Walmart near me doesn't even have pellets yet. And they usually fetch more $$ than the other stores. No break on a ton purchase. At one time they were the best deal in town, Carried Eureka pellets from out west. Now only seem to have Pennington's Natures Heat(which might be NEWP's in these parts). Maybe they caught on up in Maine? Hopefully that filters down this way too!! HD, Lowes and TSC still holding at $239/ton! Pellet house's have already started raising prices. Cheapest pellet I see is $269/ton(Maine Choice).............................. I wouldn't hold out much longer, If you get my drift!!
I'd still grab some from Wally mart every time I was in the area(6 to 10 bags or what ever I could stuff in the trunk)!! I'd also tell the clerk I woulda bought more if they delivered. Hints might help.
I can tell you almost out exceptions, my dealers are all WAY ahead in sales, both pellets and stoves than this time last year....by a large margin in some cases. Since all dealers are free to set whatever retail price their market will bear, prices will vary from place to place, which has more to do with how much extra freight they have to pay to get to their place of business from one of our distribution points. ALL dealers pay the same price FOB those points, but some have more freight than other...or pick up themselves vers commerical transport. I know of one dealer who in the past two weeks, lowered their price on what they charge for our Douglas Fir, only because they want to do that much more volume. They were a very large dealer to begin with, but it had nothing to do with their cost, they just lower their own margin to sell more... Totally their call to do that. I certainly don't have a crystal ball to see into the future, but from everything I am seeing, I personally don't think there is a snowballs chance in hell you will see any substantial price drop this fall/winter in prices.....granted, if the NE got an extended window of warm weather in Nov or Dec, then all bets are off, but it certainly doesn't seem so far that would happen....but then again, why would you want to gamble on your families warmth, just to say a few and I mean few bucks ....think you would be crazy to risk that....yeah yeah, I know, I'm a pellet salesman, so some of you think I'm just paid to say that....but actually it is just common sense. But then again, common sense isn't that common sometimes.....
Even though you're a pellet salesman, I agree 100%. After last winter, anyone that is waiting for the $$ to drop significantly is (IMO), crazy. Even if we have a warmer than normal winter, the excess pellets would be used in the next winter, and so on.
Got plenty of pellets around here now best ye get 'em when you see 'em otherwise repent in the coldy snowy snow (it's that gore bull warming don't cha know). ETA: The big boxes forget it is winter around December 24 when they start putting the BBQ units back on the floor along with the tomato plants etc...
well, if someone buys a ton and they take it in their pick-em-up, its loaded and gone.....but, if someone rips into a skid, takes some and is gonna come back, well, someone has to help them load em, etc, which costs more in labor. When the season is upon us, its not at all uncommon to sell 50-75 tons in a day, all picked up. Now, if you are the guy standing out there loading them into to ole Plymouth van 25 bags at a time while the van owner sits there in the drivers' seat watching you, you realize pretty fast that its costing money to do this.....
hm.....not saying I was right here or anything, cuz folks hate hearing that, but didn't someone say this was going to happen, oh, maybe a month ago or so? Yep, pellet sales are pretty brisk right now...still able to cover for the most part for most brands IF YOU ARE WILLING TO PICK UP, but as for delivery, right now we are out 6-8 weeks. Sadly there isn't a good way to deliver more per week (we average delivering about 250 tons per week), and since its unsafe to deliver at night (we unload in the road a lot, and folks can be crazy drivers), we don't deliver past dark.....plus, the delivery guys like time to spend home with their loved ones as well. Folks call and start doing the math and realize 6-8 weeks is in COLD weather! (Panic ensues). Now, we could buy another truck and moffett (about $240-250k for the package), and hire another driver, but then, a good part of the year, the thing would sit, and the driver be laid off....so, not doing that either. Anyhow, I also sell pellets, so my viewpoint is skewed like Doug's above. We post here to try and get you folks to understand the issue from our side of the fence. Noone can read the future, but those of us who do this stuff everyday might have a bit more insight into the supply and price side than someone who does not......and from my couch, its looking like a bad season upcoming for both price and supply.......results may vary though!
I stopped at Walmart today after work. No pellets. Not one bag to be found. They rarely keep any quantity on hand, though. Strange, it's one of the Super Walmarts and they have one of the saddest lawn and garden sections I've ever seen. At any given time in the middle of winter, they may have a single open pallet of Penningtons sitting in the middle of an aisle. As funny as that is, my buddy's dad won't buy anything else. Those Penningtons, purchased five bags at a time all winter long, are the best and cheapest pellets on the planet and it's as simple as that. Why? Because it's Walmart (of course) and they *always* have the lowest price on every product! There's no point discussing it any further. Trust me, I've tried
I bought 6 tons of okie golds today. local pellet dealer i usually buy from updated his site from having 12 brands available to having none. so i went to a different dealer and bought 6 tons. that should do me for the winter. might pick up a half ton here and there from the box or local distributor as i feel the need and to try new things ,maybe head into next year with some pellets on hand beyond the 8 bags left over from last year.
Welcome daffonce. I hope those Okie Golds keep you very warm this winter. What kind of stove do you have?
Welcome Daffonce. Yes, please update us on what stove you have, how long you've been burning pellets, favorite brands, and maybe update your info so we know what area of the country you're in.
although, have to say I am curious....if theres no shortage, why is the dealer saying he has none? Inquiring minds want to know...
saw this and found it very funny... http://pelletsdirect.com/Wood Pellets Pricing.htm OK, I guess they should be woodbricks.com and lose the pellets.com or maybe sometimeswehavepellets.com
Too funny. Guessing that's where Daffonce was originally going to buy, then went to Rogers or Royal Fireside instead?
weird.....Im guessing its temporary? Not the time of year you wanna be "out of stock" for all your pellets
