Never Enough Money wrote:
I'm considering buying an exotic wood store. He caters to furniture
makers. If I buy it, I'd like to start also selling to turners. So
where do turners (I'm not one) buy their wood? Mail order, internet,
local stores?

You are getting a lot of good feedback over on the woodworking rec.

I only know of a few turners that actually buy wood. Some small
amounts of exotics are usually a purchase for certain special projects,
but the type/style and wood choice of turning is almost always directly
related to what is available.

I have bought large amount of pieces of curly maple, parrotwood, wenge,
bloodwood etc., from a guy that marked it all 50% off.... he was going
broke.

The president of our local woodturning club is an importer of woods
from South America. He sells 99.9 percent of his stock to custom
furniture makers. He sells little or nothing to our club, even though
he has made it available at reasonable prices.

Read through this group; many of the "gloats" or excited posts are when
a neighbor's tree falls down, the utility company is running their line
clearing trucks, or something is discovered when following the sounds
of a chain saw. If most turners are like the ones in my local group,
half the fun is the idea that you "discover" a piece of highly figured
or colored wood in the firewood or on the side of the road. That, BTW,
would include me also.

Big pieces cost too much to ship; small pieces may not be worth
purchasing to some because of the size of the projects that many want
to turn. If you want to see your competition, a mail order only
supplier that has an EBAY store that has great reviews is "canebranch".
BUT, all his stuff is for turners, and it is all local woods available
to him, sized on a bandsaw and sealed.

Good luck.

Robert