Yah, it will totally depend on your market and what the other growers are doing volume and pricewise.
If you don't have anyone else growing heirlooms AND you are able to sample them, you should be able to get a premium price over 'normal' tomatoes.
In my biggest market, I have plenty of other growers that also do heirlooms. I also have quite a few growers that are 'certified organic' and REALLY get a premium for everything.
Unfortunately I also have a couple of 'big' growers that use lots of chemicals and often bring beautiful looking produce at lower than average prices. While we can usually get a better price than those big growers, we can't go too high or we price ourselves out of the market. You have to stay in the 'ball park' with the rest of the sellers unless you have something really unique.
Every market is different tho and you really need to know your customers.
My biggest market has plenty of customers that aren't afraid to pay for quality. Hubby's market is more black and can't afford some of the higher priced stuff, but they will buy items that just don't sell well at my market at all, like greens.
Another thing about markets -- if you are the 'new kid' at an established market expect to have a dificult time for a year or 2 until you get known. The big exception to that is if you have something that not many others at your market have.
I got started at market gardening selling the in-laws Asparagus, hundreds of pounds every Saturday for 4-8 weeks. I had THAT market pretty much to myself. BUT after asparagus, I had the same stuff all the other grower had and I couldn't hardly sell enough to cover my gas. Eventually I found crops I liked and grew well that others hadn't tried. At that time my niche was mainly 'ethnic' crops, Mexican, Asian and Arabic.
Enough for now. This is too long already.
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