Don't buy Okie Pellets!

BT ENT LLC said:

Let me start by saying this is purely a coincidence on the timing. On Friday March 11th We @ BT Enterprises have decided to stop selling Okies Pellets. There were a few reasons why this decision was made. It was not one of our biggest sellers (not even close)! Doug (BTU) always boasted that people would buy his product because it was the best. Well we put that to the test and it failed badly. It turned out to be only 1% of our sales. ACP actually outsold the Okies with a larger profit. Our customers determine what stock we carry by their feedback. BTU (Doug) felt that people would pay any price for what he claims is his superior product no matter how high he priced it. We did not see that in fact our other softwoods did much better. Also we received numerous complaints about the dust factor and that they sometimes smelled like a wet dog.
Bt would like sincerely wish good luck to the remaining suppliers or any new dealers of this product.

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well thats to bad im glade ctpellet in Torrington will be selling them .now i know who i should get them from . well anyways i wont be buying new england low heat pellets again and will be buying the okies again .some webmaster that thinks this is the best way to fix his problems . that mighty dollar

smilejamaica said:

im glade ctpellet in Torrington will be selling them .now i know who i should get them from . well anyways i wont be buying new england low heat pellets again and will be buying the okies again .some webmaster that thinks this is the best way to fix his problems . that mighty dollar

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I had a good chat with Scott this weekend. Was surprised Scott picked up the Okies(I had to ask why). Scott said Doug gave him a deal on a large order and he will pass on to the peeps. I think he said $240/ton on the early buy price. Not sure if I should post it, But that's what he said. Cheapest I have heard Okies in New England besides Squires lumber(too far to travel). Scott will move them at that price! BT might have been a little jealous of the price Scott got, But the bigger the order the better the deal, Like buying in bulk!

Another thing is look out for the Barefoots/Turmans/Hamers this season. Looks like they are struggling to get fiber so supplies might be a little tough to get later this season. FYI from the grape vine.

IMHO. Foul smelling pellets were from being storied outside and got wet. It will happen to any pellet if storied improperly!

j-takeman said:

smilejamaica said:

im glade ctpellet in Torrington will be selling them .now i know who i should get them from . well anyways i wont be buying new england low heat pellets again and will be buying the okies again .some webmaster that thinks this is the best way to fix his problems . that mighty dollar

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I had a good chat with Scott this weekend. Was surprised Scott picked up the Okies(I had to ask why). Scott said Doug gave him a deal on a large order and he will pass on to the peeps. I think he said $240/ton on the early buy price. Not sure if I should post it, But that's what he said. Cheapest I have heard Okies in New England besides Squires lumber(too far to travel). Scott will move them at that price! BT might have been a little jealous of the price Scott got, But the bigger the order the better the deal, Like buying in bulk!

Another thing is look out for the Barefoots/Turmans/Hamers this season. Looks like they are struggling to get fiber so supplies might be a little tough to get later this season. FYI from the grape vine.

IMHO. Foul smelling pellets were from being storied outside and got wet. It will happen to any pellet if storied improperly!

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thanks for the info 240. is a great price i heard about the barefoots but turmans too. scott told me everyone he sold okies to loved them with one exception .

You guys seem to have an "in" with Scott. Any hint on what the early buy will be for Turman's? I do 4-6 ton each year and havn't seen any spring prices yet. Did he mention anything about them to you guys during any of your "company meetings"? lol.

smilejamaica said:

j-takeman said:

smilejamaica said:

im glade ctpellet in Torrington will be selling them .now i know who i should get them from . well anyways i wont be buying new england low heat pellets again and will be buying the okies again .some webmaster that thinks this is the best way to fix his problems . that mighty dollar

Click to expand...

I had a good chat with Scott this weekend. Was surprised Scott picked up the Okies(I had to ask why). Scott said Doug gave him a deal on a large order and he will pass on to the peeps. I think he said $240/ton on the early buy price. Not sure if I should post it, But that's what he said. Cheapest I have heard Okies in New England besides Squires lumber(too far to travel). Scott will move them at that price! BT might have been a little jealous of the price Scott got, But the bigger the order the better the deal, Like buying in bulk!

Another thing is look out for the Barefoots/Turmans/Hamers this season. Looks like they are struggling to get fiber so supplies might be a little tough to get later this season. FYI from the grape vine.

IMHO. Foul smelling pellets were from being storied outside and got wet. It will happen to any pellet if storied improperly!

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thanks for the info 240. is a great price i heard about the barefoots but turmans too. scott told me everyone he sold okies to loved them with one exception .

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Smile, I have yet to see any one pellet make everyone happy(there is always a few that have issues). Also from what I have heard thru the wire is any pellet could have a fiber supply issue's this season. With the exception on the tree chipping mills and mills that get there supply from the softwood lumber(2x4's and such-Okies, Spruce Pointes ect). But its "rumors" and will have to wait and see. If the building trades pickup things may be much better.

vettechick said:

You guys seem to have an "in" with Scott. Any hint on what the early buy will be for Turman's? I do 4-6 ton each year and havn't seen any spring prices yet. Did he mention anything about them to you guys during any of your "company meetings"? lol.

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I have as much "in" with Scott as any other person that buys pellets from him.

Scott was very upfront and said we could expect $10 to $20 depending on what pellet you choose. We may not see any with the Hamers-Turmans-Barefoots. Because they just can't keep up with the demand right now. So it depends on what pellet your looking to purchase. Its a crap shoot this season.

i would love to try those barefoots in my new stove..!!

geek said:

i would love to try those barefoots in my new stove..!!

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What are you waiting for, Wifey's permision? ;-P :lol: :cheese:

There have been "some" complaints with clinkers with both the Barefoots and Hamers. You said the Turmans had to many fines for you? Barefoots are about the same and are we bit dusty. FYI only.

Here is a little tid bit that I found. It has details of the levels dealers get price breaks and purks from the mills. This did not come from Doug(BTU), Scott Olsen or any other pellet dealer. Just an example on how things are broken down for buying power.

Pricing and Availability
Confluence Energy offers a 3 tier pricing and availability guarantee structure tailored to
fit your buying profile. The three levels of commitment are:
Tier 1
- 1000+ tons commitment
- Signed MOU Guarantee to buy and sell
- Guaranteed Pellet Allocation
- Receive product 10 to 12 months a year
- Most Favorable Pricing
- Same volume guarantee during off and on season
Tier 2
- Commitment Less than 1,000 tons
- Reserved Pellet Allocation
- Take product 7 to 9 months
- Favorable Pricing
Tier 3
- No volume commitment
- Take product during 6 month busy season
- Pellet Availability not Guaranteed
- Market pricing

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I thought this was rather interesting tis all!

j-takeman said:

Here is a little tid bit that I found. It has details of the levels dealers get price breaks and purks from the mills. This did not come from Doug(BTU), Scott Olsen or any other pellet dealer. Just an example on how things are broken down for buying power.

Pricing and Availability
Confluence Energy offers a 3 tier pricing and availability guarantee structure tailored to
fit your buying profile. The three levels of commitment are:
Tier 1
- 1000+ tons commitment
- Signed MOU Guarantee to buy and sell
- Guaranteed Pellet Allocation
- Receive product 10 to 12 months a year
- Most Favorable Pricing
- Same volume guarantee during off and on season
Tier 2
- Commitment Less than 1,000 tons
- Reserved Pellet Allocation
- Take product 7 to 9 months
- Favorable Pricing
Tier 3
- No volume commitment
- Take product during 6 month busy season
- Pellet Availability not Guaranteed
- Market pricing

Click to expand...

I thought this was rather interesting tis all!

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Viridis (Okanagan) owns Confluence, recent acquisition, is your information up to date?

smwilliamson said:

j-takeman said:

Here is a little tid bit that I found. It has details of the levels dealers get price breaks and purks from the mills. This did not come from Doug(BTU), Scott Olsen or any other pellet dealer. Just an example on how things are broken down for buying power.

Pricing and Availability
Confluence Energy offers a 3 tier pricing and availability guarantee structure tailored to
fit your buying profile. The three levels of commitment are:
Tier 1
- 1000+ tons commitment
- Signed MOU Guarantee to buy and sell
- Guaranteed Pellet Allocation
- Receive product 10 to 12 months a year
- Most Favorable Pricing
- Same volume guarantee during off and on season
Tier 2
- Commitment Less than 1,000 tons
- Reserved Pellet Allocation
- Take product 7 to 9 months
- Favorable Pricing
Tier 3
- No volume commitment
- Take product during 6 month busy season
- Pellet Availability not Guaranteed
- Market pricing

Click to expand...

I thought this was rather interesting tis all!

Click to expand...

Viridis (Okanagan) owns Confluence, recent acquisition, is your information up to date?

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Well is still currently on Confluence Energy site. Under dealer package. Download the PDF and check out page 7.

http://www.confluenceenergy.com/2010_confluence_dealer_pack.pdf

I just couldn't imagine selling 1000 tons of fuel per season. Yet I just heard someone has sold almost 10,000 tons during a season where the box stores dropped the bottom out on pricing. "Boggles the mind" WOW!

I'm disappointed to see BT stop carrying these. I see they've been pulled from the website completely.

If you have tons you want to just get rid of for dirt cheap just to move the leftovers so you can stop selling them, let me know and i'll be down tomorrow.


new englands burnt like crap for me. Hands down, the WORST pellet i've burned, and i've bruned about 15-20 brands now. Dirty and cold. and super premium prices to boot.
Your results may vary.

j-takeman said:

Here is a little tid bit that I found. It has details of the levels dealers get price breaks and purks from the mills. This did not come from Doug(BTU), Scott Olsen or any other pellet dealer. Just an example on how things are broken down for buying power.

Pricing and Availability
Confluence Energy offers a 3 tier pricing and availability guarantee structure tailored to
fit your buying profile. The three levels of commitment are:
Tier 1
- 1000+ tons commitment
- Signed MOU Guarantee to buy and sell
- Guaranteed Pellet Allocation
- Receive product 10 to 12 months a year
- Most Favorable Pricing
- Same volume guarantee during off and on season
Tier 2
- Commitment Less than 1,000 tons
- Reserved Pellet Allocation
- Take product 7 to 9 months
- Favorable Pricing
Tier 3
- No volume commitment
- Take product during 6 month busy season
- Pellet Availability not Guaranteed
- Market pricing

Click to expand...

I thought this was rather interesting tis all!

Click to expand...

It works that way for pellets, it works that way for stoves... It works that way for any retailer (TV's, cell phones, canned corn). seperate tiers, seperate commitments, better pricing/ delivery service comes to those who buy more. No secret. Not everyone gets the same deal, and those that are willing to commit to buy early (and thus help a mfg plan out a schedule of production) get the better price point and delivery schedule. We have some lines of stoves, for instance, where we only buy maybe a dozen a year. You're lucky to make 25% on those sometimes... Others, we buy LOTS of and commit to buy early in the year (like now, months away from the fall busy time) and can clear as much as 55% on... It's business. As far as the Okies go, They are a great pellet, never really had an issue with them, and have a lot of folks that gobble up truckloads in a matter of a week because they work well. I'm sure there are some folks that have had issues with some batches, but they are pretty consistent overall. Thats what you look for in a pellet. What happened between web and BTU is too bad, but BTU has a good product, I don't feel there is any denying that for most. I'm not saying this as a "customer" of BTU's, either: he works a different end of the country, and we get ours from another guy.

It takes two to tango.

As summit stated, volume pricing is part of every day business. Even freight/fuel costs are negotiable.


IMO I see no need to publicly bash someone and/or their product over a personal disagreement.
Should have been kept offline, or at the very least allow BTU to defend himself.
There are two sides.

From my experience, his pellets are at/near the top of the food chain.
I have burned both Okies and Dragon Mtn this year and had no issues with either. No smelly pellets either.
As long as the price is right, I plan to purchase more for next season.

Loyalty gained is loyalty earned..

Little off topic but I just got clear bags of oakies and there is less dust in the bags.....

They are a great pellet and I will buy more tons soon..

mascoma said:

I am not a dealer, manufacturer,
or part of the "grapevine" but I have never seen anyone else on this forum pimping
their product as relentlessly as BTU, even the paid advertisers. I am surprised it
took this long for him to get banned...

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Exactly. I think lots of people are under the impression that
forums like this one are their free ticket to advertising to the
masses.
I'm an Admin (not an owner) on a very busy 40k+ member motorcycle forum
and we are instructed to ban users who try to get a free ride
like that. We also get roughly a half dozen of them a week who sign
up to try to pull this. We follow a list of rules put forth by the web site owner -
the person who has to cough up the coin monthly to pay for the
site to exist.
We are all fortunate that forums like this exist to members for free,
but someone peddling their products or services should either
become a paid vendor or be gone. Most out here have no clue
how much it costs to keep a forum like this online. Bottom line,
that guy overstepped the boundaries pretty much the moment
he began peddling. Hopefully next one who tries this will be dealt
with immediately.

Fish On said:

Little off topic but I just got clear bags of oakies and there is less dust in the bags.....

They are a great pellet and I will buy more tons soon..

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From where?

Lousy..... love your customer service!
As far as okies go, I don't think they will be hurt by some people not selling them...
It's to bad that these 2 are having issues..
That said 240 is a hell of a price for the quality of those pellets...
BUT I believe ct pellet has a 3 ton min.. that to me sucks cause I am already stuffed with pellets! Lol
Squier has them 249 but may be far from many of us..
But nice people
In closing

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG AND LOVE EACH OTHER? Lol
The world could be coming to an end and we need great spring pricing ...lol