Market Manager Questionnaire

1.0 Briefly, what led to the creation of your market initially (local community leadership; council
initiative; leadership from the farm community, etc.)
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1.1 What types of strategies are used to advertise your farmers market?
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1.2 If, in your advertising, you are trying to convey a message or an impression about your
market what is that message?
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1.2 Rating the most important first, what are the most popular goods at the farmers market?
Crafts_____ Vegetables_____ Fruit_____ Baked Goods_____ Dairy_____ Plants_____ Meat
(incl. fish) ____ Oils/spices____ Other__________________________________
1.3 Starting with the most important, list the specific qualities that you feel customers expect from
the groceries they purchase at farmers markets.
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1.4 How are these customer expectations addressed or fulfilled at your farmers market? i.e. what
steps do you take as a manager to ensure that these expectations are met?
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1.5 Has your market established a set of operating rules or by-laws that allow you regulate who
may participate as a vendor and what criteria they must meet in relation to what they are selling?
Yes _____
No _______ In development ______
(If it were possible to obtain a copy of your regulations this would be appreciated)
1.6 Are you affiliated with any other organizations that support this market?

Yes ______; No ______; if yes, which ones ___________________________________

handle real money. I think that can be true with a lot of other products that get counterfeited
whether its handbags or sunglasses or watches.
Another safe-guard would be to purchase the items at the persons house. Does the house match
the item? Do they have a family? A dog, some kids? The more normal they seem to be the less
likely its a criminal trying to sell fake goods. In general, someone selling fake goods isnt going
to want everyone to know where they live. If they wont allow you to come to their house, and you
kind of get a weird feeling about it, trust your gut and walk away. Ive walked away from a lot of
deals. The ones that I had a bad feeling about, for one reason or another, always ended up being a
big headache.
Dont just look for items to buy, but look at the people and situations you are buying from. They
tend to reveal all you will need to know about an item when you are trying to decide whether to
purchase or not.
How much of your time (percentage-wise) do you spend: (Updated 12-18-12)
1. Looking online for items to buy? Maybe 20%
2. Driving around picking stuff up and delivering? Probably 35%
3. Listing the item on Craigslist? About 2%
4. Selling / negotiating / dealing with customers? About 3% These are approximate guesses.
5. Fixing and preparing items for sale? 40%
Ive got something that can do the pickups, deliveries, repairs etc now which can really free up my
time.
What do you estimate your hourly income is, both during the first month you started a
serious effort on Craigslist, and today? (Updated 12-18-12)
Hmm, I was able to pay all the bills for our family of 6 when we started and it was tight. Over two
years later now and hourly income has probably quadrupled. However Im not working as much as
I used to. Total income has come close to tripling while at the same time I do about 1/4th the
amount of work as I did when I started. Things are going pretty well. Its kind of like a contractor
who just builds one expensive home instead of 6 inexpensive ones. Ive got 4 kids and a wife who
I spend time with, and I take at least a day off a week. If I was single doing this, I would be
working 100 hour weeks and making a mountain of money. Its just not worth it once you have a
family. Ive got a guy that works for me now as well, so that helps.
On Ebay, I can set an alert to email me when someone lists something Im looking for. How
do I do that on Craigslist?
Go to the specific section of the item you are looking for, say computers. Once there, search for
what you are looking for, say laptop. Hit search. Then on the next page, go to the bottom right
hand side of the page and there will be an orange RSS link. Click that link to add this particular
search to your RSS feed. Each time a laptop or Samsung laptop or whatever you searched for,
comes up, it will be sent to your RSS feed reader. The only downfall to this, like Michael said in
his response to the GRS post, the RSS feed doesnt update as quickly as the web page feeds. RSS
feeds for free items for example are a waste of time. RSS feeds are great for slightly slower
moving items, or items that have less demand.
What techniques do you use to spot deals quickly? Do you find that most sellers are available
to have you pick things up that day?
This will also get its own post. I have lots of windows open at the top of my browser. The pages
upload in somewhat regular intervals. Like Appliances-general should update every 10 minutes or

so. Then there are all the sub regions of each category, usually different countys around a big city.
Those all have slightly different refresh schedules and you just have to watch the ones you are