For those who ask where do you get your wood. My answer is too varied to state them all, but most years a lot of my wood comes from the annual FML auction. It ended Saturday Noon. For the last several years it's been an online deal. Covid had a lot to do with it, but I think they wanted to end the madness it used to be.
In the past 200 to 400 or so potential Wood buyers would come very early in the AM to look at the wood, piled up on skids, and then about 8AM "buying" would open, and if you wanted a pile, you filled out your name on a 3x5 card, and stapled it to the pile. First to staple won the bid. Not too much auction, but that is what they called it.
Prices in the past were a LOT lower than now. Many of the prices now are actually higher than I can buy with the 25% discount I get there, so I stay away from those piles. Start with knowing retail price, at least retail price in our area, then figuring per bd/ft, and and come up with a gee I can come over next week and just buy stock from inventory for less than what they have it marked as. If it is a deal, then I will play.
Not sure if this will open, it's buried now being a "past" auction, but from a few weeks ago, to this past Saturday at Noon + time for last minute bids was the annual Frank Miller Lumber auction. They get rid of bundles that have been broken down for small quantity sales, and stock they just want to get out of the way. I've been doing this auction for over 20 years now, and have bought something at most all of them, and never gotten any stock that wasn't top shelf stock. Always FAS, at least what I bid on, all of it is posted squarely so you knew what you were getting if you just read the sales bill. Neither FML or the selling agent are trying to get over on anyone. FML wouldn't allow it.
Anyhow here is the auction info, if it opens. If it doesn't and you really want to look at the entire bill let me know, and I'll detail how I get into it, but it isn't a one click, more like 8 or 9. and having to read a lot as you go.
Look right side lower, and click view catalog. Then scroll down, there will be 4 pages of lots. I can still click each lot, and it opens to show what it is. The asking prices have been removed now, but if the lot had bids they show, and selling price is listed.
This year I got an email alerting me to the sale just a few days before bidding started, and I and a few others from the looks of it hit the bidding right away. This year I had a lot less room to store wood, and with my gimpy right foot decided to just bid on small packages, and I always get out bid on most of my early pics. I bid low, wanting my picks to be great deals, and I can let them go if they go over my bid. Some get auction fever and just keep bidding way past retail. Crazy money I call that, just go and buy retail, DUH!!! Probably the biggest thing is taking the time to figuring what retail is, before you start bidding.
I just won 3 auction lots this year. Just enough to make the drive over worth it to me. I think of my 3 lots I really cleaned up on the Afromosia. My total was $220.00, well not really you have to add tax, and my gas for the drive over to it, but i just used the total for the wood, and it was the 220 figure. For 46 total bd/ft it came to less than 5 bux a bd/ft, probably will be within 5.25 if you did add the tax, and gas. So a pretty good price for the wood I got.
Here is my detailed sales bill. I did some artwork on the personal info. I don't want the bots to have a head start on swiping my identity. I had a set bid on these 3 of 100 bux. I won because nobody went over whatever I won at. It is actually auction format now, no more saying I want it, and it was yours. More fun now, and they do a lot better this way. Some of the buyers just bid , and bid, and bid, so yeah FML is gonna keep doing this. They are very gracious on bd/ft. My 22 bd/ft of Curly soft Maple is likely closer to 30 bd/ft than 22. I'll know when I go to pick it up.
I am just dropping the top shot from pics, but they have a side shot, and and end shot as well, if anyone wants to see any of them let me know.
At first I thought you were trying to pull someone's leg with the Afromosia, sounds like a drink to me. All my scores are in log form and I've got some pics I can dig up somewhere. The wood obviously is as ways off from being usable right off the mill (except WO for trailer decks) but you immediately get to see how awesome it looks after cleaning it. Doesn't look that good again until finish milled and put into a project.
Dang, scanning through the auction, those were some fantastic realized prices. So when they list the number of feet in the lot, do they mean board feet or linear feet? Either way, at those prices, it would be worthwhile to rent a Uhaul and drive it down to TX. Well, it would be if I had a use and a place to store a couple of pallets of lumber.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
All in bd/ft Nathan, unless maybe on the stacks of shorts, those I believe are by weight. A few of the lots were for non FAS stock. Might be perfect to look at, but just 6' long. Most were 8' or longer though. Pages 3, lots 271, 272, 273, are all only 4' long. I didn't notice that at first, when I did I was happy to see me outbid. I have bought at 6' before, but I hesitate going shorter, it can severely limit your options. My 3 were 7' on the Afro, 10' on the other 2.
Yes I agree most lots had a needed to bid starter price. So you couldn't make a low ball offer, and compared to the past auctions, where you could start the bidding at 5 bux for a huge pile of Walnut, which certainly would get bid up. Now they are asking retail on most of the larger piles, and special woods. I was able to get in early, and up through Friday night I had 14 auctions where I was high bid, and most were for 40 bux or so. Between Friday night and saturday noon, a LOT of bidding came in on those piles, and except the 3 I won they almost all went over retail. A few were so highly over retail they didn't make sense. So many of the younger bidders just don't understand how auctions really should work, sad. They sold most of the lots, so I guess they will keep doing that. I will be cool on this auction from now on if they do though.
A couple of the larger lots I saw seemed to have have gone for more of a wholesale cost per BDFT which is why asked if they were linear or BDFT.
I've bid on a couple of tools in online auctions. In both cases the bidders got in a frenzy and drove the bid up over the current new price for the same tools. They had to pay the auction house premium on top of that which was between 10 and 15 percent and had to arrange pickup within 7 days. One thing that I noticed in that lumber auction is that you had to load the pallets yourself which implies you might have to bring a fork lift with you or load them one board at a time.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
Farm or estate auction is my favorite auctions when I bother to go. Craigs List is my go to when I need lumber. It might take a week or 2 before I find what I want for the price I'm willing too pay but as it stands right now if I never bought another piece of walnut, cherry, poplar, oak or sassafras, I'd still have enough to last my lifetime.
Dick every time I come home with "more" lumber the Wife asks when are you going to use all the wood you have in all the barns. I really have no idea, but a WAG would be more than 6,000 bd/ft of mixed species lumber. I am a wood addict, addicted to buying it. :-)
Nathan, no premium on this auction. I usually don't play when they have them. I think those who go retail at an auction have a desire to win, even if they really loose.
That's why I only go to the lumber yard when it's necessary. Last time I went I came home with twice as much as I needed. I also had to stop myself from buying other species of woods.
That was when it first got delivered. I used half of it for my table. The other half is in the shop waiting to become something. The 12/4 became table legs. That's all gone.
No I hand picked them. I stack the boards up they put my name on it. Over $500 delivery is free. Nice to keep 14' boards whole. I had to ask twice that delivery was free. Nobody sends a truck out around here usually for free. It's easy to rack up $500 of lumber.
I always pick and haul home my wood, but I have a bed rack and a 16' trailer. The nearest sources are almost 100 miles away, but I have been told that they will deliver out here as they make a trip every week. Same thing, no problem spending a stack of Benny's to meet minimums. They also do the -10% with 100bf, then another 10% for 300bf.
