Renamed; pricing and curing slabs?

[Woodbender]

Who are some of you selling pretty slabs to?
And how in the world do you set a price?

I can see where a 24"wide 12' long slab top for a bar might not fetch as much as a highly figured piece of maple slab or a sizable burl or something with nice spalting.

Next question (in my mind anyway) is how do you safely dry these beauties without finding 8 months from now that I have a stack of cracked (ex-furniture grade) slabs?


Two scenarios;
1. Slabs that I own and surfaced to usable finish.
2. Slabs that are milled/slabbed and left on-site for the customer

Thanks in advance.

[Kcwoodbutcher]

I've sold some slabs but i try to sell them green or somewhat green, letting the buyer take the risk. On slabs that dried and checked or split I just cut out the good lumber and sold that as boards. Price wise I'm pretty cheap compared to what I see advertised. I don't know if any of that high dollar stuff actually sells. I set the price just a little above what the lumber in the slab is worth, assuming there's no great figure in the slab.

[metalspinner]

Some splitting is part of the character of the slab, IMHO.

The craftsman can easily incorporate a large split into the overall character of the work.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Try to incorporate some kind of design, where the check forms, OR, fill it with sawdust and clear epoxy. Sand it down, and , it's sometimes VERY difficult to find that check.

  We charged by the piece, and what we felt the buyers needs were. NEVER gouged, BUT, they have NO other source for pieces such as you mention.

  We got around $4.00 bd/ft. , green or semi-dried. We had no kiln facilities.

[flip]

Havn't sold any, usually give 'em away to buddies for firewood.

[Ga_Boy]

Good Question:

I have been playing with the question for 2 years.  You just have to set a price and see if it sells.  Also, you have to do you homework for marketing.






Mark

[urbanlumberinc]

I seel slabs to whoever is buying for as much as they're willing to pay.  That said, you havew to realize that no matter what you do a slab will almost always check.  Best thing to do is seal the ends, stack and sticker neat and level, and keep the pile under weight

[Dana]

I have a some 5 to 6' long by 8 to 24" wide by 2" thick live edged hard sugar maple slabs I will sell you. They have been air drying for a year so you would be a year ahead on the project.

[Captain]

This is a market that would LOVE to develop.  I may start placing advertisements to test the waters...

Captain

[TexasTimbers]

A guy down the street saw my newly hung sign and drove in on Saturday and asked me for a 5" ERC mantle 10' long and 14" wide.
I told him to come by tomorrow (which was yesterday) after church and I'd have it ready. He never asked a price and i never volunteered one. He wanted it cut on the back and both ends and the front left natural edge. ERC sells for a buck and a two bits a BF here. I knew that I was going to sell this thing too cheap to this man because I wanted him to get a great first deal from me, and I told him exactly that. I don't expect you to give it to me he says. I says well how about $40 bucks. He gave me a $50 and said "You have a new customer". We will see but I think so. He invited me down to his house and showed me all his remodeling going on. The guy is doing a great job and is looking forward to buying more wood froom me.
That piece, if you do the math is about 59BF and worth nearly $75 in lumber alone. It is big for ERC so I would normally price it at around $150 and probably get it. But this guy is a neighbor and i might be all wet behind the ears but I think I have to establish a reputation as having good prices, then let the market take them up slowly, imperceptibly, over time, to reality.
Those are my thoughts for now anyway. It was too cheap for sure, but a few deals like that in the beginning should pay bigger long term dividends.

[JimBuis]

First, I'd have to say that I don't sell wood. I only cut pieces my students use. I have cut a few slabs for school use. The woods I have cut so far cracked and checked quite a bit. However, that does not detract from the natural beauty of a nice slab. The species I cut these out of were going to crack no matter what I did with them. They were stickered and stacked under weight.

For price, I'd figure what I had invested in the log and how much time I had invested in cutting the slab itself. If I normally charge $40 an hour to custom cut and I spent 30 minutes cutting the slab, I'd charge a $40 minimum plus the cost I had in the log. I don't think I'd sell a nice slab for less than about $100 if it looked good and depending upon species and figure or character of the wood.

Along the way, I'd have to give my calculations the logic test. If I knew I was about the send a slab to the firewood pile, but a customer happened along who wanted it, I'd lower the price a bit. If I knew I had a prize piece of beautiful figured wood, I'd hold out for a better price. If a craftsman is looking for a nice piece to make a table out of, that slab of figured wood you have had tucked away for a year or more may be exactly what he is needing. I wouldn't be bashful about the price on such a piece.

Jim

[Fla._Deadheader]

 There's a thing about starting out too low in price. If that guy tells others what he paid, and try to get much more from the next guy, you will look REAL bad.

  DON"T do it. 1 piece of wood might make one customer, looking for more bargains. Be known as the guy that CAN get weird sized pieces, it pays MUCH better.

  We sold BIG ERC pieces, and the customers are looking for more ALL THE TIME. Got $4.00 bd/ft, and it was a littly doty. 

  Pics on my computer, in CR. 

[TexasTimbers]

Yeah I know. Thing is I have always priced at or above market I don't know why I took this tack this time. Sometimes i don't understand myself. 

[scsmith42]

I'm with Harold on this one - you get satisfied customers when you exceed their expectations.  If a new customer shows up and expects to get something for .40 a bd foot, and you price it at 1.00 - you're still selling too cheap and the customer is going to be dissatisfied.  On the other hand, if they show up expecting to pay $4.00 bd ft and you cut them a "deal" at $3.50 bd ft, then they walk away satisfied and you've made a good profit.

Working with slabs is slow, usually requires equipment, and it's a specialty market.

Having said that, Kevin I would do the same thing that you did - take good care of the neighbors (while making it clear to them that you would appreciate them not advertising the price that they paid).  When it comes to folks that are neighbors to loud things like sawmills, it's good to have them in your court.  Sometimes a neighbor may try to take advantage of you, when that occurs they are showing you their character and you can let them know that you can't help them out. 

[TexasTimbers]

This neighbor (about a mile away)  I had never met, but it one of those guys you meet and like instantly. I would be shocked to learn he is different than his demeanor. i am a pretty good judge of a man when I meet him and this guy is salt of the earth.
I did let him know this price was a gimme. He understood that. He even upped it on his own I just wanted to do him a really good turn right out of the box.
The next mantle he asks for will be $1000

I think most everyone has nailed the slab price though. Figure it by the BF lumber price and add according to how much it is figured, rare in size, species etc. 3 or 4 times the lumber price is not unreasonable.

[Woodbender]

They're all good answers.  Thanks guys.

[Gilman]

I had to get rid of a customer that I used to sell burl slabs to.  I under priced in the beginning and he always expected that price from then on.  I moved the price up to a fair price for both of us and he still insisted on paying the first price he got.

He's called a few times since then and I just let him know I don't have any for sale.

Wasn't worth all the haggling he wanted to do.


He did give me some advice on selling burls on his last visit, "Get lots of burls and sell them for really cheap.  That way you'll make lots of money."

I just never thought of that idea 

[Left_Coast_Rich]

Go to Baker Hardwoods website for some beautiffulll large slabs. That might change your idea about price.  It looks like they coat the whole slab in anchorseal and let it dry under weight.  Seems like people like live edges.

Sure is purty..  I have some 10/4 slabs drying in the shed.  It has been 3 years now.  Just about time to get serious about moving it. LC Rich   The ? I have is how do they get the anchorseal off?