bbq samples and price haggling!!!!

I applaud your answer PC. Unfortunately, I think society has created this type of consumer and they will not go away anytime soon. What with sales left and right, the internet price comparison engines, early bird specials, everyong wants something for nothing.

The situation I always enjoy is at a bbq contest where there is vending. Someone gets a sandwich at another stand and then comes over to yours to get some sauce, plasticware and/or napkins. These consumers have no morals towards a retailer or vendor.

That's enough for my soapbox.

Great topic Jack. In a nearby shopping mall there used to be a bakery/coffee shop. After the first cup of coffee you could pour your own refills. Also, they put out a basket of free samples for their customers to try. Every day the mall walkers would come in, gobble up all the samples then leave without buying a single thing.

Right next door was a large department store. The employees all bought one cup of coffee then kept the cup. Each day thereafter they would come in and refill their cups for free, pilfer whatever samples the mall walkers hadn't stolen and leave without having spent one penny. The place finally got enough and closed it's doors.

Yes, it's sad but true, Americans have come to expect a free lunch. Pity.

Good one. Jack.

My prices are already very good. I cater to families (including mine). so my prices are what my prices are. I am usually happy to give a small sample but I do not haggle on price.

ribdog,taktez and kinsman,
thanks for the input guys!!!
this has been a very recent thing but i kind of followed it down the east coast from the postings on roadfood. i don't mind cutting my base customers a break if they are having problems. as a matter of fact my best brisket customer and most welcome critic jean just had eye surgery and was strapped for money(it means the eye drugs or food for her) but she still gets her brisket (and i get my critique which is great!!! she can define with greater clarity than any chef i have ever seen just what is right and more importantly just what is wrong). i saw this happening as early as 3 weeks ago and it coincided with the lincolns and mercedes bearing new york and new jersey tags. while i want to be gracious to everyone this group is a killer. i hand out samples of candy sue's pellets and most people take one but lately we have had to do that by hand and peggy even went so far as to add "non-edible" to the free sample sign as we had this group trying to eat orange wood pellets!!!!
again thanks guys
i feel much better about the way we have handled this
jack

Jack,

Nice response. I don't mind price hagglers; freeloaders are another story. I've had someone ask if I'm discounting since its after closing time, but I don't remember my response.

On occassion if I don't feel like dealing with unsold product or the product was reheated (yes I know you can reheat twice, but I don't), I offer a customers a deal near closing, e.g., they order a slab of ribs for $18 and I'll offer them 2 slabs for $30 or $25. Just depends on the situation and if it's a regular customer.

Just like any other group, you've got bad apples in the snow birds. I did a resort cottages open house recently and provided complimentart small meals to open house participants. Most of the folks trying to beat the system (get two plates, claim their wife will be along shortly, etc) were snow birds.

Interesting post! I myself offer a dicounted price at the end of our market day, as we cook fresh for each event. I usually dont have any, so it's not a problem!

I also promote my on-site BBQ service, and offer potential clients a complimentary sample of what we have to offer. Samples can be a great marketing tool. The "free loaders" are of course another issue!

Usually I can tell about people coming up to the window. They ask if they can have a sample of the pulled pork to see if it's really pulled pork, or they want to sample the brisket. I can tell that they will buy after sampling, when they ask for a specific thing. I learned after I tried it once, that entering the crowd offering samples made me feel like a beggar, no one was interested, and it was a waste of time. The problem with our sales that weekend was the EZup the market lady wanted us to put up. It made the place look like a funeral to me and set us back from the foot traffic.
We offer samples of a BBQ related product to promote that product because we are so satisfied with it. And that brings people to the window sometimes with questions. It helps our business and I hope it's helpful for her business.
When we get people at the end of the market who want a discount, which seldom happens now, Jack tells me to say, "We donate what we don't sell to the homeless or the shelter for batterred women" and we've done that before. I don't think it's a good idea to sell stuff to people if they don't think they're getting your best.
Also, if you have a limited time at a market and you'll be back the next week, it's a good time to say, "I'm sorry, that's all sold out this week." Then they'll know to come earlier.
Peggy

My dad gave me great advice, and chewed me out for discounting a piece of farm equiptment I was selling.

He told me that some people consider it a conquest to buy your item at a reduced price. I hung my head and felt as though I had been beat in their game. As a fierce competitor I no longer reduce my prices, or give out leftovers, except to friends or other vendors whom we receive from.

I would rather give up a little, let them think they won, and walk away with the money.

Donna, who does not sell smokers or bargain for them because her Sales Department won't let her.

rootsman,bbqman,mnhogfarmer and donna thanks for weighing in on this one.
peggy is getting this down to a science with her ability to seperate the wheat from the chaff so to speak. and for sure it explains why she is front of the house while i am just the cook the lowly lowly cook.
i guess what just gets me is the haggling thing. got my shot a while back when peg wasn't around. got the closing time thing and asked the gentleman if he worked his last 1/2 hour free for his employer. answer was what are you nuts of course i dont!!! mine was neither do i!!
hogfarmer i think i know you well enough from your posts that you do the same thing as me if you find a customer is having problems and i'll bet you cut them a break like i do. it's why i love trying to get this business going-at times you can really help someone and it makes working fun.
on donating leftovers from a purely financial aspect it makes more sense than cutting a price as that donation is valued at fair market price. so if i have to choose between a guy in mercedes getting me for 2 bucks or giving it to the homeless the homeless will have to win everytime. they dont have money, the other guy does and maybe one good meal is all the guy needs to get his act going again while mercedes man thinks he has beaten you.
thanks for all the input from everyone
and i know candy sue has to be clutching her heart to hear that some of these guys actually try to eat orange wood pellets
again thanks,
jack
ps. donna ask shifflet if i ever tried to get him to lower his price lol

I've found that people expect to get good quality for their pay. If you give them good quality for free, they think there's something wrong with the product, otherwise why would you give it for free?
Some folks are just plain cheap, and want to get a free meal. I don't want to encourage people like that. If a person comes to the window and asks what does your pork or brisket or chicken look like, we show them the product. I ask them if they would like a sample if they seem really interested. Those are the ones that buy. We give them a small amount in a 2 oz. plastic cup to try. They always buy.
If somebody comes around at the end of the market just wanting to "help us out", we tell them we're sold out, and to come a little earlier the next week. Having sold out a few times and thinking that was bad, I've discovered it works well for you. I just don't want to sell out without backup too often.
Peggy

Samples are no problem. We built our business on samples and $.50 coupons.

Our leftover pulled pork goes into microwavable 1# containers, gets weighed and labeled, and frozen to sell for $8 or $8.50/#. We also have 5# buckets. We do ribs too.

We always cook extra, but it sells out fast. We are taking many orders for the 5# buckets for graduation parties.

They had a big article about us in Jan "The Farmer" magazine showing our pulled pork. This is unique to farming. If I knew how to work a scanner I would post it.

When we have end of season frozen product left, it goes to the Salvation Army; They really appreciate it.

Roger

Jack,

Just a thought, but when you get those folks looking for that "end of day added value" why don't you try something like this:

Tell them you can't discount the price any but you'd be happy to give them double slaw and or some of that fresh fruit garnish.

That way you'd be getting full price for the money maker while getting rid of the perishables that might otherwise go to waste before next week's market anyhow. And they'd perceive some degree of added value.

geiysersq,
neat idea and thanks.
i think i will just stay in "the back of the house" bite my tongue (which reminds me sam's has them for 1.88/lb and i need to get some) and let peggy do her thing. and after her little talk with me that is the best thing to do.
she has gotten great at seperating the buyers from the hagglers
as you can tell the whole thing is a thorn in my side so i better let it go before it eats me up.
BUT I SURE WISH SHE WOULD LET THEM EAT THE ORANGE WOOD PELLETS!!!!!
feeling much better now and in fact i am looking forward to spending friday at the rig and doing the market saturday.
thanks "q"
jack

Donna,
I kind of lean the same way you're talking. I would just hand out bbq all day. That's the way I was raised. But, I've found out people don't appreciate free stuff. And giving discounts to vendors is even tricky, because the vendors change, and they bring people along with them, lots of relatives and friends, and they're all from the milk guy, or the soap guy, or the veggie guy. So, I quit giving discounts to people unless I know them as a frequent vendor.
2 weeks ago, we sold out of everything, but I'm convinced we didn't do as well as we should because I was being too nice.
Jack never said a word. But he was too busy slicing brisket to notice!
Peggy
Peggy

gotta stick to our price, peggy. i get a sinking feeling in my gut everytime i hear a haggler working up their routine. (that is not a good idea, to haggle over food. never know what extra ingredients your gonna get).
sometimes, i will make deals, if i want to get rid of something, or if the chickens are extra small this batch, i will offer whole chicken a couple dollars off. but when the customer initiates the haggle, we feel disrespected.
by the way..... still trying to sell our place!
just got back from playing grandpa for a week in philly.
stopped by a place in north carolina, called 'carolina restaurant' on route 13, in some rinkydink small town.... of course i ordered the bbq plate..great lima beans, good hush puppies, good corn nugets, fair okra, but the 'q'.... it was boiled pork loin, chopped into babyfood, and doused with strait vinegar.
although i ate it all, it surely was missing that wood flavor.....

Would it be too rude to put up a small sign over your window that says something like:

Our food prices are not negotiable. Leftovers are donated to a homeless shelter.

I know that some people will ignore it but you can just smile and point to the sign and that will shut down most of them.

Donna

Or how about:

"We don't ask you to pay extra at your lunch time.

So please don't ask us to accept less at your supper time."

Or

"Adam gave Eve a free rib and just look how that turned out!"

ok a couple of things.
first i want everyone to notice i didn't say anything. peg circled that on the calendar
this coming weekend we do "earth day" so while the market manager has assured me the hippies will not say anything about my generators or the amount of smoke billowing. by the way this was an extra 25 bucks out of pocket so i will be holding her to her word. we have to switch over from our recycled styrofoam to paper goods to make them happy. go figure on that one
and lastly
coffebluff-- dude your thing is looking better and better to me--just need bucks
jack

"q",
man did you open a can of worms.
peg has a snappy comeback on that one she uses on rare occasions and it goes like this-
it took the devil to talk a woman into eatting the apple-
it only took a woman into talking a man into the same thing
hmmm this must explain why i work for her!!!
jack

mnhogfarmer,
Where do you get the microwavable containers? I've been packaging up 1 lb. bags of pulled pork and sliced brisket for sale, but the micro would work really well, I think. Packaging is pretty important to me.
Thanks for your input.
Peggy

peg, you guys have a micro? you should try this. 8oz styro cups will hold half pound of q. and they will freeze well. instead of lids, wrap them with plastic, or a foil sheet.
nuc to order, about a minute tweenty.
we use small styro for half pound, 9 inch one compartment for full pound(you could use the three comp too)
packs up really nice......looks professional.

Peggy-

We use the nc868b Versatainer, 28 oz. It holds 1# pulled pork nicely and they are shallow to freeze quickly, and are stackable when frozen.

I get mine from www.instawares.com $62. per 150 plus shipping, unless you buy $175 worth, free shipping. Sysco handles them, and other too.

Good luck! Roger