I’ve officially completed my first year as a vendor at the farmers market! 🎉

A little background: I run a home bakery in Southern Maryland selling chunky cookies in a variety of flavors. I started Cookie Cazimi in May 2024, became a seasonal vendor at the oldest farmers market in my area by September, and then was accepted as a permanent vendor the following year.

When I first started vending, I only showed up once a month. Sales weren’t amazing, but I still managed to get two returning customers in just four showings — which felt huge at the time. And still is!

In 2025, I became a permanent vendor and showed up every Saturday for three months straight.

I always knew weekly markets would be hard on me, so when I could feel that I was going to burn out soon, I switched to a bi-weekly schedule, with an extra showing if there were three Saturdays in a month.

Even with fewer showings, it’s been a wonderful and profitable year! These are the biggest lessons I learned as a first-year farmers market vendor.

This blog post may contain affiliate links, which means a commission may be earned if you make a purchase through these links — at no additional cost to you. Please read the disclaimer policy for more information.

Make Your Customers Read

Every home baker stresses about pricing.

Yes, a lot of people can bake. Your customers can make cookies at home for $0.85 a cookie.

But, they’re not selling cookies. It takes time, money, and effort to bake 100 cookies, package and label properly,  set up a tent and table, and stand there for 6 hours on a Saturday.

I sell my 3.5-ounce chunky cookies for $6 each. And I didn’t just make this number up! I calculated what I need to charge in order to have a profitable home bakery.

I heard everything:

• “$6 for a cookie?”
• “GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.”
• “It’s just a regular cookie with more flour, right?”

Older shoppers were often the loudest. Some would scoff, stop mid-conversation, and walk away.

At the time, my display was pretty bare. Eventually, I bought pink dry-erase pocket sleeves and printed my schedule, the weekly menu, and these two pieces of copy that completely changed things:

Here’s the thing… you have to tell customers what’s obvious to you.

Of course you have a cute little thing with your business name. Of course  you’re using high-quality ingredients and have spent hours tweaking your recipe to make it the best thing you’ve ever baked.

Of course!

But they don’t know you.

Customers want to support small businesses. But, they need to feel good about their decisions.

When you explain who you are and what goes into making your product, people become more open and confident about supporting you.

Once my marketing copy went up, the pushback stopped!

And I know it worked because I was honestly still scared to tell older customers my prices…

But, now they buy! Because I made them read about how much effort I put into my home bakery.

No One Likes Discounts

My chunky cookies are $6 each and I offer “Buy 5, Get 1 FREE” because there wasn’t much success with the “Buy 6 for $30.”

People don’t feel “value.” People feel “free.”

People love free stuff! I love free stuff! I know you love free stuff and I don’t even know you.

This definitely boosts my sales amongst families with children, but friends who only want 2-3 items on a nice day out at the farmers market don’t usually go for it.

And that’s fine.

Freebies shouldn’t make your home bakery business a success. They’re nice little boosts for your customers and a show of goodwill.

If you want to offer some sort of discount, think about how to incorporate the word “free” instead.

This is a benefit of pricing your baked goods well. I’m not stressed and burnt out from being overworked and broke.

Do it if and when you can.

Abundance Is a Feeling

When I first started, my set up was simple: a tablecloth, acrylic signs, and a cookie of each flavor I had on display.

A major issue I had was that people thought I was nearly sold out all the time.

“Is this all you have left?” No, they’re just not on display!

Other vendors suggested shelves or decorations to hold my inventory, but I’m not a decor person. And it turned out you don’t need decor to make your table feel full.

The biggest change I made was simply… putting out more product.

Showing three cookies per flavor instead of one instantly made my table feel more abundant and plentiful — at zero cost.

And it also helped with flow.

If someone bought a cookie, there were still two left on display. I didn’t have to stall while digging through storage as the next customer was walking up.

Good Photos Start the Sale Before the Market Opens

I used to take photos of my chunky cookies in my kitchen.

But, cookies are a generally brown and beige food and I have a brown and beige countertop… so everything was just brown and beige!

The cookies were visible, but there was no feeling.

Now, I take photos and videos of my cookies outside in the sunlight on a pink tray.

And the difference is wild.

Yes, it’s a little annoying hauling everything outside and back in. Cloudy days suck, but the payoff is worth it!

I just have a phone stand and a pink tray, but the most important element is the sun. Bright and harsh, which is not what most other photographers like, but I do.

Posting images on my local Facebook groups for my upcoming market events have been the best way for me to market my home bakery.

One time, five people told me they came to the farmers market solely because of my Facebook post.

You’re welcome, everyone else at the market! My photos not only create an experience, but other vendors benefit too!

Some People Will Be Rude — That’s Part of the Job

Like I mentioned earlier, people have told me my cookies are too expensive. It’s fine because they’re not my customers.

My customers understand the work that goes into what I do. They know I’m not getting rich, but I’m also not drowning.

Because no one wants cookies from a sad person.

I am not sad. I’m very happy with how this year went — and that energy translates into better food!

That said, I won’t pretend rude comments didn’t hurt. They did.

Putting yourself out there is vulnerable, and being shit on for it sucks.

You don’t think it’s worth the price? Fine. Think it and move on. You don’t need to say it out loud.

I talked it out with friends and journaled to make myself feel better.

Concluding My First Year Selling at the Farmers Market

There was a lot of trial and error my first year as a farmers market vendor. And I still have a lot to learn as I’ve only sold at this one farmers market so far, but I’m confident in my set up now.

I recently did a fall bazaar at a senior center, which ended up being a surprisingly fruitful day!

If you’ve been thinking about starting a home bakery or selling at a farmers market, I hope this gives you a little insight on what to expect in your first year as a vendor at the farmers market.