how much to charge for .75 and 1.0 cubic foot bundles?

[thor97]

Am looking for some of your expertise. I am considering going the bundle route and have lots of questions. A local farm supply store is looking for a supplier and I am considering it. How much do you charge wholesale for .75 and 1.0 cubic foot bundles? What kinds of hardwood do you use? Do you use softwood? Or do you have a mix? I'm assuming maybe poplar/birch, pine/oak, soft maple/elm, or any combination of soft/hard that you have. I worry that I could keep a steady supply of seasoned wood on hand, as I know of a couple other places, too. I'm retired and have the time, plenty of saws, splitters, wood, and a regular supplier. I would have to buy a bundler, but know it would be worth it. Any advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tenderfoot]

Its not if you get less then $3 a bundle. At $2 a bundle you are better off selling cords of wood at $250, at $3 a bundle it barley makes the extra packing material worth it, and your time is something. The extra labor is huge. I did it for a couple customers and stopped since I can make more money selling cords if I factor in my time. If wood is worth less then that in your area it would be worth bothering.

 

[Guswhit]

I use a mix of oak, hickory, cherry and ash for my bundles. I am in what I would call a very unique situation for my sales. I supply 3 campgrounds with wood that is all produced from within 1 of the campgrounds, split and bagged there and then transported to the others. I don't have to bag/bundle or transport and I charge $3.00 each. I turn in a bill monthly from the bag/sales count. I give the uglies to the camper volunteers for the effort of bundling and tracking the sales. One of my friends sells to a state park. He charges $6.00 a bundle for the finished product(all wrapped, hauled in, stocked and sold. He has to give the park 20% for the "rights" to sell there. Good luck!

 

[unclemoustache]

I sell 1 foot bundles for $4 wholesale, and the stores resell them for $5 and $6. People who buy bundles don't care what kind of wood - just as long as it's dry. I only do silver maple in my bundles.
Get as many resellers as you can - gas stations, campgrounds, craigslist, etc.
I don't have a bundler - I just put them in mesh produce bags with my kids. We can do 20 or more bundles in 30 minutes. A couple weeks of 30 minutes/day gives us most all of the bundles I sell in a season.

 

[Dogsout]

The people I sell to do seem to care weather I have hard or soft wood in my bundles. My bundles consist of a mix of Ash, Blackcherry and some Hickory. All dried a minimum of 2 years. The state I live in makes you put the amount of wood you have in your bundle so my label states that it has .75 CuFt. I put a solid 1 CuFt in every bundle I make. I keep one of those cheap a$$ bundles from the farm store in the building I sell from just to show buyers how small those $5.00 bundles are. I purchased one of those hand bundlers used off of Craigslist for $600.00 along with 6 rolls of wrap. I by no means actively push sales on these bundles but have sold over 60 since spring. (More then happy with that if I don't sell another bundle this year) Nobody in my area burns wood so I have an unlimited supply of very good wood for this little side business and my OWB. As for price it is $5.00 a bundle or 5 bundles for $20.00. If people think my price is to high they are more than welcome to go to the farm store and buy theirs. Finally I think you are on to something going the bundle route and I hope you can work it out and make some extra cash.

 

[fireemt799]

First thing is to make sure you can get enough wood on hand, nothing will kill a venture quicker than not being able to deliver. I sell retail from my yard 1 cubic foot bundles and 3/4 cubic foot kindling bundles. I sell them for $5 each and 5 for $20. Wholesale I sell .75 for $2.50 and 1 cubic foot for $3 but I have a minimum order requirement. Make sure you label them to be legal and handles always look better. I use a twister electric bundler that does all sizes and has the quick load trays to drop through. It is nice and I can easily do 100 bundles per hour. If you do a lot of bundles it is the way to go.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

$5/ea, 5 for $20.

Just sell at the shop, sold about 400 bundles this year.

Any less than $3 each and I'd not do it, it wouldn't make sense to spend the time and materials at bulk wood price.

They are around 1 cu ft. Usually get about 100 bundles to a cord.

 

[Marine5068]

Our 1ft bundles at all the grocery/corner stores and farm/big box stores go for around $7.99 CAD here.($6.60 USD)

 

[Wood Doctor]

I like multiple unit pricing that includes a quantity discount. Stores selling bundles seldom offer this. My price is $5 each, two for $9, and three for $12. If more than three are bought, they also go for $4 apiece.

Each of my bundles contains 8 to 10 logs, so that's about 1.4 to 1.6 cu ft on the average. This is a customer direct price with no middleman involved.