What do you think is a fair price for a bushel of crabs?
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
No more than $100.00 ever.
ReplyDeleteI think people would be better off buying straight from the crabber. And they should, for the crabber's sake and for all the work they put into getting the crabs, the price should be a minimum of $40 per bushel. They bust their as* to get them and they should be paid accordingly. The middle man of the crab market is a no-good thief. ALL OF THEM! Tell me otherwise and I'll call you a damn liar.
ReplyDeleteit depends
ReplyDeletethe most ive ever paid is 120
and that was on a holiday and included a tip to the waterman that got em for me.
i prefer buying off the boat vs a distributor
Whatever you're willing to pay and the seller is willing to take - as is the case with everything. people who pay what they think is too much have more problems than dealing with "fairness" in pricing.
ReplyDeletequite honestly, $20 absolute maximum. and as you can guess, i dont eat crabs very often!
ReplyDeletedoes anyone have any contacts for boaters/crabbers that they care to share?
ReplyDelete$20 bucks is a bit low. That wont cover the gas to start the boat. Ha-ha! I would gladly pay $100 a bushel for good crabs. And on a holiday weekend I would go up to $140. I have never bought from a seafood store though. All my crabs come straight off the boat into the watremans hand that caught them.
ReplyDelete11:25 AM
ReplyDeleteyou gotta be kidding! offer someone 20 bucks for a bushel and be prepared to get wet
I get 40 pounds of chicken necks for $6 and can catch around 6+ bushels with that.
ReplyDelete11:37 - Read the rest of the first sentence - "and the seller is willing to take". Your comment says we should throw water on crabbers who want more than we want to pay. Good thing people are too mature for that.
ReplyDeleteshould create a post with crabbers contact info so we can contact them directly and skip the middle man. I think sbynews did that last year. why not this year?
ReplyDeleteI get my crabs from a waterman in Deal Island. I pay $40.00 for a 1/2 bushel and around $85.00 to $90.00 for a whole bushel. I purschase live crabs and steam them myself.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the free market will bear.
ReplyDeletewe don't have crabs very often just because of the prices.
ReplyDeleteim aware of the fact that 20 is low. which geos to show the second half of my comment...i dont eat crabs very often! it aint worth it!
ReplyDeleteKEEP TALKING ABOUT BUYING OFF THE BOAT AND BIG BROTHER WILL MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO DO SO.
ReplyDelete11:46 AM
ReplyDeleteYou got it backwards but I'm not too surprised. Common theme on here.
50 bucks , no more.
ReplyDelete30 to the waterman and 20 to the distributor.
Well said Anon 11:17. Growing up on Tangier Island , I know 1st hand how hard it is to make a living off the water. People see the cost of crabs they buy and think the waterman are getting rich. The crabber may get $30-40 dollar per bushel of #1(which are hard to come by. The buyer gets probably double that from the seafood resturant and then the resturant charges over $ 100 for that same bushel.
ReplyDelete"30 for the waterman and 20 to the distributor" HA!
ReplyDeleteDo you know how much it cost the distributor in gas and manpower to get the crabs, then manpower to go through them for size and dead, then the cost of mantaining a cooler to keep them in untill they can be loaded up (more manpower) and delivered (more gas)? Not to mention taxes, insurance, etc. etc. People act like they have no business sense at all. Maybe they don't. Nothing is as cheap from a retailer or middle man as it is from the wholesaler. Especially something like live crabs, which have to be handled quickly and with care, because if they die they are worth nothing!
A fair price for a bushel of crabs is whatever the market will dictate it to be. People will pay based on the price and the demand.. this is simple economics. If $x is too high... people won't buy... it's that simple.
ReplyDeleteDon't crucify the waterman for making a profit on their product.
When did we forget? Demand determines the price based on the ability to supply the demand...
PEOPLE! WE control the price based on the demand. Don't like the price? Don't buy.. or look for cheaper alternatives... or get the crabs yourself!
Coservative, I disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteI believe the supply is there and the demand is always high.
I also believe the watermen only get peanuts for what they catch. It's the middle man who makes the money. Mind you, they also take great risk because they have to sell what they purchased.
I personally find going to the all you can eat fundraisers are the best way to buy crabs. Its two fold. One, you get great crabs and two, you're supporting a local charity.
Other than that, I rarely ever buy them.
I go catch my own when ever I want. I spend a couple bucks on chicken and a few gallons of gas cruise around enjoy the water.
ReplyDelete@Joe
ReplyDeleteReally? Joey you don't like the free market system?!?!? How very... well, "unconservative" of you.
Actually.. I don't think that is the case.
While I think that I agree with your assertion that it is the waterman getting robbed.. and it is the middleman making the money... what do you propose we do about it? Government regulation?
OR do we participate in forums like THIS VERY ONE to expose the MIDDLE MAN, and by doing so correcting the free market system to benefit the shoremen with higher profits... and in cutting out the middle man... lowering prices for the high demand that consumers have.
Consumers will stop buying from the "middle man" when it is cheaper and more convenient to buy from the direct source.
I CAN'T think of a more conservative/free market solution/principle than what I've been posting.... can you?
See... Joe, i don't think we disagree... AT ALL on this issue...
An educated consumer is a powerful consumer in a true free market society... wouldn't you agree?
@ myself 3:24
ReplyDeleteI DID NOT intend to call Joe "Joey" at the beginning of my reply... it was a poor edit of my post that I missed. When I re-read my mistake it read as if I was making Joe seem to be a child. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE.... and not my intention. It was a typo and a bad edit.
I've been called a whole lot worse than Joey anyway. LOL
ReplyDeleteLol... thanks for understanding man!
ReplyDeleteI would not pay over $50.00 a bushel for #1's
ReplyDeleteIt's driven by supply and demand. I'm fine with the prices going higher near the 4th, because that is how a REAL market is supposed to work.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are funny talking about the "middleman" as if they are criminals. If there were more demand to "buy off the boat" the watermen wouldn't need to use a "middleman". And, of course, there's always the options of not selling to the "middleman" or......wait for it......charging them more.
ReplyDelete