Business News
SACRAMENTO – As winter nears and the nights turn chilly, many people will choose to heat their homes with a nice, warm wood fire in the fireplace.
While there are many wood dealers eager to sell at attractive prices, how do consumers know they're getting a good, fair deal?
The only way to know for sure is to measure what is sold.
Firewood has its own special unit of measurement called a “cord.” Firewood, in units of 1/8th of a cord and above, must be sold by the cord or fractions of a cord. A cord of wood by law must equal 128 cubic feet.
To determine if there is a cord, the wood must be measured when it is “ranked and well stowed.” This means the wood is stacked neatly in a row with the pieces of wood parallel and touching with as few gaps as possible.
If, when measured, the width times the height, times the length equals 128 cubic feet, it is a cord of wood.
Prices per cord vary throughout the state. In Southern California, the range is from $230 to $480 per cord; in the Bay Area, $150 to $400; in the Central Valley, $100 to $275.
Consumers should be wary of terms such as “pallet,” “face cord,” “rack,” “rick,” “tier,” “pile” or “truck-load,” as these terms are illegal to use in the sale of firewood. If a seller uses such terms, consumers should be on alert for a possible problem.
Some wood dealers try to sell firewood from a pickup truck. Consumers should be on their guard, because a pickup cannot hold a cord of firewood. An 8-foot truck bed can hold one-half of a cord while a 6-foot bed can barely hold one-third of a cord.
Consumers are urged to get an invoice or delivery ticket that contains the name and address of the seller, the date purchased or delivered, the quantity purchased and the price.
The seller is required by law to provide this information in writing. Consumers may also want to take note of the license plate of the delivery vehicle.
If consumers believe they have not received the quantity ordered and paid for, they may call the seller to correct the problem.
Consumers should try to maintain the wood in the condition it was delivered, take a photograph and do not burn any.
If the seller can't or won't correct the problem, the next step would be contact with a local county weights and measures office as soon as possible at www.cdfa.ca.gov/exec/county/county_contacts.html or the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Division of Measurement Standards at 916-229-3000.
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“But the numbers were down about 29 percent from 1,384 sale s recorded the previous month,” said Peter Siegel, MBA, Founder and President of BizBen.com. “Sales activity was pretty strong earlier in November, but few escrow closings were scheduled for the last week because of the holiday.”
Most of the state’s large counties recorded fewer sales last month than in November 2009.
A total of 213 transactions were registered in Los Angeles County during the just-completed month, about 20 percent down from the 268 deals for the same period last year.
November-to-November declines also were recorded in Orange County (91 versus 97), San Diego County, (79 versus 91), and San Francisco, with 37 deals closed last month, compared to the 45 sold business figure from November of last year.
Sacramento County showed an increase to 42 deals last month, up from the 28 sales recorded in November of last year and the 26 transactions that closed in October 2010.
Santa Clara County figures are running pretty even at 51 deals in both October and November of this year, and 50 transactions in November 2009.
Siegel noted that the small increase over November 2009 sales statewide “shows the same pattern of cautious growth we see in other areas of the economy, including retail. We still need to see stronger fundamentals operating in the marketplace where businesses change hands.”
He added, “A decline in the value of small businesses, which is directly related to reduced earnings, is discouraging some owners from putting their companies on the market. They’re waiting for better times. Meanwhile, many buyers have an uphill battle getting purchase funds from lending sources so they can do deals.”
Long-term, Siegel said he expects the market to become much more robust. “The supply and demand are still there. Every day I learn about another buyer or seller or a broker who is using an innovative way of overcoming the obstacles presented by this difficult economy.”
The BizBen Index November report on the sale of small businesses in California, by county, (available at http://www.bizben.com/stats/stats-monthly-nov.php) is as follows: Alameda: 64, Amador: 3, Butte: 7, Contra Costa: 25, El Dorado: 6, Fresno: 31, Imperial: 1, Kern: 31, Los Angeles: 213, Madera: 1, Merced: 7, Monterey: 15, Napa: 2, Nevada: 4, Orange: 91, Placer: 14, Riverside: 41, Sacramento: 42, San Bernardino: 42, San Diego: 79, San Francisco: 37, San Joaquin: 17, San Luis Obispo: 4, San Mateo: 14, Santa Barbara: 20, Santa Clara: 51, Santa Cruz: 4, Shasta: 8, Solano: 17, Sonoma: 20, Stanislaus: 9, Sutter: 7, Tehama: 1, Tulare: 11, Tuolumne: 2, Ventura: 26, Yolo: 11.
BizBen.com is available via Twitter (bizbenlistings), FaceBook (bizbenbusinesslistings) and LinkedIn (in/bizbenlistings).
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