Small travel bbq price variations. Why is it so???

You are not missing anything. go to any shop that sells Weber and you notice how much dearer they are than anything else" my son has a Weber that cost him close to $1000 and it is smaller than a convential type barbeque, has less cooking space and in my humble opinion does not get as hot as the old normal 4 or 6 burner barbq. Sure the build quality is there but who cares about build quality when the el cheapo work just as well. Have a look at the fold up one from Gasmate. It has the regulator built into the gas hose and hooking it up is very easy and quick. It has an aluminium cook plate which is Teflon coated and cleaning is a breeze, I bought a large plastic box (with lid) from the local Reject shop' and carry the barbq, the gas bottle and all the associated gear in the box. It cost about $180 a couple of years ago and it does the job exceptionally well. I know this sounds like I have shares in Gasmate' but Bunnings are selling a cheap portable cooker for $14 which uses disposable gas cartridges (4 for $4) and all you need is a plate to cook on and you are away. Sure it doesn't go real well in a stiff wind' but it isn't hard to overcome this problem"
Cheers
BillM

Whilst you do pay for a brand, you also pay for what you get.
I have a particular brand that I paid more for, however we are very pleased with it. Whilst camping over Christmas, and whilst in a caravan park (Christmas is the only time when we are in a park) we actually compared different brands with our numerous neighbours in the park. The genesis was not that we were unhappy with our brand, but rather its size.
Everybody is of course 'extremely pleased with their brand' which is understandable; however when you look closely at a bbq which has been used for a while you see the shortcoming. Dissimilar metals, corrosion, some are much easier to clean, decent driptrays, and some have grill surface that cannot be used due to cold spots.
Which makes us even more convinced to stay with our brand, even though it is a little more on the budget side.
CJ

Weber BBQs routinely win the Choice (consumer magazine) best BBQ in their annual test, from my reading primarily due to the evenness of it's cooking/ good heat distribution across the entire cooking surface. That's fact.
Sometimes testing bodies (extends to motoring journos) have difficulties in assessing value as a criteria, routinely the best technical performers win all the awards. The last point is my onion, not necessarily fact!

Hi OBJ,

Sometimes though you can get lucky. We were also looking for a small Weber style but were baulking at their price. Went into a Mitre 10 and they had a floor model Weber Baby Q going out for $240 which included the trolley (~$100). We found the base model baby q to be around the $260 at most stores. Did notice a reasonably priced Jumbuck gas portable in Bunnings at last visit at half the Weber price. Wasn't there when we were in the market.

Thommo

When looking at the weber range there are two types for each model, the low lid model sold by basically anyone, the high lid with thermometer is only sold by weber specialist dealers.
Not being so young I have had many bbq's over the years, I have had a weber q320 for the last 3 years, and seriously would not go back to the std 4 or 6 burner even if you gave me 5 for free, they easily attain 275deg temp and if you feel thats not hot enough I feel you would prefer to eat your meat close to charcoal.

We had a rather expensive 3 burner BBQ from a well known shop. Cost us about $400 10 years ago Wanted a hood for it 3 years ago Cost $299.

Was getting to end of life with plates flaking etc.

Have bought the family size Weber with the temp gauge, a breakfast tray and a trivet.

Total cost $824 Wife couldnt be happier. Is much easier to keep clean and does get greasy like the old one.

Without seams in its construction it is much cleaner.

Was only $100 more than the next size down as you have to buy the trolley as an extra.

This one was all complete but certainly too big for a van.

For that we had a 2 burner picnic stove, a small gas bottle and a $19 iron plate.

Did all we needed at the time. Total cost $115

It all depends if you want ease of cleaning, evenness of cooking and as efficiency. Wife bought me a Baby Q Webber for Christmas and I was not happy with the money spent. Started using and have to eat humble pie. They are no comparison to other BBQ's.
Cleaning involves a couple of brushes with a wire brush and all done. No standing around watching meat cook. Just put it in for listed time and come up with perfect steak or what ever. Does great roasts.
I am now really happy with Santa and his gift, even if I ended up paying anyhow.

Neil

You could apply the same question to almost everything, such as why is a BMW X3 dearer than a Great Wall, etc!

Hi,
we recently bought a new weber family bbq from mitre10 with the high lid and themostat.

we looked at all the others and really the weber was only a bit more expensive. They wont drop the price but if you push you can get some extras for a discount.

Not made in china is a plus. And the after sales and warranty is excellent.

they even sell spare parts......... try that with a bunning special.

they are so easy to clean and the food is so good. Steaks and roasts and vegies so quick and tasty.

spend the extra and enjoy years of service.

would you buy a greatwall just because they are cheaper than a landcruiser ??????

mike