Pricing and marketing freshly milled and air dried boards.

[arboriculturist]

I have over time built up considerable stacks of various species of timber on bearers and having had a lot of generous advice from members on this Forum re: mills, etc. etc.  I am getting close to finally investing in a Bandsaw Mill.

 

Like most business ventures, it is often the most straightforward part producing the product, especially with good quality equipment.

 

What I am really concerned about is the pricing and marketing of the milled boards as I know next to nothing about 'marketing milled boards' - freshly milled or air dried and the sizes to mill at.

 

Someone mentioned that I should email photo's to every furniture maker in a 50 mile radius once.

 

I am capable of setting up a Facebook page, Instagram and a Website using Wordpress. I have a GoPro Hero 8 black, which is great for stills and videos. 

 

However, clearly I have a lot to learn, so any advice on pricing and marketing + milling sizes would be most gratefully received.

Edited April 26, 2020 by arboriculturist

[Forest2Furniture]

It helps if you know the market you want to sell to and what it is you want to sell them.

Green, air dried and kiln dried timber all have different customers, green timber is obviously easier and quicker to produce but has a limited market compared to kiln dried.

Who are the people you think will be interested in your timber?

Once you've worked that out, do some research into where those people are currently buying from and what they are paying.

 

[trigger_andy]

Have you tried the search function? There is a lot of good info covering this subject on this sub-forum, a lot of discussions within the last few months too so should be easy to look back and review. 

[arboriculturist]

14 minutes ago, Forest2Furniture said:

It helps if you know the market you want to sell to and what it is you want to sell them.

Green, air dried and kiln dried timber all have different customers, green timber is obviously easier and quicker to produce but has a limited market compared to kiln dried.

Who are the people you think will be interested in your timber?

Once you've worked that out, do some research into where those people are currently buying from and what they are paying.

 

Ah, good points there.

 

The vast majority of business appears to be from Joiners. They buy from 2 or 3 of the established Hardwood suppliers - all kiln dried. I will research further and also what Green timber market there may be.

 

I am guessing you need to be 20% less in price than the established Hardwood retailers. 

[arboriculturist]

12 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

Have you tried the search function? There is a lot of good info covering this subject on this sub-forum, a lot of discussions within the last few months too so should be easy to look back and review. 

OK,  I will spend more time searching in detail as you suggest -  thanks. ?

[htb]

1 minute ago, arboriculturist said:

I am guessing you need to be 20% less in price than the established Hardwood retailers. 

Sounds like the race to the bottom that happens in tree surgery.

[Forest2Furniture]

28 minutes ago, arboriculturist said:

I am guessing you need to be 20% less in price than the established Hardwood retailers. 

Not necessarily.

If you can offer a better product than them you'll get the same price.

I started working life as a furniture maker (4yr apprenticeship) so have a better understanding of what other makers are looking for.

[arboriculturist]

Fair enough. I have never been one to base a buying decision solely on price. 

 

Of course, you will be well placed to give sound advice and I am listening thanks.

 

I am thinking up to now most Joiners just phone up and order what they want and it is an easy thing to do. They have probably built up trust with the businesses they regularly buy from.

 

Maybe having a nice variety of species and very local gives more of a USP?

 

So it looks like a data gathering exercise - format a spreadsheet and fill in all the boxes, eventually resulting in a price list. 

Edited April 26, 2020 by arboriculturist

[Forest2Furniture]

Time spent doing research now will save you both time and money in the future.

I can only advise from my experience, it's taken me 8 years to build up the timber

selling side of my business and along the way I've f**ked up big time on some

deals but we have to make mistakes otherwise we don't learn.

 

 

[arboriculturist]

Sound advice as always.

That is the exact reason for the post - I don't wish to 'learn the hard way' !

 

I have been looking at all the oversize timber here for years now and as I walk past the stacks, I generally think "I must do something with all that timber". But what has always put me off is the doubt in my mind as to wether there is a ready market for it.

 

The cost of a mill is not the hurdle, it is the risk of 25 butts milled and stickered that there may not be a market for. At least having a forklift and plenty of space means I can access different trees as and when required.

 

Just here waiting for all the advice to come flooding in now ?