Absolutely! the people who buy my eggs drop off cartons all the time! They're just so happy to be getting free range eggs from happy healthy hens...the cartons are generally worthless,but the eggs are priceless to some people! :)
I also like the idea of recycling the cardboard,great for the environment.

No. I'm in central California and we are required to have an egg handlers permit to sell eggs. The permit requires us to list certain things on our cartons (and also requires that we not use other peoples cartons)so we buy blanks from eggcartons.com and have custom labels printed. We do, however, discount certain customers that we trust that bring their cartons back all the time.

I'm just a small time hen keeper which allows me to sell eggs to maybe my neighbours if I have enough...I basically keep the hens to provide for our family,and sell to friends and neighbours when I have the extra's...so I guess I'm not really a seller :)

I just have 24 hens. We eat a lot of eggs and I sell the rest to friends etc. It usually pays for the chicken food. I just love my hens they are like family..(-:

We purchase blanks from eggcartons.com as stated previously, anyone who gets eggs from us pays a deposit on the carton, which provides incentive to reuse the carton, and this works.

As for the question of paper or plastic, the final analysis on environmental impact is not what you would expect; these are really 'feel good' decisions with little or no clear environmental benefit either way. As it pertains to shopping bags, the clear winner is cloth; they can be used for long enough to actually reduce the amount of paper or plastic you would have used; I am going on 16 years with the first set my mother made me and besides a little wear are as good as new.

I sell my extra eggs for $1 per dozen and $.25 for the carton. I give the customer $.25 off for each carton they give me. I had to buy cartons just the once.
kitty

I have an abundance of eggs and would love to sell some to help offset the cost of feed. My hens eat 90%+ organic but not totally and they free-range but not 24 hours.

How would you market these eggs? My plan is to put a sign up in my local feed store.

I found that the best way was to find friends who wanted fresh eggs. My mom has several friends that buy 8 or so dozen a week and my husband sells the rest to his co-workers. I have read all kinds of stories on selling eggs that are not certified etc so now I just sell to friends/family. You can get a license and sell at a Farmers Market. Checking at a feed store is a good idea too maybe they know people who are looking for fresh eggs!

I posted at the feed store a few years back. I wound up with a woman that would buy all I had. I charged her 1.25 for a dozen eggs and .25 for the carton. She would always bring cartons back. I would just set hers on the side and give them back to her the next week. It worked great for both of us. We actually met at the feed store and when we were done with business, I would take the money and go buy the girls feed for the week with it.

Billie

I just sell to friends and neighbors for enough money to pay the monthly feed bill. I recently had to up the price by 25 cents, to $1.50 a carton, 'cause the feed cost went up. I have lots of folks saving their cartons for me, and they are just happy to be able to recycle and get cheap, fresh eggs. I started out telling folks that the price would go up if I had to buy cartons, so that got 'em motivated!

When I first started trying to sell eggs, there didn't seem to be much of a market - lots of my neighbors have their own birds (and some of them give away their spare eggs). But word slowly spread, and now I have regular customers and no problem selling all I care to part with. I just started out carrying eggs with me when I went to community gatherings, the dentist's office, etc. For me, it seems it was just a matter of getting some people in the habit of buying from me, now they come and get them. One of my girlfriends has also cultivated a market for my eggs among her co-workers, so she takes all I've got if they start piling up at all!

pam

So Billie, how did your post read? I can't say organic because we aren't certified and they aren't completely free range. They are definitely happy!

I would say, Farm Fresh, Free Range. I don't think there is a time limit on how long the chickens free range each day. The point is that they aren't kept in small cages all of the time. I think they are called battery cages?

wow up here in pacific coast canada free range eggs are selling for in the 3$ range, some places have signs at their gates at 3.50 a dozen, ofcourse some people even say free range even though their birds never leave a building. We only sell about a dozen a day, probably once you build up some customers you will be turning them away. we just raised ours to 3$ a dozen, from 2.50,,,feed has gone up, our hens spend as much time as they want outside,we alternate them over 3 grass areas. There is a bigger loss to preditors having them in the run, another reason free range are more expensive to produce. we have decided it is our donation to the world wildlife foundation when a hawk or eagle feeds on one of our birds. (not so philosphical about the coyotes) Once people want your eggs they will supply the cartons, you have a total different product from factory raised eggs.

I just said farm eggs, the price and phone number. I had about three or four calls the first two days and took the sign down day three. People like the fact that their eggs are not coming from chickens that are locked up all day. They see sunlight and get to play and frolic, doing what ever birds are supposed to do. That is your big selling point, plus they taste so much better.

Billie

Some of my dh's family saves them for me even though they don't buy the eggs. I never give them free eggs, though. Now I have and would if I had a lot extra and couldn't use them. But all in all, they are just doing it because they know I use them. I never even asked for them :)

Here in East Tennessee our free-range eggs sell for $3-3.50 a dozen. I mostly give mine to friends and family but have been getting quite a few lately and so am selling for $3. That ethanol deal has made the price of chicken scratch go way up! My daughter owns a restaurant and saves me her egg cartons. I just mark out the expiration date on them. They don't cost me or the buyer anything and I guess they are recycled. She uses 5-6 dozen a day for salads, baking, etc. It's an endless supply. Want some?

When I had chickens 15 years ago, I had a friend who ran a restaurant. He would get flats of eggs and save me all the empty flats. I sold eggs 2 1/2 doz. at a time, the size of the flats, for $2. I also had a friend who had a bar and would save me the beer flats. Egg flats fit right in them. People also saved their egg cartons for me and would return the empties. I sold my eggs so reasonably, people didn't mind providing the cartons. My hens more than paid for themselves with all the eggs I sold.