How to avoid scams when buying firewood, coal and pellets

Scheme 1. Prepayment to a "manager's" card

The most common and the simplest. An ad on OLX, Facebook or Telegram with a price 20-30% below the market, a real phone number, a confident voice: "the truck is already loaded, we only need 30-50% prepayment because we get a lot of cancellations". The money goes to a private individual's card, and then the number stops answering. In autumn 2025 people in the Volyn region lost 12-13 thousand hryvnias each this way on firewood, and in the Ternopil region on coal.

How to spot it: the price is noticeably below the market; payment only to a private card; "today is the last day at this price"; the seller does not give a warehouse address, company or sole proprietor (FOP) details; the profile was created recently, with no reviews or all of them posted in the same week.

Rule: retail fuel does not require prepayment. Paying the driver on delivery or cash on delivery via the carrier is the market norm, and an honest seller offers it without being asked. If you are asked to prepay for a "reservation", ask for an invoice from a company or FOP with bank details, not a card number.

Scheme 2. A stacked cubic metre that turns out to be a loose one

"A truck of firewood, 8 cubic metres" may in reality be 8 loose cubic metres of split logs, that is about 5 stacked cubic metres and 3.5 solid cubic metres. The difference between the units is up to 2.3 times, and the seller "is not lying", he simply does not specify. The same goes for a "bag of firewood" of undefined volume.

Rule: buy firewood by the stacked cubic metre or by weight and ask for the unit in writing (by text message or messenger). How the units compare and how to convert them into tonnes of pellets or coal is explained in the article "Calorific value of different fuels".

Scheme 3. Short-weight bags and a "tonne" without scales

A "25 kg" bag that weighs 22-23 kg, a "1 tonne" pallet with 36 bags instead of 40, a "5 tonne" tipper carrying 4.2. On a tonne that is 5-15% of the cost, and it is rarely noticed because nobody weighs anything. A classic forum story: "they cheated me on weight, 160 kg short".

Rule: weigh any bag in front of the driver on household scales (tolerance 2-3%); count the bags on the pallet; for bulk deliveries ask for a waybill with the actual weight from a weighbridge and reserve the right to drive to the nearest weighbridge. At Thermera, a control weighing is part of the delivery terms: we top up any shortfall or refund the difference.

Scheme 4. Rock and slack instead of graded anthracite

A bag of "AO anthracite" that is half grey lumps of rock, which do not burn, and fines, which block the airflow. The weight adds up, but you get two thirds of the heat. Signs: grey, brown, matt lumps that are not black at the break and stay whole after burning; dust and fines make up more than a tenth of the bag; the seller cannot name the grade and size fraction under DSTU.

Rule: ask for the batch test report (ash content, moisture, volatile matter, calorific value) before paying. Take a trial bag and burn it: if the ash contains many whole grey lumps, that is rock. How to tell anthracite from bituminous coal and rock is covered in the article "Coal grades".

Scheme 5. "ENplus A1" without a certificate

Printing words on a bag costs nothing. An ENplus certificate is issued to a specific producer or trader, has a number and can be checked in the public register on the ENplus website. "A1" on a big bag without a number only means "the seller knows the word". The same applies to "test reports": if you are shown a document without the laboratory name, date and batch number, it is not about your fuel.

Rule: a quality class only with a certificate number; a batch passport only with a date and number; without documents, treat the fuel as unclassified and pay accordingly.

Scheme 6. "Dry" firewood with 40% moisture

Freshly cut firewood gives half the heat of dry wood, and you cannot tell them apart by eye. "Dry, seasoned for a year" is the cheapest promise on the market. Signs: heavy logs, dark wet ends, no cracks on the ends, a dull sound when knocked together, moisture under the bark.

Rule: a moisture meter for 300-500 UAH pays for itself with the first truckload; dry firewood is up to 20-25%. Or switch to briquettes: moisture up to 10% is guaranteed by the technology, not by words.

Scheme 7. A price "per bag" without the bag weight

A bag for 150 UAH looks cheaper than a bag for 220 UAH until it turns out that the first holds 15 kg and the second 25 kg. The only fair comparison is per tonne: bag price ÷ weight × 1000. Our category pages have a "bag → price per tonne" converter for exactly this.

Scheme 8. Forged documents for public-sector buyers and social benefits

In 2026 law enforcement uncovered a scheme with forged coal certificates used to claim benefits. For a buyer this means: a benefit or subsidy for solid fuel is processed on the basis of the seller's documents, and if those documents are fake, you are the one who will have problems with the Pension Fund of Ukraine (ПФУ). Ask for a receipt or waybill with the details of a company or FOP, not "a note from some guy".

Scheme 9. A "summer price" that is never fixed

In spring the seller takes prepayment at the "summer price", and in autumn says "prices have changed, pay the difference" or disappears. Buying in summer really does pay off, but with immediate delivery to your storage, not with a promise to ship in October. If you still agree in advance, do it only under a contract with a company, with the price, volume and date fixed.

Checklist before you pay

1. The seller has named the company or FOP, the warehouse address and a phone number that appears on their website, not only in the ad.
2. The unit of measure is written down: tonne, stacked cubic metre, bag with its weight.
3. There is a passport or test report for the batch with a date and number; an ENplus class comes with a certificate number.
4. A trial bag or trial pack has been burned in your boiler.
5. There is no prepayment, or it is made against a company invoice, not to a private card.
6. On delivery: weigh a bag, count the bags on the pallet, check the waybill with the actual weight.
7. The payment document (receipt, waybill) is in your hands, especially if you plan to apply for a benefit or subsidy.

The solid fuel market in Ukraine has a bad reputation not because all sellers are crooks, but because honest sellers spent years not showing their scales, documents and warehouses. We build Thermera the other way round: a trial bag, payment on delivery, control weighing and a batch passport are not extras but conditions of sale.