Garage salers always have cash on them. People will soon learn if they want your produce they will need to have cash on them. I assume most will be locals and repeat customers. I would never expect a small stand to take credit.
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That’s a good point about the ability to add a note for Venmo purchases, that was one of the features I liked with the Paypal card reader app I use. My cash box is actually a suggestion box with a lock… I’ve seen one stand with a Venmo option, I actually think I’ll put mine up there just in case now too.
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I like the display. What cultivars are you selling?
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I would probably lose a few sales if I didn’t take credit card. But just about all my regular customers know I don’t like to take a credit card, so they bring cash. Because I’m out in the country, it takes a lot more time to run a card, not to mention the fees they hit you with.
Sometimes a customer will stop by with no form of payment (cash, check or card) or doesn’t have enough money to pay for their order. In that case I tell them to pay me next time. I’ve not been burned on a transaction yet.
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That is pimpin’. You got wheels man.
Later,
Dax
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I buy raw milk direct from the farmer on the honor system. Once I knew I needed cash to get it, I made sure I had the right amount and enjoyed the drive. No one nearby but his Jersey cows. Excellent quality.
BTW, selling nuts bolts & screws at the local hardware store runs the same way. The customer writes the number of screws and their price on the bag, cashier types in the info, no problem.
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YOU HAVE TO PUT YOUR VENMO/PAYPAL USERNAME ON THE SIGN AT THE STAND
Sorry to shout but a super easy way to put a modern twist on the farm/honor stand. Many young people (and old) have this tech and it’s a super easy way for you to passively get paid.
Try it out!
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Iam SO PROUD of you. I have been thinking of a very similar process for my fruit. . We have a friends farm just down the street with frozen and refrigerated storage of meat, cheese, butter, and much more. Payment is on the honor system, along with a handwritten log and open money drawer for change. I couldn believe it! There’s hope for mandkind after all.
Best to you, keep us informed.
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@thecityman I hope it turned out to be a successful endeavor! No contact service is all the rage this year anyway. On the other hand, don’t be discouraged if you didn’t get as much business as expected with more people staying home and not commuting due to covid. I’m sure as word of mouth travels you will have a solid following!
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Hi there;
Welcome to the club!
I have been making jam & jelly for ages and decided this year to sell them. Got my little cartwheel
Forgot to mention that all my jams/jelly fruits Mason jars that I sell come from my orchard:
I also display fresh apple but people around here are very « McIntosh » and are not apple educated. Trying something new? No way! And since I totally hate this variety and grow none, well…
I sell mostly (98%) to city people who are not « afraid » to pay 15$ (11.79 u.s$) because they can view and appreciate quality by themselves:
I believe I will display (next year) a sign stating that I accept electronic money transfer. A free, fast & efficient way to pay in Canada. This new practice could help the business, who knows!
Cheers! Marc
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How did the season go for you? 
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Absolutely beautiful cart. Did you make it yourself?
It’s such a work of art (tongue and groove seams, rounded handles, flawless seams) I’d be afraid to park it outside.
I grow/sell fruit for a living. I can tell you, if you can make furniture like that, you’ll make more money selling custom made furniture than growing fruit and making/selling jam.
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Love the fruit and the stand.
Did everything work out like you expected?
Growing and selling fruit is like an addiction where you always want to grow more!
It may be time to worry when you start to buy bigger equipment so you can plant and manage more stuff
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Hi;
The season was very good to me. I started on June 5 and closed on October 04. Sold for about 800$ (sorry but in French, we put the $ sign after the amount which makes perfect sense for us since it’s: eight hundred dollars and not dollars eight hundred…anyway) but I have to remove 250$ from this amount because I sold all my vegetable/fruits ketchup (in an apple vinegar base) at once to a crazy rich (but not Asian) woman who felt in love with it… I understand she was won over by the out-of-this-world (her words) secret ingredient I used in the recipe of this product.
I have been told many times that all my jams have an outstanding ratio quality/price but it is true that this not-so-secret ingredient has a very unique flavor and taste. Can you imagine someone buying 250$ worth of ketchup only 2 days after buying/tasting a 250ml Mason jar of it???
Miracles happen!
Marc
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Hi there;
The cart… Yes, my neighbor is an artist. Truly Yvon (his first name) is an artist. Can you believe that I drew a very basic drawing of what I wanted and that Yvon produced that beautiful piece of furniture??? Every time I get the cart to the selling place I fell so lucky to own such a beauty. Of course, like any piece of art, there is a security system attached to it. More precisely a heavy metal chain is in place between the cart and a huge telephone pole.
Marc
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Hi there;
You are from North Carolina, right? I once push bike the Blue Ridge from Front Royal to Cherokee to Charlotte: it was magical, except going up Mt-Mitchell with a B.O.B. And then going down from top of Mt-Mitchell to Asheville. Oh la la! My poor wrists (hand-brakes).
With 65 established trees and 40 more fruit trees coming next spring, a greenhouse and 6 hours of mowing frankly that’s enough!!! Don’t you dare wishing me more of anything!!! Ha Ha Ha
Marc
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It’s interesting to me many folks are moving toward trusting people with an honor system, and I’m moving away from trusting people.
Just today I welded on extra security to my storage containers. I don’t store much that is valuable to anyone but me (boxes, packaging, fertilizer, some hand sprayers, picking crates, things like that) but there is more and more stealing around here. Mostly meth heads or just regular sociopaths looking for an opportunity to grab something.
I’m a bit ashamed to show the welds. Some are sloppy because the flux wire I was using wasn’t conducive to vertical up.
For you folks who are doing the honor system. I don’t want to discourage you, but encourage you to try to keep your risk low. Don’t keep anymore cash in the box than you have to.
Just remember it just takes 1 person out of 100 to clean you out. 99% of my customers are great people, but there are a few really bad people out there who are incapable of empathy for anyone besides themselves. Those are the folks who will clean out your stand and cash.
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This is very inspiring.
Well…in the U.S.A. it depends on what type of currency you are writing. If you are writing cents only, then the abbreviation for cents goes after the monetary value, as 99¢ It’s only with dollars that the sign goes before the number.
It makes perfect sense, if you think about it.
It’s sort of like how we in the U.S. pronounce herb without the “h” sound, but herbicide is pronounced with the “h” sound.
Or like the phrase “three dog night” means it’s very cold, but “dog days” means it’s really hot.
Or like bi-weekly means every other week, but bi-annually means twice a year.
It all makes perfect sense if you think about it. 
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Hi there;
Languages…such an eternal well of… contradictions, irregularities, exceptions and local usage… Believe me the French language is full of it. Speaking French is not that complicated but writing it is quite the opposite.
Going back to the example you gave: $99 and 99 cents (I don’t even have this symbol on my French-Canadian iPad keyboard…) it would be interesting to learn why the USA uses the $ sign before the amount and the cent sign after the amount.
Ta
Marc
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