I want to pull my hair out every time I need wood! The only retail store within 150 miles is Colco and they rip you off four ways.
First, their prices are based on the NHLA pricing and not based on what they paid for it. Next, they only stock S2S and S4S, so the surfacing charge is built into the price. Third, because their stock is all S2S or S4S, you have to buy thicker material than you need to make up for the surfacing. And fourth, if you don't need the entire hunk of tree, they charge you an additional 20% of your total bill.
Arrrggg!
I was looking for some Curly Maple and Padauk. The curly maple was almost $20/bf for 8/4 and the padauk was almost $10/bf for 8/4.
When I needed 25bf of 6/4 cherry for fifty little boxes, it would have ended up being less than half as expensive to buy off the Internet (including shipping). It almost makes me want to start up a business. Luckily, Scott Banbury ended up providing me with the cherry I needed and I was very happy with the outcome.
Thanks for listening.
Paul