WinonaRail's Wood Yard

Last week was a little soft but not bad. The 2 weeks before were very busy. We're into summer heat. I've sold several loose stacks of smoking wood. Last week it was bags. That's always a win because the profit is huge.

Are the missed sales for the same type of wood or a variety?

 

Smoking Wood from my FBM ad. I edited and included my phone number saying to text for fastest service. I don't have a smart phone. Wishing smoker sales were a bit better. Wondering if my price increase this year affected sales? I checked FBM and not much competition.

Sold 200+ pieces of firepit wood with the listing being three days old. I was surprised. Extra lesser quality splits with some cottonwood. Speaking of cottonwood I have access to more and was thinking of grabbing and selling it as pit wood as I have a place with good sun to stack it. Still amazes me how fast the stuff dries.

 

If there isn't much competition (I have nearly none) you can definitely set whatever price you feel comfortable with. If people want quality, they'll buy. Does your ad specify delivery or meet up? Just wondered if you could say something to give customers an expectation of WHEN you can get the wood to them.

 

Bundles are pick up at my house in most cases. If by chance they live close by and if on my way traveling I'll drop it off. Last week I dropped a 1/8 cord of sugar maple to a repeat customer and charged delivery. Did a 1/4 cord of firepit wood for $100 plus $20 for delivery on the other side of town. Both were very happy. Still waiting on the 200 PCs cottonwood guy. I decided to give him some of the stuff I have for bundle wood as I can go cut more. PMing with him now. Just quoted delivery and no response yet.

 

It's been my experience that chasing potential customers usually doesn't pay off. Hopefully he'll get back to you.

 

He replied last night and I quoted delivery. No reply until this morning. He'll take it. Hasn't given me his number yet. Ill take a chance and load for delivery later or tomorrow.

 

Sounds like another win!

 

A small victory!

 

I bit the bullet and made a significant pivot in my roadside stand. I've been struggling to keep the stand filled due to dwindling inventory. I was faced with the possibility of being out of seasoned wood in August. So after some consultation with Google Gemini, I have converted my loose stacks to "Campfire Mix," a blend of soft and hard woods. I have an abundance of white pine and some spruce, along with a fair amount of cottonwood that I was already adding to the mix. I updated all my Marketplace listings and signage on the stand to reflect the types of wood. I'll revert back to hardwoods only sometime after Labor Day.

Continuing with the theme, I also eliminated loose stacks of smoking wood and converted to bundles. The end result should be higher profits and stretching my inventory. Hopefully customers will be OK with smaller amounts. I'm only putting 2 bundles out at a time. I'll probably end up with slightly less income weekly but the hope is to keep the stand operating while I'm working on building inventory.

 

Good strategy. Gotta do what you gotta do.

My smoker sales have been slower than I'd like. A few ads on FBM. I did go up on my price from last year. Wondering if that made any difference?

I had a couple 1/4 cords of cottonwood and cull wood sell real fast. I have more cottonwood that's ready/very close that will go to the same. at least 3/4 cord. I have access to more CW and may continue to do the same.

You're the one who educated me on how fast CW dries and if thats what the wood Gods send us, might as well turn it into money.

 

Well done grasshopper! lol If you can sell it and make money, go for it! We're going to have temps with heat index above 100 next week. I figure the CW I've been working that was cut last year should dry in 2-3 days.

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

 

Good strategy