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I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

deepsouthventures.com

141–150 of 180 posts

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It beats the FOMO of thinking about a good quirky name, and then seeing someone take a (close) variant of it years later. I think it feels like a word game - but with a reward you can keep.

I still have no fucking idea what to do with saving.cash and it's costing me $500/year which is financially ruining me lol but I'd rather starve and keep the domain name. I'd never forgive myself for selling it. It's literally saving cash. It can't be anything other than what it is.

While you wait for an idea, how about a global savings account comparison directory?

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It beats the FOMO of thinking about a good quirky name, and then seeing someone take a (close) variant of it years later. I think it feels like a word game - but with a reward you can keep.

I still have no fucking idea what to do with saving.cash and it's costing me $500/year which is financially ruining me lol but I'd rather starve and keep the domain name. I'd never forgive myself for selling it. It's literally saving cash. It can't be anything other than what it is.

It should be an adventure game where a character named Cash is missing and probably in trouble.

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#143
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is anyone really getting into trouble growing Vidalia onions not in Georgia? Like if I plant some in my yard and start selling them online or at the local farmers market, what is anyone really going to do? Seems kinda weird they have a government granted monopoly on them.

It's a brand name, like any other. Usage of it requires fulfilling the brand requirements. It's like how you can't say a burger from Burger King if it's actually from McDonalds, even if it's a very similar hamburger. But even then, this isn't uncommon for food and beverages. You can't call it "whisky" unless you follow certain requirements about the mash bill, barrel, etc. (My dad, before his death, had started growi…

It’s more than a brand name (civil matter), it’s a federally protected designation (criminal matter):

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-IX/p...

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It beats the FOMO of thinking about a good quirky name, and then seeing someone take a (close) variant of it years later. I think it feels like a word game - but with a reward you can keep.

I still have no fucking idea what to do with saving.cash and it's costing me $500/year which is financially ruining me lol but I'd rather starve and keep the domain name. I'd never forgive myself for selling it. It's literally saving cash. It can't be anything other than what it is.

The irony! May as well turn the page into a piece of abstract art saying "the domain 'saving.cash' has cost me hundreds of dollars every year". A meditation on having to spend money to earn money, if you will.

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#145
post #84

author here : ) happy to answer questions if you have any. We also have a twitter account here if you want to follow along: https://x.com/vidaliaonions

I live in a mountain valley in Mallorca where hundreds of tons of perfect Canoneta oranges fall to the floor and rot each year because the cost of picking them outweighs their market value. The valley became wealthy from this fruit in the 19th century but the economics no longer add up. [0] At the same time the price of orange juice (elsewhere) has skyrocketed [1], yet this rural community seems unable to take advant…

There was a company in Mallorca that tried something similar with lemons about 12 years ago: Pep Lemon. I remember hearing that they noticed huge amounts of lemons lying unused all over the island and wanted to do something worthwhile with them.

They stopped production in 2019, citing a “lack of investors.” During their operation, they were involved in a legal dispute with PepsiCo over the use of the name Pep. I’m not sure whether this was because of their cola product, Pep Cola, or simply due to the similarity of the brand names. Pep is a diminutive of Josep in Catalan and is very common, so it may have been just a coincidence. They tried to export their products, but this turned out to be expensive, so they instead hoped for strong local support within Mallorca (see point 1 below). In that article they say that they produced 1000 bottles a year in their factory. That sounds very little; I wonder if that is correct?

1) News that they are on the verge of closing: https://ib3.org/pep-lemon-liquidara-lempresa-a-final-dany-si...

2) YouTube video attached to the news article, see 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEsIbSkWQU

3) News that they are closing: https://ib3.org/pep-lemon-tanca-les-portes-definitivament

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#146
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a mountain valley in Mallorca where hundreds of tons of perfect Canoneta oranges fall to the floor and rot each year because the cost of picking them outweighs their market value. The valley became wealthy from this fruit in the 19th century but the economics no longer add up. [0] At the same time the price of orange juice (elsewhere) has skyrocketed [1], yet this rural community seems unable to take advant…

I was shocked by this in rural Spain as well. Just tons of high citrus and olives rotting on trees because their harvest can't be done mechanically.

I'm sure I've seen video of oranges being harvested mechanically. I'm sure it can be done but probably not economically everywhere especially if the terrain is difficult. For mechanical olive harvesting see: https://ilcircolo.eu/olive-harvesting-by-hand-or-with-machin...

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#147
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure taxes are part of it, but keep in mind it’s a toll free union after all. They could easily do this above board and just declare the Italian VAT as they do selling to locals.

I think for food products there are more considerations, like labeling and traceability.

If the Greek farmer is selling in Greece then all that is already done.

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#148
I rabbitholed into that another essay of buying domain names. The author juggles ideas by domain name. I have one called Banadana Girl .in and I was like sell bandanas lol - gotta check now the TAM for bandanas in india with women as TM. Give me ideas folks. Do you know of a bandana expert?

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#149
post #66
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you market such a business in 2026? I am from an Italian region where farmer grow many special coltures, and I was always a bit surprised why they don’t try selling on the internet. I ended up convincing myself it is not a viable business model.

I live in Sweden, and almost every year I discover someone I work with or have friends in common with, who has a friend or relative in Italy, or Greece who farms oranges/olives/cheese or what have you. And this friend in Sweden is selling their produce by word of mouth. So once a year at harvest, the relative has someone drives a truck full of olive oil 2000 kilometers north, and dozens of Swedes turn up at an appoin…

I know it does for a small Dutch setup :) https://www.kalamatakarma.com/ Marketing is still completely word of mouth afaik, but the webshop makes it easier for total strangers to tag along.

Re: I sell onions on the Internet (2019)

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess my question is: why is this better for me the customer than just buying them at my local supermarket? The shipping must make them very expensive, relative to my store. Are they that much better onions?

most grocers don't carry Vidalias. If they do, they sometimes mislabel them, so you don't know whether you're receiving an authentic Vidalia. Also, grocers often charge more than we do - we had a customer from California one year mention that they found some out there for $8-$10 a pound (our 10# box is $50, and that includes shipping to lower 48 usa).

Interesting. Maybe I’m just lucky, I’m in northeast Ohio and we have them regularly.

But $5/lb including shipping is not bad at all for something from the internet.

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