I don't understand why sellers sell so cheap. Wow, it's a lot of work! - fell tree without getting killed - cut limbs off without getting killed - buck everything - load into truck/trailer - haul it home - unload it - split it - stack it - load into truck/trailer - deliver - stack it I have sold my cords this year for $240/cord, delivered and stacked. I see such lowball prices online for the local area on FB and CL. An example, a guy is selling in the next town over for $180. He might be assuming that in his very small town and surrounding rural area, people can only afford $180 but I don't agree. I have even seen $150. Sheesh. Even at $240 in my very small town and surrounding local area, it just doesn't seem enough money to do all that work, plus, it can be dangerous, for sure. I am not needy, just commenting on pricing. I also note that the people I know who sell wood don't season it, it's cut this year and sold. What gets me is people keep on buying it like that's the way it's supposed to be!
I sell to my neighbor season wood for $180 a cord... just for extra $$$'s... and keeps me cutting and splitting...
This seems like a good price: $240 for a cord (128 cubic feet) delivered and stacked. I pay about the same amount ($367 for a generous 1.5 cords: 192+ cubic feet) of green spit mix of sugar maple and paper birch delivered (dumped in a big pile). In the twin cities area a face cord 16"x 4' x 8' delivered and stacked semi-seasoned red oak, ironwood, birch goes from about $150 to $200 The people I buy it from up north are our neighbors. Their boys run a pulpwood logging operation here in NE MN about 20 mile for the US/Canadian border. Their father helps to keep their firewood business going. They have a processor that cuts and splits 8' logs, as well as a conveyor that loads their delivery truck. They run a very tight operation and are all multi-talented woodsmen and mechanics, which keeps their overhead down.
I would bet your service of stacking the delivered wood, for a customer, is a big sales advantage... vs. other suppliers who just dump loads in piles... ... and you're sure right... it's a lot of work, from stump to stack.
Going rate around here for a cord (full cord), CSD, is anywhere from $150 to $195. Some isn't delivered, but most times is. Not stacked. If I was faster at processing , I'd gross somewhere around $30-$45/cord. I'm not......so there ya go.
I see it around here and wonder the same. I only sell half and face cords at $140, $110 respectively. Most are coming from measured stack tightly packed. I get an additional $20 for stacking, more if i have to travel farther. The recent thread "are all NJ wood dealers nuts?" discussed a lot of these issues. Some of them may be volume dealers. A huge log deck, wood processer etc. Than can produce cordage a lot faster then we do the hard way. I hand split too!
Yawner If you can get $240 for your firewood, that's great! But you can't blame someone for wanting to save almost $100 for the same amount of firewood. We all know the amount of time and work involved in firewood and the added extra work of selling it. A full cord can still be had for $100 here but you have to get a truckload (10) and they are 100" lengths.
Going rate in my area these days is $195. - $225 delivered but not stacked at the customers home. Some offer that service but that would be an extra charge. Letting somebody else stack my wood would be akin to letting somebody else handle my wife, can't happen. The other factor is, they virtually never deliver an actual cord so, it's easier to sell your gallon of milk for half the going rate when you are giving all your victims a half gallon and telling them it's a gallon or delivering unsalable sour milk, or both. Unfortunately, on the receiving end, most people, I'd say 99%, are clueless, have no idea what a cord is or what actual dry wood is. You have to make your customers understand the difference and extra value in your product compared to others. I think for most firewood sellers around here, especially the cheaper ones, firewood is just a by-product of their main businesses. They get paid to do the cutting and hauling away.
"Letting somebody else stack my wood would be akin to letting somebody else handle my wife, can't happen." RabbleRouser So true. Another great line I heard once was: "There are three things you never borrow out...your chainsaw, your ice auger and your wife." He said it that order! He was a rough old school woodsman.
I don't blame the customer at all, I am def a shopper, myself; I blame the sellers, who would get more if they just tried. I get $240 here until Joe Blow down the street sells it for $180. Or worse. Capitalism. But... if there is no NEED to lower the price in a given area, don't do it, it's too much work! I have considered selling "premium, seasoned wood." If they balk, I could offer mixed hardwood, which could be of uneven age. The "premium, seasoned wood" would be truly seasoned wood, and "pretty." Meaning very uniform in size and shape. I get some white oak and red oak that you hate to burn, it's so pretty! Anyway... a way to get $240 instead of $180. On the stacking at customer part... it's not that much work to stack than it is to just throw it out or dump it, especially if you have a helper. The helper hands you each piece off the trailer, goes pretty fast. My customers actually want me to stack but they are not outdoorsy types.
Checking local marketplace sites, 55 bucks a face cord delivered is the average. Getting above that and a person likely isn’t getting calls. I have no idea how a living could be made. I have the wood just beyond my door, and wouldn’t sell it for that.
The term "facecord" is totally unheard of here where I live. It's all half or full cords. Since most of the wood for sale is pine or Douglas fir buying a cord is always the better deal, because it's usually stacked a foot over the top of the cab in an 8 foot bed so it's like 1 1/4 cord. People here really don't buy green wood because it's so easy to get standing dead firewood. A cord goes for 175-250$ or 1500 ish for a logtruck load of 10- 12 cords .
I also can't imagine it being worthwhile to actually go to the trouble of selling a face cord but that's just me. If I was hungry like I have been at times in my life, I guess it would be different. I don't want to fool with anything less than a half cord; I can load my small trailer and a bit of my pickup for a half cord. I guess my point is, it's not worth changing the daily schedule and running up and down the highway for a face cord. If I were to do that, it would be higher price per cubic foot! BTW... can someone really get a full cord in an 8' bed? That seems a stretch but I'm open, lol!
I sold a buddy a bit of the silver maple and ash that I've been running in my stove this year. He wanted a 1/3 of a face cord. He just has an outdoor fire pit and wanted dry wood and was sick of paying $6 a store bundle of crap wood. I brought him just under a half face cord. He asked how much, I told him $25. He said no, here's $35. Ok. I delivered and help stack it before the Packers/ chiefs game that my wife and I came over for where they had a taco bar for dinner. We got birthday cake for dessert too. I suppose that's not typical for firewood selling.
I had one customer that would buy a "Hoop O' Hardwood" as i called it. Basically a log hoop full. He would burn on holidays and an occasional weekend. I delivered it too.
They were good too. Pulled pork or a creamy cilantro lime chicken, plus all of the good stuff to go on the tacos. These are good friends of ours.
People buy in all quantities, that’s why you see bundles of 6 little splits at the grocery store. Higher margins at smaller quantities. Let people pick up and make more money. I forget the person on here that sells bundles only in TX. He grosses $1,000 a cord or something close.
