Prices

[DSW]

What are prices in your area?

My area, everybody's selling for "$50 a rick". Delivered usually. Always as seasoned, followed by a picture of a pile of wood so white Crest would be proud to advertise it.

I get a better price delivering to the city but factoring in fuel and time it's a wash anyway.

I live in a low income area, low housing cost, truly are oaks and maples everywhere and lot of guys willing to do hard labor. So I understand it to a point. But nobody is selling actual seasoned wood and I can't verify amounts but I've delivered to people who thought I brought too much so I can assume shorted as well.

I have 2 year oak that I'm basically giving away I feel.

 

[chucker]

for true 3 year old blackened dry oak I get $55.00 for 1/6th cord, or $330.00 a cord. if buying by the full cord I let it go for $270.00, well seasoned $240.00 per cord and $220.00 per cord dead standing out of the woods! so it don't really matter what the moisture content is of the wood. there is never enough money to be made for its true worth!! $550.00 per cord is my goal for green oak in 100" lengths.... ?? lol

 

[DSW]

240 is what I was asking for a cord of nothing but 1.5 year red oak and you would have thought I was asking for people's first born. I have a small stove, so once it gets really cold I enjoy that seasoned red oak and waking up to coals in a tiny stove.

My wife told me to wait em out, they'll run out of wood. They never had seasoned to begin with, there's nothing to run out of. It's always a standing tree and a Saturday afternoon away from having another seasoned load of oak.

 

[Circle B MN]

Full cords can be had for $240 delivered, but I find the third cord market more profitable. Customers are recreational burners and want to buy enought to beat the price of bundles. $100 to $120 per third delivered local is average in these parts. Some ask a good bit more....."ask"

 

[DSW]

Around here that wouldn't work, people are buying a rick for 50. Now i deliver to the city and people don't scoff at a higher price, they have higher incomes, less trees, and are more recreational burners. That's another problem though, they don't buy very often and I have to deliver and that kills time/profit. If I had plenty of regulars that each take one, I could pull the trailer, get a premium off each and make it worth it but it never works out that way.

 

[DSW]

Hasn't even gotten cold here and I just delivered my first and my last load of 1/3d of a cord to the city.

 

[chucker]

Hasn't even gotten cold here and I just delivered my first and my last load of 1/3d of a cord to the city.

when your sold out and their still asking for wood then the price is to cheap!

 

[chucker]

raise the price and cut more wood!!

 

[stihlaficionado]

$330 cord for oak, delivery extra

 

[chucker]

$330 cord for oak, delivery extra

$1.00 a mile after 20...

 

[DSW]

when your sold out and their still asking for wood then the price is to cheap!

I'm not even close to sold out. I told myself last year i wouldn't deliver face cords to the city. Did one today and the trip felt even longer than I remember, the truck definitely ate more fuel than I remember. People were nice, so I'll consider it a gift and move on.

 

[chucker]

then you still need to raise the price! people will pay more for quality before quantity!!

 

[DSW]

I'm not even sure if the average burner knows what seasoned means. My local Facebook pages will have people selling, pile of wood with splitter in picture, no checking, no discoloration, feel like you could wring it out just from looking at it, sure enough potential buyer asks "is it seasoned". "yep". " Bring me a load tomorrow".

No way of even getting them to see the light because the price point will always deter them.

 

[DSW]

I don't have a strong desire to grow a firewood business. A positive market could change that but I'll be outta this racket before I ever got going in it.

 

[jrider]

How long of a drive is it to the city for you?

 

[lknchoppers]

I charge $175 half cord & $300 for a full cord, mostly oak, split and dried over one summer. Delivery is free, most of my customers are 30-60 minutes away, around the lake or in the city. I carry 2 cords into the city and like to make 4 stops and sell half cords. Stacking is extra $50-$80 per cord. I don't haggle, the price is the same for everybody. People that want to haggle just go buy the cheapest wet wood anyway and when it doesn't burn they buy from me so they have something they can burn now. I'm lucky here the brutally hot intense sun of the North Carolina Summer really dries the wood nicely, two year seasoned would be better but most of my customers have outdoor fire pits , outdoor fireplaces or indoor fireplaces. if anyone has an epa woodstove I let them know the moisture content and let them make a decision if they want the wood. I guarantee all my firewood to burn good and they are satisfied with the quantity received or I come out and replace it. It seems I get one out of about 200 deliveries I need to replace and I usually have it sold for more on the way home.

 

[DSW]

How long of a drive is it to the city for you?

About an hour and fifteen minutes. That's where I delivered last year and yesterday. Could be more depending but it won't be less, that's the edge of the city. Then two hours away is Indianapolis. Pretty good recreational market there and north of there but I'd be stretched 2-3.5 hrs to really hit that. One way. I could get 2, maybe 3 cord if I really built the sides on my trailer. Worth the trip if I had the customers and could knock it out in one shot but I don't.

 

[DSW]

I carry 2 cords into the city and like to make 4 stops and sell half cords.

What do you haul with?

I would be better served with a medium duty truck for delivering. I have a full size pickup with a bumper pull and it's not the best setup for these Prius driveways with blind spots and impatient drivers. To make the long trips sensible id really have to haul a large amount and once I get into the city I'm now oversized for their roads. Might be able to park on the side of the road and wheel a face cord up the drive in a short amount of time.

It's hard to fault my pickup since I can unhook the trailer and it's primary function isn't firewood hauler.

 

[jrider]

About an hour and fifteen minutes. That's where I delivered last year and yesterday. Could be more depending but it won't be less, that's the edge of the city. Then two hours away is Indianapolis. Pretty good recreational market there and north of there but I'd be stretched 2-3.5 hrs to really hit that. One way. I could get 2, maybe 3 cord if I really built the sides on my trailer. Worth the trip if I had the customers and could knock it out in one shot but I don't.

Wow, guess I'm lucky. I charge delivery over ten miles and just say no over 20 miles. I'm getting $240 for oak and $220 for mixed dumped in their driveway. Delivered 16 cords this weekend.

 

[DSW]

We're in two very different markets. I'm closer to trees than I am people, I chose that specifically and it doesn't have anything to do with selling firewood. People don't buy log loads here, it's unheard of.

Last year was the first year I even considered selling firewood. I had repeat customers, I had people recommending me to others but I don't have a long list of customers that I've delivered to for the last ten years either.