How to sell 'em before you rehab 'em


 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I have started keeping one of my grills listed on Craigslist by simply putting "SOLD" in the title and leaving it up even after it is sold. I find it to be great advertising. I have had several people contact me asking it if it still for sale or asking if I had more which I am always working on rehabbing more. My answer is "no, it was sold, but I am currently working on another one very similar to it."
Today, I had a guy contact me through the CL add telling me he bought a Q200 from me last year and that he still loves it and is looking for a bigger one and wondered if I have one. Ironically, I just started redoing a Q300 yesterday. I am just waiting on some new 4" wire cup brushes for my angle grinder so that I can clean out the inside of the lid and the cook box before I clean up and/or repaint the outside of the cook box and lid.

Keeping a "sold" add up generates new potential buyers and in this case allowed the guy who bought a grill from me last year, to be able to contact me about another grill. Understandably, he didn't have my contact info any longer and found my Sold add and knew it was me.

The practice has been working great for me. The last grill I sold was an E320 and I never even got to list it. The guy contacted me due to one of my adds asking if I had any of the "bigger" grills. Meaning he wanted one that was bigger than the Silver B I had listed. My response was: "yah, I do, but I haven't even started on it yet". I sent him a photo and he asked if he could come see it. I reiterated that I still hadn't started rehabbing it, but he wanted to make the 35 mile drive to see it anyway. He did and said he wanted it when I was done. Two weeks later, I finished it and he came and picked it up.

So, leave an add up of a nice rehab grill that you sold already (Just mark it sold) and you will probably have a couple potential customers for your next one before you even finish and list it. YMMV but it seems to be working well for me. I haven't had a grill sit for more than 4 or 5 days after listing it all summer and I have moved at least six or seven this year.
 
Great idea Bruce. I'm out of the business now, just too hot to work on them and no room to store them with nine of my own grills hanging around. I might this fall pick up another if I can find one or two and rehab and hold them till next summer, but the pickins around here are really slim.
 
Rich, they will start popping in about a month or so when the stores start selling off their stock cheap and people start buying new ones to replace the old wreck they have suffered with all summer long.
 
That’s what’s known as “salesmanship”! If I see that there are only two candy bars left on the shelf of an unheard of brand, I’ll tend to get one just to see if people are choosing the best available.
Running out is good!
 
Part of it has to do with pricing. I'm not asking $400 for a grill like some people on Craigslist. I don't really make all that much on a grill
 
Dave Oaks said:
As soon as you break out the grinder and start buying parts, most any chance for profit goes right out the window.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that’s my problem. I love bringing things back to life. I especially like rehabbing houses, but I just can’t imagine making money on it. I want to do it right and most people will not pay for that type of rehab. With a grill, I can bring them in for less than new, but there’s not much left for profit before someone would rather have new. Similar with houses, I can do them for something slightly above market, but people just don’t want to spend for the improvements. That just don’t see all the issues in that “house down the street” for a little less that I’ve already fixed in the house I’m selling. So I don’t do either for profit. I’ve rehabed a grill for each of my SIL’s and a house for my daughter (and a few for myself). It’s unfortunate, because I do really like doing both and rehabbing in general. Good for the soul IMHO.
 
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