Pallet cost

paul case · June 03, 2016, 11:43:34 PM

I do know a little about pallets.

I know that a lot of folks that buy them to ship their products on want to get paid for their product before they pay for the skid it is shipped on. That means payday can be 60 to 120 days out. Make sure you don't get on one of these deals if you can help it. Several guys I know have gotten shafted when a company went out of business. Some had sent in over $40,000 worth of pallets they never got paid for.

PC

4x4American · June 04, 2016, 07:58:09 AM

Yes good point, I had thought of that I was gonna ask for COD or net 15. If they're selling to builders, builders take forever to pay.

Ron Wenrich · June 04, 2016, 09:45:52 AM

Just curious if they need to be heat treated. If the pallet goes to export, I believe it does.

Brad_bb · June 04, 2016, 01:11:45 PM

Another issue is, are you building the pallets with green lumber? Or do they need to be dry and heat treated? Also, a $30 deposit return doesn't mean the pallet only originally cost $30. It's worth a bit less used as some may have damage etc. So that is the value second use. You probably cannot resell that pallet for new price. Grayed pallets also will not sell for new price. I think this really comes down to an exercise of figuring out all of your costs and adding the margins you need. You can always come down in price when you get more efficient. It's harder to go up especially if there's competition. If you get the job at a good rate you also need to consider whether you should stay on the mill as you're worth more there than assembling pallets. You may want to hire help and set them up (with processes and fixtures) to do the assembly.

starmac · June 04, 2016, 01:37:53 PM

I am sure no expert and don't have a clue what pallets are bringing, but would bet a dollar to a busted doughnut hole you can build a table and jig that would speed up the actual building considerably. I doubt pallet manufacturers spend over 10 minutes for the assembly time per pallet, maybe even less.

Joe Hillmann · June 04, 2016, 01:54:17 PM

Quote from: 4x4American on June 03, 2016, 07:56:29 PM
That don't sound bad but will the thing actually work? I generally don't like cheap tools cause they cost ya more in the long run, like that husky air hammer I bought awhile back, it only lasted for one job! Complete rip off! Then ya gotta go buy a better one, which if you just bought it the first time, you'd be ahead what you spent on the first one!

But things like di-grinders, buy the cheapest one you can get cause they're all built about the same and last about as long as each other. A guy I know conducted a study on it, thats his conclusion at least lol

I bought a cheap knock off air stapler for 1 in staples for $17 brand new for a new product I was making. I figured it would work long enough to get a few samples made and see if they sell before I invest any real money into it. That was three years and at least 70,000 staples ago. In the last few months it has started to jam every so often because of wear so I will probably have to replace it this year. I don't know if a name brand $80 one would have lasted any longer.

Dave Shepard · June 04, 2016, 01:56:12 PM

Watch YouTube videos of pallet production to get an idea of how long it takes your competition. Some have five or six air nailers on an arm and the pallets go through on an assembly line.

Personally, I'm a cash and carry business. I'm not going to front anyone anything. If they can't pay their bill, let them get a line of credit at the bank. Nothing leaves my yard without payment, and down payment on large orders. I have a couple of people that I work with regularly that I would wait a little for a check. This is not a situation where I would give any slack.

paul case · June 04, 2016, 03:28:02 PM

Quote from: Dave Shepard on June 04, 2016, 01:56:12 PM
Nothing leaves my yard without payment, and down payment on large orders.

me too.
PC

4x4American · June 04, 2016, 04:21:28 PM

Wow lots of good info, thanks everyone.

ladylake · June 04, 2016, 04:23:09 PM

Quote from: 4x4American on June 03, 2016, 11:01:53 PM
Thanks for the good thoughts. I know nothing about the pallet making industry, all I know is that there ain't much $ in sawing pallet stock. Other than that, I have no idea how it goes. The logger is dropping off a few white oak logs tomorrow for me to do a test run of making some pallets and I'm gonna see how it goes and keep track of things. I posted on here because the way I wanted to check my figgering. The guy wants pallets, idk why, if he can't get enough, if he doesn't like the quality of the ones he's currently getting, if he just wants a backup, I'm not sure. I aim to find out.

I'd be selling white oak for around $1.25 a bf for trailer decking or fencing rather than giving it away for pallet lumber. Steve

Dave Shepard · June 04, 2016, 05:55:51 PM

I get a lot of interest in trailer decks and truck side boards. I just don't have a reliable source for white oak. Both of those markets can be served without a change in your equipment, and have a much higher return than pallets.

derhntr · June 04, 2016, 05:56:03 PM

If U line is selling them for $55 they are paying less than $30 from their supplier.

4x4American · June 04, 2016, 07:36:23 PM

I have a couple good sources of chestnut white oak, I would love to be sawing and selling for trailer decking/side boards but I haven't had any interest in it. I'm just trying to find something that is steady work to pay the bills and then when I get these random pine orders they are the icing on the cake...right now some weeks are busy and others are slow. Like this week I didn't get any orders and last week I got 4..I have two woodworkers coming out next week to look at some hard maple at least..HMR is saying that pretty much the marketplace is flooded with lumber and buyers are having a hard time absorbing and processing it all. I have been aggressively advertising this week on facebook, craigslist, going to places and pinning up flyers and handing out pricelists and making cold sales calls. I definitely planted some seeds as they say

Peter Drouin · June 04, 2016, 08:45:44 PM

Can you get 16' hardwood?

scleigh · June 04, 2016, 11:48:50 PM

4x4, from what I've seen, the pallet industry operates on small margins. There are many pallet companies around me and they don't pay much per b.f. in any species. There's also a decent sized circular mill close by that saws only for the pallet companies and they stay behind, but they operate on small margins sawing only pine and poplar pallet stock.
Seems to me that a one man operation is better suited selling specialty woods like maple, walnut, cedar etc.

Quebecnewf · June 05, 2016, 04:10:11 AM

I built and sold some (200 or more) a few years back to the local seafood coop. They were used to ship frozen crab on. Not a heavy load pallet like your talking about but still about the same to build.

Mine were only green softwood.
They were a one way pallet. Considered as part of the packaging cost for the pallet of crab.
I used just scrap lumber from my sawing . Mostly boards with wane that I did not want to edge
I made a simple nailing jig and built with a air nailer. With all you material cut to length no trouble to shoot one together in five minutes.
I got 25.00 a pallet at that time.
They stopped buying because they now must use hardwood no choice and it has to be heat treated. These pallets are shipped to the US and overseas .

Wish I had an order now because my edging pile of lumber is getting large.

Quebecnewf .

4x4American · June 05, 2016, 12:29:31 PM

Quote from: Peter Drouin on June 04, 2016, 08:45:44 PM
Can you get 16' hardwood?

I'm sure I could but idk about how straight they'll be. Where I'm getting the chestnut oak from right now is on steep ground and they are sweepy and stressful.

I took this picture back Apr. 30th from where the hill where they're growing:

There are 2 concentration yards close by and a truckload of other loggers I'm sure I can get some 16' hardwood. You wanna buy some lumbah?

Peter Drouin · June 05, 2016, 01:05:53 PM

I was thinking you can cut crane mats and use the side lumber for your pallets, slabs for fire wood. That way you can sell all the parts of the logs.

4x4American · June 05, 2016, 01:15:26 PM

That's a good idea. I would like to find an outlet for crane mats. There is a guy down the road from me who uses a woodmizer to build crane mats. I've talked with him before about selling to him, but he didn't seem interested. Called him last week also and left a message with secretary and haven't heard back.

Peter Drouin · June 05, 2016, 01:41:45 PM

I get calls all the time to cut them. But, I don't have a market for the side lumber.
If you can find someone that puts them together, I bet you can sell all you can cut. The market for them now is hot.

AnthonyW · June 06, 2016, 05:58:07 AM

Quote from: Quebecnewf on June 05, 2016, 04:10:11 AM
I built and sold some (200 or more) a few years back to the local seafood coop. They were used to ship frozen crab on. Not a heavy load pallet like your talking about but still about the same to build.

Mine were only green softwood.
They were a one way pallet. Considered as part of the packaging cost for the pallet of crab.
I used just scrap lumber from my sawing . Mostly boards with wane that I did not want to edge
I made a simple nailing jig and built with a air nailer. With all you material cut to length no trouble to shoot one together in five minutes.
I got 25.00 a pallet at that time.
They stopped buying because they now must use hardwood no choice and it has to be heat treated. These pallets are shipped to the US and overseas .

Wish I had an order now because my edging pile of lumber is getting large.

Quebecnewf .

For the OP, make sure you check on the heat-treat requirement. This is becoming a popular requirement.

sandsawmill14 · June 06, 2016, 07:06:26 AM

i am pretty sure we were paying 10 bucks a pallet just to get them heat treated and only pallets the are going to be exported have to be heat treated

but the company your building for can require anything they want to

4x4American · June 06, 2016, 07:43:27 AM

I hope they don't require anything more than waving my magic wand over them

Bruno of NH · June 23, 2016, 06:17:05 PM

4x4 how did this work out for you ?

4x4American · June 24, 2016, 09:07:58 AM

Not good..they currently give $18-19 per pallet :D I meant to report back but musta slipped my mind. He looked at my pallet and said boy that's a nice pallet, too nice. But I got an order for 20' long hardwood side boards for his triaxle dump truck. Got back late last night with my sawmill in tow. Back to work!