the EGG RANT

Today I am going to blow off some steam...

My daughter has been selling her chicken's eggs. She sells them for $2.50/dozen. I have been advertising for her on "Craig's list". It was a nice little ad, complete with this picture (see insert) of the eggs. The money helps her 4H Poultry project, and helps the chickens "earn" their keep.

Overall, I have met some wonderful people! Many repeat customers, and have even made some new friends!

But how do I say this..?? There is always one bad turd in a pile... Every once in awhile I receive an email from someone replying to the egg ad asking if I would lower the price. They ALWAYS say: "I can buy eggs all day long for $1.00 / dozen." Or the latest: "I can drive half an hour away to buy eggs from the Amish for a buck". (needless to say, gas is almost $4.00/gal- the money saved per dozen is spent TWO FOLD in gas consumption!)

Every time I kindly reply to them that if I had sold them the eggs for cheap, that it would not be fair to our customers who currently pay the asking price. I always end my email with "I'm sorry we could not be of service to you, have a nice day". Because I tell you what, if *I* was paying top dollar for eggs, and *I* found out that the person I was buying them from sold those same eggs for a fraction of the cost to someone else- *I* would be SO pissed, I would never buy eggs from them again.

And each time I always get a nasty email back (they are sore now because I won't give them away) about how we are "ripping people off".

How are we ripping anyone off?? Do we only put 6 in a dozen carton? Do we have the market cornered on egg sales? Are we the ONLY people that sell eggs? Do I make them purchase our eggs?

Yes, people are free to buy eggs wherever they would like. When they buy from us, they are buying "an experience". If people have children, I always welcome their entire family here and show them every animal we have. City children have pet: Sheep, Goats, Chickens, Steer, Pigs, and Horses... I always take them to help me collect the eggs, I also teach them how to feed the horse's treats and even show and let them pet the kittens.

On the flip side, the parents always have a zillion questions about animals and animal husbandry. I don't mind the questions. It is nice to have someone actually interested in what we do.

So back to the MEAN PEOPLE SUCK part- My recent email from some jerk (the same one claiming to buy Amish eggs from Marion for a buck) quoted WC Fields famous saying of "There is a sucker born every minute" and then wrote "and you have found a few of them".

SO I replied- "Again, I am sorry we could not help you" and then I wrote "Thank You for your opinion, you know what they say about opinions, and ended my email with Get a life".

And instead of this loser moving on with their life they wrote back yet again saying "No smart ass, what do they say about opinions? Why don't you just charge $5.00/dozen? Price Gouger!!!!!!"

Now I'm not thrilled to say the least So I ended this stupid email battle with-

It's wonderful to know that a child's egg sales, "rocks your world" that much. Sure nice to see people like you waste so much energy on such important issues. Global warming... Na...., high fuel prices.... Na....., rising cost of everyday living...... Na..... the 2008 campaign race.... Na....., the earthquake that killed an entire Asian community.... Na.....

BUT DAMN!!!! A YOUNG PERSON SELL EGGS FOR A WHOPPING .75 MORE THAN THE STORE- BUT FOR LESS MONEY THAN THOSE LOVELY BROWN ORGANIC EGGS IN THE STORE-

THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!!

Like I said... Get a life. End of story.

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I cannot believe the nerve of some people. Why are people like this? I know myself I would never scoff at some one's for sale ad. If I wanted something for cheaper than they were asking, I would make them an offer, if they declined I would leave it at that and move on with my life.

Now to top it off (this was BEFORE this email banter back / forth- with this jerk) Someone is so scorned by our little egg ad that every time I post it on Craig's list they flag it and have it deleted on me. It sure is frustrating that people have nothing better to do than ruin other people's days.