---
title: "Selling Lumber & Wood Products Online: Dimensional & Variable Units"
url: https://www.uncap.com/post/selling-lumber-online
author: "Denis Dyli"
published: 2026-08-06
updated: 2026-08-11
summary: "Selling lumber online means pricing in board feet and pieces, displaying nominal and actual dimensions, taking tally-based hardwood orders, and repricing at commodity speed from the ERP. This guide covers the unit math, the order models, and the sync that keeps posted prices ones the yard will honor."
---

# Selling Lumber & Wood Products Online: Dimensional & Variable Units

> Selling lumber online means pricing in board feet and pieces, displaying nominal and actual dimensions, taking tally-based hardwood orders, and repricing at commodity speed from the ERP. This guide covers the unit math, the order models, and the sync that keeps posted prices ones the yard will honor.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a board foot and why does it matter for selling lumber online?

A board foot is a volume unit equal to 144 cubic inches, the standard unit for pricing hardwood. It matters online because board-foot conversion is the most error-prone step in a lumber purchase, so a storefront that displays board footage per piece and prices in both units removes the buyer's riskiest arithmetic.

### How should a lumber catalog handle nominal versus actual dimensions?

Display both. The trade names products by nominal size (a 2x4), but the actual dimensions (about 1.5 by 3.5 inches) belong on every product page as structured data, because tolerances and engineered connections are designed against actual measurements.

### Can random-length hardwood be sold through an online store?

Yes, with an order model built for tally-based lines: the buyer orders a total board footage in a specification, and the fulfilled tally is recorded against the order. Forcing random-length product into fixed-quantity SKUs misrepresents the transaction and creates disputes at delivery.

### How do online lumber prices stay accurate when commodity costs move weekly?

By syncing from the ERP with event-triggered updates: the ERP holds the repriced cost basis and account tiers, and pushes changes to the storefront within minutes rather than at a nightly batch, so the posted price is always one the yard will honor.