Are you wondering how much to charge for eggs? Before you set your pricing, here are a few of the most important factors you should consider.
My wife recently asked me if I’d be interested in raising chickens and selling eggs at our local farmer’s market. After a few minutes of discussion, we both agreed that it would be a fun family activity and a great way to introduce our kids to the world of entrepreneurship.
However, I quickly realized that pricing a dozen eggs isn’t as straightforward as you might think.
On the one hand, you don’t want to price yourself out of the local market and end up with a bunch of leftover eggs. On the other hand, you don’t want to charge too little and dwindle yourself out of business.
So the question is, how much should you charge for eggs?
How Much To Charge For Eggs?
You should plan to charge between $5 and $8 per dozen eggs. When pricing your eggs, you should consider the number of eggs you need to sell, the cost to feed and raise your chickens, whether or not your eggs are organic, farmer’s market fees, packaging, transportation, and your desired profit.
At these rates, based on our research, you can expect to make a profit somewhere between $.50 and $2 per dozen eggs–depending on the volume of eggs your chickens produce and your expenses.
Obviously, the higher you set your price, the fewer eggs you are likely to sell. Though, this might be your best option if you live in a smaller market or don’t have a truckload of eggs to sell each week.
In contrast, if you have a ton of eggs to sell and a big market to sell them to, then pricing your eggs on the lower end might be the better decision. Of course, if you price your eggs too low, you might sacrifice every bit of profit you would otherwise make.
Ultimately, your price will depend heavily on your local market conditions.
If you aren’t sure where to start, you can always price your eggs on the lower end to gauge the demand.
Then, if there’s enough demand to sell out of your eggs, you can always raise your prices.
Is Selling Farm Fresh Eggs Profitable?
If turning a large profit is what you’re after, then selling eggs as a business might not be the best choice for you. Since a dozen eggs, at best, will yield a few dollars in profit, you would need to raise thousands of hens to net a full-time income.
According to United Egg, the average hen lays 296 eggs annually–or approximately 24 dozen eggs. If you earn a profit of $2 per dozen eggs, you would need to raise over 2,000 hens to net $100,000 per year.
If you have the land, time, and infrastructure to handle that many chickens, then more power to you.
However, if you’re hoping to make a living off a few dozen hens, you might want to consider other side hustles–or at least find ways to generate additional revenue in your egg/chicken business.
On the other hand, if your goal is simply to earn a little extra cash while enjoying the process of raising chickens, then selling eggs can certainly be a fun and rewarding experience.
Do You Need A License To Sell Eggs?
Yes, you may need to obtain an egg seller license to sell raw eggs. In particular, if you plan to sell your eggs commercially (i.e., to a grocery store) or outside the location where you raise your chickens (like a farmer’s market), you will need to obtain a license.
In some states, you may even need to have your chicken coop inspected by the USDA before you can start selling your eggs.
As with any food-related business, you should check for federal, state-specific, and local regulations before selling any of your eggs.
Can You Sell Eggs On Facebook Marketplace?
No, you should not sell your eggs through Facebook Marketplace. While it is perfectly ok to create a Facebook page for your business and start promoting your eggs, you are not allowed to sell animal-related food products through Facebook Marketplace.
Pricing Your Eggs: 9 Factors To Consider
When you’re trying to determine how much to charge for eggs, there are several factors you need to consider.
Here are 9 of the major expenses that you should incorporate into the price of your eggs:
The Cost Of Your Hens
The first, and perhaps most obvious, cost you need to consider is the price of your hens. On average, you can expect to pay between $1 and $5 for a single chick–or between $5 and $30 for adult chickens.
As you might assume, these prices can go up or down depending on the breed of chicken you choose to raise. For example, your average mixed breed chick might only cost $1.50, while a Silkie chicken–a breed known for its beautiful feathers–might cost upwards of $10 per chick.
The bottom line, the cost of your hens will play a significant role in setting the price of your eggs.
So, if your goal is to maximize your profit, you should try to start with less expensive chicks.
Chicken Feed
If you want your chickens to produce high-quality eggs, one of the most important things you can do is invest in quality chicken feed. According to Maat van Uitert of Pampered Chicken Mama, you can expect to spend between $30 and $150 per month for a flock of 5 chickens.
Obviously, if you have a larger flock, your feed costs will be higher. However, if you can find ways to cut back on your feed expenses–for example, growing your own food or raising chickens known for being efficient eaters–you can keep your overall costs down.
Shelter Costs
When figuring out how much to charge for eggs, one of the main expenses you need to consider is the cost of a coop for your chickens.
After all, if you want your chickens to lay as many eggs as possible, you need to provide them with a safe space to do so.
The price of your chicken coop will, of course, depend on various factors–such as the size, materials used, and whether or not you build it yourself. That said, you can generally expect to spend between $100 and $2,000 on a quality chicken coop.
Transportation Costs
Another cost you need to consider is the price of transporting your eggs from your farm to your customers. This probably won’t be a significant expense if you plan on selling your eggs at a farmer’s market or local store.
However, if you’re transporting your eggs long distances, it’s important to factor in the cost of gas, labor, and time.
In fact, you should try to get your customers to come to you when possible.
Since transportation costs can devour every penny of hard-earned profit you stand to make, the less you have to transport your eggs, the better.
Labor Costs
Of course, you can’t forget to factor in your labor when determining how much to charge for eggs.
Not only do you need to account for the time it takes to take care of your chickens (which includes feeding them, cleaning their coop, and collecting their eggs), but you also need to consider the time you dedicate to selling the eggs.
If you have too many chickens to care for on your own, you might even need to pay somebody to help you.
Farmer’s Market Fees
Farmer’s markets make for a great place to sell your eggs. After all, they provide you with a captive audience of people who are already interested in buying local food.
Of course, you will need to pay for a booth before you can start selling at a farmer’s market. Depending on your market, this can cost anywhere from $30 per day to upwards of $500 for a six-month reservation.
Pest Control
Predators and pests are among the biggest obstacles when raising chickens and selling eggs. If you want to protect your flock (and your investment), you need to factor in the cost of pest control.
This can include building a predator-proof fence to hiring somebody to help you keep snakes and rodents away.
In general, you should expect to spend between $100 and $200 per year on pest control for a small flock of 5 to 10 chickens. The more pest control you’re willing to handle yourself, the less this will cost.
Marketing And Promotion
If you want to build a solid base of customers and consistently sell out of your eggs, you will need to get the word out.
When starting out, you can simply set up a Facebook page and rely on word of mouth to attract customers.
However, you may want to invest a little money into marketing and promotion as your operation grows. Whether it’s a few simple roadside signs or a basic website, the more people that know about your eggs, the better.
The good news is that you don’t need to spend a fortune on marketing and promotion. There are plenty of low-cost (or even free) ways to market your eggs.
The key here is to get creative and have fun with it.
Profit
Finally, you need to ensure you’re accounting for profit when setting your egg prices.
In other words, if it costs you $4 to produce a dozen eggs, and you want to make a minimum of $3 in profit, then you should charge $7 per dozen. If you want to make $4 per dozen, you should charge $8–you get the idea.
If, after factoring in all of the expenses on this list, you find that your cost per dozen eggs is too high to earn a profit, then you have three options:
- Reduce your expenses.
- Find a way to supplement your chicken business’s income.
- Pursue a different business altogether.
How To Make More Money With Your Egg Business
If the idea of earning $2 per dozen eggs doesn’t get you excited, there are quite a few ways to supplement your income and make more money with chickens.
Here are a few great ways to go from a small profit to an “eggcellent” income…sorry for the bad pun.
Sell Chicken And Egg Merchandise
One of the best ways to make more money with chickens is to sell merchandise. This can be anything from t-shirts and coffee mugs with funny chicken sayings to chicken coops and accessories.
With so many local and online chicken communities, there’s certainly a demand for quality chicken-themed merchandise.
Not only is this a great way to make some extra money, but it’s also a fantastic way to promote your brand and get your name out there. Who knows, the profit might be so good that you abandon the whole idea of selling eggs and focus all of your revenue efforts on merch sales.
Start A Chicken Blog
Speaking of online chicken communities, there are quite a few popular chicken blogs out there that earn their owners a handsome profit each month.
If you’re willing to write about your life raising chickens, share your experiences, and offer advice to new chicken owners, then starting a blog could be a great way to make some extra money.
Unlike raising chickens and selling eggs, it doesn’t require a ton of overhead. As long as you have a computer, an internet connection, and a love for writing, you can make quite a bit of money as a chicken blogger.
In my research for this article, I stumbled across a blog focused on raising chickens that gets over 2 million page views per month. Even if your blog received 10% of that traffic, you could make a handsome full-time income.
Start A YouTube Channel
Another great way to earn money from your egg business is to start a YouTube channel. With so many people interested in raising their own chickens, it’s no wonder that many chicken enthusiasts are making a killing with their YouTube channels.
If you don’t mind being in front of the camera and sharing your thoughts on chicken-related topics, then starting a YouTube channel could be a great way to make some extra money–or even replace your current income.
Sell An E-Course
If you’ve already leaped into raising chickens and selling your eggs, you might consider creating an online course that teaches others how to do the same.
Whether you focus your course on raising chickens to produce eggs for your own household, or raising chickens so that you can sell the eggs for a profit, you can make quite a bit of money with a digital course.
The benefit of this revenue stream is that it’s evergreen, meaning you can continue to earn money from your course month after month without putting in any additional work beyond the initial course creation.
Pricing Your Eggs: The Bottom Line
As you can see, there are quite a few factors to consider when pricing your eggs.
From the current market value of eggs to your overhead costs and desired profit margin, it’s important to do your research and find a price that works for you and your customers.
Related Questions
How Much To Charge For Duck Eggs?
In short, you can reasonably charge between $8 and $12 per dozen duck eggs. Since duck eggs are larger, less available, and have a higher nutritional value than chicken eggs, many people are willing to pay a premium.
Of course, your specific pricing will depend on factors like the current market value of eggs, your overhead costs, and how much profit you want to make.
How Much To Charge For Quail Eggs?
In general, you can charge between $3 and $6 for a dozen quail eggs. Of course, your specific pricing will depend on factors like the demand in your local market, your overhead costs, and how much profit you want to make.