Price check on 8/4 white oak slabs?

[Greyhound]

I have some green flitch-sawn white oak slabs that a friend is looking to buy for a "live-edged" table top.  What is the going street price range for these slabs.  I was thinking in the ballpark of $5/bf, kiln-dried.  Even after kiln-dryingy cost would be less than $0.50/bf.  I just want to sell at a fair price.

[Den-Den]

How thick?
$5.00 per Bd-Ft seems very reasonable for Kiln dried 8/4 WO of decent quality, it is particularly difficult to dry thick White Oak without major degrade.  Much thicker and I would expect that $5.00 would be cheap although the chances of getting even 50% of the green wood dry without cracks and severe warping would be poor.

[WDH]

I would be at about $5.50 unless it was wide, quartersawn stock.  Then I would be more towards $8.00/bf for 12"+ wide, select, quartersawn wo. 

[Peter Drouin]

I sell it for 1.50 a BF trailer decking, comes ¼ sawn and flat, square edge up to 16'. :D

[WDH]

The Hardwood Market Report has FAS 4/4 green white oak, tractor trailer load quantities at $1.50/BF.  Kiln dried is $2.10.  FAS green 8/4 white oak is $2.10 and kiln dried 8/4 is $3.60.

Green #1C 4/4 white oak is $.71/BF and kiln dried is $1.20.  Green #1C 8/4 white oak is $.99/BF and kiln dried is $2.00.

[Seaman]

$5 bf for a live edge table top is a GOOD price, do not go down the road of comparing it to lumber!
Frank

[low_48]

Way too cheap. I'd double that. Slabs are really hot right now, check some internet prices. That kiln drying price seems low too. 8/4 white oak slabs really take the time to dry.

[4x4American]

 :P

[sandsawmill14]

hardwood market report is what sets my prices  why charge the little guy more  than the big corp ??? and remember a green live edge slab is just a piece of lumber you didnt have to edge ;D  i you stack it and dry it for years in some cases as some members here do that is all together different and should demand a premium 

[sandsawmill14]

greyhound your kiln dried price does sound reasonable to me

[Peter Drouin]

For me, I like to keep the wood moving. Don't give it away, but don't over price it . I see a guy on CL selling them. He has 600 of them. I don't cut them unless some one comes in and wants one . Then I sell them the whole log. :D
I know what a payed for it and get a fair price green off the mill.

[finding the trail]

  IMO your selling a custom product to niche market.  Test the market till you get resistance.

[Blackgreyhounds]

Thanks for all of the inputs.  Looking at my costs, the logs were free from my property ;D + $0.20/bf to saw + ? $0.30-$0.50/bf to dry (maybe a little more) = $0.50-0.70/bf.  FWIW, I'm selling these to a friend so I'm not looking for max profits, just something a little less than full retail.  Win-Win.  Right now, Hearne Hardwoods (the most expensive local retailer) is asking $9.00/bf for 8/4 FAS 9+" for stock edged lumber.

[WV Sawmiller]

Thanks for all of the inputs.  Looking at my costs, the logs were free from my property ;D + $0.20/bf to saw + ? $0.30-$0.50/bf to dry (maybe a little more) = $0.50-0.70/bf.  FWIW, I'm selling these to a friend so I'm not looking for max profits, just something a little less than full retail.  Win-Win.  Right now, Hearne Hardwoods (the most expensive local retailer) is asking $9.00/bf for 8/4 FAS 9+" for stock edged lumber.

GH,

   Price does not sound unreasonable but I'd challenge your "free from my property" statement. How long will it take you to grow a replacement?

  As to selling to a friend I'd suggest sell at your regular price or give them to him. Big discounts to friends bite you in the butt when they tell others who expect the same deal. I have cut for free for friends and neighbors. One I told him call it pasture rent (Next door neighbor and he lets my horse and mule graze down his pasture - BTW he came by and graded the snow out of my drive twice this winter) and another I told him give me $25 for the gas and I'll call you the next time I need your to do some welding or tractor work after cutting 1500 bf of 4/4 8" wide R/O. Some people you can't charge and they should know it.

[landscraper]

Big discounts to friends bite you in the butt when they tell others who expect the same deal.

If he's a true friend he will respect your wishes when you say "I'm going to give you a deal on this, but don't go telling anyone".  If you don't know him well enough to predict the outcome of that you are really just acquaintances, and there is no reason to be giving discounts to acquaintances unless you are just a generous person.  JMHO. 

[Greyhound]

Thanks for all of the inputs.  Looking at my costs, the logs were free from my property ;D + $0.20/bf to saw + ? $0.30-$0.50/bf to dry (maybe a little more) = $0.50-0.70/bf.  FWIW, I'm selling these to a friend so I'm not looking for max profits, just something a little less than full retail.  Win-Win.  Right now, Hearne Hardwoods (the most expensive local retailer) is asking $9.00/bf for 8/4 FAS 9+" for stock edged lumber.

GH,

   Price does not sound unreasonable but I'd challenge your "free from my property" statement. How long will it take you to grow a replacement?

  As to selling to a friend I'd suggest sell at your regular price or give them to him. Big discounts to friends bite you in the butt when they tell others who expect the same deal. I have cut for free for friends and neighbors. One I told him call it pasture rent (Next door neighbor and he lets my horse and mule graze down his pasture - BTW he came by and graded the snow out of my drive twice this winter) and another I told him give me $25 for the gas and I'll call you the next time I need your to do some welding or tractor work after cutting 1500 bf of 4/4 8" wide R/O. Some people you can't charge and they should know it.

Good advice!  Actually, I almost never sell my lumber, but I'm currently sitting on 2000+ bf of kiln-dried lumber (cherry, walnut, w. oak) already and I'm running out of space to store it.  Then my friend asked me about buying some live edged slabs, so we got to talking... We'll see how it goes. 

Also, I agree with the idea that it's not free.  I bought the land and I pay taxes on it, too.

[4x4American]

Big discounts to friends bite you in the butt when they tell others who expect the same deal.

If he's a true friend he will respect your wishes when you say "I'm going to give you a deal on this, but don't go telling anyone".  If you don't know him well enough to predict the outcome of that you are really just acquaintances, and there is no reason to be giving discounts to acquaintances unless you are just a generous person.  JMHO.

I charge my friends more, I tell them they should want me to make good money lol (just kidding)

[sandsawmill14]

i agree if you are cutting 24"+ wide slabs or book matched tops or something else special but what else makes it worth more than market ??? i cut about 900 bdft of 6/4 poplar "live edge slabs" today but they will be edged and sold for about $600 per 1000 :-\  maybe im missing something ??? but he asked about a fair price and $5.00 is fair imo    good log for fas lumber 1.50 ft doyle + saw bill .30 bdft +drying $1.00 bdft kiln dried= 2.80 approx total cost if he sells at $5.00 bdft that leaves $2.20 profit. thats not a bad margin but if you can get 10 bdft its better but its not a FAIR price

[low_48]

We really don't have any idea what kind of slabs he is sawing. He didn't tell us. He did mention live edge table top, so I assumed that they were pretty good sized. Fair price to me means fair to the person that cuts the slabs. But if the sawyer wants to leave money on the "table" it sure is his choice. Me? I don't like working hard for the fun of it.