2017 Early Buy Prices

Is that with the FHC discount?

 

That seems like the going price. you have to strike early to get the deals. glad i did, don't think i paid over $235 for Spruce pointes / north country this year. basement will be stacked to 9 tons ish once i take deliver of final 1.2 tons

 

Yup... heard that too....
All our brands..


Dan

 

The Canadian exchange is what messes things up...

Dan

 

You live by the sword....you die by the sword....earlier this year, the C$ was super low compared to the US$...that plus there were 3 or 4 Canadian mills that had inventory clearance sales and there were some pretty good deals available for some well known brands...with the rise of oil and the C$ bouncing back big time, most of those deal are about gone and not really available anymore...but depending on the dealer, deals still may be available....I am currently offering such a program to move out the last of some inventory that was tied up by the courts that is now available and some dealers are getting a great deal that they may probably pass on the savings....YMMV.....IF the C$ keeps climbing, then any advantage that the mills north of the border have...gets squeezed and maybe can't ship as far south from the border as they have in the past...just depends how far that spread comes in...time will tell....business have been very brisk lately for pretty much all the stove/pellet dealers in NE...so if you see a deal and want it...you better jump on it...cause chances are ...it won't be there for long.....just my $.02 worth.....dm

 

Thanks for the heads up

 

Not sure how that applies to us.. but whatever.
We gear up early every year.
Wish the customers would buy as early as we do.

Dan

 

Well actually Pete it does effect you directly. For the past few months, you and Henry have had some very aggressive pricing on a couple of your Canadian pellets and actually still do from one of the smaller mills ...but my guess would be that you can't replace those pellets or any of the others you were carrying at the prices you purchased them for...2-4 months ago...First I think the mills cleaned up their excess inventory and have probably raised prices, but with the C$ rising in value...the cost of the pellets, the transportation costs across Canada and the shipping to NH all in the last 45 days have become more expensive for your broker, thus his margin has been squeezed...and if you were to replace those pellets today, I believe your costs will be up to the point you have to raise your pricing...at a min $10 if not more....like you have on your Douglas Fir....so the cost of that C$ in relationship to the US$ is very important and when it takes wide swings, can really effect the price for products from north of the border....and that is how it will apply to you direct....IMHO...say Hello to Henry for me.....tks...dm

 

In all fairness everyone can't afford to buy early , it's like paying for heat in June when you're looking for that fuel bill finally going away. I myself was only able to buy 3 tons early when I actually use 6 - 7

 

Feeling so insignificant at only 1ton p/yr...

 

And a lot of people are paying their A/C bill during summer, so not "saving" when their heating bill goes away for a couple of months

 

We picked up some Spruce Pointe and North Country for $224/ton at early buy prices. The Spruce Pointes sold out a while back, but the good price was still in effect for North Country up until about a week or two ago. We will buy pellets at any time a good price is offered. Less paid on fuel is more we can use elsewhere, regardless of season.

 

When I do need to buy bulk, I set aside $$ from the tax return which generally comes right before the early buy. Lately though my dealer has let me go until July or even late August and still gives me the early buy prices. Kind of a benefit for buying from him since 2010 and passing his name on to others.

 

Dammm good price for either of those...

 

I appreciate your extensive narrative.. but I think you misunderstood my comment.
When I said I don't know how it applies to us,
I was not referring to the Canadian exchange, but to your reply saying what goes around comes around.
Earlier on, I said to another dealer that we noticed the price went up as well as he did by about 10 bucks.
Perhaps you missed it.
I then said it was largely due to the exchange.
Then you replied to me,
you live by the sword you die by the sword..
"WE" didn't cause the exchange rate to change..
I just did not understand how that metaphor applied to us.
We are well aware of how a difference in the exchange
affects us... we have been dealing with it for years.
The McManus family has been involved with stove and fuel sales for over 60 years..
All we have is Canadian product. Of course prices have to be adjusted occasionally.
We get it... we do it up when we have to... and down when we can.

You are correct. Our low pricing has to be/will be adjusted when needed.
We've been told our price is going up.
However, we plan on having at least one brand priced below the two BBS,
within a few miles of us, regardless of the cost, if at all possible.
And we try to have the lowest price around on the DF's.
It has paid dividends for us, by attracting the price shoppers, and having them see the difference between what we feel,
is a better product, than what they used to get at the BBS..
It has worked better than we anticipated.

Take care, glad to see you are doing well, Dan.

 

AC?! Wimps!

 

Dan what I was referring to with that comment "Live by the sword...die by the sword" or as you put it "What goes around, comes around"...I was meaning that if a broker or dealer for that matter, depends on currency exchange for his/her profit levels, then it can work very well for you ...as it did much earlier this year, but when it turns and it goes against you quickly, which it has done recently, you can get your fingers burnt...the forex (currency exchanged) are the largest markets in the world and the US$ is the largest single currency traded (about $4 trillion exchanged on a normal day) so you are correct, we can't cause the C$ to change one way or the other....but when it was lower this year, it gave the Canadian mills a huge advantage selling product in US$ by either selling their product a lower US$ price and still getting the same amount or a bit more when converted back to C$....you understand this dealing with it all the time....the general public not so much....They can see a Canadian product selling for $20 less this year than last year and they might think the mill has lowered their price and to them (consumer) they have...but not to themselves (mills) since they are still getting the same amount of C$ back to them and yet they have helped create a more competitive market in favor of themselves...yet didn't have to give up any margin to do so..maybe even made a bit more....but when all of a sudden that exchange rate changes against them...they might have to scramble to raise that US$ price to at least keep their margins in line with what they have been getting before...thus the squeeze and if not timed properly.....it can go against you ...and quickly.....thus my comment why I think most (but maybe not all) the great deals that were available in the last few months might be getting harder to find now that this has happened....every dealer sets their own level of retail pricing depending on lots of factors...we all want low price and high quality and if a consumer can find that...they should jump on it when they see it....but some dealers also have higher overhead..staff, trucks, mortgage payments etc etc and therefore they feel they may need a higher margin to stay in business and make a profit at the end of the year....Henry runs a tight ship and keeps his expenses low and thus can maybe offer product at numbers not easily found elsewhere...that is his competitive advantage and runs a good business...the boxes takes the market on from a different angle...high volume and lower margins, but don't offer some of the quality brands that are available from speciality dealers and thus both can compete in the same market if they have a good idea who their end customers are and what they want...price may not be the #1 driving force to satisfy that need....

 

I happen to agree and don't like AC anyway because I always seem to be just under the vent so freeze when it is on, then get an instant "hot flash" as soon as it turns off since I've bundled up in a heavy sweater.

 

pics?