That is cheap... what's wrong with them? That's the question I would ask. Are they chemically treated, full of nails? Every now an then someone gets their hands on old telephone poles and those are the questions that come up. Figure if you hit one nail when you're planing, ripping, etc then your savings are blown. It may be worth buying at least one or two boards to experiment with but it sounds fishy to me. Ask the seller where they came from.

Otherwise, try to check out the grain pattern if you can; look at the end or bring a little block plane with you and dress-up a small patch on the front and side of each board. You generally would want the grow lines parallel to the long (6 inch) side; that will give you nice edge-grain strips. Tight grain is best.

I hope this helps.
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