I understand, we worked on a proposal for over a year and luckily got the job but if we didn't, would have seemed like a year wasted. Its just the way things go.
But like I said, you get a free estimate and you can roll with that with no guarantee of prices but if you want an official cruise which gives you a guaranteed dollar amount for your timber, then you will have to pay upfront with the good news being that you will get your money back if you use them to cut the timber. So its not so bad.
I do know cruisers that let you sign a contract to use them and you don't have to pay up front for the cruise.
