I receive tips on about half my deliveries this time of year. Usually $20, but it is sweet to get those $50-100. I keep good records on who I receive tips from. They get extra and my best and driest wood on future deliveries. And they jump to the top of the delivery schedule. Have found you never know who is going to give you the generous tip; the uber wealthy dude or the guy that has dead vehicles parked on his front lawn.
I found that when I was in sales too...don't judge a book by its cover, you will get burnt sooner or later! I've told the story here before...of the old bum looking guy that came walking down the street and into the showroom wanting to look at cars...had something tucked into his coat, we all thought it was a bottle of hooch, but no, turns out it was a bag of cash...and the sales guy that we thought we had hung out to dry, by him not "disappearing" fast enough (as fast as the rest of us did) scored a nice cash sale that afternoon...shame on us! That was 27 years ago, and I will never forget that lesson.
reminds me of a similar story. Knew a contractor that worked the NYC suburbs. Hard working guy who did well for himself. Paid cash for a lot of things evidently. He would always have his cap on backwards, blue collar dressed. He told me of how he walked into a car dealership and the sales people ignored him and he waited. He showed the boss the cash he had and walked out. Paid cash for a corvette from what he told me.
I walked into a Porsche dealership in the 90’s. Looked at a 911 real close and noticed how minimalist the interior was. Needless to say the one guy in the showroom barely looked up from his desk. I did not have a briefcase of cash.
Pine guy texts tonight with apology and address. He lives in Greensboro 35 minutes away I bet the little beech wishes he had a nice pine fire tonight. It’s a cold week in NC. Firewood is flying off the racks, but it ain’t going to fly that far.
No and it’s probably one of the reasons he withheld it. I have delivered to some rural counties 20 minutes away, but Greensboro means I40 and 30 minutes could turn into 2 hrs.
That would have been a good pay back. He’s probably burned all the bridges with firewood sellers in Greensboro if he’s looking for Pine in Winston Salem. There’s always roadside fallen pine.
First thing i ask is for the address if new customer. Some will ask in the first correspondence if i deliver to XX town. Not a fan of going far, but if they agree to it, not a problem. Lost a couple regulars this year so have a 3-4 PU fulls extra.
I’ve had several people withhold their address until the day of delivery. I get it. Same reason I won’t open up my yard for public sales. People will ask if they can come by and fill up their trunk and I refer them to the bundle retail address.
I have maybe 5 regulars. I thought after last winter I’d have more, but this is a weird business. Lots of first time fireplace burners that I think give up, don’t know how to start a fire, or find something cheaper. It’s the South so a lot depends on the weather. I’m still learning. The polar plunge and threat of freezing precipitation has boosted sales. I’m guessing 15-20 so far this winter.
