Niche Marketing on the Internet

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

If you have followed my thread "Big or Weird" , this question will make more sense to you:
"How have you been able to use the internet to enhance small-market selling of unusual wood?" Let's see some details, such as other wood related sites and what you did.

P.S. I am in Southern Ga. Many of you, understandably, won't want to give away the secrets to your markets, with the MILLIONS of Forestry Forum members watching. If you feel I am far enough away, yet prefer privacy, then e-mail me directly. Post as much as you dare.   Any personal tricks which you don't want back on the web, won't be shown.
Phil L.

[DanG]

Hey, Phil! Wherebouts in S. Georgia are you?  I'm located at Chattahoochee, Fl., just 7 miles from the Georgia line.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Well above you, DanG.
Dublin, which is on I-16 between Macon and Savannah.  We are barely "south", more central really.

A friend of mine just told me about, and showed me this morning, a pushed-aside trunk of a yellow pine over three feet thick at the butt end.  Can't wait to try my fresh-from-Fedex Stihl 090/Alaskan out on that monster tree.  If only I had an "All-terrain" model of the Peterson swing blade for this one!  Three sections are too close together, and I would estimate that the main 20' section would weigh 5K lbs.  They are lying in a mushy bog with a spring actually flowing from under the logs.
Phil L.

[Jeff]

Millions watching? hmmm

[Ron Wenrich]

The marketing I've seen done on the Internet goes from small lots to trailerloads.  The trailerloads are hard to move items.

The small lots tend to be over on ebay, or some sort of site like that.  The biggest problem is the cost of shipping and the small size of package you can send, unless you go motor freight.

There are a few specialty sites that offer wood, but I don't know how well they do.

[DanG]

I think we will soon begin to see more local marketing done via the Internet, in the near future. There is a great fascination with all this long distance chit-chat, right now, but I  believe that people will discover that geography is going to get more important. I answered a question on GardenWeb a couple of months ago, and asked the lady where she was located. She turned out to be a co-worker of mine, right here in Tallahassee, that I had known for 30 years.  I found the mill that I'm buying on the Internet, but it is located right down the road a piece. Just because we can communicate all over the world, doesn't mean it won't work across town, too.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Hey DanG,
And well I know that you got that mill on the internet.
I had noticed it a week before your post, then noticed the price drop.   About the time I had said, "Man, that is a deal!" , I saw your "I done went and Done it" post.
There you are in Florida, and me in GA watching the same product on a server that is who-knows-where.  
You have my point, alright:
   Just because geography and transport/freight costs do
   limit where you can sell many things, that doesn't mean
   that the internet can't help you market right next door.
   On the other hand "Petite and Pretty" can mean a small
   fortune in a little UPS box, if that customer wants 1/4sawn
   3/16" thick holly for marquetry work.  (Holly is one of the
   most dyeable woods for that use.)   Ship it to Canada or
   Jacksonville, or next door.
PHil L.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

  Well, at least fourteen watching, then.
So I exaggerated a bit.
Phil L.
     Hey, if there aren't millions watching, then reconfigure the
        dadburn server again!

[timberbeast]

I've seen some turning blanks go for amazingly high prices on E-bay.

[Jeff]

Phil for your info:


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