Offer from pelletsales.com

[latichever]

I received an email from pelletsales.com saying they will be offering some brands below $200 per ton, and that I can put in an order now and have it delivered late summer/early fall.

This seems to be a reputable company, but I'm a little leery about giving any company my money now, and having them hold it in the expectation that they will deliver the goods months from now.

Anyone else do this with them? Anyone have any similar reservations about doing this?

 

[webbie]

Disclaimer - they are a paying client of Hearth.com

BUT, I have met and spoken to the owner and he is 100% on the level. They are heavily investing in this business and seem to be doing well. I think they have a good model for distributing fuel which will help most customers and dealers.....

Perhaps you can ask if you can place an order with a credit card and have them charge when it ships...or, to be more fair to them (since they may guarantee price), see if they can take a 50% deposit, etc.

Of course, you could also take the fuel sooner if you have room...BTW, Harryback (Squire here in Ma.) has some brands around $200 a ton also.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a good way to plan ahead especially if they offer a variety of product. If they are selling brands you aren't familiar with, buy a few bags right now and try them out first to be sure they work well in your stove .

 

[Xena]

I bought two tons delivered from them in early February.
They are an A+ outfit imo.

They didn't charge my card until they delivered the pellets.
Also got the same email. It doesn't say that they charge
your cc in advance, but if they don't specify the details when they
send you a final quote in a couple of weeks, you can always
shoot them a quick email and get the scoop.
I will be placing my order with them for an early Fall delivery.

Here's a portion of the email I got from them:
Dear customer.........................We will soon be offering wood pellet
fuel at deeply discounted, off-season pricing. We are finalizing all pricing
now and you should expect to receive a quote in about two weeks
for pellets starting below $200/ton!

Your quote will include several options, including spring or late
summer/early autumn delivery. This way you can take advantage
of off-season pricing without needing to take immediate delivery.

 

[Xena]

woops! Need a feature to delete our own posts
if we mess up. :cheese:

 

[biggins08]

I have been to Hairy's store. Nice store.

 

[HarryBack]

Thanks, Hard Woods. Wish you had intro'd yourself. So far, have met GVA, Elk.....both came in stealthily, but let me know who they were quickly. GVA is one smart guy, and Elk was a huge amount of fun to chat with.

As for pellets and year 2007. I predict another shortage this year, more similar to the fall of '05. One supplier communicated to us that their raw material amounts would be down roughly 25% from 2006. Another supplier found out it didnt work out for them to bring out bagged pellets from the Northwest and sell them out here.....with the warm winter, shipping costs, etc, they just didnt make enough money to justify doing so again. Also, figure in the deficit of pellets in the West, likely caused in part to the shipping of tens of thousands of tons out here to the East, and I'm thinking those companies may hold their product closer to home this year. My suggestion this year would be to buy your pellets early AND MAKE SURE YOU GET THEM EARLY! If there is a shortage, it wouldnt be the first time pellets that were "promised" were oversold...especially if they havent been paid for yet. Retailers such as ourselves, Pelletsales.com, etc, cannot guarantee pellets we dont actually own and control. Id strongly suggest that rather than waiting for fall, wherever you buy your pellets, you buy them and take delivery ASAP. Im sure most retailers would be happy to oblige. Too many people tend to wait too long, creating a rush in the late summer/fall, and if the delivery network isnt up to speed, its tough to get everyone's pellets to them at the same time...trust me. As for prices, hate to say it, but I think the prices at this point are most likely at or near their lowest. Only see increases from now till fall.

There again, I might also be wrong. Do what you think best, but remember, I warned you. Dont delete this post, Craig, ok? So I can point to it this fall? Thanks.

 

[elkimmeg]

I'll add this to the mix home slaes are stagnent new home construction way off. Which equates to less lumber being produced ie less raw materials for pellet manufacturing =
potential for shortages and rising prices

 

[EatenByLimestone]

When you mix in Murphy's Law, you get a winter forecast of:

1. Real cold
2. Lots of snow
3. 3 gulf hurricanes to bring up prices
4. Opec deciding to raise prices too.
5. More people buying pellet stoves because they were available this year.

Matt and happy to have chosen a wood stove.

 

[GVA]

When you mix in Murphy's Law, you get a winter forecast of:

1. Real cold
2. Lots of snow
3. 3 gulf hurricanes to bring up prices
4. Opec deciding to raise prices too.
5. More people buying pellet stoves because they were available this year.

Matt and happy to have chosen a wood stove.

I agree..... so lets have a pellet co take over bio bricks et al and use these raw materials for pellets instead since there is so much wood available :-/
The point is the same for wood or pellets..... get it early....... You wouldn't chop up your seasons worth of wood in September and expect it to season would you?

 

[buildingmaint]

Just sent for info. I live in Northwestern Pennsylvania .Does anyone know if they will ship here?Has anyone ever bought a truck load?I have friends who say they are working out a deal for a truck load but it never happens. I like to have my pellets in hand by June.My friends like to wait to get a better price ,but always end up spending more then I do .I paid $ under $ 700.00 for 3-1/2 tons this year.I think I will buy 4 tons this year.

 

[buildingmaint]

They emailed me and said they would get back to me , but they haven't yet.

 

[HarryBack]

Id think a truckload would be easier to schedule. Ya fill the truck, and deliver it to one point. Im not sure how many tons are in their truckloads, but theres generally 24-26 tons in the trailer loads we get. Im thinking since they deliver on a straight flatbead with a forklift attatched, it'll likely be 12-14 tons. I know where they ship from, and Im pretty curious as to how much the delivery charge would be. Maybe since you didnt hear right back, its good news....makes you think they are trying to make it work. If you heard "No" right away, well, diff story!

 

[Xena]

I Im thinking since they deliver on a straight
flatbead with a forklift attached, it'll likely be 12-14 tons. I know where they ship from, and
Im pretty curious as to how much the delivery charge would be.

I had two tons delivered from them back in early February of this year.
I think there was something like 8 tons left on the flatbed, but I couldn't
see it holding more than 14 so you're probably right.


Delivery charge varied (at least it did when I made my purchase) depending
on how many tons you bought. I paid 30 a ton for delivery, but the charges
go lower if you order 4 tons or more I think it was. Also, they have a 2 ton minimum, but they will
deliver a single order to more than one location..for example, if you and your
buddy in the next town place an order for a total of 8 tons, they will make
a stop at his place, and then at yours.
They are cool about answering questions so if there's anything anyone
wants to know just shoot them an email. I asked a bunch of questions
prior to ordering and they were cool about answering everything.

As far as buying pellets early.....like I said before..other than delivered
from pelletsales.com, try finding a place down here on the south shore
that even stocks pellets before October. Hardly anyone down here does and
if they do, they want 7.50 a bag for the freakin things so buying early isn't
always an option everywhere unless ya wanna bend ova. :cheese:

 

[GVA]

It would be nice if people could get together and order pellets at the same time. I'm trying to get people at work to go in on a truckload to save some coin, as we have room in the warehouse and my boss has said I can store pellets at work..... I can fit 3 ton in my basement and boss said I could store about 10 at work.
Zeta maybe we can check and go in on 8-10 ton or more pre season and see what kind of deal we can get?????

 

[Xena]

GVA I'd go for that if they would do it.
I only have room for 3 tons so that's
all I could order but I have a friend
in Canton who also has a pellet stove and they might
want to order too. Lets wait and see what
kind of deals they offer and then we can
work on it from there. They should be sending
me an email with details in about a week or so.

 

[jjbaer]

They emailed me and said they would get back to me , but they haven't yet.

so...play their game.....e-mail them and tell then that if they don't give you a price and a delivery date within a week, you'll take your business elsewhere.....

 

[webbie]

It would be nice if people could get together and order pellets at the same time. I'm trying to get people at work to go in on a truckload to save some coin, as we have room in the warehouse and my boss has said I can store pellets at work..... I can fit 3 ton in my basement and boss said I could store about 10 at work.
Zeta maybe we can check and go in on 8-10 ton or more pre season and see what kind of deal we can get?????

Check with Harryback - even though he is a little distance, maybe his trucks can hold a bunch and his current prices on some ($200 or so) are about as low as they go....

 

[The Patriot]

Delivery charge varied (at least it did when I made my purchase) depending
on how many tons you bought. I paid 30 a ton for delivery, but the charges
go lower if you order 4 tons or more I think it was.

I ordered 4 tons from them a couple of months ago, delivery charge for me went from $30 to $20 per ton.

 

[HarryBack]

It would be nice if people could get together and order pellets at the same time. I'm trying to get people at work to go in on a truckload to save some coin, as we have room in the warehouse and my boss has said I can store pellets at work..... I can fit 3 ton in my basement and boss said I could store about 10 at work.
Zeta maybe we can check and go in on 8-10 ton or more pre season and see what kind of deal we can get?????

Maybe, but I doubt you'll see big discounts even on 10-14 tons, GVA....contrary to popular belief, there just isnt a whole lot of profit there to play with.....tho maybe you would get a slight concession on delivery charges. Im curious to see what they offer myself, hope someone posts here when they find out so I know whats going on...heck, maybe by now Pelletsales.com has sent out pricing? I know New England Pellet has finalized their pricing for the season.

 

[webbie]

I know New England Pellet has finalized their pricing for the season.

Harry, do you really believe that they are not going to raise AND/OR lower their prices 100% based on the supply, competition and market forces? Hard to imagine that. Maybe what you mean is "They are attempting to get folks to buy based on some price they made up"? Or, maybe they have contracts in Europe for a certain price and refuse to sell for less here?

Inquiring minds want to know....

 

[HarryBack]

Well, I like the folks over at New England Pellet, and I think they set pricing based upon what they truly believe they can sell them for throughout the season. Will they stay the same? WHo knows. But at this point, I believe what I see printed on paper from them AND other companies. I can set my own future prices based upon this. Of course, we all know that due to many criterion, prices may change. If they do, I'll change my prices accordingly as well. I still think now is an excellent time to buy tho.

They have sold to Europe as well, but usually only excess supply, and why shouldnt they? If they are profit-driven, they should at least attempt to maximize it. Theres alot of glitches in selling overseas tho as well.

Also, note that there are 3 kinds of New England Pellets:

1. New England Premium Hardwood Pellets, out of Jaffrey, NH (tan bag, maroon lettering)
2. New England Standard Pellets, also out of Jaffrey, marked with STANDARD on the bag
3. New England Premium Canadian Pellets, bagged in Palmer, MA (tan bag, green lettering)

I say this because there seems to be alot of confusion....everyone seems to assume all New England Pellets are hardwood.....not the case.....the Canadian variety is technically softwood. A good pellet, still Premium, but softwood nonetheless.

 

[richg]

It's been a week since I asked for a quote, and no response. If they don't want my business, I will go elsewhere. Wood pellets for northern NJ is not rocket science.

 

[HarryBack]

in all fairness, its likely they are putting together a program.....we only got manufacturer pricing last week and this week, depending upon pellet manufacturer.

 

[Xena]

They haven't emailed anything yet. They are going to be offering a couple more
brands other than NEWP, and different delivery times.
Should be receiving the quote by next week sometime.
I will be buying from them and as I said, I will post up when I get
an email.