This is a talk we gave at the 2015 Heartland Apiculture Society Conference at Albion College, MI. The goal was to provide attendees with some practical advice on how to sell the honey their bees produce online.

1. Selling Your
Honey Online!
Mieke Engelsma
Jonathan R. Engelsma, Ph.D.

2. Today’s Agenda
About Us.
Why Sell Honey Online?
Alternative Ways to Sell Honey Online
Photographing Your Products
Shipping Considerations
Promoting your online store.

3. Quick Facts
We are a family of nine from Nunica, MI
Jonathan and Mieke both grew up on farms.
Jonathan works as a prof in GVSU’s School of Computing and starting keeping
bees in 1984.
Mieke markets our honey crops at farmers markets, expos, home sales, online, etc
Family runs a sideline bee operation:
run 40-60 colonies mainly for honey production
retail the annual honey crop
sell nucs when available.
Website: http://hudsonvillehoney.com

5. Why Sell Honey Online?
Expand the reach of your
market at low cost.
Less time consuming than
farmers markets, physical
retail presence.
Target niche market
opportunities (brides,
brewers, etc.)
Customer convenience (even
local customers).

6. Alternative
Approaches
Consumer-to-Consumer
eCommerce platforms:
craigslist, eBay, Etsy.
“Cookie-Cutter” eCommerce
Platforms: Shopify, Yahoo,
BigCommerce,
Roll your own custom
eCommerce website

7. C2C eCommerce
Examples: craigslist.org, Etsy, eBay
Advantages:
easy to setup
leverage large existing user base
Disadvantages:
Loss of brand visibility - e.g., consumers are going to etsy.com,
not hudsonvillehoney.com.
Fees often based on transaction volumes/amounts
Lack of portability, customization

8. craigslist.org
Equivalent to an old fashioned local
classified ad.
Advantages:
Free and super simple to setup.
Very popular platform
Disadvantages:
transaction consummated out-of-band
scammers and weirdos

9. Etsy
Popular eCommerce site for selling
handmade and vintage goods
most sellers/buyers seem to be
female… niche opportunity.
Advantages: easy to use, integrates
with PayPal account.
Disadvantages: lots of nickel/dime
fees that add up fast. Breeding
ground for “idea stealing”

10. “Cookie-Cutter”
eCommerce Platforms
Examples: Shopify, BigCommerce
Advantages:
Easy to setup.
Hosted on your own domain (promote your brand)
Fees are generally less onerous
Disadvantages:
Not as configurable as a fully custom site.

11. “Roll your own”
eCommerce site
Advantages
You have complete control, e.g. most flexible, move site
between cloud providers, etc.
Hosted on your own domain - extend your brand identity.
Disadvantages
Requires more technical expertise to establish

12. Our Solution
Multi-pronged approach:
Main website: hudsonvillehoney.com
Use Craigslist to promote local sales.
Use Etsy for niche marketing (wedding favors,
holidays, etc): https://www.etsy.com/shop/
HudsonvilleHoney

13. Example:
hudsonvillehoney.com
Running Wordpress for content management
Uses WP eCommerce plugin for store front.
Integrates with USPS shipping calculator API to
compute shipping charges based on weight/
destination.
Integrates with PayPal for credit card payments.

15. Be sure your
website is
“responsive”

16. Product Images
High quality photos of your products is an important
component of your online store.
Options:
Hire a professional.
Befriend or marry a photographer.
Do it yourself.

17. DIY Product Images
Stuff you will need:
DSLR Camera & Tripod
Light diffusing box/tent
Studio lights

24. Shipping
Considerations
Select a shipping method that
is effective for yourself as well
as your customer
Conveniently located drop
offs or ability to schedule
pickup.
Ability to integrate with your
online store.
Rates will vary with package
size/weight, destination.

25. Shipping
You will need to weight /
estimate shipping charges in
advance.
Use a postal Scale
automatically integrates
with shipping providers
(USPS, Fedex, UPS) to
give accurate estimates.

26. USPS
We use USPS most
frequently as rates are
competitive and post
office is nearby.
Added convenience &
savings if buy postage
online and print
yourself.
Shipping calculator
integrates with most
eCommerce solutions.

27. Packing
Make sure those lids
are on tight!
Include a packing slip
with a reference #.
Pack for worst case
scenario!
You can ship glass but
make sure you pack
well!

28. Customer Relations
Consumers expect to be able to track their order, so
email them a tracking number when it ships.
Set expectations in your product description: e.g.,
“Product ships within 1-3 business days”
Always give the customer the benefit of the doubt
when something goes wrong.

29. Promoting your online
store
Social media is not an
option!
Social recommendations
are very persuasive!
Double edged sword -
learn how it works and
use it right!

30. Social Media Integration
Social Media
integration is a
great way to
drive traffic to
your new
website!

31. Electronic Mailing
Lists
Very good way to drive repeat
orders.
Don’t be spammy or people
will sign off.
Make sure your newsletters
are informative and not just
product pitch.

32. Wordpress: Online Tutorial!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL97F549AEC78F2EEB

33. Any Questions?
Jonathan Engelsma’s Contact Info:
email: jengelsma@gmail.com
web: http://hudsonvillehoney.com
twitter.com/honeyandcandles
Like us! /hudsonvillehoney
Slides available on
http://slideshare.net/jonathanengelsma