How to Rake in the Dough at the Farmers Market

The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Derek Sall. Derek is the owner of the blog, LifeAndMyFinances.com, where he teaches people how to get out of debt, save money, and become wealthy.

Have you ever walked through a farmers’ market and thought, “I could do this. I could easily grow something and sell it here.” But the next question is, what would you sell? What is it that you could easily grow at home and then sell for a hefty profit at the farmers’ market?

At my local market, there are about four different vendors that sell the normal veggies like strawberries, beans, and tomatoes, and they all seem to leave with more than half of what they came with. If I wanted to sell something, it surely wouldn’t be something ordinary like this, because there are simply too many people selling the exact same thing!

5 Plants to Grow and Sell at the Market

If you want to rake in the dough at the farmers market, then you’ll have to grow something that’s desirable but different. The five options below are a selection that almost anyone can grow, but perhaps could be unique to your farmers’ market.

1) Landscaping Shrubs

Now that housing values have been on the rise for a few years, people are really starting to improve their properties, and this most definitely includes the landscape. Find out what types of shrubs are most popular in your area and try your hand at growing a few dozen. They’ll likely take a couple of years to mature to a point where you can sell them, but the profit margins are enormous. Buy the seedlings for $1 or less and sell the nearly mature plant a couple of years later for $15 or more!

2) Flowers

Everyone loves flowers. People plant them, exchange them, and guys even by flowers after they’ve done something that require forgiveness. People of all ages and gender buy flowers from time to time. If your farmers’ market is currently without flowers on a regular basis, consider growing them (either inside or outside) and setting up a station at the market. Seeds can be purchased for pennies on the dollar, and an assortment of flowers will often sell for $5 at the minimum. The profit margins are good, and if the interest is there, you might just make a killing when you try to sell them!

3) Gourmet Mushrooms

Personally, I’m just starting to develop a taste for them, but there are a lot of people that are absolutely crazy about their mushrooms. They search for good flavors at the store, they ask their friends if they have any fresh ones, and some people even go out and hunt for wild mushrooms in the woods!

If you have some room in the house or outside to create a greenhouse space, with just a 10 foot by 10 foot space one can grow up to 2,500 pounds of mushrooms, which, at $7 per pound, you could potentially develop sales of $17,500. That’s not too shabby considering that the initial expense is minimal, as basically all planting options are.

4) Japanese Maples

Japanese maple trees are absolutely beautiful. They don’t grow so big that they’ll overtake your yard and they can be grown with a variety of different colors. Personally, I would start by growing a few full Japanese maple trees so you can give people a real live look at what they look like. Then, start growing them into 6 foot trees and sell them based on your photos (and of course, other online photos that could be helpful). Become an expert in what you’re selling and people will have confidence in buying from you.

5) Sweet Peppers

Finally, sweet peppers aren’t seen too often at any farmers’ market that I’ve been too (not when compared to strawberries anyway – those are everywhere!). Like mushrooms, many people love them, plus they are pretty easy to grow and preserve once you pluck them from the vine. Become the hit of your farmers market by providing your customers with sweet peppers!

Summary

If you really want to reap the benefits of selling at your local farmers market, you’ll have to find something that quite a few people are looking for, something that’s relatively easy to grow, and something that you can make a tidy profit on, even with competitive pricing from nearby venders or from your local garden center. The item you have in mind might not be in the list above, but if it fits these criteria, then give it a try. After all, what do you have to lose? A few bucks in seeds? This could become a $10,000-$20,000 a year business. I’d say it’s worth giving it a shot!

How about you all? Do you plan on selling something at your local farmers’ market soon? Have you been successfully selling items at a farmers’ market in the past?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliemaynor/2539111053/