selling ugly drum smokers

dealm9

dealm9

is one Smokin' Farker
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myself and 2 of my buddies are considering selling ugly drum smokers locally. my one buddy works at a scrap metal company and can get drums and metal for free and my other buddy has connections with welders and has many tools. and i am apart of this great website:becky: and have built uds's of my own. i was just wondering if any of you who do build uds's to sell can give us any tips or suggestions for doing this and i have a couple questions of my own.

Do we need to get some sort of permit or go through any sort of legal process in order to sell ugly drums smokers to the public, such as getting them inspected to be food safe?

we have access to some drums that we do not know what they previously held. we will burn them out and wash them and make sure they are good to go but would this be a problem for selling to the public?

i know this next question is probably hard to answer and different in every situation but depending on how much in ends up costing us per drum to make them, how much money/profit would be reasonable to ask for per drum?

if anyone can answer any of these questions or simply give out suggestions, it would be much appreciated. also, if anyone knows where to get materials that are normally used in making a uds in bulk for cheap that would be useful information. thanks for reading
 
Get liability insurance, if possible sandblast interior of drums, incorporate if possible (think limited liability), what is your time worth? If outfitted right $175 unpainted. Custom paint extra.
 
Are you looking to get into this as a somewhat serious business or will it be more like a hobby that you happen to make a few bucks on but really just do it for fun?

Personally if I was going to charge for them I would make sure I knew what was in them first. It only seems right.
 
Pyle's BBQ is right on. In the society we live in now you have to be very careful. All it takes is one person to get sick, even if it is not the drum at fault, and you could have a lawsuit on your hands. I make them for friends and coworkers but have been shy about public sale for these reasons. I am even incorporated but would have to jump through hoops having the customer pay the company, then the company pay out payroll, taxes, blah blah. Although, I guess I could write off new tools and such...hmm...
 
You know what a 22.5" Weber Smokey sells for. That is your competition but they have great customer service and a fantastic warranty. I make UDS's because people kinda like them. I know I do.... I use all new parts except for the barrel and Weber lid. To do it right with 3 cans of high temp paint and 1 roll of wire for my welder, it costs me right about $250. This is including a fire basket with 3/4 #9 expanded metal, 22.5" Weber charcoal basket, all stainless steel bolts and nuts and a nice bail. It also includes 2 new Weber 22.5 inch cook grates. Of course, 2 handles for the sides, ball valve and 2 nipples. I pay $25 for a drum that needs a burn out and pressure wash and I get a Weber lid at an average of 30buck

Good luck.....
 
martyleach said:
You know what a 22.5" Weber Smokey sells for. That is your competition but they have great customer service and a fantastic warranty. I make UDS's because people kinda like them. I know I do.... I use all new parts except for the barrel and Weber lid. To do it right with 3 cans of high temp paint and 1 roll of wire for my welder, it costs me right about $250. This is including a fire basket with 3/4 #9 expanded metal, 22.5" Weber charcoal basket, all stainless steel bolts and nuts and a nice bail. It also includes 2 new Weber 22.5 inch cook grates. Of course, 2 handles for the sides, ball valve and 2 nipples. I pay $25 for a drum that needs a burn out and pressure wash and I get a Weber lid at an average of 30buck

Good luck.....
Click to expand...

Geez Marty, how much are you welding to go through a roll? :becky:
 
ZouBBQ said:
Are you looking to get into this as a somewhat serious business or will it be more like a hobby that you happen to make a few bucks on but really just do it for fun?

Personally if I was going to charge for them I would make sure I knew what was in them first. It only seems right.
Click to expand...
definately not serious. we were all together one day and we happened to start talking about the uds i recently built and my buddy mentioned that he could get as many free drums as he wanted from work. i asked him if he could get some for me so i could build more uds's for myself and then we all kind of came up with the idea at the same time to maybe sell them. i also wanted to do this because i enjoy building thes things a lot. but thanks, your advice is right on
 
martyleach said:
You know what a 22.5" Weber Smokey sells for. That is your competition but they have great customer service and a fantastic warranty. I make UDS's because people kinda like them. I know I do.... I use all new parts except for the barrel and Weber lid. To do it right with 3 cans of high temp paint and 1 roll of wire for my welder, it costs me right about $250. This is including a fire basket with 3/4 #9 expanded metal, 22.5" Weber charcoal basket, all stainless steel bolts and nuts and a nice bail. It also includes 2 new Weber 22.5 inch cook grates. Of course, 2 handles for the sides, ball valve and 2 nipples. I pay $25 for a drum that needs a burn out and pressure wash and I get a Weber lid at an average of 30buck

Good luck.....
Click to expand...
:shocked: i feel like frank costanza competing with microsoft and ibm trying to sell computers from his garage (a seinfeld reference in case no one understands this:-D)
 
I would put your creative energy into making them for yourself. To sell them as a legit business venture if you spend $200.00 dollars to build it you need to sell it for $400.00 it is just a basic business fact. Business liability insurance a must!!!!! product liability also. Which will take the wind out of you sails right there. Just imagine someone burns their house down or heaven forbid use the smoker in the garage because it is raining outside. There child is burned on the smoker!! I could go on and on.People do really stupid stuff. If you want to make money I would consider selling the drums and other material you mention you can get for free. Fairly low risk there. Just my 2 cents. Have fun!!!1
 
Dont know to much about the legal aspect but suspect some type of insurance would be wise. There's a guy or gal around here that has been advertising on CL for about a year. They ask $150. Comes painted with flat lid, thermometer and one cooking rack.
 
dealm9 said:
:shocked: i feel like frank costanza competing with microsoft and ibm trying to sell computers from his garage (a seinfeld reference in case no one understands this:-D)
Click to expand...

Quit yer cryin, sell the UDS, and WIN THE WATER PICK! :clap2:
 
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