So you want to make a little extra money from the Christmas season?
Christmas tree pirates can make several thousand dollars in a month and with very little resources or time spent.
To first start out, one needs to plan and make back up plans. To sell Christmas trees legally, a vendor needs a place of sales; this could be an empty lot or the back of a parking lot. In most places, a permit is required to sell the trees, you may or may not want to avoid applying for one if you are selling stolen trees - there are pros and cons to doing both.
Preparation
Before making phone calls to tree farmers, you should scout out locations in your town to sell. Talk to managers of large stores with big parking lots or owners of strip malls - any place with lots of empty space. For a quick set up and to make the most out of your time as a Christmas tree lot, you'll want to open up in a high traffic area; a place easy to find, easy to access, and seen easily from large roads is optimum.
What you'll need to do is set up a time with the owners of where you will be selling. Because the Christmas tree sales will bring in customers, and it is considered somewhat of a service, you likely won’t be charged to sell in the parking lot. If you are asked to pay, don’t bother with that location. Call or meet up with a few other people that may let you sell trees. You'll also want to try and keep your operation under the table, to keep from signing papers and permission forms and leaving a paper trail of legal issues.
Advertise
Once you have found a good location, advertise. It is the most important part of the preparation. Temporary signs will be your safest bet however ads in the paper will probably bring in the most amount of people. I would recommend doing both but if you put an ad in the paper, buy a prepaid phone for the month to use as your business phone number.
Finding your target
The most common form of tree piracy is to compile a list of tree farmers in your area. By in your area I mean within a 5+ hour drive. The good trees will likely be grown in the mountains or forests so there's a good chance you'll have to steal from a farm out of your area code. You can use this to your advantage too, keeping the farmer as far away from your illegitimate business.
Acquiring your product
Call or meet up with the owners of these tree farms. Arrange for trees to be dropped off in a location you can both agree on - you may have to borrow a truck and trailer to meet up with this farmer if he isn't willing to drive the trees to you. In most cases, they'll be fortunate to make a sale and will deliver the trees. Regardless, you won’t want the trees to be delivered right to your doorstep, it is crucial to make minimal contact with the farmer or delivery men.
A lot of the farmers will ask you pay in advance, this is not an option. You'll need to find a farmer who will deliver the trees then receive pay. From here you can go about payment in a number of ways; you can insist to pay with a cheque as it is your only method of money transfer, and then give a fake cheque, or you can promise to pay the farmer back after you sell the trees. If you go with the later, chances are the farmer will leave you the trees because of the money he has already spent bringing them to you.
He may ask for contact information and you will give him false info. A false name, your prepaid cell phone number, a false location, ect.
Alternative method for acquiring trees
If you are willing to travel, stealing trees from inside of tree farms is another way of getting your trees. The problem with this is the time it takes to load up a truck full of 100 trees. It will take more men which means less money you make. This will be a riskier operation but cleaner if you make it out. You'll probably need 3 men which will take under 30 to load up 100 trees, give or take about 20 depending on size.
To manage an operation like this, you must find a location that will have a large number of pre-cut tress lying around. Scout out nearby tree farms and search for wherever they keep the trees.
The rest is obvious, drive your truck and trailer no smaller than 20 feet to the tree site, back in, load up, then make off with your trees.
Take caution not to steal from a farm on which the house resides - you'll likely run into an extremely angry farmer looking for blood.
Sales
The prices of trees will vary. You'll want to check out the competition's prices, but generally you'll be charging as such:
$5/foot Douglas fir
$7/foot grand fir
$9/foot noble and Fraser fir
$10/foot blue spruce.
However these prices will vary and are not set in stone.
Now that you have a plethora of product, a location to sell, and a time to do so, you're ready to make some money.
You can build racks out of 2x4s or lean the trees on them, or lean the trees on the side of your truck/trailer and spread them out as they are bought.
Organize them by species and height, and make sure to offer good customer service.
The best day for sales is Sunday, and it is possible to sell a few hundred trees in a day, but for an operation like this 100 is an unlikely goal.
If you're looking for quick cash, a Saturday/Sunday weekend sale the second or first weekend in December is your best bet. This will be a safe way to get in and get out with profit. Alternatively, if you have enough trees to sell and want to stay open for the whole season, you'll want to open the weekend after the American thanksgiving and stay open until Christmas Eve.
Tree Info
Douglas Fir: are the cheapest out of the common Christmas trees.
Their needles are soft and medium length but their branches are not very strong. They are a common but cheaper type of tree. The needle retention of the Douglas fir is poor.
Grand Fir: Has flat, dark green needles and are the most fragrant of the tradition Christmas trees. The needles are soft but once again the branches aren't terrible strong and will not likely be able to hold heavier ornaments. The needle retention of the Grand fir is moderate.
Noble Fir: Deep green in colour. The needles are relatively smooth and the branches are spaced out well and strong - good for decorating. The Nobel Fir is often what door wreaths are made out of.
The Nobel fir has excellent needle retention and is considered a premium tree.
Fraser Fir: The idea Christmas tree, similar to the Nobel Fir but with frosty green needles that range from mint green to silvery green in colour. The branches are spaced much farther apart and are stronger then the Douglas and Grand fir and for this reason are a better choice for decorating. Their branches can hold heavier ornaments and the tree is a more attractive tree all around. The needle retention of the Fraser Fir is impeccable and is considered to be a premium tree.
Blue Spruce: My personal favourite. It has a blueish, often silvery tint and very strong branches that can hold very heavy ornaments. The branches are spaced out well but the needles are very sharp which make this beautiful tree a poor choice for families with small children or curious pets.
The needle retention is good and the Blue Spruce is also a premium tree.
There are other breeds of Christmas trees too, but from my experience these are the most common.
Wrap Up
So you've sold your Christmas trees and made several thousand dollars, now comes the clean up. It is important to make sure you don’t leave anything behind and to not leave a lasting impression with the farmer or parking lot owner.
I failed to mention it earlier but selling the trees in a nearby town or larger city that isn't your own will be safest to avoid being identified. Any extra trees should be dumped in garbage dump or compost site.
If possible, do not use your real name at all during the operation. When borrowing a truck and trailer, use a friends rather than renting a truck. When setting up for sale in a parking lot, keep as much info from the lot owner. Don't tell him anything he doesn't ask about, and be vague. Try telling him the set-up will be temporary and you want to avoid getting into legalities with the paperwork. If you take out ads in the paper, do it discretely.
It will be unlikely that the tree farmer will ever be able to track you down, and in reality he wont. Once he realizes that you have scammed him and your phone is disconnected, he'll probably report it to the police then give up. The police may follow up by checking with registered vendors in the area of delivery but wont find you because you sold in another town and likely didn't apply for a permit.
As for the permit, it's not a bad thing to have and it may come in necessary when looking for a lot to sell on. Times are changing and people don't like doing under the table business as often anymore, laws governing these areas are enforced more thoroughly and most reputable land and parking lot owners wont want to risk legal trouble, as unlikely as it is. If you decided to go with the permit, make sure to sell away from the farm and drop off location, and if you decided to stay open all season, its worth buying some trees and selling them too, to keep it somewhat reputable and still make money. You'll turn a profit either way, and you'll make more money if you buy trees to sell too.
That's about all you need to know to become a Christmas tree pirate. It's a simple system but takes work to pull off. Even if you decided to open up a real Christmas tree lot with the right papers and trees paid for legitimately, selling a few hundred stolen trees will bump up your profits through the roof, and the stolen trees will be much easier to conceal. It will be easy to launder some of the money into your business and the rest you can keep aside as cash for spending money.
Have fun and make some extra spending money this Christmas season with Christmas tree piracy.
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