Buyer Baskets
- Thread starter LaurenE
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cattlemom
Well-known member
Last year we had golf towells made for our 4-H kids to give to their buyers. They were maroon with gold lettering with the name of our 4-H club embroidered on them. They were under $5 each.
-bherefords
Well-known member
We don't have to do it either, but i usually put a picture of me and the calf of that year in a picture frame and a nice lil letter and some mints. I have the same buyer ever year, thats why i put a picture of me and that years calf...
jaydill
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We usually take a photo at the photo booths that are at all the shows and send them that photo along with a nice letter. I know if I was a buyer, I'd like to receive a photo, a letter, but also what Cowboy suggested...some nice, home-made chocolate chip cookies. 
:lol:
:lol:-bherefords
Well-known member
Aight Cowboy..its on!! Member that sayin' payback's a **tch with B!! J/K :lol:
Jay, i'm used to them (him) pickin' on me. like they say if they didnt pick on you they wouldn't love you!! :lol:
Jay, i'm used to them (him) pickin' on me. like they say if they didnt pick on you they wouldn't love you!! :lol:
Thanks for the suggestions. They didn't used to do it at my fair either, but it kind of caught on. Some people buy barbaque stuff and put it in the baskets, or just odd stuff. The golf towel idea is pretty cool. Thanks again for all of the help!
Grand Chaser
Well-known member
That used to be manditory for us also. But i still do it anyways so that they know you really do care that they went through the trouble to get your animal. But in mine we put sesonings, cute cow things to decorate the house with, towels with the year on them and my name, and things like that but all my buyers have gotten one.
Although we're new to showing our own steers, we've bought 10-15 animals at our local 4-H/FFA event each year. I spend all year bugging friends, associates, distant relatives to buy an animal. They end up not wanting to sit for 8 hours, so they mostly let me buy for them. I wait until a kid comes along who isn't seeing much action in the pen and quietly try to help him out. The kid's happy, the buyers love the meat, the butcher loves the business, we all survive. OUr own company buys several animals, too. (WE're not rich, just truly thankful for 4-H/FFA).
Those kids see me in the same back bleacher every year, eight hours. Each one brings me a basket filled with stuff. I could open a BBQ store, a candle shop, or a bakery. (Honestly, I wish someone would give me a stadium seat.) But I don't want them to spend lots of $$.
What I REALLY wish I could get, and hardly ever do, is a follow-up letter from these kids. And they KNOW I'll be there. Our construction company has been in the top three buyers for many years, plus the others I represent, and only one or two kids a year write an invite, no one calls for an appt. Buyer info is available from any leader.
Since 2000, one kid has kept me posted on what he's raising, how it's doing. He tells us what he did with the prior year's proceeds, what college or goal he's saving up for. Sometimes he sends jerky (from the elk he kills with the bow we helped him buy). I will not allow a year to go buy that I won't buy that kid's animal, even if its a three-legged calf wwith 2 heads.
So simple, but no one believes how far he can get on courtesy and five minutes of personal attention. Skip the fancy basket. Come introduce yourself, get my address, and follow up. You'll own me forever. ;-)
Those kids see me in the same back bleacher every year, eight hours. Each one brings me a basket filled with stuff. I could open a BBQ store, a candle shop, or a bakery. (Honestly, I wish someone would give me a stadium seat.) But I don't want them to spend lots of $$.
What I REALLY wish I could get, and hardly ever do, is a follow-up letter from these kids. And they KNOW I'll be there. Our construction company has been in the top three buyers for many years, plus the others I represent, and only one or two kids a year write an invite, no one calls for an appt. Buyer info is available from any leader.
Since 2000, one kid has kept me posted on what he's raising, how it's doing. He tells us what he did with the prior year's proceeds, what college or goal he's saving up for. Sometimes he sends jerky (from the elk he kills with the bow we helped him buy). I will not allow a year to go buy that I won't buy that kid's animal, even if its a three-legged calf wwith 2 heads.
So simple, but no one believes how far he can get on courtesy and five minutes of personal attention. Skip the fancy basket. Come introduce yourself, get my address, and follow up. You'll own me forever. ;-)
