If I did that a lot and often I would. Suppose if I didn't wholesale I could. The only small volume sales I've done are 1/4 cords and mostly on CL.
Last week ended up a bit slower than most of may and June so far. Temps were above 90 every day and I had no weekend sales at all. I still managed $170 in sales (plus $28 in delivery charges). 2 of my $20 bundles have sold this week. I'm anticipating strong sales this week and next week as the holiday approaches. I picked up another load of splits from a guy I've been buying from this year. His stack is getting small. He says he hasn't done any splitting yet due to heat. Nonetheless, it's good to add another 1/3 cord of dry wood to my inventory. It will be gone by the 4th of July.
This is the load I picked up. Mostly maple, cottonwood and a bit of cherry and walnut. Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk
Unfortunately no. My tree service guys have gone off the radar. I haven't gotten a load in over 3 months. I may have to go back to scrounging again. I don't mind doing that but what I can find seems to eat up a lot of time which makes it harder to get production done. I've been working on my log inventory, which I needed to get to at some point. I may need to take some pages out of your play book and start bringing a truck load home several times a week.
IMO it all boils down to the weather. Too humid nobody wants to sit outside by a fire, myself included. If its not too hot or humid then yes sales should be better. IME there's a rush in the Spring and Fall when its "Goldilocks weather. During the Winter when a bad cold spell comes through and its really cold for and expended period I'll notice a peak in sales. My three local guys have hardly sold any in three plus weeks as I've gone by there a few times.
I got a message a earlier today inquiring about bagged smoking wood. The guy wanted the address. That stuff sells well even in the hot weather because you don't have to babysit the smoker/grill/pizza oven while the food is cooking. And it happens to be a very high-profit item for me. It should continue to sell well through the fall. If temps are under 90 degrees, I'll still sell most of what I have in the stand every week.
It's been a big day for sales already at the roadside stand. When I went back to work, I noticed 3 stacks of smoking wood and 2 stacks of mixed hardwoods along with 3 bags on kindling had been picked up. Not much left!
I had the opportunity to pick up wood from a tree service job. The homeowner listed it on Marketplace. I picked up the last of the limb wood and then the smaller trunk pieces. That left only the larger rounds and I told them I would be happy to come back with a saw to noodle them and load up. It is likely no one else would take them because of the size and they said I could come back anytime for the rest. Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk
I found a guy on Marketplace selling basswood for $40 picked up. I grabbed a load and brought it home. It was toasty so I set up a fan while resplitting. I'll mix this in with other hardwoods for campfire bundles and bulk stacks. I love getting wood that's ready to burn today. Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk
aint it great being able to take bigger wood that the average hoarder wont take? Go back and get it soon.
Got some basswood mixed in the stacks myself. Ill do the same with it and the lower btu species as well. Although I only put one piece of cottonwood in bundles.
Delivered the 100 to him today. Went up .10c bundle. He had no complaints. I guess his other guy had some bundles left and dropped 20 and was not doing wood anymore. Wood sizes all over the place! Moved his to the side and mine on the racks in front. A few of mine from March stacked far right. With roughly 130 on hand I'm wondering when he'll call for more. All my others are well stocked so no urgent need to assemble them. I will though to have when ready. With today's sale I'm over 1000 bundles for 2024.
Probably going to noodle and load tomorrow night. Then get it split and stacked. That should leave one more load. Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk
I'm planning on another load before the 4th. I need to get some bundle production done. Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk
Those are some fine looking bundles! Hopefully this will be a busy week for your gas station customers. Those other bundles are absolutely embarrassing. I wouldn't put my name on them! Combining my standard campfire bundles and mini bundles, I've sold a little over 300 for the year. Not bad for a country roadside firewood stand.
Here's the weekly recap for sales at the roadside firewood stand. I don't know if anyone else finds this interesting but I find it helpful to get a glimpse into what sells (and what doesn't). 6 standard bundles, 2 bags of smoking wood (cherry and hickory, respectively), 5 $20 mixed hardwood loose stacks, 3 loose stacks of smoking wood, 3 $40 mixed hardwood loose stacks, 6 mini bundles (sold in 3 packs), 6 small kindling bags (also 3 packs) and a large kindling bundle. I'm planning to go back to the tree service job after work for another load of noodled rounds and tomorrow or Wednesday, back for another load of basswood. I'll definitely be in production mode this week. I hope to take a little time off this weekend to work on some other projects.
Not at all bad. Do you sell more in bundle form or loose wood? I'm talking just singles sales not dollars or wood volume.
Year to date, I've sold 92 stacks of mixed hardwoods and 20 stacks of smoking woods. I've also done 14 sales of bulk amounts (1/4 cord or 1/3) cord), mostly delivered. So in terms of units, I've certainly sold significantly more bundles. But in terms of volume, loose is king. My goal is to continue to expand bundle and bagged smoking wood sales as profits are significantly higher.
