Selling green slabs

[Tinkerer]

Anyone sell green slabs to customers as a "project"? You know: let it sit on a dry area in your basement for a year, plane, sand, finish, and add legs

[pezrock]

I just started selling air dryed slabs this year. They range from 1 to 2.5 inches thick and are a variety of hardwoods and soft woods that have been drying between 3 months to 3 years. I let every customer know about each individual piece they purchase. Surprisingly most customers I have dealt with do not seem deterred much. Some let it acclimate after purchase. Some I have even provided straps, stickers and cinder blocks to at no extra cost. I do price generally 25 percent less than if it were fully dried which seems so far to be working. Still learning every day though. I recently saw someone with many youtube followers also saying that they have a lot of customers buying green wood. 

Very interested in other responses to this post. 

[VB-Milling]

I tried listing some white oak chainsaw milled slabs right off the log a few months ago.  93" x 16" x 6/4.  Advertised as green/wet.

Put them up on OfferUp and CL during the peak of crazy lumber prices. $50 for both just to see if there was any market in this area.  I got 2 inquiries.  One was from a guy who never responded and the other was from a guy who wanted to come and root through my offcut pile for free because he's a wood turner and "I'm just going to burn it anyways so I might as well give it to him".

I think I'll try again when my BSM is assembled.  Maybe try a different species.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have several thousand bf of slabs in various stages of air drying in a couple of pole barns and on cement blocks covered with metal roofing that I offer to sell to customers for assorted projects. I also periodically make live edge benches and sell them here, at flea markets and on CL. I took one such 4' long 8/4 walnut slab the week before last and, with him watching and helping, we made it into a bench for a customer who took it, along with an unfinished ash bench, to Maine last week for his daughter's wedding. The guests were to sign it and he was going to epoxy over the signatures to preserve them. That was probably my most rewarding sale to date.

   I sell most of mine rough although I do plane and/or sand the tops and apply tung oil to my benches. Most of mine are 2" thick. I have one stack of very wide walnut I took to a counterpart with a Lucas slabber and I had it cut into 9/4 slabs with a 4.5" slab in the middle I will likely rip into 2- LE fireplace mantels. I also sell a few 3" & 4" for fireplace mantels. On occasion I have put one back on the mill and edged it for a special customer (and most are special) when I don't have 8/4 stock he is looking for.

   Mine range from about 30" long to 15' long. I have had people buy them for table tops, bar tops, kitchen islands, etc. Sometimes people will buy one to put on an old cast iron Singer sewing machine frame for a table or such. I just asked for a brochure from LogRite for table/bench/stool legs and they offer a real nice cart stand that seems to be begging for a particular walnut slab in my stack on top of it and a new home.

   Often the customer will have me edge one side to place against a wall for fireplace mantel or sideboard or such.

    They don't sell real fast but I don't advertise them as much as I should. The biggest problem I have is displaying them. I could sell a lot more if I could show them better. You should know the customer always wants the one on the bottom of a tall stack.

[Resonator]

I sell both green and dried. Everything that comes off the mill goes on a pallet and is stickered, so while it waits to sell it is air drying. I discourage customers from storing them in a basement, that usually means poor air circulation, and risks mold.

[alan gage]

Like a couple others have said most customers don't seem to be deterred by buying green slabs. I can only assume this is because they've never delt with green slabs before.

I've sold some this way as well as dried and planed. I've pretty much given up on selling either type simply because I didn't see enough demand here and I don't have enough extra time to mess with it.

As with anything some customers are great and understanding and others are a PITA. I always told people what they were dealing with. Some realized it was more work/risk than they wanted, others understood and were up to the challenge and happy to save some money, and others seemed blind to what they were getting into no matter what you told them.

I've seen pictures of some of the projects they did and some of them were very impressive while others I wouldn't sign my name to but the customer was tickled pink with it so that's all that matters. Nearly all the people that have contacted me for slabs have been people with minimal woodworking skills who like the live edge slab look but aren't able/willing to pay to have a custom piece built and they like doing things themselves.

Alan