VF,
Thanks, I really value the feedback and opinions...Nothing is ever a solution for everyone and if something works for you...stick with it.
We have found a huge untapped market just in our local area But I may have explained it wrong or not given the correct metrics. A 31 door machine is $8900 and a 47 door machine is 12.7K.... retail, buying just one. And of course since we build them....my investment is obviously less than 75K as would someone who bought 8 machines. But even if it did, current figures show that the average machine will gross about $10,000 a year with a net of $6600.... (in camp grounds that average 68 camp sites per...as we expand into larger facilities this will increase, as we have found that a reliable expectation is about $13.30 per camp site w/fire ring per month). considering other vending opportunities the return on investment is pretty high.... In this area, the machines appeal to those in the tree trimming, landscaping business who get paid to take down trees and then they split it and save it for oct, nov, dec, and sell it for $300 to 400 a cord...but they have to touch it many times to get the money....Camp sales are all year long here and the sales price is 3 to 4 times higher.
Also I don't sell wood for $20 a cuft. So most bundles around my area sell outside gas stations for $5 for .75cuft....but when measured the average about.65 and the bigger the logs in the bundle the less cuft...so even at best the gas stations are selling for $6.66 to 7.70 per cuft. The biggest seller of wood at all the local supermarkets is Big John's and the supermarkets sell their oak, pecan, hickory and mesquite for about $12.49 for a 2 cuft bag....but you can't fit 2 cuft of wood in a 2cuft bag..... I have taken their product and put it in my bags to test and it is the same within .1cuft (they cut their 12" and I cut mine 18") so I sell the same thing on a camp site for $11.75 plus tax...so no reason to put down your beer and drive off the park and waste your gas and vacation time looking for wood....also....instead of loading up your vehicle with wood and driving it to the camp ground...you can use that extra space for more beer.
The machines take no cash, so no fear of someone trying to break into it....credit card and debit card
I take 128 Cuft of wood and then see how many bags it fills
100 2cuft bags (as full as we can get them) per cord
190 1 cuft bags per cord
I don't sell them by the cuft....I sell them as "big bag" or "little bag" so no false advertising...we also sell charcoal, cases of water, small covered grills (during burn bans) and camp stove propane bottles.
Additionally, the park rangers are the biggest supporters because those who already sell firewood...hate it. They buy by the pallet and have to break it down, store, move it and account for the cash whether by honor box or cash sales in the office.....when they could be doing something else. Now they do nothing and their park gets a 10% check every month and no complaints by campers...dry wood (mostly) available all the time
Thanks, I really value the feedback and opinions...Nothing is ever a solution for everyone and if something works for you...stick with it.
We have found a huge untapped market just in our local area But I may have explained it wrong or not given the correct metrics. A 31 door machine is $8900 and a 47 door machine is 12.7K.... retail, buying just one. And of course since we build them....my investment is obviously less than 75K as would someone who bought 8 machines. But even if it did, current figures show that the average machine will gross about $10,000 a year with a net of $6600.... (in camp grounds that average 68 camp sites per...as we expand into larger facilities this will increase, as we have found that a reliable expectation is about $13.30 per camp site w/fire ring per month). considering other vending opportunities the return on investment is pretty high.... In this area, the machines appeal to those in the tree trimming, landscaping business who get paid to take down trees and then they split it and save it for oct, nov, dec, and sell it for $300 to 400 a cord...but they have to touch it many times to get the money....Camp sales are all year long here and the sales price is 3 to 4 times higher.
Also I don't sell wood for $20 a cuft. So most bundles around my area sell outside gas stations for $5 for .75cuft....but when measured the average about.65 and the bigger the logs in the bundle the less cuft...so even at best the gas stations are selling for $6.66 to 7.70 per cuft. The biggest seller of wood at all the local supermarkets is Big John's and the supermarkets sell their oak, pecan, hickory and mesquite for about $12.49 for a 2 cuft bag....but you can't fit 2 cuft of wood in a 2cuft bag..... I have taken their product and put it in my bags to test and it is the same within .1cuft (they cut their 12" and I cut mine 18") so I sell the same thing on a camp site for $11.75 plus tax...so no reason to put down your beer and drive off the park and waste your gas and vacation time looking for wood....also....instead of loading up your vehicle with wood and driving it to the camp ground...you can use that extra space for more beer.
The machines take no cash, so no fear of someone trying to break into it....credit card and debit card
I take 128 Cuft of wood and then see how many bags it fills
100 2cuft bags (as full as we can get them) per cord
190 1 cuft bags per cord
I don't sell them by the cuft....I sell them as "big bag" or "little bag" so no false advertising...we also sell charcoal, cases of water, small covered grills (during burn bans) and camp stove propane bottles.
Additionally, the park rangers are the biggest supporters because those who already sell firewood...hate it. They buy by the pallet and have to break it down, store, move it and account for the cash whether by honor box or cash sales in the office.....when they could be doing something else. Now they do nothing and their park gets a 10% check every month and no complaints by campers...dry wood (mostly) available all the time