The most important thing when you want to start a firewood business is having a market to sell to.
You can have the best equipment, driest firewood, fastest delivery, and offer stacking services… but it doesn’t matter if there’s no one to buy it!
Firewood is in high demand, especially seasoned wood. You’d be surprised to learn you could probably find 5 buyers today! Keep reading to find out where to find them.
Firewood buyers near me?
So who buys firewood? We are going to list the usual suspects so you can search through your area and find opportunities to sell firewood.
1. People who enjoy a fire
One of the most lucrative market segments is people who enjoy burning wood for the pleasure of it. These people own fireplaces and/or fire pits and want to make a fire purely for the aesthetics of burning wood.
They are more interested in enjoying the spectacle of sparks dancing in the dark and the calming sound of crackling wood.
They usually buy wood in smaller quantities, so if you are looking to get into the firewood business this is a good segment to target with dry, double-split firewood bundles.
2. People who heat with wood
Australians have historically relied heavily on wood as a source of energy, particularly in rural areas. Households are burning between 4.5 and 5.5 million tonnes of wood every year.
Even though 63% of Australian households are located in major cities, just a third of firewood is actually burned there. With a national average of 3 tonnes per year, household firewood usage ranged from 1.3 tonnes per year in Queensland to 5.8 tonnes per year in Tasmania.
Not many people know this, but burning wood is a sustainable method of heating (when firewood is harvested according to regulation). It is more energy efficient to use firewood in the home than to fuel an electric power station with biomass and then use the electricity to heat the home.
People who use firewood to fuel their heating systems are usually buying 4 – 10 cubic metres of larger split wood. The profit margins are lower than bundles, but the market is huge.
3. Food & restaurant industry
A large selling point for many food places is preparing their food in a wood-fired oven or a wood-burning grill.
Whatever you’re cooking on a wood-burning grill will take on the flavor of the wood smoke, which includes over a thousand fragrant compounds. It’s a big deal for many foodies.
So look for pizza places, restaurants and barbeque joints that advertise their food being prepared by burning wood.
Keep in mind that they require firewood seasoned in the open as opposed to an oven or a klin. The splits should be smaller and barkless. The best species for this segment are hardwoods such as Ironbark, Red Gum, Jarrah or fruit wood – apple, hickory, or cherry.
4. Campers & stores near campgrounds and parks
If you live near a campground area there’s a decent chance you can turn a quick buck selling firewood bundles. There are a few ways to go about this. You can try to sell directly to the campground or you can strike a deal with the owner for a cut to fill a trailer and drive around the campsite looking out for prospective buyers.
If the campground won’t accept your terms, try the nearby convenience stores and gas stations. It could add a few additional stops, but it might be worthwhile.
If everyone is dead set on their supplier you can open a roadside stand and sell firewood on the spot.
Never include fresh green wood in your bundles, and make sure to add some smaller pieces for starting the fire! No one wants 6 large pieces of wood which can’t be ignited.
There are more firewood buyers than you can serve!
The demand for quality firewood is always there. Once the word gets out about your premium dry firewood you won’t be able to keep it for long! So make sure you find a trusted supplier who can always jump in if necessary.