# Lesson Learned



## Chessiedog

Ok here's the deal . Found a guy wanting 60 rounds on hay exchange locally back in May. After we talked he said he really just needed 40 so I said ok an agreed on a price . I just finished delivering the 40 . He asked if i remembered that originally he wanted 60 to 70 bales and how much I would want for more bales . I said I believe you told me 60 bales to start , then dropped to 40 , and yes I would want twenty dollars more per bale for additional bales .

So then he calls couple days later leaves me a message saying he thought that I was trying to jack the price up and he's not interested in doing business with someone like that. Of course I went and checked all our email to see if the number of bales was discussed in them but must have been verbally over the phone .

_So I sent an email asking him if the deal was for 60 or more bales why would he have asked me after 40 bales if the price on the rest of the bales was going to be more ?_

Anyway *lesson learned*, I should have put it in writing or even on a receipt how many bales he was getting , though he didn't need a receipt . I'm not saying I could not be wrong , I may have messed up the numbers , but why would he have asked me if the rest of the bales would be more money ? Any way a simple deal gone bad for the both of us


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## steve in IN

Chances are you will never hear from him again until hay oops I mean cheap hay gets scarce. Dont sweat it just chalk it up to experience and remember his name for future reference.


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## kyfred

Hopefully you got paid for your original 40 rolls.


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## JD3430

I have found that the casual nature of selling hay (accepting cash, no receipts, etc.) lends itself to problems later


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## slowzuki

I make it a rule that every single sale get a receipt entry in my books even a single bale, always and includes notes about anything specific ie extra bales to cover poor bale weight or broken bales. Most of my customers don't want a receipt but I always let them know I have it in case they need it in the future.

I don't need the hassle of arguing about previous hay prices, delivery costs numbers etc or having sloppy records during an audit of my cash hay sales.



JD3430 said:


> I have found that the casual nature of selling hay (accepting cash, no receipts, etc.) lends itself to problems later


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## JD3430

I learned that the hard way. Sold bales from between 6-7/bale and then couldn't remember who I sold what to for how much.
Lesson learned.


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## Chessiedog

All good points. Yes Ky I did get paid that was not a problem at all. And getting rid of the hay is not a problem, most likely get more out of then I priced it to him. As you guys in Indiana know hay is pretty scarce around here . Just aggravating to have someone thinking I was trying to take them. I know I'm not going to please everyone for sure.

Slowzuki sounds like you do a really good job of keeping track of things . That's where attention to details pays off . One of the many thing I need to do better .lol

Life goes on !


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## swmnhay

*The game some like to play.*

*I'll take X amount of hay at Y price LATER.*

*IF hay price goes up they want XXX amount at Y price.*

*IF price slips they don't need any of it.*


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## urednecku

swmnhay said:


> *The game some like to play.*
> 
> *I'll take X amount of hay at Y price LATER.*
> 
> *IF hay price goes up they want XXX amount at Y price.*
> 
> *IF price slips they don't need any of it.*


First $$$ *in my hand *gets the hay.


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## Josh in WNY

One of my grandfather's good friends who is an excellent businessman gave me this bit of advice...

If you don't have a customer or two complaining, then your price _is_ too low. If they are all complaining, then your price _may_ be too high.

He also said what Jim mentioned above, keep a good record of who your bad and good customers are. It will pay off in the long run.


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## deadmoose

This sounds like some solid advice. For those of us doing a small amount of business keeping a ledger with a few notes may more than pay for the time it took to do it long into the future. I started mine today.


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## JD3430

I'm such a mess. I have 3 different notebooks with names scribbled in all of 'em.
This has been a great first full year. I learned so much, but have so much left to learn.


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## slowzuki

Ha, it sounds like it but what its for is we are registered for sales tax. Certain things like custom work and snow removal I have to charge tax but it also makes us eligible to get our tax back that we pay on expenses.

It makes income tax time a lot easier as income and expense have been done all year. My rule is sales all go in by the end of the day or the slip sits on the keyboard and I can't use the computer for other stuff until they go in. My expenses are only entered quarterly with my tax payment or claim. The expenses are the huge pain in the butt to enter.



Chessiedog said:


> Slowzuki sounds like you do a really good job of keeping track of things .


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## Chessiedog

Oh ok ,I do sales receipts for those that want them. Rest just gets logged as hay sales.

An how many more acres you looking at taking on JD ? lol



JD3430 said:


> I'm such a mess. .


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## JD3430

Chessiedog said:


> Oh ok ,I do sales receipts for those that want them. Rest just gets logged as hay sales.
> 
> *An how many more acres you looking at taking on JD ? lol*


Maybe another 80 acres!
Gawd I'll be a frazzled carcass by the end of next June lol.
You know, it may not be that bad. One solid year under my belt, mostly round bales going to mushroom, and a sympathetic bunch of hay farmers to chat with on the computer!


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## FCF

slowzuki said:


> I make it a rule that every single sale get a receipt entry in my books even a single bale, always and includes notes about anything specific ie extra bales to cover poor bale weight or broken bales. Most of my customers don't want a receipt but I always let them know I have it in case they need it in the future.
> 
> I don't need the hassle of arguing about previous hay prices, delivery costs numbers etc or having sloppy records during an audit of my cash hay sales.


I do the same in a spreadsheet with most of the same information, Do it right after the sale or in the evening so no information is forgotten. Also setup a totals page to make income and tax time easier.


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## TheFastMan_2

We had a problem one year after selling several hundred idiot bricks to some friends of ours. Never thought our own friends would screw us on hay. Granted, my brother claimed he knew how many bales were delivered though he never wrote it down. We finally just had to settle on a price which was probably less than what we delivered, but there wasn't much else to do. I didn't sell that much this year, but I've been trying to make my lazy butt write stuff down and hand out receipts. I didn't sell much this year anyway. I just need to find a record keeping method that works for me. I'm finally getting a better idea on my costs and can give out quotes if people want them.


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## jdhayboy

I like what Steve in ID said take as an experience and grow from it. Know why the situation happened and how for it not to happen again. I still have circumstances like this happen and have to remind myself of what I already knew.

I have a receipt book in my truck that i log all cash sales daily for the week. When I receive checks I right in the memo area what it was for. 
Also have a calendar book that has full page with month and days but follows with each day and room to write notes. Use it mostly for things like how much rain fell that day,all things to do with cutting, baling and how much was made that cutting, how much fertilizer was applied on certain fields and what my spreader gate was set on along with what blend was used. There's other things as well, but what I've most learned about it all is that no matter how much I think that I'll remember and there's no reason to write it down immediately. WRITE IT DOWN, as much i think I can remember, I won't. Small or big I try to eliminate my chances of failure. In this instance, its not being lazy, grab a pen and write down.


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## Mike120

I agree with JDHAYBOY on the value of notes, but I'm not nearly as good as I should be about having pen and paper on hand (hell, I'm lucky if I remember my billfold), but I do normally have my phone. With Evernote on my iPhone, I can just dictate the note. It captures it and syncs with my PC or my laptop so I can access it from anyplace. I keep most of my hay stats in spreadsheets that I can access through Evernote but I've never tried doing any voice updates.


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