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Old June 17, 2017   #21
bower
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,793
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On the subject of pricing, many years ago when I started my first business, I was taught how to price the item by adding labor plus materials and then X2 to get retail price. This didn't seem right at the time, especially because it pushed the price point up a lot and that of course would affect sales. But after many years of doing all kind of sales of various products whether wholesale, consignment or direct sales, I concluded that the formula is correct. The cost of retailing is about equal to the cost of the item. If you price lower in direct sales, you're likely cheating yourself of the wages you would pay someone else for sitting at your table. Wholesale price of course is just labor + materials, and the buyer takes on all the risk and the cost of retailing.

The flip side of the equation though is that the market generally dictates a price point - the going rate or market value of what you're selling. That means we often end up working the math backwards, starting with retail price and deduct materials to calculate your wages. Always the challenge of keeping material costs as low as possible, so as to maximize your pay and have the kind of price flexibility that Cole is using - knowing your market, what and how much to bring, and pricing to sell. Especially with flowers or produce or plants - basically perishable items - you don't want to harvest and then take them home unsold.

Supplying a florist would be a great gig. Yes it will be a wholesale price point, but also allows you to focus on the growing side and let someone else do the retail, who already has an established market.
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