Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Discuss your tips, tricks and experiences growing and selling vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants and herbs.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old April 29, 2017   #256
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

I know my prices are low, but here is a pic of my competition, six big plants for $1.50. The pic came from the market's facebook page, so I don't even know the vendor. I wish them all the best. I have tried to sell 25 cent plants like that before, but there's no money in it at all. My plants are cheap, but still almost ten times more expensive than the competition. I could see that vendor from my space. I had a lot more customers, and I'm sure did better on the day, despite being 10x more expensive.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg competition,jpg.jpg (111.0 KB, 234 views)
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #257
Sherry_AK
Tomatovillian™
 
Sherry_AK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Alaska Zone 3/4
Posts: 1,857
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
My plants are cheap, but still almost ten times more expensive than the competition. I could see that vendor from my space. I had a lot more customers, and I'm sure did better on the day, despite being 10x more expensive.
Your plants are 10X better-looking too!
Sherry_AK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #258
ginger2778
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10
Posts: 9,283
Default

Cole, You are offering what no one else is,very rare varieties. We do a once per year sale to benefit our community garden. We sell our very beautiful 6 week old plants in 3.5" pots, $3 each or 10 for $25. Almost everyone buys in multiples of 10. Because of the quality if the plants, plus the rarity of the varieties, we have such a following that we come very close to selling out and our competition sells 1 gallon potted larger plants at 2 for $5. They usually have left overs. We only have this sale one weekend per year, but last year the garden made over $1700.00 that weekend.

The point of this post is that they know your things and the quality of what they will be able to grow, so they know where your real value is, that is why they continue to buy from you.

I bet you get comments like they bought from someone else last year and they didn't do very well.
ginger2778 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #259
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,793
Default

Even without the interesting varieties, your plants are a way better value than those skinny stems with a tiny root ball. Anyone who has grown a tomato knows what a difference it makes to have more of the work done for you up front! A nice sturdy plant with good roots on it.
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #260
clkeiper
Tomatovillian™
 
clkeiper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post

And those are microdwarf breeding creations from generous t'viller Dfollet. I'm keeping a couple of each variety he sent me, and selling the extras. Customers enjoy hearing about "The world's smallest tomato plants."
cool. I have a new one to me this year called Heartbreaker... it looks similar.
I don't think your prices are too low. You have to get what the market will bare in your location. I can't get 3.00 a cell pack for any tomato but I go the homedepot or lowes 5 miles from me and they are 4.99 a single plant.
__________________
carolyn k
clkeiper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #261
Ricky Shaw
Tomatovillian™
 
Ricky Shaw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro
Posts: 1,910
Default

It's a compliment the competition has to go so low.
Ricky Shaw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 30, 2017   #262
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

The competitions plants are over crowded.
Way too spindly and big for a six pack.

Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #263
SteveP
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Joplin MO
Posts: 1,398
Default

I would definitely buy your plants over the others Cole. Not only healthier plants but much better selection. You have done well in educating the customers and I doubt they would shop anywhere else. Kudos!
SteveP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 1, 2017   #264
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

Thanks, guys. I have enjoyed a lot of repeat customers from previous years. Many of them just hand me some money and tell me to pick out their plants for them. It's nice to be trusted like that.

The competitor pic I posted - I don't seem to remember a table full of tomato plants in their spot last year, or any year previous. I may have an imitator. It happens a lot at market. I was the first one up there selling cherry tomatoes in mixed colors - now almost everyone has that product. I don't get mad about things like that at all - imitation is flattery, as the expression goes, so it's a compliment.

When I was a stock trader, I met other traders who were much more successful than me. Some guys would pull in $10-15k on a good day. So, just sit next to that guy, buy what he buys, and you'll make easy money, right? The funny thing was, that never worked. Trying to copy someone makes you always be a step behind. In trading, that small difference magnified over many transactions in a day was the difference between making thousands and losing thousands. That's one of the lessons I learned in trading - to go my own way and not try to imitate anyone else. It's not an effective strategy.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 6, 2017   #265
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

It was a good day at market. We finally had nice weather. I brought peppers for the first time this year. The tomato plant business is starting to wind down. People who are motivated enough to buy plants at the market are usually eager to set them out early. Several of my tomato plant customers from last week came back to buy peppers this week.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Resized_20170506_080232.jpg (334.6 KB, 167 views)
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 6, 2017   #266
Jimbotomateo
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Santa Maria California
Posts: 1,006
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
It was a good day at market. We finally had nice weather. I brought peppers for the first time this year. The tomato plant business is starting to wind down. People who are motivated enough to buy plants at the market are usually eager to set them out early. Several of my tomato plant customers from last week came back to buy peppers this week.
Gorgeous Cole.. I still want some of grandmas jelly!. Jimbo
Jimbotomateo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 8, 2017   #267
My Foot Smells
Tomatovillian™
 
My Foot Smells's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Pulaski County, Arkansas
Posts: 1,239
Default

Looking good in the land of Lincoln.

What kind of peppers do you have?
My Foot Smells is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 8, 2017   #268
clkeiper
Tomatovillian™
 
clkeiper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
Default

I wonder if anyone will realize the only indeterminate in that group of tomatoes is the Better Boy... (which isn't better).
__________________
carolyn k
clkeiper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 8, 2017   #269
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

Thanks guys. I had Ajvarski Sweet and Troyka, and some OP bells. For hots, I had Big Sun Hab, White Hab, Naga Viper, Fatali, and Cherry Moon.

I remember a pair of customers who were a daughter and her older mother, who did not speak English. I think they were Indian. I had a translated conversation that went something like:

"Is this Naga Viper pepper going to be hot enough for me?"

me: It once held the title of World's Hottest.

"ok, I would like one, please."
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 12, 2017   #270
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

I went to the community garden in my town this week to give them some plants, about 80 or so that had gotten too big and fallen over in their pots. I was walking around the place looking at it, and an older gentleman walked up to me to say hello. Apparently he was one of the garden's organizers. The first thing he said as he walked up to me, gesturing at their beds of mostly various greens, was "All of this food is free. You can pick whatever you like."

"Thanks, man, but I am actually here to give you some plants."

He was happy to get the plants. I was happy that the person I picked out to donate to tried to donate to me first.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:48 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★