Grill Buying Season?

[Kascon11]

I have been reading too many posts and I think I caught MCS. I am looking to add to my PBC and Webber Summit (gasser). I was thinking of the Pit Boss Pro, I have some gift cards from work to help off set the cost. I have also been talking about it to the wife she said to shut up and go get the darn thing. Since this is not a true need, just a want. I can be a little patient. When is the best time to buy a grill, when do the new models come out? Is it better after labor day? Do I risk not being able to get a grill? I live in SoCal so we don't have winter, and Lowes usually has BBQ's all year. I would hate spending $800 and then know if I had waited 2 weeks it would have been $600. Thanks to all those who will respond with wonderful words of wisdom.

[Huskee]

Max Good Might know a thing or two about this....

[DavidNorcross]

There is never a bad time to buy a cooker that is for sure. But, I would guess there are some Labor Day specials on the horizon.

[Steve R.]

Labor Day and throughout the fall has been when I have found the best deals. I never had an interest in a $800+ Masterbilt Gravity Series 1050, but I couldn't not buy it for $400 when Walmart put them on sale. Pretty sure I got my OKJ Bronco Pro for less than $500 at Lowe's one fall.

[Kascon11]

I will have to start to visit Lowes on a more regular schedule to check for specials. I did notice that the gazabos are on clarence, so maybe the grills will follow suit.

[Steve R.]

Definitely check online as well, Kascon11 . That's where you will typically see the deals at Home Depot, and the Bronco Pro I bought from Lowes I found online and had delivered.

[GroceryBoy]

Your timing is perfect. Even in Florida the major retailers start closing out their summer inventory. The first place to watch is right here on amazingribs.com, see the link below. Our members are great at posting deals here.

Starting in mid August I start checking my local Costco, Walmart SuperCenter and Lowes. Many of their store managers have the latitude of discounting or closing out their current inventory. I am told the Home Depot does it also, but my local one rarely has anything that is not on sale nationwide. Most of these deals are in store and not advertised. I found an Oklahoma Joe Bronco for $118 at Walmart a couple years ago.

Happy Shopping!

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/announcements/special-deals-limited-time-offers

[Max Good]

Fall is typically when we see the most price reductions. New products usually roll out in the spring. We still see availability issues, although not as bad as the last few years.

[Kascon11]

Thanks, since I am suffering from MCS I am not sure I have the patients to last until spring. I will see what labor day has to offer. I will need a couple of days to start the fun and frustrating task of learning a new cooker.

[jfmorris]

Around here, both Lowe's and Home Depot start clearing out inventory in August, but you won't see many markdowns unless they just have a glut of stuff to get rid of until September or later into the fall.

I always walk through the grill area at HD and Lowes looking for sale pricing. I've got a Weber Genesis II E-410 that originally retailed for $899 at Home Depot, which was marked down to $799 in September, $699 in October, then $599 in November. In early January 2019 I made a stroll through the garden section outdoors, mostly shuttered for the winter, and they had two left, marked down to $399, so I grabbed one and took it home. Almost picked up the discontinued Weber 6 burner E-610 for $599, but decided it was TOO big - that one had been $1399. Around March they started getting the next year inventory of Weber grills, and the price on the one I got went up to $1199! In my case, I think it helped that it was a discontinued color (Smoke) that Weber stopped making after 2018, going back to only black as an option in 2019.

Considering that today the cheapest 4 burner Genesis gas grill is $1649 I am glad I got the deal I got for $399 in 2019! Mine is the open cart design, and has no side burner, but I really don't care about those features, especially given the savings.

EDIT: I find that many of the sale prices on grills are local store only markdowns by the manager, to clear inventory. Those kind of markdowns are never advertised online - you just gotta walk through your local store to find them.

[Grillin Dad]

Aww man, I remember that 6-burner Genesis. Our HD had that marked down to $500 at one point. In the copper color too, really sharp. But we were building our house at the time, so money was pretty tight. Plus, they only had assembled models, nothing in the box, and we had nowhere to store it until the house was done. I hated passing on it, but really didn’t have a choice. That 6-burner still haunts me.

[Grillin Dad]

But I was able to pickup a floor model 3-burner Genesis last year from Lowe’s, just as the new models were coming out, for $150. All three burner knobs and the igniter knob were missing. But was able to pickup replacements for $50 on Amazon. I considered that my consolation prize.

But whenever we’ve got family or friends over and I’m grilling 20+ burgers, I still kick myself over that 6-burner.

[jfmorris]

Grillin Dad yeah, I felt it was a shame that they discontinued the 2 and 6 burner models the following year. Of course, a year or so later they changed from Genesis II back to Genesis, and fixed some of the issues I hate like the low clearance on the rotisserie. I'll never regret picking one up for $399 though!

[GolfGeezer]

I've found that here in SoCal, October usually yields deals on BBQ equipment. That's when the Lowes/Home Depot/Ace Hardware chains tend to clear-out inventory to make room for fall/winter stuff.

[Murdy]

Which style of Pit Boss Pro are you considering? Several grills are called "Pro" from cabinet to pellet.

[Kascon11]

One of two options below: The 1150 is the newer version with ash clean out and new LCD display

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Pit-Boss-Pro-850-sq-in-Hammer-Tone-Pellet-Grill/5013310459

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Pit-Boss/5013683653

[Kascon11]

Well, after researching and changing my mind 3 times I ended up getting the Pit Boss 1150, if all goes to plan it will be here on Tuesday. No sale price for this model, the 850 is $100 off this week. However I like the controller and the ash clean out on the 1150. And if I am to summarize all the advice from this site, bigger is always better. First cook hopefully will be next Sunday, if work does not get in the way. Thanks for all the advice and support. Now the fun part, What pellets to get. I had a recommendation for Q-Pellets, but shipping is expensive and the pick-up location is almost just as much in gas. I think I found a local dealer that sells Lumberjack. I will try to get over there tomorrow. I am heading to the Fuel channel now to start researching.

[barelfly]

Go big or go home!!!!

Congrats on the new cooker!

[tenphases]

Lumberjack is great! I get the expensive pellets as well but I've found that if I run good pellets (like lumberjack) in the hopper and premium pellets (knotty plum/candy sue) in my tube the result is close to exactly the same as running my hopper full of premium pellets. $ saver

[jfmorris]

If anyone near you carries them, the B&B pellets are supposedly made by BBQr's Delight, and are high quality. At my local Academy the B&B competition blend is like $20 for a 40 pound bag.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

This is going to be fun...have fun contemplating your new cooker!

[RiverJeff]

Lumberjack here for the win! They have all the flavors that a person needs. Comp blend, Pork/Chick.
Supreme blend Beef My area #40 - 18.00 bucks!

[Kascon11]

New grill arrived today, I got home too late for more pictures, this is the one my wife sent to me upon delivery. I hope I will have time to get it seasoned and burned off on Sunday. Got some GMG Gold blend and LumberJack Supreme pellets.