Added a Delivery Charge this Year

[Swamp Yankee]

Should have done it sooner!!!

I needed to move some wood these past few weeks as I'm starting to run out of room and am having a hard time accessing my wood piles. Plus I may have a line on another 20 cord white oak, ash, and hickory tops skidded to a landing and wanted some cash available in case I needed it quick for a deposit. Took an add out on CL.

Holy Crap!!

I had hoped to move 4 or 5 cord to get it out of the way, received more replies than I ever hoped for or wanted. Had to pull the ad after 2 days. I priced the wood at $200 per cord of seasoned. In the $200, I've allowed for 15 miles delivery, or 30 miles round trip. When contacted most of these people were from 35 to as far as 60 miles away, one way, I explained the price included 15 miles delivery, anything over that was $1 per mile based on miles one way, $10 minimum. Only one person balked and said no Thank You. Everybody else was when can you deliver.

I can't go back now but I'm almost thinking I should have gone for $2 per mile, not to be greedy, but to cover my additional road time.

I don't know how I'm going to handle regular customers this fall. I'm pretty sure most will see my side, and they'll understand the need for a delivery charge. To bad Mr. and Mrs. X live within 15 miles, that could certainly make for another entertaining episode.

So what this post boils down to, how are you other sellers handling the increased costs of delivery?

Take Care

 

[STLfirewood]

I'll just increase the price of wood a little. I take almost 3 cords with me everyday when I am delivering in the busy season. I deliver as far away as 75miles. When I go that far I tell them they have to buy 2 stacks. I know have several customers in that area. If I take around 3 cords(nine stacks) it works out to 20miles per stacks. So really it is the same as going 10miles one way for a one stack delivery. Most of the people in that area buy kiln wood so it works out to a $1350 delivery. Somtimes it is worth driving that far.

Scott

 

[Kingsley]

I usually do not deliver wood unless it is 25 miles or less. I have been charging $1 a loaded mile. No one gets upset. If they don't want to pay the delivery they can pick it up themselves. I too have been really surprized at how many people buy wood in the spring and summer. We have sold about 7 1/2 full cords already. Can't wait to get back out in the woods this September! We are going to be harvesting WAY more for next year.

 

[Circle B MN]

I sell most of my wood after spring thaw through early autumn. Most all of it for recreational burning. I'll deliver forty miles out for free. Not interested in going any farther.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

 

[gilraine]

15 miles one way its no charge to deliver, more than that its $1 per mile loaded... havent gotten any complaints, well except the lady that said I brought her too much wood.she ordered 3 cords and got 3...looking to get a bigger trailer, it seems that many of my deliveries are 2 and 3 cord orders... one guy wants 15 green cords, ooof.. I need more equipment lol.

 

[zogger]

Well, good for you!

In this economy, it is way better to have too much work than none at all.

Of course, the bad part is, all the price increases in liquid fuels mean everything else goes up in price as well, it's all tied together.

What I would like to see is a dang sales tax applied to those big traders on wall street, on a per buy/sell basis just like any other "product" has a sales tax applied to it. That would help slow down all this computerized trading nonsense that just drives up the prices for everyone else on the planet. Try as I might, I can't fathom how a buy and sell conducted within milliseconds by a computer algorithm can be classed as "investing". It's just not. A transaction sales tax on that action would sure help the 99.999% of the population who aren't speculators. With food, fuel, everything.

I am not much of a fan of speculators and the big casino banks and all their scams and derivatives, etc. they should have been forced to eat their own capitalist dogfood and been allowed to fail when they needed to fail. We would really be back on the road to economic recovery then. Their "bailouts" were a disgrace, private profits, but socialized risk with everyone else supposedly "in debt" now to help pay them turkeys off on their weirdo gambling bets gone bad.

Bah...that's why I like firewood. Honest work, honest fuel, and it is "stored solar", about as "green" and safe and non polluting a fuel as is possible.

You look at all these hugemongous forest fires they have all the time out west...geez loweez...there's enough wasted fuel there to run a coupla hundred power plants, and think of all the real honest work it would provide for people today.

People like to blame the "greenies" for making harvesting all that impossible..I bet if you dug deeper there's some big entrenched energy industries who are more than glad to keep wood fuel in as low a priority and legality as possible....just sayin'...bet I am right though.

 

[Circle B MN]

In this economy, it is way better to have too much work than none at all.

Of course, the bad part is, all the price increases in liquid fuels mean everything else goes up in price as well, it's all tied together.

What I would like to see is a dang sales tax applied to those big traders on wall street, on a per buy/sell basis just like any other "product" has a sales tax applied to it. That would help slow down all this computerized trading nonsense that just drives up the prices for everyone else on the planet. Try as I might, I can't fathom how a buy and sell conducted within milliseconds by a computer algorithm can be classed as "investing". It's just not. A transaction sales tax on that action would sure help the 99.999% of the population who aren't speculators. With food, fuel, everything.

I am not much of a fan of speculators and the big casino banks and all their scams and derivatives, etc. they should have been forced to eat their own capitalist dogfood and been allowed to fail when they needed to fail. We would really be back on the road to economic recovery then. Their "bailouts" were a disgrace, private profits, but socialized risk with everyone else supposedly "in debt" now to help pay them turkeys off on their weirdo gambling bets gone bad.

Bah...that's why I like firewood. Honest work, honest fuel, and it is "stored solar", about as "green" and safe and non polluting a fuel as is possible.

You look at all these hugemongous forest fires they have all the time out west...geez loweez...there's enough wasted fuel there to run a coupla hundred power plants, and think of all the real honest work it would provide for people today.

People like to blame the "greenies" for making harvesting all that impossible..I bet if you dug deeper there's some big entrenched energy industries who are more than glad to keep wood fuel in as low a priority and legality as possible....just sayin'...bet I am right though.

My wife and I have a combined gross income of just about $100k a year. Far from a rich Wall Street fat cat. I also invest in stocks, regularly, via online trading. I have made a decent amount of money doing it. Lost a little too. It all depends on the research you put in to it, but more luck than anything. Nothing any different than buying a scratch off ticket. Anybody can do it, including yourself.

 

[CTYank]

I am not much of a fan of speculators and the big casino banks and all their scams and derivatives, etc. they should have been forced to eat their own capitalist dogfood and been allowed to fail when they needed to fail. We would really be back on the road to economic recovery then. Their "bailouts" were a disgrace, private profits, but socialized risk with everyone else supposedly "in debt" now to help pay them turkeys off on their weirdo gambling bets gone bad.

Well ... we could learn from the shenanigans of these parasites (e.g. gambling with investments) and take all appropriate measures to avoid repetition. No matter what Boehner and McConnell allege. Being a big country, a big government is in order- bigger than corporations.

And Congress could fully fund the financial regulators, regardless the whispering in the ear from their buddies on Wall St.

 

[zogger]

Big differnce

My wife and I have a combined gross income of just about $100k a year. Far from a rich Wall Street fat cat. I also invest in stocks, regularly, via online trading. I have made a decent amount of money doing it. Lost a little too. It all depends on the research you put in to it, but more luck than anything. Nothing any different than buying a scratch off ticket. Anybody can do it, including yourself.

There's a big diff between what you do and what I am talking about, the flash trading.

My main point is, if what they are doing, the big dogs there, was all that great for the economy, thinking up ludicrous derivative"financial products", which are mostly bets on bets on bets, and engaging in flash trading, they wouldn't have needed bailouts. But they sure did. It doesn't work, it didn't work, it will never work, but they own the government and we the little guys got put on the hook for buhzillions to bail them out.

 

[zogger]

At a minimum

Well ... we could learn from the shenanigans of these parasites (e.g. gambling with investments) and take all appropriate measures to avoid repetition. No matter what Boehner and McConnell allege. Being a big country, a big government is in order- bigger than corporations.

And Congress could fully fund the financial regulators, regardless the whispering in the ear from their buddies on Wall St.

They need to reenact glass-steagall

Glass

 

[super3]

So.........you want this thread to be moved to the political section, then the OP can start a new one to get his Qs answered?

 

[Swamp Yankee]

So.........you want this thread to be moved to the political section, then the OP can start a new one to get his Qs answered?

Yup,

If you want to pea in each other's coffee, there are other forums for that.

Anyway gilraine, how are you making out with wood supplies? I'm finding it tough to locate any decent wood for a reasonable price up here in the great unwashed North.

Take Care

 

[zogger]

Well, I'm sorry

So.........you want this thread to be moved to the political section, then the OP can start a new one to get his Qs answered?

the thread starts out about *economics* and adding a fuel delivery surcharge, etc. I originally posted "good for him" as I think it is better to have too much work then not enough. The surcharge is because of increased fuel costs, etc and my commentary was 100% directly related to that.

I will butt out this thread now.

 

[gilraine]

Yup,

If you want to pea in each other's coffee, there are other forums for that.

Anyway gilraine, how are you making out with wood supplies? I'm finding it tough to locate any decent wood for a reasonable price up here in the great unwashed North.

Take Care

not easy, but I have a good friend that has got a 280 acre cattle farm and I have been helping her by cutting as much as I can from the end of the fields... I have cleared almost 4 acres this year for her.. it works out for both of us

 

[ponyexpress976]

Call it what you like

I've been keepnotes on all my lawn customers the past few years...conversations, validity of complaints....funny thing is the ones I like or that throw me extra work don't seem to get rate increases nearly as much as the ones who constantly complain. My point is that, dont feel bad with a delivery charge over x # of miles. YOU are getting paid for YOUR work. If they dont want to pay for it then they won't benefit from it either. In this country you are still free (for now) to exercise an unwritten "I like you" clause or implement a Pain in the @$$ tax.

 

[Mowingman]

We generally sell wood by the rick here. I charge $35.00/rick for delivery. It does not matter if it is 2 miles or 30 miles. That is my fee. I will not deliver at all over 30 miles. Most of the real time and work in delivery, is getting the wood from the truck, to where the owner wants it stacked. So, fuel is not the main factor in my delivery fee.
If it is a short delivery, and we do not have to wheelbarrow the wood way across a yard, I MIGHT give a little discount on delivery, if a person buys a minimum of 2 full cords.
Jeff

 

[Wood Doctor]

Some Customers Understand...

The best customers I have usually offered an extra $10 last year when they found out how far I ship their firewood (usually 15 to 25 miles). IU thanked them and then explained to them that I also have to run a saw and a log splitter. Many forget this.

Customers buy their gas at the pump also. In the long run, the best way to combat your equipment fuel price increases is to raise the price of your firewood gradually and forget a "surcharge". Chances are, fuel prices are not going back down in the near future. We all have to bite the bullet.

We are getting nailed at least three times: truck, chainsaw, and usually a log splitter. If the customer fails to realize this, feel free to look for another customer. It gets cold in the winter.