make talking for you

that kind of challenge for your competitors is the kick in the b...

Gerardo, you've read my mind. I have a psycho little dweeb neighbor. Always in my face over nothing. I was just thinking yesterday, "I'll bet if I had a six-footer next to me (a husband or boyfriend) the little sh** wouldn't come after me like this".

Speaking of the crazy card, crazy trumps big. It's like paper-rock-scissors. Anyone crazy [I]and[/I] big will be the top dog, but that is a rare combination. (I'm thinking Gerardo is down, though, he's my pick if we ever pick teams and rumble. But if Worth isn't on the same team, I'm probably going to run away, sorry Gerardo)

There was one guy this spring who came out to my greenhouse to buy super-hot pepper plants. He was not big at all, 5'7" and 150 pounds or so. But as soon as I started talking to the guy, I got this feeling of being scared of him, which is really rare with me. I'm bigger than him; I'm the mma fighter; but when I looked into his eyes, he was honestly terrifying to me. And he was as nice as he could be. It was just the look in his eyes that scared me.

It turns out, after talking to him for a while, he had spent most of his adult life in Menard State Penitentiary for meth. I'm not sure he was fully recovered when he came to buy plants from me. My intuition was right - he was good choice to be scared of.

So loving this thread.:yes::lol::))

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;574033]Speaking of the crazy card, crazy trumps big. It's like paper-rock-scissors. Anyone crazy [I]and[/I] big will be the top dog, but that is a rare combination. (I'm thinking Gerardo is down, though, he's my pick if we ever pick teams and rumble. But if Worth isn't on the same team, I'm probably going to run away, sorry Gerardo)

There was one guy this spring who came out to my greenhouse to buy super-hot pepper plants. He was not big at all, 5'7" and 150 pounds or so. But as soon as I started talking to the guy, I got this feeling of being scared of him, which is really rare with me. I'm bigger than him; I'm the mma fighter; but when I looked into his eyes, he was honestly terrifying to me. And he was as nice as he could be. It was just the look in his eyes that scared me.

It turns out, after talking to him for a while, he had spent most of his adult life in Menard State Penitentiary for meth. I'm not sure he was fully recovered when he came to buy plants from me. My intuition was right - he was good choice to be scared of.[/QUOTE]


Crazy and big is a lethal-mutation, you don't make it past your teen years.

And it's great your spidey sense works, it's an eerie feeling to be around people that can gut you like a fish and not blink and eye. I've met plenty of those around here, and know exactly what you're talking about. The caveat is they normally get treated badly by people, so if you're nice and treat them like your spidey sense isn't buzzing away, they immediately sense it and appreciate it. I've had those bad ppl pull me out of the flames because I was nice to them at some point.

Deb, get a taser and if he starts mouthing off again and violates your personal space get him right where it counts (no warning, just[I] surprise your junk has electricity running through it[/I]) and call the constables on patrol, they will be on your side.

I came home one day and the neighbor lady had some guy working on her garage door.
He looked crazy and was.
First he started in on politics and then it was religion and then he got started in on how messed up the world was.
Then he started talking about animals not having rights and how stupid people were that thought animals had rights.
That is when I said I thought animals had rights and he exploded and came across the yard on me shaking his fist and flapping his arms in the air like a wild man.
I was not talking to this guy all I said was hello and he started preaching to me.
There was also a nut in town that had a muffler shop that was the same way.
Then I remember a guy I knew named Ed.
As far as he was concerned there was a government spook behind every bush spying on him.
If he heard a helicopter he would run behind a wall or bush and look at it through binoculars.
He was trying to get a militia started but was too crazy for crazy people to want to be around him.
We always said that if the president came to town they were going to lock him up till the president left town.

The last time I saw him he had started a print shop and he asked me to come look at something in back.
He had a pile of $100 bills printed out on one side.
Just fooling around he said.
Yeah what ever Ed I am out of here. :lol:
This guy and his wife were full fledged nuts and they had two kids that I think were nuts two.
Nuts have a certain look about them and I can spot them a mile away for the most part.
As for prison that does something to some people for the rest of their lives.
I have worked with two guys that were good friends that went to prison and got out.
One was just the same as he was when he went in because he was too crazy for it to effect him the other was a different man.
He had the thousand yard stare.
But I can say one thing both of these guys had their jobs waiting on them when they got out.

I dont know what the deal is with me though.
I am only 5.7 and I dont act like a tough guy nor do I have a short mans attitude.
In my adult life I have only hit two people.
One big guy was tilling me what he was going to do to me in front of his Detroit gang buddies in the Marines.
While he was telling me this I busted his nose.

Yesterday I had a young gal follow me around in Lowes she worked there.
She was always trying to help me find something.
Then she said dont forget your glasses.
Well I waked away and came back to where I had set my glasses and they were gone.
Then later on she came running up to me with my glasses telling me she was keeping them for me so I wouldn't lose them.
I am telling you this young lady never left my side and was always finding an excuse to be around me.
Very strange.
I have had many people say that when the S hits the fan they want to be with me.
I don't get this, I see myself as a scardy cat. :?
Worth

[QUOTE=twillis2252;573726]Always remember appearance is everything. They may drive a $50K car but [B]nine out of ten are financed up to 95%[/B] and many are not owned but lease. Most of these folks are leveraged to the hilt! Many times the individuals driving the $18K car are the ones with the true liquid assets...[/QUOTE]

Farmers in North America are making these people's loan payments by selling cheap food is one way to look at this. Why farmers are expected to subsidize everyone is unfathomable.

About 30 years ago I helped to establish a farmers market when it was the only one in the area. Now as someone else said, almost one every day of the week somewhere around here.