Originally posted by BUDDY:
And as far as paying extra for the control--WHY? Aren't we entitled to all the advertised footage being useable? Are am I misunderstanding the priceing method? But then How would anyone know what to expect to pay...
I'm not suggesting to pay extra for quality control. I was referring to providing 100% useable sticks 100% of the time as opposed to paying for what is useable. Paying for what is useable sounds like a reasonable method, although it is not one we use. (we charge for every foot we ship, whether you can use it or not. The reason we get away with that is there is very little that is unuseable, and our customers have accepted the product at the price).
What is not reasonable, IMHO, is to expect 100% good material 100% of the time, regarding either material or finishing. If the manufacturer/supplier were to provide it at "normal" price they would be out of business in no time, and if they charged what it would cost no one could buy it.
While there are, no doubt, those companies that "gouge" their customers by providing a product at a price point that is not justified by the quality, they will not stay in business long. There is no great mystery to the production of moulding. Everyone has the same parameters to work in. It's a matter of deciding what you want to offer, and charging a fair price for that particular product. If you charge too much you won't sell it and if too little you run out of cash. Set expectations and keep them. If the customer is not satisfied they go elsewhere.
Originally posted by BUDDY:
But then How would anyone know what to expect to pay ,since there is no telling how much undetected flaws may come in a given stick which we thought included ALL 8-10 feet. Which is another sore topic. Why can't we be told exactly what to expect in a given stick(Not counting any compensations for flaws)?
BUDDY
I can only speak for ourselves, and as I understand, we're a little different. Maybe even wierd. There are two factors.
First and simplest is that trees are all different, and we want to use as much of them as we can (again, I speak for ourselves - some people could care less). Because of that, when a tree is felled the logs are made as long as possible. That means that there are logs anywhere from 6 - 16' long (in the US). Since the majority of our customers are relatively small- medium length buyers (less than 1000'), UPS is the most cost effective shipping method. UPS has a maximum package size of 108", so we buy predominantly 8' lumber (which, by industry standard includes 6' & 7' as well). So before we even get started we have random lengths. Emphasis on
random - there is absolutely no pattern.
Then there is the manufacturing variable. Sure, we can go the route where what we get is what we ship (and have the random 6', 7' & 8' lengths mentioned above), but we don't choose to go that route. We don't see the point of shipping stuff that can't be used - it costs you more money for freight, you need more storage space, and you get frustrated with all the stuff you have to throw out. So first we throw away those pieces that we deem are too crooked or discolored to be of any use (actually, we sell the less-bad ones as seconds), then we cut back defects that are within 18" of the ends, and any discolorations that are at the ends.
However, our business premise is one that relies on customers that don't really care how much it costs, they just want good stuff. This is because we have selected a market (OK, so it selected us - we're still learning about control) that builds predominantly very large frames for people with lots of money. This goes back to the first part of what I said about deciding what you want to do and selling that product at a fair price - fair to both parties or it's not fair.
