Market Rules and Procedures

Vendor Eligibility

When a farmers market is clear about the eligibility criteria it utilizes, it’s in a better position to defend decisions made on that basis. Further, when the application materials reflect the eligibility criteria (no more, no less), the market’s position is even stronger. In addition, solid criteria and a concise application help prospective vendors anticipate whether a market is a good fit for them. This helps save time for applicants and vendors, as ineligible applicants are less likely to apply.

Farmers markets might consider drafting a mission or vision statement to inform vendor eligibility criteria and applications. Although mission statements won’t necessarily have a legal role in the event of a lawsuit, they can create transparency for market managers, as well as help determine what the eligibility criteria should be. Mission or vision statements can also make it easier for market leaders to explain the reasons for adopting eligibility criteria to vendors and others.

The following examples indicate how various farmers markets have achieved the goal of clear vendor eligibility criteria. The following section with examples of vendor applications show, further, how eligibility criteria can be integrated into the whole application package.

Peer examples of vendor eligibility criteria

Below are three vendor eligibility clauses that differ in style and focus.

Vendor Applications

A legally resilient vendor application will collect the information necessary to assess the applicant according to vendor eligibility criteria. That being said, a vendor application can also create efficiency and improve communication by including a few other elements, which are discussed in more detail below:

1. Vendor selection criteria

2. Vendor rules

3. Statement about vendor selection appeals processes

4. Additional information about fees or other required supplemental materials.

Including the vendor selection criteria right in the application can be helpful as a reminder to applicants. It helps applicants understand how to best present their business for success, as well. Including market rules and select questions relevant to those rules is also helpful. Screening out vendor applicants who cannot follow the market’s rules may help avoid disappointment if the rules are introduced at a later point. In addition, farmers markets might consider including a full list of all market rules as part of the application packet. Many markets will choose to ask for a vendor’s commitment to abide by the rules at the time the application is taken, rather than after the vendor is admitted. Neither approach is necessarily more legally sound—the choice depends on the market’s preferences.

To create the maximum in transparency and efficiency, many markets may choose to describe the appeals process in the event that an applicant disagrees with a vendor selection decision. Although it may seem like more information than is really necessary, transparency is generally in the farmers market’s interest. Letting potential vendors know an appeals process exists can help them feel more respected and heard at the outset.

Farmers market vendor applications often require a fee. Legally speaking, the application should clearly state whether the fee is refundable, refund procedures (if relevant), and acceptable forms of payment.

Some markets may wish to collect additional information such as gross sales, number of employees retained, acres of farmland utilized, etc. This additional information can help the market better understand its vendors, compete for grants, boost its nonprofit status, and explain the market’s importance to the community. Legally speaking, if this information isn’t directly related to a criterion for admission, it may not be appropriate for a vendor application. Market leadership can still collect information through a survey, but the survey should come after all vendors are admitted, based on eligibility criteria only.

There are a variety of vendor applications that require different types of information. An application packet might contain a form to collect potential vendor information and an outline of the admissions procedures. Ideally, the packet creates a consistent process by which to assess each potential vendor. An application packet might request information such as:

• the vendor’s contact and location information;
• products sold; and
• other markets and sales outlets utilized.

Peer Example of a Vendor Application

Vendor-Vendor Dispute Resolution

By and large, when vendors run into problems with each other, it’s because one vendor feels another is not complying with the farmers market’s rules. For example:

• One vendor questions whether another vendor’s product is grown in a manner or location required by the market.
• One vendor asserts that another vendor’s sales, marketing, or communication tactics violate market rules for acceptable conduct.
• One vendor is upset at another vendor’s display, vehicle, or other space-related concerns.

Managing these vendor disputes is primarily a matter of creating a system to verify if a vendor is in fact complying with the rule. For convenience’s sake, this is often called a dispute resolution process. In the occasional case where a vendor is upset with another vendor and there is no rule defining the appropriate course of action, a dispute resolution process can be adapted to address the questionable behavior.

Example dispute resolution process

There are many ways in which to orchestrate a dispute resolution process for conflicts between vendors. That said, many markets’ dispute resolution processes consist of these general steps:

• submission of a written complaint;
• evaluation of the complaint and action steps proposed;
• an opportunity for a vendor to appeal an outcome;
• transparency of this overall dispute resolution process, and the opportunity for vendors to participate in improving it.

Submission of a written complaint

The market may permit vendors to initiate the dispute resolution process by submitting a written complaint/concern about another vendor. Many markets have a different form depending on whether the complaint is about product sourcing or about another rule. If one particular type of complaint is most common, it can be helpful to create a specific form for the particulars of that issue.

To initiate a quick resolution, many farmers markets will choose to set a time limit on when a complaint may be submitted after the incident occurs or behavior begins. Naturally, the complaint form generally asks vendors to submit specific facts to support the complaint/concern. It can be very helpful to also ask vendors to cite a specific market rule or criterion. This can help the farmers market identify whether a vendor simply doesn’t like the behavior, or whether a rule is in question. Lastly, some markets request a filing fee that is later returned if the product challenge is verified. This can help ensure that complaints are made in good faith.

Explore these sample forms for complaints and concerns from the Portland Farmers Market in Oregon.

• Concern Form
• Product Challenge Form

Evaluation of the complaint and action steps proposed

Of course, if a market has a process for accepting complaints, it needs a process for evaluating complaints! Generally, this is as simple as the manager inquiring with the vendor who is the subject of the complaint. Depending on the rule being violated, the manager may request specific documentation. For example, if the source of a product is being challenged, the dispute resolution procedure may require that the vendor in question submit photo evidence of the source of the product (a field where grown, a shop where created, etc). Or, the market manager may investigate the vendor in question about the behavior at the next market (for example, examining where the vendor parks or measuring the size of a display, as the case may be). The evaluation process may describe specific action steps that the market manager will request. For example, if a product’s source cannot be proven/disproven, then the vendor will be allowed to sell it. Or, if the vendor is parking in the wrong place or violating display rules, the vendor may be requested to change it immediately or at the next market event, depending. Generally, dispute resolution processes give wide discretion to the market manager to evaluate a complaint and create action steps to resolve it.

Process for appealing the complaint/concern

A vendor might be dissatisfied with the outcome of a market decision. To provide the vendor further (non-litigation) options for addressing their dissatisfaction with the outcome, a market may provide an opportunity for the vendor to appeal a market decision. Markets providing this opportunity will usually set a strict time limit on how long the accused vendor has to appeal and will require the appeal to be in writing. Where possible, the appeals process is most useful if the business or organization can provide a neutral third party (such as a professional mediator) to hear the appeal and render a decision. Generally, the mediator (or other third party) follows the same evaluation process as the market manager, which may give the third party wide discretion as well.

Maintaining transparency and improving processes

A market may consider encouraging suggestions from vendors to improve the dispute resolution process at the conclusion of any process. By encouraging vendors to air final complaints or thoughts, the market may diffuse any remaining tension. This can go a long way in achieving final resolution, no matter the actual outcome.

Peer Example of Vendor-Vendor Dispute Resolution Process

Market-Vendor Dispute Resolution

Occasionally, vendors may have problems with the market decision maker. For example:

• A vendor may claim that the market unfairly removed or ejected the vendor.
• A vendor may feel the market is enforcing rules inconsistently or only against specific vendors.
• A vendor may not like a stall assignment.

The first and most important way to handle these issues is to prevent them. Clear rules and procedures alongside clear processes for determining vendor compliance with rules can prevent complaints about stall assignments or ejection of a vendor, for example. But, where the complaint is about the manager’s interpretation or consistency enforcing the rules, clear rules and procedures won’t necessarily help. When vendors have a grievance with the decision maker, they will generally want a third party to review the grievance. Although many nonprofits have boards that can serve this role, farmers markets that are private businesses do not. Private businesses may be reticent to pay for or provide a third party to hear a complaint about the way they are running their own business. Yet, it can be a wise choice to foster long-term positive relationships with vendors.

Model dispute resolution process

Farmers markets should consider the following elements of a dispute resolution process involving a decision made by the market decision maker.

• Emphasizing the market’s discretionary power. The market should affirm its ability to take appropriate action when a vendor violates the market rules or fails to comply with other policies. A discretionary statement gives the market flexibility to address vendor issues in the light most favorable for the whole market.
• Delegate resolution to a third party. A third party might be a nonprofit board of directors, the executive director of a farmers market advocacy organization, or a selected team of stakeholders. Where markets put a team together, they generally allow each person (the decision maker and the aggrieved vender, in this case) to appoint one team member and then those two team members appoint a third. Then, the panel of three hears the complaint. Generally, the resolution process follows the same procedure as does the original complaint. The new third-party reviews the facts and the decision originally made, and then proposes an action plan to resolve it. The action plan may stick with the market decision maker’s original conclusion or may modify it.

Peer example of market-vendor dispute resolution process