$847.00 Per Cord. But Wait, It's "Gourmet" Wood!

[richg]

Yes race fans, only in NJ could someone come up with such bat guano pricing and terminology. Check out (broken link removed to http://www.jerseyfirewood.com/Pricing.aspx) , he is selling seasoned hardwoods at $225.00 for a 34-cubic foot bundle. A full cord is 128 cubic feet, so this guy is charging $847.00 per cord according to my math (which may be flat out wrong, mind you). Even better, on (broken link removed to http://www.jerseyfirewood.com/AboutUs.aspx) they go to great lengths to explain why their "gourmet" wood is not sold in cords but in cubic-foot allotments that they alone use.

I drive by the place every day and they have a shartload of obviously well-seasoned wood, but at those prices I'd want a night alone with Kate Beckinsale.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Wow...if I could sell wood for that much money I'd been able to quit my job years ago....people actually BUY this stuff at those prices? And he talks about fly-by-night dealers "ripping people off" but he isn't doing that, right? I guess the key words were when he said that he has "regular customers from New York and Philadelphia"; they must have more money than brains to buy ANY of his wood increments-$225 for a 34 cubic foot section....but he can price it anything that he wants, and as long as people will buy it...

Wonder how much business they do at that drive-thru "kiosk"?

 

[John_M]

Wasn't it P.T. Barnum who said: "There's a sucker born every day"? I think he should hold out until he is offered $1,000 per bundle for the "gourmet" cords. :lol: John_M

 

[Battenkiller]

I live outside a small but affluent bedroom community in upstate NY. We have a highly trained gourmet firewood specialist as well:


http://www.exit13s.com/index.html



"Let's see... I'll have the fireplace cord of apple... oh, you're out of apple? Well, I'll take the aromatic cherry with a side of black locust."

BTW... what wine goes with hop hornbeam? Or do you serve it with beer?


Doctors and lawyers with fireplaces, oh my.

 

[JotulOwner]

We have a guy on Craigslist who sells "organic firewood", whatever that means. If I remember correctly, the price was even higher than "gourmet firewood". Hey, some people pay all kinds of money for designer apparel. Why not designer firewood?

One year I did pay $180 for a third cord of kiln dried wood stacked tightly on a pallet. I had no choice unless I wanted to burn unseasoned wood or not at all, so I paid the price. I have to say, it smelled and burned great, but I have done everything possible to avoid that happening again.

 

[sw mariner]

at those prices the wood should come with a free stove

 

[Battenkiller]

at those prices the wood should come with a free stove

I paid $300 for my VC Vigilant and it came with a cord of 3 year old mixed hardwood. I told my wife I paid $300 for the wood and the guy threw in the stove for free. $300 is real cheap for a cord of 3 year old hardwood in my parts, so she was thrilled enough over the deal I got on the wood.

 

[Flatbedford]

If they can sell it at that price, good for them.

 

[mkt1]

Who is Kate Beckinsale ??

 

[bogydave]

It's all in the "Marketing".
But who's buying it?
You "market" to your buyers.

 

[richg]

Who is Kate Beckinsale ??

An actress who was voted "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire Magazine October 2009.

 

[thinkxingu]

This is our local scam artist: http://www.firewoodguy.com/. He's always on town forums defending his practice of not posting prices and charging upwards of $300 for 1/4 cords!

S

 

[John_M]

Well, I am having second thoughts about my post above. As long as the seller and the buyer agree on the price, quantity, quality and other details of the transaction and both are honest and do what they agreed to do there is no scam. If somebody wants to spend five or six times the going rate for firewood - let him/her. It is their money. The seller has obviously done an excellent marketing job targeting a niche market. When both buyer and seller are happy they have a fair transaction. What could be better! John_M

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I will say, he is doing his best to insure the quantity of wood sold is what he says it is. From what I have read on here and elsewhere, that's better than most do. He is upfront about his price, and the OP above stated the seasoned wood he sees when driving by looks very well seasoned.. again better then most reports I read.. I would also bet, in his market, many of his customers are buying wood for Friday night in front of the fireplace with a bottle of bubbly, so they neither need or want a cord or more.

The joy of a "free market" is that both the seller and buyer are free to deal or not. He is free to charge what the customers will pay, and after 30 years in buisness, I bet he knows what he is doing.

He seems to charge the most for cherry, my neighbors have commented that they can tell when that's what we are burning.. but truthfully it's about the worst wood I have on the property, but what I will burn the most of for the next 2-3 years, because the '09 ice storm seemed to be hardest on cherry, so lots of it to cut up and stack.