What would you offer for this

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prajna101

Member
Oct 15, 2009
137
Portland OR
How much do you think is there? I could haul it, but it sure would be nice to have it delivered. What do you think I should offer? I typically don't pay for wood, but am having a busy year and could use an easyish score.


http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/mat/2690033310.html

Selling Doug fir logs
12 feet long
27 logs total
About 17-25 inch round
Give me offer
Good for fire wood or lumber
Can help with delivery
 
Keep in mind that whatever you offer, you still have to deliver the logs to your house, and cut, split and stack. I wouldn't pay over $75 for sure.
 
Doing some rough math in my head, and assuming I remember the formula for volume of a cylinder correctly, I'm guessing that there is about 3-3.5 cords of wood in the pile he described. If I had to pick it up I'd offer $50 tops, if he was delivering I'd go a bit more, his time spent to deliver the wood is worth more than the wood in my opinion. My guess is this guy probably thinks the wood is worth a lot more than it really is. Frankly the time you spend taking the wood off his hands is worth more than the wood is worth, so any money you offer is really only paying for the convenience of knowing where to get some wood.
 
Delivery would be the way to go. Purchasing that much wood already c/s/d is the high end of your calculation. Subtract for your labor and expense (just like he was the one doing the work) to buck and split and don't forget that these are logs that are not well seasoned. Having the logs on your place is a time and cost saver and possesion gives a fleeting sense of security so add that to the price since you would pay expenses to retrieve and process anything you could get for free. Do a volume calculation and go about 60% of that volume c/s/d and if it is not worth it walk. You can throw out a price based on the % and maybe he will make up your mind for you. He is advertising and not making any money while it sits there.
 
$75 sounds good (offer)

-Soupy1957
 
75 max if picking up, more if delivered.
 
This might help. Last summer a fella offered me about 60 of logs similar to those in your post. He had cut them down on his property with the idea of making money selling for lumber. Not one mill or small mill would buy them. No money in it.

One really good way of finding their worth would be for you to call 3-4 saw mills. Act like the wood is yours. Tell the mill you want to sell your timber to them. Describe the number and size. Write down what they tell you. I'm almost willing to bet you would almost have to pay a mill to take them off your hands.

With that info, now, you'll have a bit of bargaining leverage in the form of "mills don't pay for this small a quantity of logs", etc. Needles to say, once that fella found me, last summer, he almost begged me to take them. He let me drive all over his grass with my trailer. He offered to buck up the logs. Asked me the dimension that I prefer, etc.
 
Looks like it is probably 2.5 full cord. Maybe you could ask him if he would be interested in this deal. See if he would buck the wood up to the length you want it. Then deliver it to you. See if he would agree to between $150-200 for that. Bargain with him. Then you would have it at your house and all you have to do is split it. Reminding him tactfully that it is green and you will have to split it, stack it, and let it dry for a good amount of time.
 
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