Selling composted chip by the bag?

[gibbon]

I am thinking of bagging some composted chip and trying to market it commercially. Idea would be to sell 100 or so 70l bags at a time wholesale.

 

Does anyone have experience of this? What thickness bag is recomended and how much per bag?

[Arob]

How marketable is your product and what are your overheads and transportation costs?

[Stephen Blair]

I am thinking of bagging some composted chip and trying to market it commercially. Idea would be to sell 100 or so 70l bags at a time wholesale.

 

Does anyone have experience of this? What thickness bag is recomended and how much per bag?

 

i was told that there wasnt much goodness in it. except it will hold moisture like peat.

[Arran Woodfuels]

Try marketing it to local farmers as cattle corral bedding

 

http://www.nhft.org.uk/corral.htm

 

[log supplier]

gibbon, its best sold in the large builders bags or by the van load..to the joe public

iv tried garden centers and the likes, they wanted to test the chips? and if they wanted to buy my chippings,then i would have to have them bailed/sealed and in a decorative bag... like the ones you see at b+q..

i looked into the price (cheapest way possible) and it worked out quite expensive and time consuming...

then there was the price i would be payed???? wanted them for pennys..

go to focus, you can buy 3 small 70lt bails for a tenner...not worth the hastle unless you have 1000s tons of the stuff and the work force..

 

best sold from your yard in new white builders bags

new white builders bags only cost £3.....

sell your bags for £35-£45 then delivery on top..... pure profit

 

best of luck mate:thumbup:

 

ps dont mix holly chippings in with it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Stephen Blair]

the chips need to be bigger to work properly, the size of small logs.

and selling stuff to farmers!! good luck .

but worth a try, i have a pile of chips that looks like soil. about 5 years old, it has crossed my mind to bag it and try and sell it.

[Arob]

I've bought J. Arthur Bower's 'Mulch and Mix' 70L normal compost type sack retailed at £4per bag or 4 bags for £14.

I think it's a good product but wonder how strong the market is, especially given low cost and availability of council composts / soil amendments?

[Arob]

i was told that there wasnt much goodness in it. except it will hold moisture like peat.

 

You have to market it as a mulch, it can be quite effective as it tends to be much darker than bark, even good quality bark, and so gives a strong depth as a background colour and so can set off foliage greens really well. Worms will gradually work it into the ground and there are few soils that won't be improved by this.

 

Have no idea about costs and logistics of bagging but that would massively affect marketability, hence would look for local outlets, if you can provide a real quality product then you could try designers/ landscapers, otherwise notices around local allotments etc. Not sure if there's any regs to look out for.

[gibbon]

Thanks for your input. For a brief break down, the idea is only to generate an extra few man days to keep the guys busy in what could be a quiet summer.

 

I have 2 garden centers who would pay £1.50 per bag for composted chipping. (SWB, which are good for both retaining soil moisture and adding humus to soil, far better than coloured bark chipping which do FA) I reckon I can get 75-100 bags on a truck at a time and deliver to within 5 mile radius of my yard. Easy 200 bags a day filled and delived for 1 guy do you reckon?

[log supplier]

its the composted chipped green that gives the soil some goodness....

 

wouldnt recommend rotovating woodchip into the soil to act as a conditioner or improver, as it can remove the nitrogen in the soil... making it hard to grow things

Edited February 20, 2009 by log supplier