Hi everyone, I didn't want to hijack the other bundle thread going so I figured I'd start a fresh one and let the other conversation continue. I'm thinking of trying to get into bundles, I'd be doing the red bags so as to not have to buy a bundler. My question is, for those of you who have or are doing bundles, how does it typically work with the retailer? Do they buy them all at once and resell, or is it more of a consignment thing? Are they usually ok paying cash for the bundles or do most places require a business to cut a check to? And lastly, I'm curious to know what I should expect for the retailer's cut. Do they buy for $4 and sell for $5, take a percentage, or...? Sorry for all the questions, I'm trying to get informed prior to approaching potential buyers. Thanks!
If I were going to sell outside a gas station or the like, money for my wood would be paid at time of delivery by the station. What happens after that is none of my business aside from needing restock. My pricing would be along the lines of quantity discounts meaning their cost per bag would shrink with more being purchased...dunno... $.50 off each for every dozen *over buy in (min 12 bags at $X.xx) or something like that.
I sell directly to them wholesale for cash paid on delivery. Some call/text when needing a refill, others in the area I restock when needed. I will contact others to check on their inventory. I think most of them double the price for resale. Ive tried retailing bundles on FBM with little success. I do okay selling smoker bundles on FBM though. My bundles are 8x8x16". I made my own bundle jig out of scrap wood. If using mesh bags you can make a simple jig by cutting the bottom off a 5 gallon bucket. Slide a mesh bag over bucket, fill with wood, then slide bucket out and walla, the bag is filled.
I currently supply 2 locations. One is a grocery store 3 blocks down the street that I pass every time I leave the house or come home. So it’s easy to monitor the inventory and I restock as necessary. Nice small town mom and pop type store that is a pleasure to work with. The other location is a convenience store/station 28 miles away. We frequently have a concrete truck going that way or some other reason to be in town ( dog sitter) and pretty much keep track of the inventory that way. It’s one of 30 some stores in a corporate chain. The manager is a good guy and easy to work with but it’s still a corporate entity and there’s a little more formal protocol to go through but it’s not that bad. Being that much of a drive, minimum size order for a restock is 25-30 bundles ( my rack barely holds 40). After I stock, manager counts them and I give him a handwritten invoice from a generic invoice book, then shortly after the first of the month I get a check in the mail. At the local grocery I hand one of the owners an invoice and they hand me back a check. My price to both locations is $6 per bundle and once I hand them an invoice I consider it no longer my property. I think the grocery store sells it for $7.49. They consider it more of a service and it fits in with their river float, kayaking, tanking, side hustle. They figure they’ll probably sell some marshmallows and s’mores fixins. I think the c-store has a price of $9.99 or $10.99 on them. My bundles are a bit more than 1cu ft which is significantly more than average. And they also have a homemade fire starter included. The grocery store sells probably 3 times as many as the other location. My wife works at a gas station c-store and usually has a couple bundles in the back of her car for when customers say “ you don’t sell firewood bundles??” She gets $8 per for those.
Two of my commercial accounts pay by check at delivery the other by direct deposit beginning of each month. I go by the 40% retail up charge off my price. I started with bags and quickly moved over to wrap. Way faster to wrap. 2 of the 3 prefer wrap.
It seems like the markup is all over the map here where I live. I see bundles going for anywhere from $5 to $11, I'm assuming that the big guys are all selling wholesale at roughly the same amount and the retailer is definitely iding how much they want to make off of them.
Ive tried retailing bundles on FBM with little success and yes the wholesale/retail prices are close why I don't retail only smoker wood as the mark up is more. I think most of my customers double the price.
There is a small store in a little town 16 miles away. They sell a bare minimum of various items. Food, drinks, ATV stuff, camping stuff. I think they rent out ATVs. Ammo, rent out porta potty’s. All manner of things to make a go of it. Last year a bunch of friends (30ish) came and camped in my backyard for a river float trip. I made them rent a porta potty. When Chad delivered the pots we set them by my wood storage, which lead to a conversation about firewood and bundles. He had a local supplier but would keep me in mind if he ran short. Sometime around memorial day weekend he bought 5 of my bundles from the grocery store. My friends are doing another float. And Chad called last weekend to make arrangements for the porta pot and to order some bundles of firewood. I had 15 ready for him when he brought the pot today. Hopefully he’ll become a regular account.
