Farmers Market Scales.com sells and services Produce Scales
FARMERS
MARKET SCALES BUYERS GUIDE
This site is designed
to provide you with a resource for produce scales used at the farmers
market. Our goal on this site is to help you find the perfect scale
for selling fruits and vegetables by the pound at your local farmers
market. Portable
produce scales are a must for use at the farmers market. That is why
battery operated produce scales or hanging produce scales are pretty
much the standard choice at most places. Old produce scales for sale
can save you some money but usually come with no warranty which can
be a problem.
Mechanical
produce scales can save you some money and you don't have to worry
about batteries or finding an outlet to plug your scale into. Plus
you don't have to worry about charging your scale battery the night
before you go out to the farmers market. Hanging produce scales for
sale can really be a great thing for many customers. But many customers
really like being able to key in the price per pound and set the vegetables
or berries on the scale and it calculates the total charges that your
customer owes you.
Every
now and then you might see used hanging produce scales for sale but
the odds are you will probably be better off purchasing a brand new
set, which isn't that bad. At least you will get a warranty that is
still active. We offer many of the top brands of scales in the country.
Names like Chatillon, Ohaus, Brecknell, CAS, Rice Lake, and Detecto.
We used to offer Avery Berkel but now that has been sold off to Hobart.
Garden produce scales are an easy way for you to grow some vegetables
and take them to the produce stand and sell them for some extra money
that goes into your pocket. Remember, be sure to buy certified produce
scales that are NTEP approved legal for trade for class 3. We don't
recommend looking at cheap produce scales since in most cases they
aren't legal for trade which could get you in trouble with your local
or state weights and measures inspector.
There are thousands
of farmer’s markets operating in the United States every year.
Since you are visiting our website, you're likely either a farmer
or considering selling farm fresh produce for a profit. As a farmer’s
market seller, you’ll need to deterimine what fruits and vegetables
you will sell, research location choices, and deterimine how you are
going to sell your items to customers, by the piece or cost per pound.
We'll let you
determine the first two choices. Our knowlege relates to the produce
scales. Some sellers choose to sell their products without a scale.
In our opinion (somewhat biased, we admit) you need to weigh out the
produce you are selling. This is fair to both your customer and you,
the seller. So how do you choose the best Farmer’s Market Scale?
There are many to choose from, but below are our recommendations.
First make sure the scale meets the following specifications. First,
state requirements, Second, correct capacity, and finally do you need
straight weighing or price computing functions.
In most states,
a price computing scale must have National Type Evaluation Program
or NTEP certification in order to be used as legal for trade scale
farmers market equipment. To gain this certification, a scale must
meet standards developed by the National Conference of Weights and
Measures and pass testing.
Various capacities
are available. We typically see everything from 15 lb up to 60 lb
on average. There are some additional choices that are outside of
that range. Basically, the farmer’s market scale that you choose
must be able to meet your capacity needs. For example, if you sell
larger items like pumpkins or watermelons you will want a scale with
a higher capacity like 60 lb. Likewise, if you only sell smaller fruits
and vegetables like strawberries or grapes, then a standard 30 lb
scale probably would work well for you.
Price computing
or sometimes called price calculating or calculation is a great choice
for farmers market sellers in most situations. Now, a produce scale
that doesn’t include price computing functionality is typically
less expensive. But, keep in mind, a price computing scale will ulitmately
save you, the seller, time. You don’t need to take the time to
stop and calculate a customer’s price using a calculator, pencil
and paper or in your head. This saves you time with your transaction.
And since a scale with price computing takes the seller out of the
calculation process, the likelihood for errors decreases.
Hopefully, the
information will be useful to anyone looking to set up a produce stand
at their local farmers market. In the old days most sellers would
use hanging scales at the farmers market. They were easy to use and
reliable. But as technology has advanced, so to have scales for the
farmers market. If you visit most vendors today and you will see one
or two digital scales with a display facing the seller and a display
facing the buyer.
Digital scales
at the farmers market are pretty common today. There are many different
brands and models of produce weighing scales available. Many times
a vendor can survey a handful of their friends who are also selling
to determine what they think of a particular scale. Vintage produce
scales like the old Toledo 8433 used to be the ideal scale for most
every seller. However, as technology advanced and pressure for lower
price products began to take over the market, newer products began
to take over the industry. You can still search and find a rare used
produce scale or see the website that promotes used produce scales
for sale and used hanging produce scales for sale but generally it's
tough to find too many places that are offering those products.
Typically, these
days if you are looking to sell produce by the pound at the farmers
market, you may want to start out and get your feet wet with a used
digital produce scale. This product needs to be NTEP approved for
class III and be legal for trade. This is pretty much the standard
for any scales to weigh produce. Doesn't matter if you're talking
about selling in Toledo, OH or anywhere else in the U.S. In most cases
you will need a legal for trade scale. It can be mechanical or digital
but it should be legal for trade. We mention this because if you do
some searching you can find produce scales on ebay, among other places
that are not legal for trade and if you buy one of those it could
come back to haunt you when the state inspector shuts you down.
When you do finally
make the decision to purchase a scale and sell at the market each
week, what capacity will you need? The standard is thirty pounds.
However, there are scales with six pound capacities and there are
some with over 100 pound capacities. So if you have larger weight
items that you want to sell by the pound, we can get you a scale to
do that in most cases. Now if you're selling small strawberries or
apples, you don't want to use the same scale to weigh heavy pumpkins
or watermelons. It might make sense for you to choose a small capacity
scale like a 15 pound model and a larger model, perhaps a 60 pound
capacity. That way you are making more money per transaction depending
on the scale you are using.
Every now and
then we do see used hanging produce scales on sale but it is pretty
rare to see that. Antique produce scales used to be quite expensive
too. Small free standing produce scales for retail establishments
are now available too. It used to be that you really only had a couple
of choices when it came to the size of a legal for trade price calculating
scale. However, today there are lots of sizes to choose from that
will hopefully work with your counter top and your budget.
We often get asked
what are the best produce scales for farmers markets? The honest answer
is that it really depends on what you're looking to do. If you have
a lot of customers, you are not going to want to put your vegetables
into a hanging scale's scoop and wait for it to stop and show a steady
reading. Then do the math to determine the price. It would be much
easier for you to buy a digital price computing scale that can display
the weight and the total price so that both you and your customer
can easily see the total charges.
In addition to
certified produce scales, we also offer carrying cases which make
transporting your price computing scale from your house to the produce
stand very easy and very safe. Produce scales for farmers market don't
have to cost a fortune. There are many high quality brands that are
affordable and built to provide you years of trouble free use. As
we mentioned earlier, you many see some used hanging produce scales
for sale posted somewhere, but in the long run you might be better
off sticking with something that is brand new that has a warranty.
The same thing might apply for the digital variety too. Old produce
scales for sale may sound like a good deal but it might be better
to invest in a new set with a warranty.
Finally, scales
for weighing produce might seem like a complicated subject but it
really isn't that difficult. Farm produce scales are designed to give
you a chance to set your own price based on how much fruits or vegetables
you are selling. The customer wins because they are paying for what
they buy and not some bucket that may or may not contain a reasonable
amount of product.
As mentioned earlier
auction produce scales can be a real gamble since many are not Class
3 legal for trade and could get you shut down if your state inspector
looks at your scale. So if you're going to start out at the market,
be on the look out for digital produce scales for sale and make sure
they are designed to be used as commercial produce scales or sometimes
called certified produce scales. Fortunately, we have a complete selection
of these scales on this website that will work perfectly for your
needs.
