Are people buying wood this time of year?

[Vortec-Z71]

So I had about 30 cords split by by early last summer. I sat on it until it was it was dry enough and sold about 10 cords throughout the fall on weekends. When I was off from school over winter break I probably sold another 5. Anyways, I've had a few ads posted on craigslist with not much interest. I was wondering if people are still buying wood either for this year or ahead of time for next year. When is demand typically the highest (maybe late summer/early fall)?

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Labor Day through Thanksgiving

That seems to be the traditional busy season for deliveries of seasoned wood at a good price. January and February, seasoned sells but most orders are 1/2 to 1 cord to customers looking to get through the heating season. Upside being they are happy to pay a premium for stove ready seasoned wood.

This time of year through mid summer, people are looking for a bargain. Demand is not high and you'll have to compete with low ball green / semi green wood sellers.

If you can hold out for a while, advertise the seasoned wood, but as taking orders for fall delivery with a locked in price. Using this strategy will get you a better price for the wood, but request a deposit from unknown customers because you'll also have to deal with several "cancellations" as they found a cheaper supplier.

Take Care

 

[owbguy]

its slow here. the craig's list folks are down to $135 for a cord of "seasoned" "hardwood" delivered. that's dirt cheap. too cheap. just plain :censored:ing wrong...

 

[cedarman]

as i was reading my localpaper I seen wood at 115 dollars a cord for white and red oak.

100 dollars a cord for maple "hardwood mix"

I ought to grab a couple of cords at that price.

 

[chucker]

its starting to pick up here again. last best run was during new years which lasted for a good 10 days... now its like the cl sellers are droping their price to finish out there year or to just make some extra fast cash??? as a cl seller also, my prices dont change much as being cheaper as i only sell the best wood(dry & uniform sizes) ! so no need for cheaper prices when people keep coming back after they have been bam-boozled by the easy money sellers!! stay honest and they all return even at higher priced products!!

 

[Vortec-Z71]

Last year I only sold about 10 cords in the fall so I didn't know what demand would be like this time of year. I did 3 times that this year. I also couldn't sell this past year until the end of the fall because my wood wasn't dry enough. I'll probably just see what I can sell for now and hold on to the rest through the summer. I'm also going to try to get an earlier start to splitting this year so it will be ready for labor day.

 

[4b316]

wood

upstate ny.My buddy is selling on a average,8 facecords every other day of green$65 a face cord delivered.

 

[chucker]

it gets to be like money in the bank with better interest rates!! rates at 35% gains are hard to beat for just setting there as long as you can keep a rolling profit to stay alive and busy....

 

[jrider]

From mid October to just before Christmas, my phone seems to ring all the time. After that, I only sell to previous customers if they need more. This year though, I was sold out by the end of deer season.

 

[Uncle John]

Mild winter........Less firewood used.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Mildest Winter Ever?

Mild winter........Less firewood used.

You can say that again. It was the mildest winter we had seen in Nebraska for 50 years and one of the driest. Hard to believe this was the same state that saw what many felt was the worst winter ever in 2009-10. What a flip-flop in less than two years!

I can't even give fuelwood away for heating buildings. Best bet is to hold on for campfire bundles. Sales of those usually start in April when the campers start getting restless.

 

[Vortec-Z71]

Mild winter........Less firewood used.

This is the warmest winter I can remember in a long time in MA. Probably had a pretty big effect on how fast people burned through their wood piles.

 

[branchbuzzer]

Oddly, mine has picked up a bit.

What I think is going on is some people never even bought in the fall, maybe had some left over, and then stretched it extra far because of the mild weather and are just now running out.

I have some guys near me selling under $100/cord, but I'm still getting some action at 70-80 per half.

 

[Circle B MN]

I've got a few orders on the books for this week and expect more as the weather gets warmer. Nothing really moves, and that's a good thing, once the snow gets deeper.

 

[Iska3]

I had two different people call me this week for wood. The one gal can only burn well seasoned hardwood so I asked her if she could mix some of her older wood with some of her next years supply. She gave me an odd look and said that they haven’t started to cut next years wood yet. I think a lot of people will end up short of wood before spring. I’m sure this warmer weather fooled a lot of people.

 

[Gavman]

First season burning for me and two weeks ago I bought two cords of Fir for 200 apiece... Hopefully the last wood I buy for along time... I do have about 5 cords drying in the shed but thats for next winter.

 

[CRThomas]

Firewood

So I had about 30 cords split by by early last summer. I sat on it until it was it was dry enough and sold about 10 cords throughout the fall on weekends. When I was off from school over winter break I probably sold another 5. Anyways, I've had a few ads posted on craigslist with not much interest. I was wondering if people are still buying wood either for this year or ahead of time for next year. When is demand typically the highest (maybe late summer/early fall)?

Bulk firewood is seasonal bundled firewood is year round. In my area I am buying 5 and 6 ranks for a $100.00. Because of the mild winter. That is delivered in chunks 16 inchs long.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

It will be interesting to me to see what firewood sales are like here in Eastern PA. with the "windfall" of wood that was/is available from our "infamous Halloween storm". Combine that with the unusually mild Winter that we had and sales may be so bad you couldn't give it away; well, I'm sure that you could give some away-you know what I mean!

 

[Jere39]

It will be interesting to me to see what firewood sales are like here in Eastern PA. with the "windfall" of wood that was/is available from our "infamous Halloween storm". Combine that with the unusually mild Winter that we had and sales may be so bad you couldn't give it away; well, I'm sure that you could give some away-you know what I mean!

I'm still cutting, dragging, splitting and stacking the "windfall" in my woods. And, to keep my inventory at a manageable level I've started selling at "Fire sale" prices. I've got 90% red oak, with a face cord of hickory and another of mixed beech and birch. In my mind, I can use the cash right now for tax time, and I can give a good deal to people stocking their next year stacks.