I suppose if you really can't afford to buy full price this can work. But if you can afford the items, pay full price. I help run a stand for two friends when they can't make it to market. They are struggling, especially in this economy, and I want to smack folks in the face who ask for discounts as the market is closing. It is almost like they are lurking like predators. Local farmers need support in many communities, so pay full price if you can.

I have been seeing this topic spring up in the past day thanks to the discovery green article urging people to do this to save money.

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/farmers-market-shopping.html

Produce at the farmer's market at the end of the day is still often a lot better than grocery stores. I used to go later, and would get some great deals. Now, I get up early, because the pastured eggs are gone by 11 usually, and I try to get to the market between 8:30 and 9 am on Saturday to make sure I get some eggs.

They lower the prices because they don't want to cart the remaining produce home, just as department stores lower prices to get rid of inventory. I'm not sure what the problem is here--the farmer is making more money at lower prices than if they didn't sell the food, and there are plenty of people paying the earlier prices. (I usually go early because it's less crowded and there are more choices.)

i worked on an organic farm last summer and worked the weekly farmers market as well. we didn't lower our prices at the end of the day and we generally weren't open to bargaining. At the end of the day however, we would give away remaining flower bouquets or extra-perishable items to our regular customers.

At my local market here in the Netherlands they usually just price down the perishables at the end of the day. They make enough money during the day, and they price everything down themselves. No harm in going late here.
A while ago one of the stalls filled plastic bags with random leftovers and sold them for one euro. Really loved it, I got a big bag of ginger root, a few stray peppers and some really nice ripe tomatoes. The market
At a farmers market it would be different I guess, they are selling what they grow themselves and selling it for less would directly hurt them. It really depends on the kind of market you go to I guess.

The people who complain that it is a tactic that rips off the growers/sellers aren't thinking this all the way through. It is the seller who decides if they want to change/lower the price and possibly take a loss (or still make a profit), not the purchaser. If a seller thinks its worth it to lower a price, then why not take them up on the offer?

This is how it works in a free-market society, people...

Sorry, I go to farmers markets usually for different/interesting/scarce things. Gotta get there early for those. Sure, if I was going to make preserves or a soup end-of-day stuff would be fine but it's not worth two trips for me.

In Brooklyn, going late to the farmers market is a great way to miss out on the best produce. I like to sleep in on weekends and last summer I failed to purchase basil to go with my lovely heirloom tomatoes almost every weekend during tomato/basil high season because I arrived too late.

Scott T., that is *me* in a nutshell... Somehow I can't make it down to Grand Army (even though I'm blocks away) until after 3, the last time I went I got some discount bread, and was (nicely) teased for having spent the morning in bed and still lucking out on bread.

One tip: If you would like to make fresh tomato sauce, ask the farmers if they have bruised or damaged tomatoes. Or ask if they can save a box for you next weekend.

Great way to make a whole bunch of sauce, get a reduced price, and help a farmer sell something a bit more difficult to sell.

My little market opens at 7, and if you're not there by 7:03, you probably aren't getting any of the tastiest tomatoes or raspberries or whatever. Sometimes I do come back later for a brick oven pizza, but never so late as to see if stuff gets marked down at the end of the day...

It's a bargaining tactic that often fails in my area. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with trying it. Just know that if you come off as the guy who's trying to bully a lower price because of leftover product, you'll likely piss off the seller.

I'm usually the guy who over-sleeps on Saturday, wakes up at 11:30 and is running over to the market hoping that something good is still left. If they offer me a deal great. If not, then I buy what I can afford.

I don't think it's unethical at all. As someone else said, the farmers themselves are the ones who chose whether to lower prices.

I think it's a win-win situation. I usually try to get there early for the best selection, but sometimes I can't do it. I never haggle, but I often end up with random extras thrown in with my purchases when I get there later.

It probably works out well for the farmers in the long term though, because I have been introduced to some new fruits and vegetables this way, and I am generally back the following week buying something I would not have known about otherwise.

I discovered this by accident once when i miss wrote the hours of the farmers market and got there about 20 min before end. A few of the guys lowered prices themselves and I quickly bought what needed,but came to realize after more thoughtful inspection that the buys were overripe and needed to be eaten pretty much that night. So i probably wouldn't do that again, and i would never ask for a discount, even if i did go late again, i wold just take the price offered.