It's Started

[Stephen1]

I've been working on tuning up the old mill I got, cutting a bunch of logs I gathered in Dec. One of my  neighbor's pulls in looking to buy some wood. I am out behind my house so he must of been looking pretty hard. Anyway I already had some 10\4 pine cut & dried which he bought along with some other4\4 pine. I charge him $1 a bf. He wants me to cut 2  4"x10"x12' for stringers for his stairs into his basement that he is finishing. He also wants 2"x10" for his steps.  I try to tell him that it will be green and it will have to dry for quite a while, like at least a year if not 2 especially if I cut hardwood. Some people do not seem to listen well, cut it he says, I will buy it and dry it in my basement. 
Here is the Question, I have cut the 2"x12" out of Norway maple, beautiful not a blemish in it, and the 12' stringers will have to come out of red pine, How much do I charge for the hardwood, the pine I will charge the $1 bf or should I charge more.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Kelvin]

Its kind of a local market thing.  If you want to be fair and you don't know about your local market yet, i would start on your cost end and add it up.  I saw for folks at $.35 a bd ft and kiln dry for $.35 so if i add my log cost i should be making the same amount of money selling my own lumber at such and such amount.  I've found that looking up the cost of lumber locally at stores is of no help whatsoever as no one around me will pay a small mill like me anything close to that.  So local store sells red oak for $2.50 kiln dried, i have to sell green at $.50, air dried at $.75 and kiln dried at $1.00 or so to get anyone willing to come out.  Pricing has been very hard here for me, so i've got lots of unsold lumber sitting around.  You don't want to price so high that someone will easily find an alternative guy down the road and not bother coming back.  If its a once in awhile thing just guess. 
For sawing construction lumber i always make sure guys know that the lumber yard sells kiln dried pine 2x stuff for about $.50 a bd ft so they aren't mad after the fact.  1x pine at Home Repot is about $1.25 a bd ft.  I just saw some old lumber prices from the 70's or 80's.  Seems 2x4's were about $.80 or $.90 each, that would make them about $5-$7 in todays dollars.  Can you imagine if they cost that much?  Still under $2 around me.
Have fun with the new, old mill,
KP