Inventory and expected sales

[Ryan'smilling]

Are these side gigs for you guys? I'm doing quick math in my head and 100 cords making $100/ea cord is $10k in revenue. Are you making more than that per cord, or do you also have other ways to make an income? Just curious.

I sure hope no one is selling their cut and split firewood for $100/cord. Should be $200-400 easy, depending on the product and the market. But of course, that's the revenue, or the gross, not the net profit.

 

[Blue Oaks]

I sure hope no one is selling their cut and split firewood for $100/cord. Should be $200-400 easy, depending on the product and the market. But of course, that's the revenue, or the gross, not the net profit.

I guess I wasn't very specific. I was thinking after expenses, you might make $100 a cord, or even $200 a cord NET PROFIT.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I guess I wasn't very specific. I was thinking after expenses, you might make $100 a cord, or even $200 a cord NET PROFIT.

Gotcha. That's a lot of weight to move for $10k!

 

[jrider]

Are these side gigs for you guys? I'm doing quick math in my head and 100 cords making $100/ea cord is $10k in revenue. Are you making more than that per cord, or do you also have other ways to make an income? Just curious.

It’s a side gig for me. I’m a teacher in real life.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Yes, I do it as an LLC.
I looked at kilns at the trade show just because, you never know what you can learn.
It is not cost effective for me. Perhaps for the guy doing a large bundled wood supply that needs the sterilization component.
As suspected, these kilns provide sterilization in one to two days not seasoning.

No, they do both. Season it and as a result of that it also hits that 160+ temp to sterilize. Pretty sure I already said that, but maybe I typed it out in my mind or something haha.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Are these side gigs for you guys? I'm doing quick math in my head and 100 cords making $100/ea cord is $10k in revenue. Are you making more than that per cord, or do you also have other ways to make an income? Just curious.

Full time. $100/cord would be ultra cheap for firewood. Couldn't touch logs for that price. Most timber sales we are paying $50-60 a cord standing.

 

[Blue Oaks]

I edited my post. I meant to say PROFIT instead of REVENUE.

FWIW, I paid $400/cord for 3 cords delivered this year. He stacked about half, and the other half is in a pile- exactly how I asked for it. It's mostly Blue Oak with some Live Oak in there.

The guy I got mine from just brings home whatever falls across the road and he's called out to clear. He lives up the road from me where it's dirt and private. His day job is security alarms and I think he only sold about 5 cords this year.

 

[David Gruber]

I edited my post. I meant to say PROFIT instead of REVENUE.

FWIW, I paid $400/cord for 3 cords delivered this year. He stacked about half, and the other half is in a pile- exactly how I asked for it. It's mostly Blue Oak with some Live Oak in there.

The guy I got mine from just brings home whatever falls across the road and he's called out to clear. He lives up the road from me where it's dirt and private. His day job is security alarms and I think he only sold about 5 cords this year.

$300 a cord!!! Even 3yr old split and stacked oak doesn't go for that here. Maybe $240

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I edited my post. I meant to say PROFIT instead of REVENUE.

FWIW, I paid $400/cord for 3 cords delivered this year. He stacked about half, and the other half is in a pile- exactly how I asked for it. It's mostly Blue Oak with some Live Oak in there.

The guy I got mine from just brings home whatever falls across the road and he's called out to clear. He lives up the road from me where it's dirt and private. His day job is security alarms and I think he only sold about 5 cords this year.

100 profit on a $300 sale is great, thatsca 30% profit.
Tons of buisness operate on under 10% profit margins. 5-10% area is average.

 

[Blue Oaks]

100 profit on a $300 sale is great, thatsca 30% profit.
Tons of buisness operate on under 10% profit margins. 5-10% area is average.

Like a lot of things in life, "it depends." It depends on how long it takes and how much effort goes into it.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Like a lot of things in life, "it depends." It depends on how long it takes and how much effort goes into it.

Of course. I'd say an outfit needs to be in the 300-400 cord/year minimum to be decently profitable. I know of a few that do a few thousand cords a year.

Selling a few dozen cords a year, while might earn a bit of money, certainly isn't going to make much of a business.

 

[muddstopper]

I cant see myself trying to do a firewood business. I don't mind scroungeing up enough wood to heat my house, to much work for little profit to try and make a living out of it. I guess if I was to sell wood, it would be more for spending money and buying new toys. I am not really physically able to try and produce a lot of wood anyways. Some like to sale their excess wood, it puts some spending money in their pocket I guess. To me selling my excess this year just means replacing it with unseasoned wood next year. I am not knocking anybody that sells wood. I know many guys around me that sell wood every year. I know a few guys that sell wood that don't even have a wood stove themselves. This will be my first winter in about 20 years that I haven't had a wood stove myself. RV's are not exactly wood stove friendly. I also have about 7 full cords of 2 year seasoned wood I had to take out of a dry shed and just dump at the edge of a swamp. I will probably sell it this winter just because I will have to move it again when the new house is built, and I have 3 or 4 cord worth of logs already on site to make firewood out of. Whether or not I process the logs before I need the wood just depends on how busy I get with building the house.