Atlanta - Pinestraw

[cmatheny]

Where are you getting your pinestraw and how much are you paying?

[the scaper]

ace hardware or the depot for me, usually small quantities though. $3.30 per bail. gotta pay for that convenience! the stuff we bought this morning was pretty nice straw though. how bout yerself??

[TotalCareSolutions]

Scaper that's too high. When you get larger jobs you'll have to find someone to deliver in bulk. Get a couple hundred delivered and whats left take in the trucks.

[the scaper]

Originally posted by TotalCareSolutions
Scaper that's too high. When you get larger jobs you'll have to find someone to deliver in bulk. Get a couple hundred delivered and whats left take in the trucks. total, i charge the same labor price per bail no matter what the straw costs so it's not really an issue to me. thanks anyway

[cmatheny]

What do you charge to put it down...

[TotalCareSolutions]

Scaper,
$1 saved in the cost of straw x 200 bales = $200 in your pocket. Lower cost x fixed sell price = more money to you.

cmatheny,
I always say, 'straw is a losing deal' profit wise for the smaller LCO. But there is a high demand for it and straw can make crap look good. Somewhere around $5.00 a bale is probably close. So you'll make $1.50 - 2.20 a bale. So for small amounts by the time you go get it and put it down your not profiting much, but you are profiding a necessary service. Consider it a 'loss leader' -or- a cost in doing business -or- a customer service.

Try to group pinestraw jobs together.

[CSRA Landscaping]

I can't help myself ... I'm drawn to Atlanta threads like a moth to a flame. ;)

I get my straw from a guy down in Swaynesboro, GA, for $2.75 a bale. That's for the slash, not the short. He brings good, red straw, too. He'd probably be willing to go to Atlanta for the same rate. Anyone interested, PM me. (No, I don't get a cut.) :D

[TotalCareSolutions]

LOL

[Cutters Lawn Care]

I pay 3.00 per bale. Charge customer 6.00 to put it out. That's about the going rate in Carrollton. I do know one guy who charges 7.50 per bale.

[the scaper]

$3- 3.50 per bail + straw is a fair price. Totalscare- if you're only making $1.50 per bail i think this might be why you are "losing" on your jobs. try easing your fee's up to industry standards and you wont have to waste as much time sweating the small stuff-good luck!

[TotalCareSolutions]

Scaper,
PLEASE don't get 'tangy' over this, but I don't want you to wind up being one those members that does not take the effort to read a post thoroughly. Or sees what they want and THEN responds accordingly, actually diverting the thread altogether. I am dealing with this in another forum and it gets difficult trying to carry on any intelligent dialoque when members don't have the coutesy to stay in reality and go by what is actually written. I just think that's fair. AGAIN, I am not trying to offend you, and I appreciate your advice about trying to up the level of my business, you have always been a great help to me and others, so I don't mean any embarrassment when I say, stop making things up....

Here it is again....
Originally posted by TotalCareSolutions

cmatheny,
I always say, 'straw is a losing deal' profit wise for the smaller LCO. But there is a high demand for it and straw can make crap look good. Somewhere around $5.00 a bale is probably close. So you'll make $1.50 - 2.20 a bale. So for small amounts by the time you go get it and put it down your not profiting much, but you are profiding a necessary service. Consider it a 'loss leader' -or- a cost in doing business -or- a customer service.


To this point in the thread no one had answered the man's question and the post above this he asked again. I did not say this is the price I use, I was addressing his question for him, thats why I used his name and used the word "YOU". That price has been in my experience, industry average here in Atlanta. I hastened to add that at that price HE probably would not profit much. Almost certainly at this point the man has a reference and can increase the price if he so desires and as you have most plainly reiterated.

[TotalCareSolutions]

cmatheny,

CSRA is paying 2.75. Going by some of the rates above, lets say you drop 100 bales in the spring...2.75 + 3.50 = $625 for a straw job! Not bad. If you can sell it, thats the way to go. Have the truck hit 3-4 of your larger accounts and sell $2500 for the day! Look out!

[TotalCareSolutions]

Scaper,
What? No response yet. I know your not gonna be mature and just let a thread go on...

[the scaper]

totalscare, slow down buddy and take a deeeeep breath. i can tell that spreading pinestraw is a pretty big issue for you. you seem to be deriving alot from my post, but i guess thats because you so thourghly study each post before you reply :rolleyes: . first of all if you go back to the origional question by cmatheny you might notice that the signature line says "cathy", therefor the "he" which you refered to in your previous post might very well be a she. that aside though, the origional questions that she (or HE - with a girls name )asked was "where do you get your pine straw and how much do you pay for it?" i think i pretty much gave my answer to that. cmatheny stated in another thread that they were new to the business so i assumed that droping 400 bails was not in the works. you seem for some reason to have a desire to chalange my every post, not sure what your motivation is but i hope you get that worked out. again cmathney- for small quantities- i buy my p-straw at ace or the depot for 3.30 per bail and sell it for 6.50-7 per bail delivered and spread. best of luck to you both!

[Lawn Services Plus]

I was charging 5.00 a bale last season.paying 3.00 ea. I have several acres of the stuff at my home and Im wanting to bale what i have here to sell to my customers. any ideas on how to bale this stuff cheaply and quickly?

[CSRA Landscaping]

I don't think that you're going to be able to do a 'good' job while at the same time doing a 'quick & easy' (cheap) job. You've really got to get the old straw out of the way first, then catch the fresh straw when it comes down, all the while keeping out the cones, limbs, etc. I'd rather pay the money for the baled stuff. Just my 2¢.

[grassredneck]

Wow, I charge $6 a bale so I see that I'm not too far off on the price. Straw is a serious pita for myself because of the time and effort involved. I get more complaints on my price which doesn't change unless it's more than 100 bales nd then it's still $5.75, even from people who aren't afraid to pay a premium for evrything else. Has anyone else had to deal with this?

[Cutters Lawn Care]

I get complaints about straw prices alot also. We charge $6 per bale also. We just put out 180 bales at a half million dollar home last week. The guy is a millionaire but was still trying to talk me down in price. I stood my ground and said $6 per bale was the price. For non clients who call and want pinestraw I won't touch them unless it's 50 bales or more. The profitability in pinestraw is very low. When you tell a customer it's $6 per bale all they are thinking is that they can get it at home depot for $3 per bale. They don't think about actually having to go get it. Tuck it in around all the plants. Tuck it into the bed edges and then cleaning up the mess. All they think about is buying it themselves for $3 per bale.