You are right about the "middleman" issues.
I used to sell some things thru what is called the "commission market". Basically you take stuff you have a lot of and pack it in a commercial waxed box and take it to a "broker" that sells it for you and takes a "commission" off the top.
Sometimes they have to "work" to sell your stuff, sometimes it pretty much sells itself and they have next to no work to do.
I got mad when I found out that my box of produce was being sold to other farmers that just didn't grow that item but wanted to stock it at their farm stand. The broker wasn't doing any work at all as those farmers were also bringing other things in and were "there" anyway. What got me mad was the fact that He charged them $12 but I only got $5 of that, and the box cost me $1. He was making more than I was, for doing nothing.
So be careful about any "broker" or "agent" type of deal that might sound good at first. Yes it takes a lot of time to sell your stuff. Time you could be spending tending to the crop. It's a real balancing act.
After I got mad and quit wholesaling altogether, the next year our total sales dropped by about 25-30%. But we paid more attention to our farmers markets and sales there increased. The big plus tho with dropping the wholesale stuff was the fact that I didn't have to get up in the middle of the nite to deliver it at 4 AM. I also was able to cut my labor costs by nearly 1/2 that next year. So while the total sales were down, my net was up.
So many things to think about.
Carol
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