Talked to a retailer about selling bundled FW to them. They currently pay 2.50 for a 1/2cu.ft. bundle 6 small pieces. They sell these for about 5 bucks a bundle. Seems like this would be good money but I haven't been there done this yet.
If you are thinking about getting into selling bundles, I would say go for it. Here is what I have learned over the past year and a half.
1. You have to be a salesman, if you are starting small you will be competing against some big companies that supply bundled wood.
2. I didn't get a customer for the first two months or so. Went back to the drawing board with my sales techniques. Came up with the idea of offering the rack and first load of wood set-up and delivered for free, then the customer would pay me for the wood sold when I came to re-stock. Cash flow is a major issue for businesses right now, this worked and got me a half a dozen customers in the following two weeks. You just have to be able to front the initial shipment.
3. Find your target customers. For me it has been gas stations, single owner and no current supply. Campgrounds haven't panned out too well for me, some had suppliers they were happy with and others say they can't sell it because their campers won't pay $5.00 for something they can walk around the surrounding woods and pick up.
4. Don't be so concerned over what the competition sells for. I originally priced this way, $2.50 to $2.85 per bundle wholesale. But if you give your customer a price range to sell in, some will sell for more than $5.00. Like one station owner told me, "If a customer is here and they see the wood and think to themselves that it would be a good idea to have a fire that night. Are they really going to go somewhere else to save $0.50? Most likely not. Know your costs, and sell it for what you need plus a profit.
5. I only sell the interior wood from my rounds, no pieces with bark. This is just for marketing and the packages look cleaner without bark and they tend to stay cleaner as well. I still haven't figured out a fast and efficient way for me to strip bark. I sell the "waste" wood as bulk firewood.
6. I sell wholesale only. Here in the state of PA, bundled firewood is not sales tax exempt like bulk firewood. If you sell retail, you may have to collect sales tax pending upon your state.
7. I do this as a second source of income. But I set up a company for it for tax reasons mostly, but also, the PA Dept. of Agriculture Division of Weights and Measures requires it officially. And if you are going to sell to gas stations, your bundles will be checked since they are coming by the stations anyway.
8. Make sure you have a consistent supply of wood. This is my problem right now. Noone around here has any bulk logs at a reasonable price, and now I am starting to run low.
9. My best selling month so far has been May, so don't assume Winter will be the best. Most of my sales are people having campfires or in their fire pit. My best sales territory isn't near campgrounds our state parks, but near upper middle class neighborhoods.
10. What I like most about selling this way, once you get some customers it is all repeatition and I like constant. Same customers, same delivery location. Don't have to drive through developments with a dump trailer in tow trying to find an address. I also make all my deliverys with just the pickup truck now. Once you get the sales trends down (and trust me I am still learning) you can figure out when to over-stock certain locations so you don't have to make so many trips.
Good luck, hope some of my experiences can help you.