I pretty much sold all my seasoned stuff in November. I've been splitting like a mad man since beginning of fall and cooler weather. I have five stores for bundles next summer for sure. Im working on getting seven other stores currently. The closest store now is about 6 miles and the farthest is a good 50 minute drive. I've been asking $95 a face cord/pickup load picked up. I probably drive on average 30 to 40 miles per delivery. Not sure if ill get $95 a face cord for campfire wood though. I might not even advertise for bulk campfire wood this summer and just save the wood for bundles. Planning to do .8 cubic feet bundles at $4 a bundle (subject to change). That puts each face cord in bundle prices at $213.
Thats great WC! Your bundle prices are roughly on par. I just picked up a fifth store last month and year round sellers. All are ten minutes from me luckily. I have been asked to go farther but declined. I had downsized mine from .75 to .6 last year. Mine were 9x9x16", now 8x8x16" so the down sizing wasnt noticed. Tightly packed too. I dont retail them, only wholesale. All bulk customers get at least one year CSS wood unless a partial mix of SS wood. Ive picked up a few new bulk customers and worry about having enough for next year.
Anyone sell a solid cord of black locust down there and if so how much? BL im getting $350 for cords and just sold a half cord for $200. Half cord was bark on. The cords have only been bark off. Ddnt want to do the halfand explained to the guy about how the bark can smell when burned, but he called me back a few cays later. I try to be up front with folks even if it means losing a sale.
Once you get a customer who appreciates this, they will ALWAYS come back. Give it a shot, even if only one or two customers, or try half cords at a slight premium. I only can deliver half cord at a time so i keep most sales at half cord.
I just sold 1/3 cord of hickory to a regular. 14-16% MC. It was out of my stash that I don't normally sell. He had just gotten out out the hospital with the virus a few weeks ago and stihl recovering. I wanted him to have some good wood for our cold snap. I told him what I wanted price wise and he said "you always treat me fair, do you need more?" NOPE!
most people down here have oak fixation they believe that is the only wood to buy I have told people that the slabwood is locust and they say that they would buy if it was oak ?? but most tree co 's that are selling here get 250-300 cord they call it "Seasoned mixed hardwoods" I only know one of my customers that sells by species and he charges the same 300.00 a cord plus stacking and delivery JB
Makes sense. I know BL is more common down there. I push the highest btu around as my sales pitch. My three BL barkless customers repeated from last year. Gave an oak customer (new) a free sample of a few BL splits to try. He wanted oak again. Only once have i seen BL splits in on a mixed hardwood load (not mine) and i pointed them out to the customer to pull and put aside. I think most guys dont/wont process it. Never have seen it in a log deck either.
Me thinks we might need a firewood salesperson ranking system (for fun) similar to our hoarding status-
Have at it! While we are at it, a CAD (Chainsaw Acquisition Disorder) chart might be something to consider as well....
I am in southern newyork state i have never seen such a demand for fire, wood we cant keep up ! I will be caught up in a few weeks if the phone stops ringing.I have a good supply of seasoned wood .The price of everything that goes into the business has sure gone up ! I think firewood will be a hot commodity as long as the current politicians are driving things .I am trying to be nice .People are being squeezed on all fronts so trying to save on heating is helping plus being home due to the covidithink they want a fire .Either way i will take it as firewood is a major source of my income.
My wife started promoting my firewood on an app called next door and NC has finally got cold weather. I went from being confident in my ready to burn inventory, to worrying about what I’m going to heat with next month.
Oddly in my region everyone, and I mean literally everyone, sells wood by the "face cord" or 1/3 cord. This is to the point where a dealer will call a face cord a "cord" and nobody knows the difference. Typically the prices for a facecord are $75-120 depending on how many. So basically it makes it easy for a small time seller like I'd be because I'd just be doing it like everyone else does - face cords.
In my area, a few people sell face cords (I'm one of them) and the others sell "truck loads." The terms are used interchangeably but they really aren't the same unless you measure what you put in the truck. I always point out to my customers the measured quantity they are buying and deliver stacked wood in a rack in the back of the truck so they can easily see the amount before it's unloaded.
Make some racks that hold that amount so you have a good idea of inventory. I think in Conn.its illegal to sell face cords. My split size is consistent enough i can count as i load and roughly 375 make a half cord.
I'm curious about your stores selling year round. How are sales for them during winter? Can't imagine theres much demand for bundles for fireplaces. Or is that something I've been overlooking? Your stores are okay with storing bundles indoors?
