Facebook marketplace search tips?


 
BillSmith

BillSmith

TVWBB Pro
I'm on the hunt for a second Weber grill that is natural gas or one that can be converted. I would like to get it for cheap if possible. Anyway, I'm a longtime user of Craigslist but decided to reactivate my Facebook account to try out the marketplace.

Anyone have tips on using FB marketplace effectively? There doesn't seem to be a way to sort things by date unless I'm missing something. It's annoying to have to scroll through listings that are more than a week old to find ones posted recently. I'm doing this on the desktop but I wonder if the mobile app might be better?

I do see some NG summit grills on FB for $500. I wonder if I should try offering $250 for some of them. Anyone have tips on getting them for cheap?
 
FB market place does not really offer any search options. I search for Weber and Webber. Yes many people spell it wrong. Then are is always CL, Offerup, 5 miles and a few more. If your grill is in decent shape you can actually grab the most rusted compatible grill you can find. The gas manifold rarely goes bad and can always be salvaged.
 
Yah, just find a like NG grill that is being sold for little to nothing and cannibalize the manifold. Also, maybe go to the Buy, Sell, Trade section on this forum and post up that you are looking for a NG manifold for your particular grill. Don't pay a premium for a NG grill just because it already is set up for NG. It is easy to swap out the manifold.
https://tvwbb.com/forumdisplay.php?106-Buy-Sell-Trade-Grills-amp-Gear

There are probably some on this forum that have NG manifolds from grill that they converted already.

If you are looking for a Summit, do your research. There are some significant, but not always readily evident issues with the older ones that can make them basically junk. There are threads about it and other with more experience with them will chime in, but it usually has to do with the front of the cook box where the burners enter being rotted out.
 
FB MP is aggravating at best. No order, and tons of crap mixed in. Old ads only say posted over a week ago,
when you know they have been there for 6 months. Also, some very lazy people that won't delete their ads.
There are currently 2 ads still listed in KC for grills that I bought and flipped before Independence Day.
 
Dave, I agree. Both CL and FB have their issues, but FB is worse. All the things you mention, I agree with. But, I want to add one more issue with FB as far as selling goes. You get a bunch of those "Is this still available" or "I am interested" responses on every post. 9 times out of 10, if you respond, you never get anything back. FB has canned responses and all the users have to do is click it and it sends that canned message. I swear some people sit home all afternoon and out of boredom, click those buttons on various items listed.

Or they respond and say, I love that grill but I don't have any way to get it home. Then I respond that I can deliver it for a small fee and they respond that in the last 5 minutes, they found a different one or some other excuse. They are just bored morons living in their parents' basement.
 
Bill:

Check with Bob in Billerica again. He might have something that fits your needs. He has helped me out with a side burner quest at very reasonable prices.
 
Dan Leighton said:
Bill:

Check with Bob in Billerica again. He might have something that fits your needs. He has helped me out with a side burner quest at very reasonable prices.
Click to expand...

I did need to follow up the other thread where I posted about Bob with some pictures of his operation. Haven't gotten around to it. I did buy a natural gas valve from him that I still need to install. I'm not sure that his prices were necessarily reasonable as I think it was only a couple dollars less than online. I communicated with him and told him that I wanted a NG valve for a Genesis 1300. He quoted me $25. I get there and he's going through his box of valves and they're all propane. Finally he finds one and then tells me that the price is $27 because he doesn't have many of these valves. Fine, whatever. I was a bit irked that he changed the price on me.

I did ask him about other grills he had. Basically said that he could sell me one for $250 and a restored one for $400+ (I forget the price). I thought the prices were a bit high but maybe I'm naive?

I see that you're located in NV. Did he mail you the side burner?

Part of me wants to get a good deal on a grill so there's the thrill of the hunt.
 
Stefan H said:
FB market place does not really offer any search options. I search for Weber and Webber. Yes many people spell it wrong. Then are is always CL, Offerup, 5 miles and a few more. If your grill is in decent shape you can actually grab the most rusted compatible grill you can find. The gas manifold rarely goes bad and can always be salvaged.
Click to expand...

Good tips on the spelling mistake and the gas manifold. In fact, I will offer my Genesis propane manifold on the B/S/T forum to see if someone might want to swap.

Bruce said:
Yah, just find a like NG grill that is being sold for little to nothing and cannibalize the manifold. Also, maybe go to the Buy, Sell, Trade section on this forum and post up that you are looking for a NG manifold for your particular grill. Don't pay a premium for a NG grill just because it already is set up for NG. It is easy to swap out the manifold.
https://tvwbb.com/forumdisplay.php?106-Buy-Sell-Trade-Grills-amp-Gear

There are probably some on this forum that have NG manifolds from grill that they converted already.

If you are looking for a Summit, do your research. There are some significant, but not always readily evident issues with the older ones that can make them basically junk. There are threads about it and other with more experience with them will chime in, but it usually has to do with the front of the cook box where the burners enter being rotted out.
Click to expand...

That's the thing. There are so many Weber models. It would be nice if we had a Wiki page that describes the various models with some pictures and the pros/cons of each model. I find it hard to remember which is good/bad/etc.

So with the Summit grills, are the problems usually just with the older grills and newer ones don't have the rot/rust issue?

Dave in KC said:
FB MP is aggravating at best. No order, and tons of crap mixed in. Old ads only say posted over a week ago,
when you know they have been there for 6 months. Also, some very lazy people that won't delete their ads.
There are currently 2 ads still listed in KC for grills that I bought and flipped before Independence Day.
Click to expand...

Good to know that I'm not missing some secret option. I should contact Facebook and complain about this behavior. At least FB gives you the ability to hide posts. I may use that more although it's a pain.

Bruce said:
Dave, I agree. Both CL and FB have their issues, but FB is worse. All the things you mention, I agree with. But, I want to add one more issue with FB as far as selling goes. You get a bunch of those "Is this still available" or "I am interested" responses on every post. 9 times out of 10, if you respond, you never get anything back. FB has canned responses and all the users have to do is click it and it sends that canned message. I swear some people sit home all afternoon and out of boredom, click those buttons on various items listed.

Or they respond and say, I love that grill but I don't have any way to get it home. Then I respond that I can deliver it for a small fee and they respond that in the last 5 minutes, they found a different one or some other excuse. They are just bored morons living in their parents' basement.
Click to expand...

LOL. :D
 
Hey, Bill.

I have an NG manifold for a Genesis Silver/Gold. I'm not interested in a trade but would be willing to sell it. Drop me a PM if interested.
 
BillSmith said:
So with the Summit grills, are the problems usually just with the older grills and newer ones don't have the rot/rust issue?
Click to expand...

All of the grills do rust when exposed badly to the elements but the most common rust problems are mainly tied to the closed cabinet grills. And no the newer ones are worse most of the times compared to the older ones.
The older Genesis models prior to 2006/2007 with the side to side running burners and the solid powder coated frames have a few well known problem spots: The crossbar left of the fire box and the floor pan on the closed cart models. Other than that they are pretty solid. Yes I have caught rusted out frames as well but these grills were 20+ years old.
The Genesis models starting 2007 through 2016 all have closed cabinets and are notorious for developing rust after just a few years. Floor, side panels, back panels. I think on these grills the body parts are no longer powder coated but painted steel. And with these grills Weber moved away from "body on frame" construction. The side panels are part of the frame and expensive to repair when rusted. $200 to $250 per side!!!. Also the way the bottom shelf is mounted it accumulates water in the gaps between the bottom shelf and the side panels. The water does not drain and starts the rust. Same for the legs. All 4 wheels are plugged into the frame and water accumulates in these frames and the legs are notorious for rusting out. I have seen a few where wheels just rusted away and grills were sitting on bricks. And even the previous gen Spirit from 2013 to 2017 has rust problems. I just restored a 3 or 4 year old Spirit with a rusted floor pan.
 
Yep, all those are common issues. But on the older Summits, the problem with massive corrosion on the SS panel where the burners enter the fire box is especially bad, mostly due to the cost of fixing it. Larry and a few others are all too familiar with this problem.
 
I guess I should learn to read properly. Bill was asking for Summits. Sorry for the rant about Genesis.
 
Stefan H said:
All of the grills do rust when exposed badly to the elements but the most common rust problems are mainly tied to the closed cabinet grills. And no the newer ones are worse most of the times compared to the older ones.
The older Genesis models prior to 2006/2007 with the side to side running burners and the solid powder coated frames have a few well known problem spots: The crossbar left of the fire box and the floor pan on the closed cart models. Other than that they are pretty solid. Yes I have caught rusted out frames as well but these grills were 20+ years old.
The Genesis models starting 2007 through 2016 all have closed cabinets and are notorious for developing rust after just a few years. Floor, side panels, back panels. I think on these grills the body parts are no longer powder coated but painted steel. And with these grills Weber moved away from "body on frame" construction. The side panels are part of the frame and expensive to repair when rusted. $200 to $250 per side!!!. Also the way the bottom shelf is mounted it accumulates water in the gaps between the bottom shelf and the side panels. The water does not drain and starts the rust. Same for the legs. All 4 wheels are plugged into the frame and water accumulates in these frames and the legs are notorious for rusting out. I have seen a few where wheels just rusted away and grills were sitting on bricks. And even the previous gen Spirit from 2013 to 2017 has rust problems. I just restored a 3 or 4 year old Spirit with a rusted floor pan.
Click to expand...

All so very true...I have had some success with these because my friend owns a sheet metal shop and made me some sets of high grade stainless replacements for the bottom and back. But like you mentioned, the integral side piece/frame leg combination makes replacement of these far too costly. If too far gone to patch back up you are pretty much stuck with a parts grill. The problem with that is the same pieces fail on all these, so it is not as easy to combine sets of parts to make one “Frankenstein” grill.
 
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