Guys who sell firewood for a living, I have a question...

So last year was my first year selling firewood. I sold oak and eucalyptus, and only have 8 or 10 cords. Sold it all out, mostly to people I know and a few others.

I obviously want my customers to be happy and get what they paid for. In the two photos below, my questions would be:

Would you say that my stacking is adequate (or tightly stacked as they say) to give the customer what they are paying for?

And second, on my splits, I usually try and split some smaller stuff and some all nighters. From what I have read, there are varying thoughts on this.

We don't have much straight grained wood out here, at least for the type of wood I usually cut, so splitting smaller splits can be troublesome. I try to do some when I get a straighter piece. Thanks all...

 

When I sell to guys I know...I try to make sure of 3 things...Great price...Great Wood.....Above all us...Great Amount for the Buck...Have about 4-5 consistent customers every year... Usually a Pick-up truck of Soft Wood...$50....Mixed...$65...Hard..$80.....My oldest son and I help with the loading....Sometimes a few girls from work will stop by and want just enough for a week end camping trip...$20...Everyone is happy...........Little do they know I get all of my wood for about $10-12 a face cord...

 

In my opinion your stacking shown is definitely adequate for what the customers are paying for.

As far as the splits go I find it helpful to get the clients input on that. I think that you'll find most people are happy with a variety. I actually leave some pieces unsplit (6") and suggest to the customers to use them as "overnighters" as they tend to burn a little slower due to the fact that less fibers are exposed.

Of course, JIMO.

 

Your stacking looks good, know what you are selling and talk about that. We usually have a few pieces a little bigger, but I try to remember it might be older ladies loading the stove. Most of our customers want split wood, so all the smaller rounds stay in a shed for us to burn, up to 4" or so. As stated, talk to your customers and get their feed back...

 

bigfrank your stacks look good. Like others have said ask the customer what they want. Most of mine said they like the smaller splits because they are easier to handle. I have a few that will tke bigger stuff and I cater to them. I sell all size amounts so make sure you have some small piles available for the weekend burner and camping crowd.

 

If you're selling honest cords (much of) the competition is in your rear view mirror.

A mix of sizes usually serves the average customer well.
If you have a special customer, say one that might pay extra to be a special customer that want smaller or larger then you could cater to that one customer. Otherwise I'd just go with the flow.

 

Looks like great firewood to me. I keep split size fairly uniform with lengths consistent. From some of my new customers my wood was night and day compared to others. Mine was dried (seasoned) which IMO is the most important as well as an accurate cord, half cord etc.. Ive also sold shorts and nuggets on their own but have specified what customer is getting.
Ask repeat customers what they like/dont like and adjust accordingly.
For CL sales i specify the wood species.
BTW i dont sell for a living, but the few extra bucks is nice. I do some chain saw work as well.

 

Thanks for the info, guys. All information is great.

 

If you have cords to deliver in this warming weather and you really want to stand out with an extraordinary delivery system you could consider hiring a couple of the ladies from the local strip club - boober eats style - just boober heat, or pick-a-pun.

 

Frank--stacking is extra work for you selling.
Firewood sellers here in Maine sell an honest cord plus by "loose thrown" in a hydraulic trailer or dump truck.
Figuring a full cord to be 180 cubic feet with the piling high to give a little extra.
Guess it depends on your customers who may want to see stacks. What's your price per cord green and/or seasoned ?
Tough wood you got.

 

The coronavirus has the ladies out of work now. I'm sure they'll be looking for some extra income. Boober Heats hmm maybe a franchise opportunity .

 

Sorry Dave and Bill, too chilly for pole dancers in Maine.
"We don need no stinkin' strip club ladies" here.
Ever tried to "tongue" a metal pole in winter ?

 

We got snow on the ground here in Ohio. No outside dancers today.
Make the pole fiberglass

 

How’s the saying go? You can make some of the people happy some of the time but you can’t make all of the people happy all of the time. Repeat customers know what they are getting with me each year, so there’s never complaints from them. New customers get a picture of their stack before I load it including tape measurements. No surprises, but it seems each year, there’s someone who can stack it tighter and then calls saying the measurements don’t add up. That’s when I started taking pics. If you agree to the pics, you can’t change your mind later. Sadly, about every new customer has a wood horror story, so they often are pretty untrusting. Far and away, people are appreciative of you bringing them an accurate amount of good dry seasoned wood and treat them and their property with respect very rewarding!

 

Timber Tina is about as close as it gets.

 

You know Tina Mike ?
She's only Tina in Summer.

 

That is always good for businese!

 

I only sell dry wood, 20% moisture or less generally. Getting wood to dry in this blast furness weather isn't a probleem.

Last year I got $200/cord, but it will be $225/cord this year more than likely. I charge $50 more to deliver and dump. I dont stack at the buyers.

In my little wood lot, I either stack so I know how much I have, or if it's in a big pile, I'll stack it in my dump trailer so I known there is a full cord being drlivered.

ILastnyear, I had staxksnhere, as well as a big pile of split oak. Tested both before and after Summer. Both stacks and pile dried the same amount (something I wanted to test for myself) and the result was the Sam. Both oak and eucalyptus started out about 35% moisture, and after Summer, it was at 17%. I'm probably going to do the same test this year just to verify.