Weber developments - new products, site changes

[Pecker]

I have 57cm. I was thinking, would the Jumbo Joe stand inside this (on the charcoal grate)? That'd hold it at about the right height, and would be ideal for smaller barbecues (just a few burgers, etc), without using as much fuel or causing as much mess.

Steve W

[Tiny]

Robin,
I have strayed from my anti Weber path, started innocently enough with a chimney starter, then at the end of last season some spiteful individual posted a link here .....and before I knew it I am the owner of an ivory 57cm ivory OT kettle.......6 weeks assembled in my front room before Mrs Tiny insisted it had to live in the garage.

For £50 I couldnt resist, but your latter post is my main problem with Weber, their pricing takes the mickey. how you can vend charcoal at £4 a kilo is beyond me, but they are such a big brand they are almost a monopoly . At least down here every garden centre seems to only stock Weber. Look at the WSM, a great bit of kit but £350? when you look at its component parts, and I accept the quality and thickness of the steel, it is imho a good £100 OTT because of the Weber name.

Havent used the kettle yet but know it will do a decent job, and will be worth the £50 I spent, but at £130 would I have weighed in? not a chance!

Cheers
Tiny

[Pecker]

Hi Tiny. I think my view of Weber is similar, but a lttle different to yours.

Looking at the quality of their product vs the quality of other, cheaper brands, then yes I think they're a bit over-priced.

However, one of the things I think you get from them is a benchmark quality. You buy a Weber product and you just know it'll be damn good. So, I suppose ypu're paying for the name, and in with that a bit of peace of mind.

You think the WSM 47cm at £350 is £100 over-priced? So, that gives a 'should be' price of £250 Well, what's the competition? Well, the Frontier is just shy of £200 and it's smaller. The excel is about the same size, just a tad larger, but it's approaching £300. I'm no expert, but whenever anyone asks what to get everyone recommends the WSM.

Anyway, it's maybe daft for me to quibble. Any item is only worth what people pay for it. These smokers aren't impulse purchases - they'll almost all be bopught be people who've already experienced barbecuing and would like to go that next step - I would imagine most do a lot of research. And most pay the extra for the Weber. And most who buy the Weber and who need another piece of kit (57cm WSM, ranch, another kettle, whatever) tend to go for Weber again. So, by that measure, I suppose they must think it's worth the extra.

Having said all that, I still agree with you that you certainly do appear to pay a premium for the name.

Fancy going into business? We could sell Weber standard products at ProQ prices.

We'd be very popular round this forum!



Steve W

[RobinC]

Would agree with Weber being expensive. The cost differential between here and the States is huge, though I appreciate they have to ship everything over in containers. Their customer service is also good. I've got a lot of weber kit and twice I've had issues and in both instances without any quibbling they have sent me parts.

What I do find though is that providing you are prepared to be patient there are always deals to be had. Yep the 47" WSM is £350 RRP mine cost me £250 and my 57" cost me about £330. I managed to pick a brand new Ranch once off Ebay for £500. I generally hunt around at the start or end of the BBQ season and someone somewhere will be heavily discounting.

@Tiny - I'm super impressed that you managed to keep a fully assembled BBQ in your lounge for 6 weeks. As indulgent as my other half is of my hobby I think a BBQ in the lounge for any period of time would be a no no.

[Pecker]

The price of the Jumbo Jor is ridiculous.

Almost everywhere is doing it for £80.99. The thing is, it's a 47cm Compact with the legs cut off, and yet at Amazon UK the Compact can be had for only £66.

As Amazon US the Jumbo Joe is $60, which is less than £40.

Despite shipping, etc, I don't see how or why we should be paying double the price than in the US, or more for a legless Compact than for a Compact.

Steve W

[keith157]

I couldn't agree with you more. It's ridiculous the amount of tax & import duty is slapped on in the UK. I've been told that some European marques of cars are almost 1/3 -1/2 more expensive in the UK and they can't use the excuse of convertion to right hand drive as EU regulations insisit they make both as a stock item. There are quite a few things I'd like from the US but I'm damned if I'll pay 3-4 times the value for P&P then get hit again for Import duty

[Pecker]

Keith, there's something a bit different going on here, though.

I'm a bit of a home cinema fan, and have spent many years watching comparative US/UK prices. For a long while, despite the exchange rate, a projector would often cost the same in £s in the UK as it did in $s in the US. But for the past year or two the equivalent trans-Atlantic prices have pretty closely mirrored the exchange rate.

As such I'd expect the Jumbo Joe to come out at £40. Even adding to that for shipping, there's no way it should be over £80. And that's not just a moan, that's a valuation based on what I see happening with the pricing of other goods.

Steve W

[aris]

Import duties are quite small really - low single digits for most items. The big killer is VAT - and shipping costs are vattable too.

Still, there is a certainly amount of treasure island going on here.

[keith157]

Still they may have all the great gear, the big, meaty ribs and everything cheaper than we do but, and it's a big but they don't have the gorgeous weather we do......

Sorry what's that you said love, my medication is overdue okay!!