I left work early to get some. Called on the way to make sure they still had them but I was too late. Only FSU's now at $4.98 a bag. Buy all you want. They must have had several truckloads of them come in. I don't need any FSU's at that price so I got home early and had a beer.
Stopped at TSC on the way home Tuesday night. No pellets. The clerk tells me to come back first thing the next morning, they are getting a shipment. So I stop in there at 8:02am the following day. The place was a zoo. People everywhere, vehicles backing up and parking in crazy patterns, practically hitting each other. They had received North Americans and Instant Heats. The dude would bring out a ton with the the forklift, drop it, and the savages would pick it clean in minutes. It was like watching a bugs bunny cartoon. Actually sat there and watched the proceedings for a while, because it was so entertaining. I was mortified and laughing at the same time. Guessing everything was gone in an hour or two. Took a swing through tonight, and they had two tons of TSC horse bedding out for people to pick loose bags. Love it!
Yikes lol......things change quickly. This is when it makes way more sense to go to the dealer and avoid the mayhem. At least it seems like there isn't any mayhem when I drove by. Although there were more cars there than I usually see. It's nice to be able to sit back and watch.
The dealer isn't much better off, really. Almost unmanageable at this point......where is that dang Global Warming ole Al G. keeps talking about? I want me somma dat at this point!
Only for the the uninformed , buy'em in the spring ,buy'em in the summer, buy'em even when you don't need 'em and you won't have a shortage .
Dougie, this was meant for the boxes. We all know they slow down this time of year. No surprise. Pellet houses have pellets. So, no shortage. Even you agree with that, you said so in another post.
Well your buddy Doug said there would be no shortage of his pellets at a dealer right near me. So what is it? Maybe you are lower in his priority list??
In the vid linked in briansol's post, Certainly showed that CT pellet had some pretty big stacks in his warehouse. I hear of no shortage from the fella's to our west. It just a regional thing(AKA glut) and we went through it last spring. Yet come April/May I could get all I wanted and more. Its only hurting the ones that can't stuff like a big fat old pig! When the trucks stop rolling from the mills, Then and only then would I begin to worry! They love creating panic so the not so informed get a jumpin while the price is whacked. Yet slip by saying we still have trucks rollin to your area. If this were a true shortage, We would not be seeing trucks IMHO. I'm not scared in the least bit. I think I could stay warm from all the hot air that's flowing from this crowd!!
you know, Will, that's what I've been saying for years! but would you believe that some folks only buy a ton at a time?! Some folks don't have enough money to buy a winters' worth either. So, these folks come in. Now, I figure there's a shortage when I cant get NEWP, Maine, Geneva, Energex, Purcell, Okies (of any flavor), etc, in a reasonable amount of time......whats reasonable? A couple weeks?
Well, Doug believes in his product, is a good guy, and I tend to think he holds most, if not all, of his customers on an even keel. True, some are bigger than others, and deserves deference, but I think he basically treats us all the same. Big dealers? I dunno, we are pretty big.
Well said Kevin , I listened to you I know that every ones economic situation is different . Maybe it's up to those of us who can buy to help drive the market early ,which helps you the dealer ,project how much you should buy , which in turn helps Doug the supplier know how much to produce . It becomes a win win win situation your not sitting on inventory instead of $$ , Doug is not sitting on inventory instead of $$ , and we aren't freezing our azz's off and spending $$ on LP , oil , electric or what ever to stay uncomfortably warm . That's my 2 cents
yea, theres a turnaround time for pellets....a lag if you will, between ordering some and actually see it get delivered at the store. Some of the larger dealers keep product, but even they tend to tone down what they have towards Spring....no one wants to be sitting on high dollar product when pellet buyers decide to stop buying. The tricky thing here is to determine WHEN that will be.......we keep (or TRY TO) keep pellets 12 months a year, but admittedly at this time of year, you aren't buying in thousand ton blocks, mainly because the price is up there.....sadly, what we are seeing with Spring Contract pellets is a lot like last year- little to no decrease in prices from current numbers.......
What area of the Northeast are you in? It seems that some areas have some pellets ( upstate NY ) while others seem to struggle finding them. One of the biggest costs of pellets is freight. Pellets compete with all commodities for trucks. Until a year ago trucks were easy to find. I know not everyone believes it, but the pool of trucks available to transport is getting smaller and smaller. the economy is getting better! Even with gas and diesel prices down, fuel surcharges are not dropping. It's not all on the mills, a big culprit is transportation costs. The days of finding cheap "prebuy pricing"are gone in the short term. Mills have more options to take their pellets to other markets, and freight is way more expensive than 3 years ago. And last but not least the "box stores" are giving the pellet producer's who used to need cash flow an order file they can finance, if need be.
