"Until you find yourself sitting on a stockpile that you can't seem to move, selling wholesale doesn't make sense."
Boy howdy, does the above ever make sense.
Don't forget about the RISK. You are risking your money and prosperity on your bees. If the weather is bad or some CCD thing or whatever happens and your bees fail, you are the one going broke. The retailer just buys something else on the cheap to fill his shelves. A sidebar follows:
In the mid to late 60's I had the financial backing to start a residential construction company. I built and sold six homes before reality struck me. Back then the market was competitive and nice 2,000 square foot homes were selling for 40 grand. I was sitting in a closing with the clients, realtors, lawyers and etc, when it dawned on me that the realtor got $1,600, the bank took a two points plus interest for a total of about $2,000, the title company took about $1,000, the lending mortgage company took two points for $800 and minor recording fees and lawyer service took another grand. So when the smoke cleared I netted about 3,500 bucks and the other players took away approximately 5,800 bucks. I was the only one libel for anything. If the house didn't sell I was stuck for the 40 grand, and yet most of the gross profit went to others. That is what put me into the oil field.
Remember the risk.
