WinonaRail's Wood Yard

Last week was a little soft but not bad. The 2 weeks before were very busy. We're into summer heat. I've sold several loose stacks of smoking wood. Last week it was bags. That's always a win because the profit is huge.

Are the missed sales for the same type of wood or a variety?

 

Smoking Wood from my FBM ad. I edited and included my phone number saying to text for fastest service. I don't have a smart phone. Wishing smoker sales were a bit better. Wondering if my price increase this year affected sales? I checked FBM and not much competition.

Sold 200+ pieces of firepit wood with the listing being three days old. I was surprised. Extra lesser quality splits with some cottonwood. Speaking of cottonwood I have access to more and was thinking of grabbing and selling it as pit wood as I have a place with good sun to stack it. Still amazes me how fast the stuff dries.

 

If there isn't much competition (I have nearly none) you can definitely set whatever price you feel comfortable with. If people want quality, they'll buy. Does your ad specify delivery or meet up? Just wondered if you could say something to give customers an expectation of WHEN you can get the wood to them.

 

Bundles are pick up at my house in most cases. If by chance they live close by and if on my way traveling I'll drop it off. Last week I dropped a 1/8 cord of sugar maple to a repeat customer and charged delivery. Did a 1/4 cord of firepit wood for $100 plus $20 for delivery on the other side of town. Both were very happy. Still waiting on the 200 PCs cottonwood guy. I decided to give him some of the stuff I have for bundle wood as I can go cut more. PMing with him now. Just quoted delivery and no response yet.

 

It's been my experience that chasing potential customers usually doesn't pay off. Hopefully he'll get back to you.

 

He replied last night and I quoted delivery. No reply until this morning. He'll take it. Hasn't given me his number yet. Ill take a chance and load for delivery later or tomorrow.

 

Sounds like another win!

 

A small victory!

 

I bit the bullet and made a significant pivot in my roadside stand. I've been struggling to keep the stand filled due to dwindling inventory. I was faced with the possibility of being out of seasoned wood in August. So after some consultation with Google Gemini, I have converted my loose stacks to "Campfire Mix," a blend of soft and hard woods. I have an abundance of white pine and some spruce, along with a fair amount of cottonwood that I was already adding to the mix. I updated all my Marketplace listings and signage on the stand to reflect the types of wood. I'll revert back to hardwoods only sometime after Labor Day.

Continuing with the theme, I also eliminated loose stacks of smoking wood and converted to bundles. The end result should be higher profits and stretching my inventory. Hopefully customers will be OK with smaller amounts. I'm only putting 2 bundles out at a time. I'll probably end up with slightly less income weekly but the hope is to keep the stand operating while I'm working on building inventory.

 

Good strategy. Gotta do what you gotta do.

My smoker sales have been slower than I'd like. A few ads on FBM. I did go up on my price from last year. Wondering if that made any difference?

I had a couple 1/4 cords of cottonwood and cull wood sell real fast. I have more cottonwood that's ready/very close that will go to the same. at least 3/4 cord. I have access to more CW and may continue to do the same.

You're the one who educated me on how fast CW dries and if thats what the wood Gods send us, might as well turn it into money.

 

Well done grasshopper! lol If you can sell it and make money, go for it! We're going to have temps with heat index above 100 next week. I figure the CW I've been working that was cut last year should dry in 2-3 days.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

Good strategy

 

Bump. Miss following your wood adventures!

Hey Gary, haven't heard from you in a bit. Hope all is well with you. Hope the stand continues to make money for you with the new strategy. Been a hot and wet Summer here so not ideal weather for smoking.

My smoker sales came to a screeching halt once Summer hit. So bad that I almost gave it up. Couple repeats and a new local guy who I met by accident have "boosted" sales and my spirit. One of my regulars inquired about plum. I had some nuggets I sold to another regular last Fall. Well just by coincidence I discoved the bundle length splits I had from the score in my apple stack. (I thought they were apple). I texted him and he bought the four bundles I had assembled.

Had a couple quarter cords of pit wood sell real quick back in late June. The third has sat until last weekend. Mostly cottonwood with some cedar. Im liking this cottonwood.! Have another one I'll list soon with more CW to bring home.

 

People have yet to realize that Labor Day is upon us.

 

Let's just say it's been a busy summer. And we've had ridiculous heat lately, which has really cut down on the hoarding. You may recall that I made the changeover in the roadside stand to approximately 1/3 white pine, 1/3 cottonwood and 1/3 better hardwoods in my mixed stacks. It hasn't slowed a bit. My biggest problem is that I still don't have enough dry inventory to keep up.

Like you, cottonwood has been my friend. I have been cutting up the large logs. I noodled and split a few of them yesterday. Some is already in the stand and sold (probably being burned tonight. I basically sell out every day.

A neighbor reached out to me about a tree (silver maple) they had taken down asking if I wanted the wood. I've made 3 trips so far in my minivan (mini truck) because my F150 is broken down and my mechanic is recovering from a heart attack. Anyway, I've been processing that. It's almost entirely cut, random lengths, most 16" or less. I have had to cut down about 25% so far. I'm hoping to sell it yet this year.

236 regular bundles sold year to date from the stand. No commercial accounts or deliveries. 46 bags (8" splits) of smoking wood and 41 loose stacks. I switched over to bundles (instead of loose stacks) and have sold 28 of those as well so that's been going pretty well.

On the larger bulk side of things, I sell pine in roughly 1/8 cord increments. I've sold 7 this summer. I have a huge amount of white pine logs so I'll continue next year. Also sold 7 bins (1/4 cord each) of shorts and uglies. I waste nothing (and people will buy anything). So that's a bit of an update. My regular job employer sold and I started with the new company on July 1st so I've been busy trying to figure out what I'm doing. I'm running HR for about 100 people. Much bigger than the last company. It never gets boring!

How are bundle sales going?

 

WinonaRail wow I need a from reading that!

 

Glad you're having a great summer. Wood sales and the new job. And you do have some fast drying wood...
Speaking of being sold and having more HR duties...our little company of about 100 or so folks just bought the company that supplies us with our kaolin, they have approximately 700 employees. Our HR guy was put in charge of both companies...they still have a local HR person though