My Q300 - Showoff before I sell it

[Ryan RS in Mass]

In 2011, when I moved out on my own with my then-girlfriend, now wife, we were happy to find an apartment with a deck on it.

I immediately decided that I wanted a grill for the deck, and around that time, my father mentioned to me that a friend was selling his place on Cape Cod and wanted to get rid of his grill, which worked, but "not well."

I drove my father's truck out to the Cape and found a Weber Q300 with fairly extensive damage to the regulator hose covered by electrical tape and in I've never-been-cleaned once condition.
There was enough grease/marinade on the bottom of the grill that in places it was gunked around the burners.
In addition, the grates were in tough shape.

I had never seen a Q series grill before and wasn't all that enthused, but it was free, so I figured it couldn't hurt to own it, even if I replaced it with a bigger Weber later.

I brought it home, cleaned it up thoroughly including a thorough degreasing and scraping, put a freebie stainless steel regulator hose on it, and fired it right up.
Shortly after getting it there, I replaced the grates with the Weber 7584 grate set and bought myself a Weber Q 6512 Warming Rack for it.

I never looked back, and it has cooked everything I've wanted to cook in the last 7 years.

I grilled with this grill year-round right up until about 3 weeks ago when I finished my freebie Silver A refurb.

My only complaint really is that the 7584 grate set was junk quite quickly, which my roommate seems to think is my fault, but I kept them well oiled.
No matter, I replaced them in May and have been keeping the new set even nicer than the last.

I have enjoyed the grill immensely and will miss it, but our deck at our rented house is not large and I already have 1 more grill than I need what with my recent Silver B freebie.

I might regret it for tailgating at Gillette Stadium, but I will keep my eyes peeled for a Q2__ series for that purpose.

So, it must go, and will be going on craigslist momentarily, sans the warming rack.

I cleaned it up last night and managed to take some pictures in the last bit of light and with the assistance of my LED driveway lights and I figured I would post them up first.

I wish they were all a little brighter and will probably take some more tonight, but here they are:

Keep on grillin!

 

[JKim in MA]

I'd keep photo #2 which shows the nice blue flame with orange tips, but I'd definitely some daytime photos for your ad.

(unless you are planning to list it on Craigslist, where blurry/nighttime/poorly frame photos are the norm)

 

[Ryan RS in Mass]

I'd keep photo #2 which shows the nice blue flame with orange tips, but I'd definitely some daytime photos for your ad.

(unless you are planning to list it on Craigslist, where blurry/nighttime/poorly frame photos are the norm)

Ha, I am going to put it on Craigslist, but I am going to take some more photos when I get home to use for the ad.

Where do you typically list yours?

 

[BFletcher]

I enjoyed reading your story and--nighttime shots or not--your pics show the cleanliness of your Q 3. How awesome that a neglected Q served you so well over 7 years.

 

[Bruce]

I missed out on a nearly new Q3200 a couple days ago for $50. I was mad, but I really don't have any more room for grills now. But, I would have made room if I had gotten it. They are great all around grills.

 

[BFletcher]

I was mad...

Let me help you: several months ago I lost-out on what was claimed to be a NIB Q 3200 for $135. I just now bought a new one from a retailer without a discount. But in my defense let me say that I have learned, personally, that NIB does not always mean new, nor does it always mean without damage (and I have reason to believe it does not always imply the ability to submit a warranty claim). I will always wonder the condition of that $135 Q. But I had never even seen a Q when I stumbled upon the ad.

 

[Ryan RS in Mass]

I enjoyed reading your story and--nighttime shots or not--your pics show the cleanliness of your Q 3. How awesome that a neglected Q served you so well over 7 years.

Thank you, BFletcher.

I agree, for such a neglected grill, it served me so well for such a long period of time with minimal money invested over the long term.

This is a success story, too, as this is my first grill I've sold since joining TVWBB - I sold it for $150.00 this morning via Facebook Marketplace.
That may be where I will try to sell in the future, I listed it around 4PM last night and had 4 seriously interested parties by 8PM.

Here are a couple of updated photos which I took for the listing:

Thinking of the money I spent on grates, it isn't necessarily anything more than breaking even, but I'm ok with that - it served me well for over 7 years - and now I'm on to the next one (my freebie Silver B).

 

[Tim K]

Ryan,
Look, this is just my 2 cents worth and nothing more so please take it as such;
Whenever I'm looking for a grill on CL, I look at the entire picture to get an idea of the type of environment it came from. If a grill is sitting in 8" tall grass, or a grill is sitting on a nice deck, which grill would you choose? My point is this, I would retake the pics in such a way that you don't have a stack of used tires in the picture. Also, your grates look to be in real good shape, but in the pic, they look like they have light surface rust on them. Sprat them with a light coating of Pam ( or any cooking oil) and they will look like new! I know it sounds foolish, but I actually wipe down any Q grill I'm posting with Armour All. I wipe down anything that is plastic to get it to shine like new. Your grill is in real nice shape, and should fetch a good price. But (again just my opinion) with just a few simple changes, you should be asking top dollar for the Q.
Again, please know I am only trying to help by passing on what I have learned the hard way.
Tim

 

[Ryan RS in Mass]

Ryan,
Look, this is just my 2 cents worth and nothing more so please take it as such;
Whenever I'm looking for a grill on CL, I look at the entire picture to get an idea of the type of environment it came from. If a grill is sitting in 8" tall grass, or a grill is sitting on a nice deck, which grill would you choose? My point is this, I would retake the pics in such a way that you don't have a stack of used tires in the picture. Also, your grates look to be in real good shape, but in the pic, they look like they have light surface rust on them. Sprat them with a light coating of Pam ( or any cooking oil) and they will look like new! I know it sounds foolish, but I actually wipe down any Q grill I'm posting with Armour All. I wipe down anything that is plastic to get it to shine like new. Your grill is in real nice shape, and should fetch a good price. But (again just my opinion) with just a few simple changes, you should be asking top dollar for the Q.
Again, please know I am only trying to help by passing on what I have learned the hard way.
Tim

Tim - note I sold the grill yesterday for $150.

Thanks for the tips.
I sell a lot on craigslist, but I tried this one on Facebook marketplace as well and was pleased with the results there.

A lot of factors went into the less than perfect pictures posted - mostly that I spent the weekend helping my in-laws move and then my sister and brother-in-law move, so I was too exhausted to do anything other than take pictures.

 

[Dave in KC]

Ryan, and any other flippers here .... if I may ......

Use this as a learning experience, reread Tim's post, and allow me to expand on it a little .....
If you want to get the maximum amount for your product, and for your time and effort, you have
to market your product. Spend a few more minutes detailing it. Find the right spot for your pics.
Look at your background. Use the image editing software on your phone or PC to enhance and
show off your product. Little things like that can make you a lot more $$ in 5 minutes than an hour
worth of elbow grease. IMHO, Ryan got in a hurry to make a quick buck and left at least $50 on the
table. I do not say that to be a jerk. I say that, as someone who has made the same mistake more
than once.

 

[Ryan RS in Mass]

Lots of criticism here on my photos apparently.

I didn't want to make anything other than $150 on this grill - and I did, and am quite happy with that.
I am not so sure that I could have made another $50 on it.

I wanted the grill off of my deck and out of my life, as I've moved on to literally bigger and better grills.

The photos posted and detailed ad I posted sold the grill in less than 18 hours.
I think I did ok.

Let's all move on, eh?

EDIT: And I mean that with all due respect to Tim and to Dave - I understand your points, but I wasn't looking for a big money sale of some grill I spent 40 hours on.
I was looking to sell a Q that I had grilled with for 7 years and that just needed a "quick detailing" to get posted.
If I didn't have so many family commitments, I might have been able to spend more time, take better pictures, etc., but on this one I did not.

Hopefully on my Silver A I have for sale soon, I will have a bit more time to be a better photo salesman.

 

[Bruce]

Ryan: I dont think anyone was trying to be critical. But a lot of us rehab grills and resell them. We tend to pay a lot more attention to the presentation than someone who is just trying to get a few bucks for something they don't have much use for. No one is trying to criticize you, but rather just looking at the sale from a little different perspective.

Good luck with the Silver A. We will all be looking forward to some photos on that one as well.

 

[Dave in KC]

Ryan, for sure, no disrespect intended. As long as you are happy, thats all that matters. I have no idea
the amount of flipping you do, and everyone does it for different reasons. This is the ONLY site that I discuss
flipping in any way, shape or form, and that is only because there seems to be a fair amount of us here. I also
discourage the topic when it is mentioned of my Genesis page.

 

[Ryan RS in Mass]

Dave and Bruce, I understand no disrespect intended. I intend none either, but I'd like to note that despite imperfect photos, I did sell the grill, quickly and easily and to a happy customer who sent me some photos a few hours ago.

As for flipping, I'm all for it, and hope to engage in it, but if you consider that I used this grill for 7 years before catching Weber-itis, I wasn't really flipping it so much as moving on.

Now the Silver A I've been using for about a month, but that will be more of a flip than this Q was because I am going to re-clean the firebox, grates, and flavorizers before I list it.

I will take everyone's photo suggestions into account, but would like to note that I do a lot of buying and selling on Craigslist and already knew these things.
I wish my house looked cleaner and didn't have tires alongside it, but my roommate makes money selling car parts on ebay and isn't big on keeping his inventory organized, so those things frequently find themselves in my photos.
No negative effects on sales yet.