The books / Selling from the Farm / chapter 4 of 14
Regulars
All chapters
- The going rate
- A price has a shoulder
- What the road brings
- Regulars
- A new thing on the shelf
- Why a bargain spreads faster
- Pricing a jar so it sells out before the next crop
- The co-op is a valve
- Market day
- A shop of your own
- Signs, leaflets and adverts
- Selling by post
- Selling drink
- What a keeper is really choosing
Most of what a farm sells, it sells to people who already know it sells something. A neighbour who bought honey last year comes back without being persuaded twice; a stranger driving past for the first time has to be told a farm stand sells honey at all before they stop for it. Being known is most of what makes a product sellable at a fair price, which is exactly what the premium for local, single-origin honey over generic blended honey is paying for.
Every class of goods a farm sells starts from a different level of being known, because people already expect some things at a farm gate and not others.
In this game:
- everyone starts out knowing a beekeeper sells honey
- candles are known to about half the district
- mead, to about one household in five