Made a wood seller mad today

[mecreature]

A wood supplier in my area will sell cords for 100 bucks in early summer. Its all green and a mix bag, but cheap.
at the end of summer it goes up to 60 or 70 a face cord so get it now. He states this in his ad.

 

[jeff_t]

I sold a little firewood last winter that was the promised quantity, and it was ready to burn tonight. I sold it for an almost embarrassing premium, and every one of those people called me back this fall. Except for one that bugged me all summer.

 

[jatoxico]

Just North of Albany, South of Saratoga.

(broken link removed to http://seasonedgourmetfirewood.com/site/products)

Granted, that's only one seller... but from what I see, business is good. I drive by their place all the time, and see people there often. I've tried a couple craigslist sellers up here; they're all green, and a couple came up short.

On craigslist, you can find a "seasoned cord" for anywhere from 200-280. Some of those will come in the backs of pickup trucks, being split that day. Guess lots of people are fed up with dealing with that.

I found a honest greenish cord+ delivered for $240, I was happy with that for now, along with scrounging on the side. If this latest log length guy ends up to be legit though, I'll be real happy.

Oh I see. I thought it must be something like that. We have a guy around here selling kiln dried cord wood and specialty wood for pizza ovens and bakeries etc. The kiln dried cord wood for a fireplace or stove is expensive, the specialty wood is ridiculous.

 

[Ashful]

A wood supplier in my area will sell cords for 100 bucks in early summer. Its all green and a mix bag, but cheap.
at the end of summer it goes up to 60 or 70 a face cord so get it now. He states this in his ad.

"See this is from our winter stock, where supply and demand have a big problem."

 

[Rbrennan26]

I have a success story from a Craig's list seller. Bought 2 face cords of ash for $120 (unfortunately I had to pay $60 delivery but I don't really have on option regarding that).

Anyways, took a fresh split and it measured 17% on the MM. I guess EAB in Michigan was beneficial for one reason, being able to provide dry wood that burns in today's fireplaces. It was obvious this wood was freshly cut/split yet it was still dry enough to burn!

Just thought I would share that it is possible to not get ripped off if you are careful.

Rob

 

[jeff_t]

I have a success story from a Craig's list seller. Bought 2 face cords of ash for $120 (unfortunately I had to pay $60 delivery but I don't really have on option regarding that).

Anyways, took a fresh split and it measured 17% on the MM. I guess EAB in Michigan was beneficial for one reason, being able to provide dry wood that burns in today's fireplaces. It was obvious this wood was freshly cut/split yet it was still dry enough to burn!

Just thought I would share that it is possible to not get ripped off if you are careful.

Rob

How did your first purchase go?

 

[KenLockett]

Around here (Upstate NY), a properly seasoned cord of wood sells for $800+. They sell "fireplace cords"- which come out to 44 cu ft for $220-280, depending on the wood.

Almost makes me want to start selling wood myself.

Until then, I'll just keep buying it green and stacking in my backyard. I may have found a good new supplier yesterday, exchanged a couple emails with him today, crossing my fingers that it'll pan out well when the snow melts. He can deliver green split cords and log length, ordering a batch of each.

No offense, but I think you are being taken. I see 'seasoned' wood advertised constantly for 200-300 dollars in the capital district. Whether any wood is actually 'seasoned' or not is a crap shoot. Kiln dried cord i know of two places that are $350-400 delivered. Bought two cords last year in the area (reasonably seasoned per my MM) for $185/cord. Can buy CS firewood for 150-180/cord from reputable people who don't advertise. All Albany Craig List adds that I see are 200-300 Cord. Not saying I'd trust any of them but there ya go.

 

[Rbrennan26]

@jeff_t
LOL! This most recent purchase was nothing compared to my first firewood purchase experience. Actually still have a little bit left from what I bought from you. Now my wife and kids are hooked on having fires so I ended up burning much more than I anticipated! It was like a crisis when we were getting low and I started turning down the pleas from the family to have a fire.

If I wouldn't have been successful getting this load, I would probably had been begging you to sell me some more to get me through the year!

Hope all is well with you!

Rob

 

[BobUrban]

But the processor is 30+k not including the conveyor(estimate 10-20K) and the truck that can hold and haul a cord or more of wood with a dump bed... conservatively purchased used and in decent shape 25k

So for around 75k not including saws, tools and vehicles to get wood from the woods to the processing plant, maintenance of all the equipment and fuel... um... you too could be a broke a$$ wood processor and seller.

None of these numbers include the cost of labor - either your own or hired help nor does it include stacking the wood or space to be 3 years ahead on such a grand scale that you could tell buyers in February, "I know there is 3 acres of stacked firewood out there that you can see but as an ethical seller I can't let you buy it until 2016/17. It just isn't dry enough yet".

Again I ask, "how does anyone make $ selling firewood" ONLY way in my eyes that it is at all profitable is if the wood is a byproduct of your "real" business as a tree service that you would be paying to dump and then only if you had CHEAP labor, tools and vehicles already for said "real" business and you sold it "as is"!! ie. MC is what you get.

And all this is considering the trees themselves are free or you have so much wooded property as to never run out. Again, not realistic so to produce firewood on this scale one would need to acquire said access in the first place - not going to be cheap!

 

[Ashful]

Again I ask, "how does anyone make $ selling firewood" ONLY way in my eyes that it is at all profitable is if the wood is a byproduct of your "real" business...

Bob,

I thought you chimed in on that video posted here last year, of the large-scale firewood processing company. If no one here recalls it, I can try to search it out again tonight.

 

[drz1050]

No offense, but I think you are being taken. I see 'seasoned' wood advertised constantly for 200-300 dollars in the capital district. Whether any wood is actually 'seasoned' or not is a crap shoot. Kiln dried cord i know of two places that are $350-400 delivered. Bought two cords last year in the area (reasonably seasoned per my MM) for $185/cord. Can buy CS firewood for 150-180/cord from reputable people who don't advertise. All Albany Craig List adds that I see are 200-300 Cord. Not saying I'd trust any of them but there ya go.

Oh, I didn't buy any of that $800 wood, nor would I.. I just think that's silly.

$150 for a honest cord is a steal though- would you mind sharing that contact?

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

But the processor is 30+k not including the conveyor(estimate 10-20K) and the truck that can hold and haul a cord or more of wood with a dump bed... conservatively purchased used and in decent shape 25k

So for around 75k not including saws, tools and vehicles to get wood from the woods to the processing plant, maintenance of all the equipment and fuel... um... you too could be a broke a$$ wood processor and seller.

None of these numbers include the cost of labor - either your own or hired help nor does it include stacking the wood or space to be 3 years ahead on such a grand scale that you could tell buyers in February, "I know there is 3 acres of stacked firewood out there that you can see but as an ethical seller I can't let you buy it until 2016/17. It just isn't dry enough yet".

Again I ask, "how does anyone make $ selling firewood" ONLY way in my eyes that it is at all profitable is if the wood is a byproduct of your "real" business as a tree service that you would be paying to dump and then only if you had CHEAP labor, tools and vehicles already for said "real" business and you sold it "as is"!! ie. MC is what you get.

And all this is considering the trees themselves are free or you have so much wooded property as to never run out. Again, not realistic so to produce firewood on this scale one would need to acquire said access in the first place - not going to be cheap!

Holmdel firewood in Holmdel New Jersey,
He makes a ton of money, he buys 15" splits of red oak and hickory and sells at a premium price......

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I would assume that all delivered split wood is unseasoned and be happy with a honest quantity and consistently sized splits.

I agree. Everything I've bought is more or less unseasoned, and needs at least 9 months in a hot driveway.

 

[velvetfoot]

I agree. Everything I've bought is more or less unseasoned, and needs at least 9 months in a hot driveway.

I didn't mention species, and that's important, but I'm not that good at identification, and being split doesn't help.

 

[simple.serf]

Whenever I buy firewood, I expect it to be green. I make this known to the sellers, and I tell them that I want a discount because it isn't seasoned. I usually manage to get the price down a little, and I css for 2 years anyways, so the stove stays happy.

 

[velvetfoot]

"30 cords of wood in the front yard, 10 in the woods"
Sounds like me.

 

[jrems]

I was lucky to find a local guy selling green cords for $150. I asked him to call me if he got any dead standing ash and I would pay extra. A few weeks later he called and got 2 cords of 20-25%mc ash for $160 a cord. Not only that when he showed up it was actually stacked in his dump truck and easy to measure that it was a true 2 cords. Got a cord of kild dried for $300 to top of this years supply. Mixed with the ash it's burning great.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Just North of Albany, South of Saratoga.

(broken link removed to http://seasonedgourmetfirewood.com/site/products)

Granted, that's only one seller... but from what I see, business is good. I drive by their place all the time, and see people there often. I've tried a couple craigslist sellers up here; they're all green, and a couple came up short.

On craigslist, you can find a "seasoned cord" for anywhere from 200-280. Some of those will come in the backs of pickup trucks, being split that day. Guess lots of people are fed up with dealing with that.

I found a honest greenish cord+ delivered for $240, I was happy with that for now, along with scrounging on the side. If this latest log length guy ends up to be legit though, I'll be real happy.

I don't understand how they can charge that much. Arent pellets and compressed sawdust logs far cheaper? Isnt freaking electric heat cheaper lol? Whats next, $1,000 cords and the option to take out a loan?

I burn wood mainly to save money. Yeah I enjoy the ambiance and the workout and whatever, but if I wasn't saving money I'd not do it plain and simple. I paid $210 / ton for compressed bricks (about a cord equivalent they say) so if I can't get wood for cheaper than that I'm sticking to the 'manufactured wood'. Also paid about the same for pellets on this last load ($205/ton).

 

[drz1050]

Pellets are far cheaper, yep. I haven't seen any compressed logs/ bricks being sold up here though... Pellets are also always sold by the bag or ton, you don't have all these face cord, rick, fireplace cord, etc bullshit names to deal with. A ton is a ton, everyone knows what that is.. so if one person was trying to sell for $800/ ton, he'd be laughed at.

I think they get away with it by calling it a "fireplace cord." Most buyers don't know what the difference is, so they figure it's the same thing...?

Stupid buyers = happy seller? Iono. It reeks of dishonesty to me, but what do I know?

 

[Babaganoosh]

Holmdel firewood in Holmdel New Jersey,
He makes a ton of money, he buys 15" splits of red oak and hickory and sells at a premium price......

Holmdel is all rich people. Where there is money, there is money to be made.

 

[jatoxico]

I don't understand how they can charge that much. Arent pellets and compressed sawdust logs far cheaper? Isnt freaking electric heat cheaper lol? Whats next, $1,000 cords and the option to take out a loan?

I burn wood mainly to save money. Yeah I enjoy the ambiance and the workout and whatever, but if I wasn't saving money I'd not do it plain and simple. I paid $210 / ton for compressed bricks (about a cord equivalent they say) so if I can't get wood for cheaper than that I'm sticking to the 'manufactured wood'. Also paid about the same for pellets on this last load ($205/ton).

The guy by me sells the kiln dried cordwood for about $600/cord IIRC. It's nice, comes in bags no bugs. It's not for someone who wants to make a dent in their fuel bill just better than buying a package of kiln dried at the super market.

Where I think he makes his money is by supplying high end restaurants with wood fired ovens. They pay and charge a premium.

 

[tsquini]

By his definition, I love to burn alcohol in my stove. I still keep my "alcohol" dry.

 

[Ashful]

I don't understand how they can charge that much. Arent pellets and compressed sawdust logs far cheaper? Isnt freaking electric heat cheaper lol?

The target customer is not one trying to heat their home, but those looking for occasional ambiance fires or running wood-fired brick ovens.

 

[OhioBurner©]

I should have just let it go but I responded and said "older stoves didn't have the secondary burn and would burn wet would better than the newer stoves", I wasn't try to argue but I was trying to get him to understand that if he kept it covered and got the moisture down that he would have a huge selling advantage over other sellers. He responded with " This wood is meant to be burned this year, the moisture you are talking about is alcohol" I didn't reply back, hopefully he stops texting me

The easiest way I say it is that I have a new high efficiency stove that is very finicky about dry wood. That's usually enough.

Also if they start to argue 'seasoned' just say you don't really care about whether its seasoned or not. Ask them instead specifically how long its been cut split and stacked. Of course >90% of wood sellers are never going to have their wood stacked anyhow.

 

[jatoxico]

I wasn't try to argue but I was trying to get him to understand that if he kept it covered and got the moisture down that he would have a huge selling advantage over other sellers. He responded with " This wood is meant to be burned this year, the moisture you are talking about is alcohol"

The sellers response just shows the ingrained misinformation out there. Unless he's really just trying to BS, the way I read this he believes the remaining moisture is methanol (wood alcohol). I would guess a lot of these guys are more or less honest but have been doing it this way for years with plenty of happy customers. Anytime their knowledge is challenged they just assume the buyer is inexperienced.