This made me think of another question. Not to highjack this thread but where/how do you guys sell your slabs? I attend college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and have been selling to some of the guys in the architucture college. But it just small boards and high figure pieces. So $30-$50 bucks a pop. But where are the markets for these big big slabs? Thanks.
A lot of my sales come from local mills that give out my #. I'm always sending them people who need boards. I tried the craigslist thing but 90% of the emails I get are guys wasting my time. I get the rest of my sales from word of mouth and repeat buyers. I get guys that will travel 4-5 hours for a slab.
Sometimes when I'm milling a log I'll post an ad on craigslist and sell right from someones front yard. I've had pretty good luck doing that and it cuts down on the handling of the slabs.
Betterbuilt-That "selling out of someones front yard thing" is brilliant!- but roughly what do you get for fresh cut green stuff like that?
For my run-of-the-mill wide flitches I get $7/bf and for the really big/nice I charge $10/bf and have been selling them with no problem. Where else are they going to get this kind of wood? Home Depot, Lowes???? Some very unique pieces I will even charge more.
Finnish sanded slabs 8.00 bf and up.
How do you sanitize?I will give a flitch to owner as payment for a log. They often want the top slab for a bench so it's no sweat of my back.
I'm new to actually selling anything but I have set these rules of thumb.
Raw & green: 3.00 per bd ft
Air dried below 15% (EMC around here is 14%): 4.00
Flattened/planed: 5:50
Flat, kiln dried below 10%: 6.50
Flat, dry, sanded: 7.50
Flat, dry, sanitized, sanded, finished $8.50 and up.
A lot depends on your customer. Are you selling "wholesale" to someone who is going to re-sell it - or - are you selling "retail" directly to the end user?
I sell to a countertop retailer/fabricator/ installer. I cut to template countertop less than or equal to 24" wide 1.25" thick sanded oak or pecan. My customer finishes. I get $50.00 per linear ft and he charges $100.00 per linear ft installed. If his customer wants a big, wide island, it's $25/$50 per square ft. No islands ordered yet.
For my run-of-the-mill wide flitches I get $7/bf and for the really big/nice I charge $10/bf and have been selling them with no problem. Where else are they going to get this kind of wood? Home Depot, Lowes???? Some very unique pieces I will even charge more.
How do you sanitize?
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