Thread: Buying rare exotic wood a good investment?

My view on imported timber of quality grain pattern and type is if it's cheap compared to what you can buy elsewhere (however values of timber is somewhat subjective) and you can store it correctly, then it should be as good as money in the bank.

Depends!

Difficult to give a worthy answer. So much depends upon species, quality, quantity, for personal future use, or as an investment, storage space & costs, maintenance / protection from elements & pests, and then the possibility that if CITES listing of those species changes again it may not actually be saleable as either timber or as finished product, so will there be a market for it in the future?

Quite a few lots, large and small, of high quality rain forest species are appearing on the market for very reasonable prices given what it was fetching in the past when there were more makers working with those species. Taking into consideration the storage costs and relative value compared to the future value of the cash invested I think some are well out of pocket.

Mobyturns has mentioned some of the major stumbling blocks. The most important thing is price. Both the price you have to pay and the price you will get when you sell. The when is important. Stock can eat its head off. Storage costs, insect and weather damage can take a heavy toll.
Prices are fickle. The market is volatile. Fashions change, even season to season.
One thing I will say; its probably a better time to be buying than selling. Before you take the plunge, ask yourself if there is something better you could be doing with the money? If there is, do that.

Like the others have mentioned it depends on a whole lot of factors. For instance I have currently started on a table for my daughter. I bought a ute load of NGR about 14 years ago and to buy it now would be more than 3 times what I paid. Its using whats left. As just a woodworkerI have never been interested in buying and selling wood just what I need but if a bargin is there then I'll take it. I dare say the cost of wood like everything else will continue to go up so the time to buy is likely now.
Regards
John

Orraloon is correct - recently checked NGR from Brittons $4.8k per cube + GST per pack lot, not select boards.

The main factor to consider is how the timber has been and will be stored. I've walked away from a number of "bargains" because frankly the timber (slabs & boards) is not much better than bulk pen blanks. Lots of multiple faults, bows, wind, cupping, surface checking from exposure, drying end checks and collapse etc. IF it was not well milled then simply piled up and never looked after, its not worth much at all. Calculating degrade waste can also be a trap. I've seen very carefully presented bulk lots of timber, both boards, slabs and even turning blanks that hide a multitude of faults.

a lot of variables...

over the years I have bought and sold timber, it all comes down to if you can find the right buyer with the right timber at the right timing.

there is easier money to be made elsewhere... if you have a passion for this then its a different story.

I was thinking more of personal use in the future. Buy some of the exotic timbers now for potential future use. Certainly wouldnt be buying commercial amounts with the intention of an additional income stream to my investment portfolio. I was thinking more that the timber availability/price for personal use.

Oh, thats a different matter altogether. Yes, go for it. Prices only go up. Proper storage remains an important factor.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Oh, thats a different matter altogether. Yes, go for it. Prices only go up. Proper storage remains an important factor.

I agree. Just be cautious that you are getting what you are paying for, and that you aren't paying to much.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

I agree. Just be cautious that you are getting what you are paying for, and that you aren't paying to much.

It's the "getting what you are paying for" part that's most difficult to accomplish. I've a couple of small pieces in my stash that are "unobtainium" nowadays but without any certification I won't get anywhere near top value should I choose to sell them.

Not that I ever will... that's not why I bought them. That was because they were timbers I'd never seen, will probably never see again and were at a price I thought fair.

I have pretty good selection much of it was obtained quite a few years ago. As some have stated I am not really into buy and sell investment etc. But what I have found is that if you live in a big city and there is a monied district of old money in there will be some exotic trees and as these houses change hands. The new owners often get stuck into the land scape with little or no knowledge of whats there and out the trees go, often for some of the most mundane reasons ie " it drops leaves all over the drive way" . Now with this I have picked up several 100 year old plus trees. Chinese Elm, Holly, Japanese Maple, plus a few nobody could recognise
The point here is we have a wide vareity some of the species are exotic or rare in suburbia from all over the world and as properties change hands out they go and for the most part wood chips. So now I look for the 'wood loppers' in these suburbs, it has paid off really well.

There seems to be lots of people in Tassy who thought the same about Huon pine. Bought up all they could find as the last remaining trees were locked up in heritage areas, think they could make a killing into the future, because of how rare it had become. Trouble is it didn't work (as far as I know). Same goes for Australian Red Cedar, lots of people stash it thinking it's worth a squillion when really it's not. Unless you want to use the timber I reckon invest your money elsewhere. I hear Barbie Dolls are the go.

Yeah, I can just imagin my shed full of Barbie Dolls. I think I'll just keep flogging timber. It's been good to me so far.

Depends on how long you want to hold onto them? and the quantity... having a couple of small blocks of some far off fancy wood probably isn't going to pay dividends unless you find someone really willing to pay for it.

I'd tend to say people in Australia probably want stuff made from Australian woods and willing to pay for it compared to some 1000 year old african tree.

The other thing is, there will allways be a replacement wood type. So unless the wood is already in high demand and you think that demand would stay even after some type of ban i cant see a huge payout happening.

Better ofd buying bank shares or some crypto