Guys HD and the BBS don't get that big a price break out west. They sell them for the same price as the pellet houses. Much more mature and controlled market out west. It was an exceedingly mild winter out west last year and HD buys a block before the season. If it doesn't move through their system they will re allocate the volume. They will have volume discount with trucking companies and intermodal companies maybe the the tune of 15 to 20 per ton. Many large companies carry freight as a separate cost and it is averaged over the entire product line. I will guarantee you the seasonal buyers had their finger's rapped after last pellet season. Somebody in management figured out they lost their azz on pellets last year. Why do you think the prices are up so much this year. They just dabbled in pellets for a few season, but now it is a major product line and they aren't going to subsidize losing volume's. When spring comes and it's time to change over, they will discount whatever is in their stores just like they do with all seasonal lines. Just my 2 cent's worth
Good info, This is certainly shaping up to be an interesting pellet season. I am very interested in how it all shakes out. With the boxes coming inline or at least very close to the Pellet Houses, more business should head there way. It's kind of what I am expecting to do, I am going to go pretty much run my pellets on hand out so I can buy six at a time at a local shop. And buy what I see at the boxes for playing with, I mean testing.
I too will be surprised if Blazers show up at HD this year. They all have a lot more product going in to the season than they ever have and with oil under $2.00, at some point the demand for pellets will slow down.
My glass remains half full. I still think we'll see some later this fall. There are good reasons state here why we wouldn't, but then again pretty much *everything* else about pellets sales seems to defy all logic so far this season, doesn't it?
I was hoping that would happen this past spring, but it never did! Safe to say every HD, Lowes, and TSC in this region was stuck holding quite a bit of excess inventory at the end of last season. Saw it with my own eyes. TSC and Lowes stuck to their ~$5.59 price all summer, and let their excess inventory just sit there in their yards the entire time. Much of it remains there to this very day. HD did one even better. In April, just as the weather started to warm up, they *increased* their price from $5.19/bag, where it had been ALL season, to $5.79/bag - even though they had boatloads of excess inventory not moving...Doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to me, but for some reason they all chose to sit on all that stuff rather than clear it out of their inventory.
If you see any Clean Energy bags at Lowe's those are re bagged Hamer's , burned close to a ton of those last year .
I grabbed two tons of repackaged Blazers at $289 and am done.....that is of course, unless the Sets show up at TSC......
