auction news

6/12/'09 Jamesport Amish Auction

On Fri, June 12, 2009, the auction at Jamesport was a very good auction for sellers!

Expensive for buyers.

At last, a wide variety of produce;

Green beans at 17 dollars a peck
Cucumbers and pickles at 15 dollars a peck
Cabbage and Chinese cabbage at $1.15
Red beets with tops at 8 dollars a half bushel and almost the same for a peck
Peas at 13 dollars a peck
Radishes at 63 cents a bundle
Green peppers at 13 dollars a peck
Tomatoes  med 20 lb averaging 34 dollars
Zucchini at 13 dollars a half bushel
Cherries, gooseberries and strawberries at 3 to 5 dollars a quart.

It would be difficult to buy for resale and make any profit, even without overhead, but almost all of these items could already be available from our own unheated hoop house with little effort and or expense.

We could have green onions and even slicing onions by this time as well as turnip and turnip greens and other greens like mustard, collards, spinach, edible pod peas…

In fact, we could probably with a little heat, be able to have these products a month earlier with sales of bedding plants and flower pots for additional income.

pete

June 5th Fri at Jamesport

Sweet peas in hull in poor condition went for 14 dollars  a peck!!!

Tomatoes were in the 20 dollar range, some higher, some lower with a wagon that went considerable lower.  Quality did not look as good, more like shipped in, not as ripe

Green onions at a low cost,  Zucunnici went for 12 dollars a half bushel with a peck drawing 5 dollars.

Still had larger bedding plants, mostly flowers

June 2nd, 2009

The Jamesport Auction had a limited amount of product, probably less than 30 % of last week.  The number of buyers could almost be counted on my fingers.  Yet, prices  of hanging baskets were good and so were bedding plants.  There were several flats of tomato and pepper plants and a number of unusual flower bedding plants. 
The number of tomatoes was limited and the prices were around a dollar a pound, almost half or more than last week.  Some very nice chineese cabbage went for a dollar a head and then as low as 50 cents a head toward the last.  There were zucchini at 12 dollars a half bushel.  Last week had some that went for 15 with pecks going at 9

I found it strange that tomatoes would drop so much in a week even with fewer buyers ...Maybe tomatoes were not moving at the retail level at the price necessary to make a profit from resell.

Pete

Auction news Fri after Mother's Day

There were lots of bedding plants that went around $9 a flat.  More than the cost of $2.50, but well under what could be bought, repotted and resold for a profit.  Many hanging baskets going for 9 to 13 dollars.  This would lead me to believe that their is still a buying public wanting hanging baskets.

For the first time, there were enough Amish tomatoes to purchase for a good size stand.  The prices were at 2.00 dollars a lb with some going slightly higher and some slighter lower.  These are very nice sorted by size- most grade A.  A few 6 in pickles,  Also there were some cherry belle radishes that went for 50 cents a bundle.  There were also a lot of yellow squash.

I am now picking up recaps from the auction itself on price ranges for each auction.  These will be in a file for future reference for planning and pricing expectations

pete

Fri before Mother's Day Auction

The auction of Tue this week saw prices at a retail level and even above for hanging baskets.  Normally an auction with high prices will see the following auction with less buyers and lower prices.  The weather continues to rain with not enough time between storms for the ground to dry.  And with a thunderstorm on Wed evening and through the night, expectations were low for a good selling market.

Conetrary to expectations, hanging baskets continued to sell with starting bids at around 12 dollars and most going for around 15, slightly less than Tue, but still very high to be able to buy for our uses and resell.  One very large basket went for over 40 dollars.  

Probably 20 lugs of tomatoes were at auction and went around 2.50 a lb.  A few strawberries and some 4 in pickles were also available.

I sold some cabbage and brocclia plants in 4 in pots at a good price.  Considering that last auction they couldn't get a bid on flats.

One of the most interesting products was an eight inch hanging basket without the hanger that went for 9 dollars.  We made these with small transplanted bedding plants with mainly one center plant that will grow to a larger size and small plants surrounding the middle plant including viola and pansys that will die out with warmer weather to be replaced by some of the other plants.  We did the same thing with 8 in black pots and they only went for 6 dollars demostrating that flowers need to be potted in a white of colored baskets and the black pots need to be saved for vegetables etc.  The cost differences is small.  Another thought is that few planters were available in comparison with hanging baskets and so there may be a market here for those who don't have space for a hanging basket.  Flats of tomatoes went for 8 dollars and up with the tomatoes at least 15 in tall.  Again, tomatoes in individual pots from 4 in and up went for good money.  A good patio tomato with fruit would be a good product at this time.  Probably looking at a feb start for this item.

Surprisingly, there was a lot of bedding plants that would have been good for making planters or hanging baskets with prices around the 10 dollar range, a decent price.  Even more numerous were the 4 in pots which went for around 1.50 to 1.75 per pot.  These can not be bought and resold for a profit as this is close to retail.

One of the problems with the auction is that it is bringing in lots of new buyers who are individuals looking for product and are bring up prices to retail value.  This is good if we are trying to move excess product or even make some extra income before at this time.  So wholesale buyers may be having a larger problem finding good buys, but sellers are doing better if they take the time to repot

pete 

April 17 09 Auction at Jamesport

April 17 ,2009 Amish Auction results;

Prices compared with last Tue were in most cases twice and sometimes even more.  Hanging baskets that went for 3 or 4 dollars were going for over ten dollars.  Flats of bedding plants, mostly flowers, were running as high as eleven dollars compared with an average of five dollars last Tue. 

There were a few rare bargains as usual.  Even though prices were higher, most could still be sold at retail at a 100% markup except for the hanging baskets.  The main problem was the shortage of tomato and other vegetable plants as bedding plants.  There were a few tomato plants with small tomatoes already formed, but not enough for our purposes.  Even the amounts of flower bedding plants would not support a very large stand.

We need to consider starting a number of our flower plants by purchasing plugs next year.  These are small started plants and would buy us some time and space in our future greenhouse.  In addition, direct orders can be made with our Amish friends at Stanberry although not at Jamesport as they support there own auction.

My son opened a stand in Buckner this weekend with approximately $1500 in product.  Although he would have been able to have started with probably a third less, the amount he started with made a nice display.

Looking at next year, we could consider having Easter Lilies ready for when we open in the spring.  Also, tulips and other early spring bulb flowers make a nice pot to sell and they also are easy to start with unheated hoop houses.  We have wholesale sources for bulbs as well as strawberry plants.  The bulbs can be purchased already packaged or in bulk for resale.  The strawberry plants are so cheap at wholesale that we could use them for a advertised special to draw in early customers.  We could consider selling onions sets and maybe have a seed rack.  The frost free date in KC is April the 15th; we should consider this when deciding when to open our stand, but early April will bring in sales if only with strawberry plants, bulbs and a few other items such as hanging baskets which people will buy for early spring color knowing they can bring them in if frost threatens.

In summary, if we develop a large customer base this summer, we definitely will have to make arrangements to pre order or grow our own bedding plants as Jamesport will have a limit on fulfilling our needs

gary

April 9, 2009

The second Amish Auction of the year was held on April the 9th, almost a week after the first.  The day was dreary and cold.  The number of buyers was probably half as many as last week.  Produce was about the same.  Prices were very low. 

The Amish auction is still in the development stage and as the years go by and buyers become more dependable, prices will become more stable.  But for anyone who has ever attended an auction, prices will always vary.

Tomatoes of all sizes sold at prices that were probably at cost.  I had ran out of room or would have loaded up on the available plants.  I had already bought 52 trays of flowers at an average of $5 per tray.  This averages out to about 10 cents for each flower and I transplanted them into 4 in pots at a cost of 8 cents plus a little soil.  For 20 cents, I had a pot that will sell retail around $4.   Keep in mind that this would be our goal if we were raising for ourselves from scratch in a green house.  I will resale mine at around $1.75 ea so that the retailer can make a couple of dollars.  We will sometimes have to pay this until we have our own green house.  The point is that we can repot in many instances and make a very good profit.

The lesson from this weeks auction is that we need to be prepared to buy flats when they are available and have the labor to repot ourselves. 

Next weeks auction will be on a Fri and then starting on the 21st, will be every Tue and Fri until July and August when they will go to a 3 day a week sch.

pete

April 3, 2009

On April 3, 09, the Jamesport Amish Auction had its first session for the season.  All locally grown product was either bedding plants or individually potted vegetables or flowers.   This is the first report and analysis of the auction and how it relates to the Unity Garden and possible steps for next year.

Most bedding plants were in a 10 x 20 tray with a variety of 2 or 6 packs.  Cabbage and other cool weather plants ran as low as $3 per tray.  My measure is that most crops will cost close to a nickel to grow in a 10 x 20 tray counting only seed, tray and soil.  These plants would have been a good buy as they were close to cost.  
    With 8 six packs in a tray, if we resold at a buck a 6-pack, we would make around $5 dollars a tray     reselling at our stand.  I think that if  ‘marketing’ (our marketing div) would check KC prices, they     would find that 6     packs will go for more than a dollar a tray  

These would make a good resale prospect although there was a limited quantity and we would probably need other sources or our own.  Most cool weather crops are easy to start, quick to grow with good tolerance to low temperatures. Most cool weather crops will look good in the tray for about a month.

There was a large number of flats of flowers, many not blooming yet.  They were going for 3 to 5 dollars for marigolds and 6 to 8 dollars for pansy.  Similar prices were available on other varieties.

Again good resale profits at the 5 cent per plant cost standard of mine.  Resale of 6 packs at around $2 would give a better than 100% profit.  Although there was a large at the sale, still the bidding was active  and our presence would probably run up the costs.  As with cool weather crops, pansy’s should be looked into either as an early crop for us to raise or have the Amish at Stanberry raise for us.
    (A pansy will survive low temperatures and some mild winters will survive to be blooming     throughout.  As such they are an easy green house (unheated hoop house ) as they can     withstand freezing temperature).
They also make a very colorful display and give the stand a chance to explain that they can be grown in early spring in a window or outside with out danger of frost.  Gives us a chance to show our knowledge!!

A small number of 10 x 20 flats with over grown tomato plants went for around $10 plus (Had been started to early or were left over from early greenhouse).  Four inch pots with single tomatoes transferred from flats as they out grew their flats went for around two fifty to three dollars.  In addition, 12 inch pots with 2 ½ ft blooming patio tomatoes in simple containers went around $ 4 or better.

These prices will give us a profit, say 8 dollars on the flats sold as 6 packs for $ 2 ea but were far enough along that they would need to retail shortly for a good appearance.  But take a flat for $10 that will start to lose its looks in a week or two because it needs to be transplanted and look at how we can make even more and this will apply to our own stock as well.  The 10 dollar flat will have 48 tomato plants.  Transplant them into 4 in pots at 50 cents costs each and now you have a tomato that cost you 70 cents (50 plus 20 for tomato) and it will wholesale at two fifty to three dollars or around three fifty on the retail market for about $132.00 dollars plusprofit from that $10.00 flat of overgrown tomatoes.  And if in three weeks or so, if some of these tomatoes have still not sold, you put them into a 8 in pot with an additional cost of 70(minus the reuse of the 4 in pot) cent and raise the price to several dollars!!
    (Keep in mind that if we raise our own at my 5 cent each plant standard, we will make     another
    7 or 8 dollars on each flat.  The main item here is that a tomato plant does not have to sell in     a couple of weeks.  Its shelf life extends up to a couple of months and each week becomes     more valuable!!!!!  )

A large number of hanging plastic baskets sold around $10 which I thought was high as mostly they held only one or two varieties of simple flowers.  Would help if I knew what hanging plants went for at retail outlets in KC. (Marketing check this out)

Remember how we took the tomatoes and increased the prices?  Now if you take some 10x20 flats of flowers that we grow for a nickel a flower or bought for a dime and put a dollars’ worth into a $2.50cost) hanging basket, we have a $3.50 cost and they were selling for $10 wholesale??  Again we can take these products and not be overly concerned about shelf life.  In addition, for those who like to arrange flowers, your creative skills can shine here and like a quilting bee, a group can enjoy the warmth of a greenhouse while carrying on wonderful conversations designing flower arrangements.  Another thought would be to have designing classes.  They buy the plants from our selection, the soil, the pot( which we may make profit on as our cost is low) and learn the secrets of a beautiful patio flower garden.  As our selection and volume increases, we could have the large pots that would sell for 30 or 40 dollars if bought already planted and mature.  Our cost would be around $10. Of course the items we create as demonstrations will be available for us to sell and for them to tell their friends about!

We will have some opportunity to practice some of the above if we have a potting shed even if we don’t start until the first of June.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have patio tomatoes with fruit ready to ripen and abundant flower baskets for our open house?

Suggestion to consider for next year;
Start Pansy early in hoop houses
Start flowers early with emphasis on transplanting varieties for baskets
Start tomatoes if heated green house available for transplanting into larger pots
Ideally we have minimum orders already placed with the Amish at Stanberry(Jamesport Amish will not sell retail as they support their auction)
As able, we would have our own products starting to line up
Check on prices of plugs from commercial sources for flowers and lead time needed.
Consider upgrading 8 in pots with ribbons or ??? So that the cheap pot looks expensive similar to what they do with Christmas flowers (poinsettas)in the fall.

Posted for comments;

Pete

Auction News

On this site, you may click on the date to find an over view of the Jamesport auction.  This information can be used to compare prices and items available.  It can also be used to out line a planting and selling calender for next year as we will have resources to refer to.
pete