Question For the Commercial Crabber

[lone sailor]

I'd want somethin heavier considering we use up to a .444 on deer. But the .22 is good if dont want to be found(out)

[DoubledareDan]

Selling crabs is a miserable business for all. The crabbers are getting low prices. The middle men get killed on unsold/dead. Not to mention energy cost (gas & refrigeration), insurance, taxes, etc. The retail or restaurant guy feels his crabs always have too many dead or papershells or that they weren't as good as last week or whatever. However, I always believed that the retailer was the guy making the best profit because they never lowered there prices no matter what the supply.....but you would never get them to admit that. It seems to me that most seafood retailers/restaurants are intent to gouge the public as much as possible and we the public keep on buying them at those crazy prices.  I used to sell crabs as a middle man out of Jessup and it was awful. No one was ever happy about anything. I would be getting screamed at by customers while only making maybe $10 a bushel after expenses. It's funny now but it sucked then....

I guess that's why we all go catch our own.....and of course just enjoying a day on the bay scooping up a few 8" jimmies

I know... I just can not justify paying 40 or more bucks a dozen though. The retailers can be brutal... especially when I got crab craven fever... Think about it I can hit the butcher and get 4 or 5 T-bones for 40 bucks and I know me, the wife and the 2 boys will be full. I have paid 40 bucks for crabs and ended up with a few light ones in the mix and a family that was still hungry. 

[Izzymd]

What surprises me is the price difference for a bushel of crabs.  A few weeks ago I was pricing some for the wife's sister.  The range for a bushel of #1s steamed was $235 to $95.  We called 3 or 4 places.  This week one distributer was selling them for $75 for #1s live.

My question is what does the waterman get for a bushel when he sells to the distributer like Kool Ice or Lindy's?

[Mr. Ray III]

If your ranging from 200 some bucks to about 100, I HIGHLY doubt they are the same quality crab.

[genecrabman]

If your ranging from 200 some bucks to about 100, I HIGHLY doubt they are the same quality crab.

Aren't they all the same??

[got crab]

The waterman probally got $40 or $50 for that bushel of #1s.  Next week he will probally get $30.

[redhanded]

Yup after the holiday the price will drop to even less, some crabbers will quit and who can blame them. then oyster season will start and even more will stop crabbing and the price will start to go back up, and by the first of November the crabber will be back to getting 70 to 80 for the very best crabs of the year.

[DoubledareDan]

I know it's true many folks stop eating crabs aver summer ends. Crazy aint it?

[Ronster]

Do they stop eating them, or just go home away from the bays and oceans?

[Izzymd]

I know that price and quality are somewhat linked, but I think location (eastern vs. western shore) has just as much or more to do with the price. 

Also, if Kool Ice is selling a bushel of #1s to me for $95 any idea what they are selling the same bushel of a commercial customer?

[Mr. Ray III]

I know that price and quality are somewhat linked, but I think location (eastern vs. western shore) has just as much or more to do with the price. 

I disagree, unless your saying one can purchase crabs, as a consumer, for more, on the western. 

[Big Liar]

I disagree, unless your saying one can purchase crabs, as a consumer, for more, on the western. 

Ray,
     I have to agree with Izzymd.  I can take a bushel of Choptank River crabs which Kool Ice will pay $60 for and drive it to Kent Island to a different wholesalers who is willing to pay $100 for it.  It's just a pain to drive them after crabbing all day.

      Part of the reason is that consumers in Cambridge don't make the same salary as people from Annapolis or Kent Island and are not willing to pay as much for crabs. 

[reds]

Ray,
     I have to agree with Izzymd.  I can take a bushel of Choptank River crabs which Kool Ice will pay $60 for and drive it to Kent Island to a different wholesalers who is willing to pay $100 for it.  It's just a pain to drive them after crabbing all day.

      Part of the reason is that consumers in Cambridge don't make the same salary as people from Annapolis or Kent Island and are not willing to pay as much for crabs. 

A lot of the crabs, off the boat here, go to Baltimore and points north. Doesn't Kool Ice ship most of their crabs north?

[Izzymd]

I think my basic point is that the western shore is more expensive and in general, the closer you get to Balt/Wash the more expensive you will find the crabs.  Not always but generally.

[Big Liar]

A lot of the crabs, off the boat here, go to Baltimore and points north. Doesn't Kool Ice ship most of their crabs north?

Yes, but they also sell crabs to local consumers.

[genecrabman]

Yes, but they also sell crabs to local consumers.

Your not saying Dave and Tommy are tight azzes are you??

[Big Liar]

Your not saying Dave and Tommy are tight azzes are you??

I would never say that.     I will say that I make more money selling to other buyers in town. 

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow crabber and friend.  A buyer told him that the price on 2's had to be lowered to $20 because the buyer had to make $30/bushel for it to be worthwhile.   My friend decided that he also had to make $30/bushel otherwise it was just not worthwhile to catch them.  Since then, he's sold every bushel of 2's he caught privately. 

Now my buddy makes $30/bushel and his customers are delighted.  The only person not making money any more on his 2's is the old buyer.  Makes you wonder if splitting the difference and making $25/bushel would have been the better thing to do.