Craigslist Winner!

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/grd/921416372.html - they have pics of the rack.

FIREWOOD Service with SUPPLIED RACK. (District Only)

Date: 2008-11-16, 1:18PM EST


With emphasis on a service - get a proper storage solution and a supply of first class firewood - in maneagable quantities - and at a time that's convenient for you. For District of Columbia only.
This is the concept:
We'll come and set you up with your own circular 40 inch diameter steel firewood rack (with an attractive black powdered finish), and fill it with a supply of beautiful split, dry, high-heat content, aromatic hardwoods. Including delivery and stacking, rack assembly and proper placement (we'll advise you on where to put it), and a small starter set of special dense paper-roll kindling and starter fuel sticks: 140 dollars FOR THE FIRST TIME. Or 150 if you'd like a durable new tarp cover if you are storing your wood outside and need one.
And if you like the wood and need a re-supply throughout the season, we'll come by and refill the rack for 80 dollars (and do it within 24hrs of your re-order). The rack holds one 1/4 face cord (or 16 cubic feet) - the perfect quantity for the city dweller with limited space and who may not be burning wood fires every evening (or as the primary heat source).
A rack's highly recommended to keep your wood off of the ground, dry and free of termites. And it simply looks great - for your patio, or on-hand, for having wood right besides your door.
Order soon, as the list for deliveries is growing, and while these excellent racks are still in supply!

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I have one of these racks on our porch. Paid $25 for it. 1/4 of a face cord is generous calculation. But assuming it is correct; at $80 1/4, that makes $320 for a FACE cord. Plus $60 for a $25 rack.

Since there is no official unit of measure called a "face cord" in Canada, it's hard to dispute the math, but what is commonly known as a "face cord" is a usually a third of a cord if bucked to 16" lengths. They claim the rack holds a quarter of a face cord or 16 cubic feet. By their definition that would be 4x16=64 cubic feet for a face cord and a true cord is 128 cubic feet.

So, they are charging $640 for a cord of wood, seasoned I presume. Man, I'm on the wrong end of this business.

I love it. I'd never pay for that but I'd sure as hell be their SE CT distributor.
I wouldn't even need to use the truck, I could deliver from the back of my Accord and save on gas.

I am constantly amazed a what people will pay for things. My wife got a catalog in the mail the other day that wanted $1,200 for a TV tray.
I got nervous just having it in the house so I threw it in the stove.

*faint*!! lol Wow could we ever make some awesome money to sell to some of these 'city folks' or what! :gulp:
What is sad, is that I bet this guy is getting orders just from the way he wrote up his add!
Some busy professional people in the city have more money than sense and know nothing at all about firewood etc. I gotta give it to this guy if he does get orders, because he emphasizes the fact that he is selling service and that he is!

I realize electric rates have gone up since I left the DC burbs and that everyone is suffering shell shock back there (I was in shock at how much more electricity runs here when I first relocated west and I don't have an all-electric house here in the countryside). However, I still suspect the majority of people aren't wood burners, even with higher electric rates. Many of my friends in the DC area that had wood burning fireplaces have converted them to propane rather than choosing to buy a more efficient wood burning insert or stove. They feel there are too many hassles to face with wood burning, including restrictive covenants and bylaws that in some communities included things like wood piles. I say good luck to this person. He's industrious, that's for certain.

I don't think the numbers add up, a 40" rack with 16" long splits ( guesstimating form the pic) would = 11.6 cu.ft. for $80
$6.90/ cu.ft6
Seems more like $883/ cord if my math is right. :ahhh:

Reminds of the Cheech & Chong car payment plan: $50 down and $50 a month... for 50 years.

Being everyone else has said this is questionable, I'll mention that that rack looks just like the one I just saw @ Home Cheapo for $29.00.

NEVERMIND: I just re-read the origional post and saw you mentioned the approximate rack cost already. My bad.

We picked 3 of them up last year during Lowe's end of the season close out sale for $6 each! haha
My hubby says they are really cheapO built too. lol

Makes sense to me that this would work in D.C. Area is full of govt. workers used to paying $600 for a toilet seat and $300 for a hammer when they are spending our tax $$$$

I hear ya Cory92! lol

At that price it's cheaper to heat with any other source... even oil!

Ah, but wood heat has the ambiance . . . I have yet to hear of anyone in the romantic mood turning up the oil thermostat and sitting in front of their oil boiler with a couple glasses of wine.

Especially since this guy sells those "aromatic" hardwoods.

Nothing more romantic to me than the smell of hickory... Reminds me of BBQ! <--------MMMMMMMMMM BBQ!

I think the math is OK - even if it is a bit creative. A 'face cord' is usually defined as a stack of wood 4 foot high x 8 foot wide x how ever long the wood happens to be cut. The 'typical' length seems to be 16 inches because 3 stacks of 16 inches = 48 inches or 4 feet - and an 8 foot x 4 foot x 4 foot stack gives a 'true' cord of wood. But nothing in 'face cord' specifically states how thick the wood is. It could be 6" long, 12" long, 16" or what ever all you know is looking at the face, it should be 8 feet x 4 feet or 32 square feet total.

The guy says he has a 40" diameter rack - that works out to 8.7 square feet - where 1/4 face cord would be 8 square feet, so I guess that is one way you could consider it a 'generous' 1/4 face cord. Though it would be really 'generous' if the logs were each about 16 feet long!

He is selling to a different customer than people at this fourm big city will pay for service like this.(this wood is not being used as heat)
"Ah, but wood heat has the ambiance . . . I have yet to hear of anyone in the romantic mood turning up the oil thermostat and sitting in front of their oil boiler with a couple glasses of wine"

I think he has been smoking something other than wood :lol:

1 thing you can always count on is people are lazy or dont have time. They buy 6-7 small pices of oak at the gas station aroud here for 5 bucks!

I wish I could get a call from those people! I would quit my day job. Look how many go to 5-bucks (starbucks) for coffee. Laziness definitely keeps the economy going

I live close to two camp grounds and sell 3 bundles for 10 bucks in the sumer. Its more work at the size they want it in, but what the heck Iam not arguing at that price point!

Wal-mart around here sells firewood in a box for $6 or $7. Out of curiosity, I had to open the box. There were 5-6 small to medium splits of an unrecognizable wood. The cardboard box probably had more BTU's than the wood.

I remember reading a thread about the wal mart wood somewhere... it worked out to be something like $700-$900 a cord...

In my area firewood goes for 200-250 for a true cord. My understanding is in NJ weights and measures will stop you from selling a "face cord"
A landscaper friend who worked hard to make $ selling wood decided this year to cut everything in half and pallet it up for Chimineas now that full cotd is bringing in close to $ 500 and he's sold out. And you have to go outside to enloy it!!

There are relatively few wood burners in the greater DC area, and fewer still in DC proper. It's picked up some this year, but the new burners are looking to save money so I don't think he's selling too many of these. But if he does then the price was, by definition, right. There are several other firewood dealers on the local craigslist selling to DC for around $225/cord, so people have other options.

It's a way better deal than this guy, who has been trying to sell a small pile of cedar for $200 for months: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/for/920775846.html