Selling Straw

chris blohm · Jun 23, 2009

Hello guys and gals,
I have a question reguarding selling of small squares of wheat straw. I charge 1.50 per bale plus have del. ava. with fee
My question is what do you guys charge for del.
Do you rasie the price of the bale?
or do you add the amount of bales together and charge per say by the loaded mile?
looking at other options , as i use the loaded mile rate but then again what price do you use for loaded mile .
THANKS CHRIS

M Nut · Jun 23, 2009

I used to sell quite a few square bales of hay (1,000+ each year) and I also offered delivery. I always charged according to the situation. Situation #1. Was it a 50 bale order 10 miles away and there would be help to unload? Situation #2. Or was it a 300 bale order 120 miles away where you could not get within 200ft of the storage building and you had no help for unloading at all? I can tell you the delivery price was vastly different! First situation was $20 delivery charge and second was $600 delivery charge. Oh, I also learned cash in my hand before I even loosen the straps on situations like those in #2. Yes, I learned a lot in a short amount of time about people. Most are very good to deal with, but some will sc!!w you any way they can. I got sc!!wed once, but it never happened again!

nickg · Jun 23, 2009

I do a fair bit of custom work but I also use to sell a fair bit of hay and straw. think most people around home here in indiana wear I live have a flat delevery fee. I dont know why but if you raise the price of a bail for dielevery people notice and complain your to high on price but if you charge a delivery fee they dont say as much even if the money is the same.Thats my experience with it anyway.

Roger in Iowa · Jun 23, 2009

$1.50 is awfully cheap.

Paul from MI · Jun 23, 2009

I have been getting $2 a bale plus delivery. Delivery charge is a flat charge based on distance, number of bales, how I have to unload it, etc.
You have to use your own judgement about payment terms, and I have used poor judgement a few times. Usually people are really honest, but there are those!!
Paul

Spook · Jun 23, 2009

I just paid 2.50 for a couple bales.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 23, 2009

Sorry, I have to laugh at your statement. "I used to sell quite a few square bales of hay (1,000+ each year) and I also offered delivery" Not poking fun at ya but it made me chuckle... Yesterday we bales 1291 small squares and today we baled 765. Considered normal days for us. Yes, that is one baler and two guys baling.

flying belgian · Jun 23, 2009

Please do all of us including yourself a favor and raise your price. $1.50 is to cheap. I get $3.00 for 100 or less and $2.75 for over 100. Delivery charge is $50.00 for up to 20 miles. No matter if you buy one bale or a 350 bale load. I will throw them off the wagon for that price either on ground or on your elevator. No stacking by me and no waiting for you to stack them. I'm not trying to be harsh but this is a buissiness for me, not a hobby so I need to make money at it. Generally sell between 18,000 and 22,000 a year so I don't have time for another job.

RodinNS · Jun 23, 2009

Last fall I sold out at 4.00/bale for a 40-45# bale. That was delivered about 40 minutes away in 350 bale loads. Smaller loads and I'd want more money.
I'm delivering with a tandem and trailer if necessary so I want 70 bucks an hour... but I'm not too harsh about the time or unloading, etc.
If I'm moving a load I don't mind helping put it away. There's give and take... you need to be a bit flexible.
That said, there's not much movement in the basic price. At a buck 50, I'd burn the bloody stuff in the field. That doesn't cover the cost of putting it on the truck.

Rod

M Nut · Jun 23, 2009

All depends on your area I guess. I make 1000+ square bales and about the same number of round bales, and in my area I make more hay than anybody in a 40 mile radius of me. I don't live in a farming area though. Sure lots of folks with 3-5 horses to feed, but nobody makes their own hay.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 23, 2009

The last couple of bales I bought at the feed store were about $7 or $8 apiece, which I thought was highway robbery. But I needed 2 bales, so I paid what they charged. The kid who helped me load them said they had a hard time getting enough small bales of straw to keep up with the demand. It was very nice, clean wheat straw.

I would do some checking around to see what the "going rate" for straw is in your area. $1.50 seems really cheap, even for bales in the field ready for the customer to pick up and load from the ground. But maybe the supply exceeds the demand in your area, and customers will only pay what you are charging...but I doubt that you are making much money selling bales that cheap. And delivery costs a bunch around here. Have you had any luck getting kids to help you haul? Almost impossible around here, even if you pay $10/hour, and who can afford to do much of that? Good luck!

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2009

Looks like the area has a lot to do with the price. We put 24 bales on a hard pallet will sit the bal on your truck or trailer for $ 50.00
Sell all we bale. Finished the last field last night a sun set. Bal;ed 376 bale off 12 acres in
just a little less than 3 hrs. I like it when everything works perfect. Straw is about as big a deal as the grain around here. I can bring pallet to the dealership(KUBOTA STORE) here and get $3.50 a bale for it in one and two as long as I want to mess with it. I Think local co-op gets $ 4.50 Jerry West Tn.

Selling Straw

chris blohm

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M Nut

Well-known Member

nickg

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Roger in Iowa

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Paul from MI

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Spook

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Anonymous-0

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flying belgian

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RodinNS

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M Nut

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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