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stupid cheap people

S

spencerhenry

New member
i sell firewood, trying to increase my sales every year. i have all the machinery to produce it as efficiently as possible, log loader, processor, dump truck etc... i sell the wood at about $20 over my cost to produce it. i charge for delivery, though not enough. it is now the almost the middle of january and it was 20 below zero last night. so the people who failed to prepare for winter are continuing to call. my advertised price for a full cord is the best price going, saving customers about 50% over buying 1/3 cord at a time. so some dumb ass calls today, the usual questions, "is it a FULL cord", yes it is a FULL cord, "is it split" yes it is split, "is it dry" yes it is dry, "ok, i will take a cord, do you know where ELM STREET is?" yes, i know where it is, but i have to charge for delivery, the advertised price is for wood that is picked up. "so how much is it delivered?" i charge $70 for your location. "wow, that is a lot of money".
i explained to him that my truck costs money, my insurance costs money, license plates cost money, fuel and tires cost money, and then there is my time. i have to load the wood, drive 1/2 hour each way, and dump it. i didnt make the sale.
i am so sick and tired of cheap bastards expecting me to work for nothing, a delivery to this guy would have taken me at least 1.5 hours and that is assuming the delivery goes well and the guy doesnt have to hunt for his checkbook or want it dumped in some place i cant get to. the reality is that the delivery would have probably taken about 2 hours. that means i offered to deliver the wood for $35 per hour, after i take out fuel that means i actually get for me and the truck about $30 per hour. anyone ever heard of a cabover 4x4 dump truck with a driver going for $30 per hour?
the next time i get one of these cheap bastards, i am going to ask them if they support minimum wage laws, i am sure these cheap bastards do, when he says yes, i am going to ask why then is he asking me to work for FREE.
 
I feel your pain Spencer. But keep a positive attitude, act like it's just business, and don't let him get under your skin. He'll look around and there's a good chance that once he sees that this is the going rate he may very well call back. But don't burn any bridges just because he's an ass and pisses you off. Good luck!
 
I know all to well what your experiences are. Pisses you off. The guy will probably get wood someplace else, not a full cord, will pay more in the long run and then on top of it run around town and bash your name. yep go through that a lot.
 
spencerhenry said:
i sell firewood, trying to increase my sales every year. i have all the machinery to produce it as efficiently as possible, log loader, processor, dump truck etc... i sell the wood at about $20 over my cost to produce it. i charge for delivery, though not enough. it is now the almost the middle of january and it was 20 below zero last night. so the people who failed to prepare for winter are continuing to call. my advertised price for a full cord is the best price going, saving customers about 50% over buying 1/3 cord at a time. so some dumb ass calls today, the usual questions, "is it a FULL cord", yes it is a FULL cord, "is it split" yes it is split, "is it dry" yes it is dry, "ok, i will take a cord, do you know where ELM STREET is?" yes, i know where it is, but i have to charge for delivery, the advertised price is for wood that is picked up. "so how much is it delivered?" i charge $70 for your location. "wow, that is a lot of money".
i explained to him that my truck costs money, my insurance costs money, license plates cost money, fuel and tires cost money, and then there is my time. i have to load the wood, drive 1/2 hour each way, and dump it. i didnt make the sale.
i am so sick and tired of cheap bastards expecting me to work for nothing, a delivery to this guy would have taken me at least 1.5 hours and that is assuming the delivery goes well and the guy doesnt have to hunt for his checkbook or want it dumped in some place i cant get to. the reality is that the delivery would have probably taken about 2 hours. that means i offered to deliver the wood for $35 per hour, after i take out fuel that means i actually get for me and the truck about $30 per hour. anyone ever heard of a cabover 4x4 dump truck with a driver going for $30 per hour?
the next time i get one of these cheap bastards, i am going to ask them if they support minimum wage laws, i am sure these cheap bastards do, when he says yes, i am going to ask why then is he asking me to work for FREE.
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Well I'm glad you were able to get that off your chest, and well done I might add. :applause:

I allways follow one way of thinking so I dont get let down when dealing with the public. People suck for the most part, so be thankfull for any good dealings you do have and chaulk the rest up to experience and learn by it. Sounds like you are running a decent and respectable buisiness, so hopefully you will have more good then bad, best of luck to Ya. :wink:
 
Some people like to haggle out a price,its stupid i agree,but if you ask for more $ up front and let them talk you down from what you would have sold it to them flat out,it makes them feel like they are a good bargain hunter and have some skills, they need to feel like they are special, the truth is they have no skills and no understanding of what a labor intensive job entails. i can totally understand your frustration.
 
I do too and understand. I have people that repair our garage doors, gate, electrician, sign company etc. They all charge $70 to $80 to drive to do the repairs and the repairs are added on in addition. That is just common business sense really, I know we raised our rents when our property tax went up, maintenance costs, utilities etc. It is the cost of doing business period.

Some people just don't have a clue. I had a tenant once that had the balls to complain about a $1 per month raise in rent. He threatened to move over $1 and claimed we had no over head unlike him. Well fact was we hadn't raised his rent in 8 years, had put a new roof over his storage space, put in a new electronic gate, security camera system and painted the property as well as landscaping. He got upset of a $1 increase on the least expensive storage facility for a 25 mile radius. This year however I didn't hear a peep out of him when I jacked up his rent 10% (a lot more than $1) so they do learn eventually.
 
Come to Delaware, we need HONEST firewood dealers. The crooks around here expect you to believe a cord fits in their pick up trucks. They get mad when proven wrong, and a lot get sent home without the sale.
The truck and trailer pictured are mine trailer is 5 by 8 they don't quite fit the whole cord, but it's close enough that the remainder fits in the wife's car.
 

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If a cord of wood is 4' wide x 4' high x 8' long I would have a trailer or a box in my pickup made to those dimensions. Fill it to capacity. Now here is your cord of wood for X number of $$$.
Delivery of this wood to your place is ??? dollars. Price is firm. You will get a few people complain, but that is going to happen anyway. I think at the end of the day you will come out ahead.

OT.
 
i have a box on my dump truck that holds 2.13 cords of loose wood (not stacked). that is figuring an additional 25% in volume for it not being stacked. if selling one cord i load the truck a little over half full, it is not worth my time to stack it all to make sure it is right at one full cord, i would rather give them extra and save myself the 30 or 40 minutes to load by hand and stack. NO one has ever complained that the load was short, in fact i have had customers call me to tell me that they got over a full cord.
 
Charge them twice as much, and let them haggle you down 30%. They'll feel great, and you'll make a fair profit.
 
128 cubic feet of seasoned oak (17%) weighs 4012 pounds. At least that's what it states on one of the sites. Not many pick-ups can handle that kind of weight. I pull a 34 foot fifth wheel camper and have 3000 pounds on the hitch. I Wouldn't want any more weight on the truck.
I get some people selling firewood, out of an F150, they claim their truck is hauling a cord. Out comes the tape measure and proof.
Lately if I buy wood, it's slab wood from a saw mill. Or from the Amish fellow I got the wood on the truck/trailer from. I have to pick it up, but that's par for the course.
I hate people trying to take advantage of others. To me shorting on firewood is like paying for a gallon of gas but only getting 3 quarts delivered.
Never had a journalism class, so my writings may seem a little odd. Please try to read between the lines and get what I'm trying to say.
 
squerly said:
I supose it's possible, but it sure would be sitting low on the ass end...
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We had a Dodge 1/4 ton with a Top Cat cover and we could get a full cord in that little beastie ... but, as you note, we'd
have to go slow on the return trip, the back was a tad low to the ground, and we steered by leaning hard in the direction we
wanted to go!

 
some people will always be un happy our fuel is always about 50 cents a gallon under our competition yet we get alot of people complaining about the cost of our product when folks complain to me i remind them there is another dealer and with out our company their cost' would likely be like kotzabue and bethel a couple of dollars a gallon higher. it dosn't stop the complaining it's just that same mentality everybody has about i'm afraid someones getting over on me
 
in the end it's just in some peoples nature to feel the need to haggle and or complain about your price. Waybomb is right..add in some haggle room.
btw, I understand and it bothers me when people try to haggle me down.
 
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