Anyone sell honey from their yard? If so...

[Mosherd1]

Does anyone sell honey from their yard with just a table and the honey and a locked money box? If so have you had any problems with theft, Also, do you worry about having change for the customer? I would not be there to "man" the table. This year I have produced more honey than I could sell from my normal outlets and am looking for a "down and dirty" way to move some more product. Thanks for your advice and experiences with this.

[rtsquirrel]

I haven't sold honey this way, but had a neighbor in Santa Cruz CA who sold bunches of her Dahlias at an unmanned stand. Money box and honor system in full effect. The bunches were $5 each, and sometimes people would take a bunch and pay another day. Others would drop a $20 and help themselves once a week for a month. The neighbor had an undying faith in the goodness of her fellow human, and tho she didn't run the numbers by an accountant, she was sure it all worked out. (note: this was in a rural area, and only local traffic.)

[M&DZBEEZ]

There is a small town about an hour and a half northwest of me called San Mateo that has a local apiary with an ''unmanned'' table selling their honey and other related products.Sometimes while traveling we would go out of our way just to stop there,but that was before we got our own bees.

[beemandan]

I know a couple of beekeepers who have honor stands. In each instance they've said they haven't experienced any significant theft.

[Mosherd1]

I will give it a try, I appreciate your experiences. Anyone else have success or failure with this system?

[Ben Franklin]

Just make sure you leave change, and check the cash box often.
I had a lady buy vegetables and didn't have money, she left a note she would pay on her way back from town.
Sure enough the money was there later that day.
Only had money stolen once by a neighbor boy, he had to work it plus off.

[beeware10]

just to add. use a cash slot rather than a box. If the money goes to a unknown area it is better. for less than 20 dollars buy a fake camera to overlook. keeps people honest. from past experence most people are very honest.

[sqkcrk]

I know a guy who sells Maple Syrup, Honey, Jellies and Jams, Pickles and Pickled Condiments, Pancake Mixes and other food stuffs, bottled. All on the honor system. His store is attatched to his Sap House. A building I coulkd live in easily. He runs a fancy Bed and Breakfast in the Adirondacks. You have to drive a mile off the main road to get to the House and Sap House/Store. There is commonly 50 or 60 bucks in the basket. I doubt that he gets ripped off. Never heard he did.

[paintingpreacher]

I sell from my honey house which is located in my yard. I have had an honor box for about 4-5 years. I have never noticed a shortage, in fact people have left tips. I do live in a rural area also, but have people stopping by from all over. I only leave about $30.00 in the box for change. I check it every night just to be safe..

[forgeblast]

I have heard of people setting it up in different ways. One way was to put a piece of pvc pipe and run it to a burried bucket, safe etc. This way the money goes in and stays in.
A game camera(hunting style) set up to monitor who comes in and what they take would be helpful. If you go with the dummy camera also make sure the game camera is hidden well.
You could advertise on craigs list. I would set up the price so that you dont have to leave money out to make change. Whole numbers would work best.

[Grant]

I sell honey this way on the honor system. Used to leave change but people would take the change from the change cup to pay for their honey...kind of like the "take a penny, leave a penny" cup at the convenience store.

I also used a coffee can, but $20 bill started slipping out. I caught the neighbor kids a couple of times. I even reduced the amount of money left for change but it was too much of a temptation.

So I went with a locking mail box ($60 Lowes) and no change. I put up a sign to say I gladly accept checks. Works much, much better. I only had two instances in fifteen years where all my money and all my honey disappeared. Generally, people are trustworthy, unless you're a Calvinist.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[beeeee]

I live in Northern Wisconsin and I have been selling honey in my yard with a self service road side stand so to speak. It was a gamble as far as profit loss from theft but really the small amount of theft is easily outweighed by the fact that I can leave home for days and it takes care of it self. No overhead. Had a small problem with neighborhood kids helping themselves to the 1oz. honey bears. Found some of the caps within a few feet of the stand. Turned the stand so customers think we are watching them from the house and no theft at all since. Some people give tips big time and that helps too. I accept checks and I have a locked mailbox fastened to the inside wall. Having no change can end up with short sales and also can end up with a tip.

[rainesridgefarm]

We have a stand in front of the honey house. We leave 6 singles in the money boxt to make change with. in twelve years we only lost money once. We actually had a customer come back that did not have enough money but had family leaving and wanted to send them home with some honey. He came back the next day and knocked on the door and handed me the $20 he owed me. We put a few of each size out there from 6 oz all the way up to 1 gallon. We come home and there will be $40 or $50 in the box with no issues. We are near rockford IL and it was rated in the top ten for worst cities so I think I am pretty lucky.