Agway has Hammer pellets for $195.99 a ton until May 31st. Has any one heard of some place with a better price? $189.00 a ton at that place in Pleasentville, don't know what kind.
richg said:After having burned probably ten different kinds of pellets, I would have to say that Hamer was by far the worst. massive amounts of fines, giant pellets that would bridge the feed mechanism (I measured one at 3.75 inches long), mega clinkers, etc. I complained about pellet length to Lorie Hamer, and she said I would get 15 free bags. That was 2003, and I'm still waiting.
Rocket said:The place in Pleasantville brands are American Fiber and Allegheny. I burn American Fiber and havent had any problems.
buildingmaint said:He also told me that he thinks that pellet prices should stabilize as far as demand, but go up along with fuel prices. Im glad I won't have to worry about heating my house until this time next year.
GVA said:That's ok check this out.
The Mrs called a local shop yesterday and his price per ton right now...........$275 hh:
But he did tell her to hurry cause effective June 1st the price will be $299 :bug:
This is one of the many local knobs that are gouging based on the area... I just picked up a ton at another store 20 miles North for $220..
Anyway just wondering here dealers, you do not know how much the pellets will cost you yet do you?
I Think I should start buying and selling pellets in this area myself and undercut these guy's by 20 bucks a ton ;-)
GVA said:That's ok check this out.
The Mrs called a local shop yesterday and his price per ton right now...........$275 hh:
But he did tell her to hurry cause effective June 1st the price will be $299 :bug:
This is one of the many local knobs that are gouging based on the area... I just picked up a ton at another store 20 miles North for $220..
Anyway just wondering here dealers, you do not know how much the pellets will cost you yet do you?
I Think I should start buying and selling pellets in this area myself and undercut these guy's by 20 bucks a ton ;-)
UncleRich said:GVA said:That's ok check this out.
The Mrs called a local shop yesterday and his price per ton right now...........$275 hh:
But he did tell her to hurry cause effective June 1st the price will be $299 :bug:
This is one of the many local knobs that are gouging based on the area... I just picked up a ton at another store 20 miles North for $220..
Anyway just wondering here dealers, you do not know how much the pellets will cost you yet do you?
I Think I should start buying and selling pellets in this area myself and undercut these guy's by 20 bucks a ton ;-)
GVA,
I looked into this. Seems that it'd cost about $30-50,000 to do a start-up to sell pellets. That's facility rental, truck and equipment purchase and the usual business expenses. That would also buy start-up inventory, if you could find a manufacturer who will sell you pellets. Most have fully contracted for sales this year.
HarryBack said:;-PUncleRich said:GVA said:That's ok check this out.
The Mrs called a local shop yesterday and his price per ton right now...........$275 hh:
But he did tell her to hurry cause effective June 1st the price will be $299 :bug:
This is one of the many local knobs that are gouging based on the area... I just picked up a ton at another store 20 miles North for $220..
Anyway just wondering here dealers, you do not know how much the pellets will cost you yet do you?
I Think I should start buying and selling pellets in this area myself and undercut these guy's by 20 bucks a ton ;-)
GVA,
I looked into this. Seems that it'd cost about $30-50,000 to do a start-up to sell pellets. That's facility rental, truck and equipment purchase and the usual business expenses. That would also buy start-up inventory, if you could find a manufacturer who will sell you pellets. Most have fully contracted for sales this year.
The first problem, as UncleRich stated, is you'll need to find a pellet co to sell you pellets. Right now, most of the production is tied up with the local mills, and if you had to bring in one not local, youd pay alot for shipping, possibly forcing you to be less competitive. Also, many mills wont opne up a "new" guy, for fear of pissing off a company who supported them for years.
As for UncleRich's figures, you could try it "on the cheap", basically renting a SMALL facility, getting a rental or junker forklift, but you wont get a truck for delivery in there. You'd have to do a pickup only business, as the truck alone is quite expensive...I know, I own 2. You'd need to buy inventory, pay someone, get insurance, Workmen's comp, etc. I think Rich's figures are WAY low tho, given the margin we seem to get with pellets. I know he'll argue this one ;-P , but we've been doing this a long time, and though I might be wrong, I dont think so. The truck/forklift alone, assuming you buy new, will cost $160-189k, EACH. If you think you are going to deliver by hand, I'll challenge that. Last Friday, I (myself, no help), delivered 52 tons of pellets. I seriously doubt you could find anyone who could do that by hand. Even delivering that quantity, its hard to keep up. I can bore you with the problems of delivery, but anyone who has ever done it knows the same stories. The more I think about it, a "no frills" pellet biz would be pickup only, a small shed with power, a stove, and a portapotty, and a small forklift. Everyone comes in, pays cash, check, or credit card, and carts their product away any way they can. Then you have to figure your margin, what you wanna make per year, incidental costs, etc....in doing so, I think you'd be hard pressed to be much cheaper than most others, except GVA's enterprising dealer......
GVA said:Maybe I'll move .... Well let's look at what has happened to the west coast this year with pellet prices..... They are paying more than the east coast right now.. So I won't go there..... Uncle Rich hows Utah? ;-)
GVA said:Well if they put me out of business I would have a nice supply of pellets for home...
I would never deliver pellets because of the reasons you stated, and more...
Most dealers seem to have reasonable prices except here on the north shore.... HB when your Quality's hit $199 the local yocals were still $325 a ton. They need a reality check up here.... And the no frills guy like me would buy from a guy like me :red: .
It's all a dream anyway I only could afford a ton at the early buy rates this year and will have to take my chances through the summer and fall to accumulate more at a reasonable price... Let alone 75+ton to start a business.
HarryBack said:possibly if there were an overabundance of pellets in a given area, the manufacturers would be open to negotiations, but if that were to happen, I think it more likely you'd see a direct-sell pellet manufacturer.
We looked at a "no-frills" pellet biz as well. Problem seemed to be the folks who wanted it delivered, at least in this area. The yuppies dont have a pickup or trailer....God forbid, they might actually break a nail or strain a muscle that they worked so hard in the health club to build up. At least 50% of our sales are delivered...maybe more. Biggest problem in delivery? Catering to the customers. One guy can only be contacted before 7am, or after 5pm......another insists on getting pellets on sunny Saturdays only, and before noon, another wants them delivered over the stone wall next to the barn, another wants them in the back yard by the bulkhead, over delicately manicured lawns....but dont bend a blade of grass, another wants theirs stacked in the cellar, oh, and they all want that for free.....(laugh, but I didnt make these situations up...all true).....the most challenging thing for us is the idiosynchracies of the folks. Add the fact that the pellet co's change their "rules" for distribution every year, so its a different biz each year, and its a pretty tough business.
The other thing you'd need to beware of is the dealer who has deeper pockets than you do, and can afford to sell at very little profit (or NO profit, or selling at LESS THAN cost), forcing you out of business in a very short order....its called predatory pricing. I think it'd be easier to work for the gummint or the state......every weekend off, great benefits, pension, each and every foolish holiday off, etc. We are closed a total of 8 days per year....so, if you want to work more than 357 days per year, be my guest.... :lol:
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