Corny Kegs on eBay (Not mine)

Hey guys, I was looking for some kegs on ebay and stumbled across this listing:
5 gallon ball lock keg syrup tanks

The shipping is outrageous, but if you wanted say 4 or more it comes down to 40 bucks each shipped. They also say they negotiate on pallet loads if they have that many left. As always meticulously read the description on eBay to make sure you're not getting screwed. I know it's a B**** to find cornies under $50 now, so I thought I'd give a heads up.

Cheers!

Wow, wish I was in Florida to get some locally.

drocu said:

Wow, wish I was in Florida to get some locally.

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I'm in Florida, still over 6hrs away though

I had a friend pick up some in person for me, said they had a warehouse full. They let him cherry pick the ones he wanted then pressure tested them. Probably going to get him to pick up 4 more next time he goes that way.

I wish I kegged I have coworkers in the area that could pick up for me.

TheGreatReverend said:

Hey guys, I was looking for some kegs on ebay and stumbled across this listing:
5 gallon ball lock keg syrup tanks

The shipping is outrageous, but if you wanted say 4 or more it comes down to 40 bucks each shipped. They also say they negotiate on pallet loads if they have that many left. As always meticulously read the description on eBay to make sure you're not getting screwed. I know it's a B**** to find cornies under $50 now, so I thought I'd give a heads up.

Cheers!

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Email this guy direct and ask him the pricing, I ordered a few from him and got them shipped for like 34 buck. still would like a few more so that I can brew 10 gallon batches. The price break is on 4.

MaverickBrew said:

Email this guy direct and ask him the pricing, I ordered a few from him and got them shipped for like 34 buck. still would like a few more so that I can brew 10 gallon batches. The price break is on 4.

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Not bad but I'm looking for the <$25/keg deal.

While buying directly from this guy is probably mutually beneficial (no eBay fees, cheaper), anyone electing to go this route should realize you're not covered by eBay's buyer protection program. In other words, if it arrives defective, you're SOL.

I am relatively local and stopped by the warehouse. He has more kegs than you could imagine. He was really nice, let my friend and I cherry pick our kegs, and even threw in some defective ones so we could strip them of dip tubes and such.

I highly recommend dealing with this guy and doubt he would cheat anyone. He even cut us a deal since we bought in bulk and picked up local.

Here is photo proof. And this isn't even all we picked up. the lid-less kegs are the defective ones he gave us. They still had good posts and dip tubes, but bad welds. Every keg was squeaky clean on the inside.

drocu said:

Not bad but I'm looking for the <$25/keg deal...

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That should be never. Cornelius kegs have been heavily out of the industry for... 20 years now? New manufactures are making some but they cost $100+. You could find them for $25-30 about 10 years ago, but I wouldn't expect a well functioning corny for under $30 now.
Sad future days for home brewers. Be sure to take good care of your kegs!

drocu said:

While buying directly from this guy is probably mutually beneficial (no eBay fees, cheaper), anyone electing to go this route should realize you're not covered by eBay's buyer protection program. In other words, if it arrives defective, you're SOL.

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I bought two pallets (40 total kegs) from this company a couple of months ago. They are a legit beverage distributor and by contacting them directly you do get a better deal but you are also dealing with a reputable company, not some random individual. No need to worry about not being covered by eBay's buyer protection, at least in my experience. Of the 40 I received two were iffy (one had bad welds the other wouldn't hold pressure). One quick email and a couple days later I had two replacements at my doorstep. I didn't even have to send back the others so I can use those for parts. Great experience and considering how difficult it is to find ball locks in any quantity anymore, a decent deal as well.

I also contacted them via the ebay link. Very responsive and friendly. Wholly recommend snagging as many as you can.

Can someone please PM me the guy's direct email/contact info. --- NVM --- missed it in the ebay post.


Cheers!

It seems that everyone wants kegs, so I'm looking into starting a group buy for the area around Northern MA. The region can grow if people don't mind driving. I make trips from Lowell, MA through Lebanon, NH about once a month. Right now we're just emailing each other getting quantity estimates. Further news and thread to come.

TheGreatReverend said:

That should be never. Cornelius kegs have been heavily out of the industry for... 20 years now? New manufactures are making some but they cost $100+. You could find them for $25-30 about 10 years ago, but I wouldn't expect a well functioning corny for under $30 now.
Sad future days for home brewers. Be sure to take good care of your kegs!

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That's true if you're buying from a commercial vendor. All of my kegs came from craigslist for much less than $20 each. In fact, most ex-homebrewers in the area seem to sell them for $25. I don't mind waiting for the next deal.

I'm glad to hear that this is a reputable vendor. Sounds like a great deal if you want your kegs now.

I'm about an hour and a half away from them. If I can get some interest I'd drive down and pick them up for anybody willing to help with gas expense. I can probably get about 20 - 25 in my SUV so a tank of gas spread out would only add about $2 or $3 per keg.

thanks OP for the link. I placed an order for 5 of these. Besides giving these an oxyclean soak and replacing the O-rings, what else should be done to these?

finalgamer said:

thanks OP for the link. I placed an order for 5 of these. Besides giving these an oxyclean soak and replacing the O-rings, what else should be done to these?

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Generally you'll want to pressure test them. Also, it never hurts to have some extra poppets on hand as well as pressure relief valves. This is assuming that they're in good shape otherwise you could need new posts. Luckily, all of these pieces are readily available from most online homebrew vendors.

lagavulin said:

Can someone please PM me the guy's direct email/contact info. --- NVM --- missed it in the ebay post.


Cheers!

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Me too please. I'll be down in Florida soon and would like to connect with him.

Ok, so I started a thread for a group buy for New England.

Anyone interested please post there, not here.

Notts, click on the eBay link. The seller's contact information is on his profile.

finalgamer said:

thanks OP for the link. I placed an order for 5 of these. Besides giving these an oxyclean soak and replacing the O-rings, what else should be done to these?

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Don't forget the keg lube.

Does this guy stock/sell pin locks as well?

davidscher said:

Does this guy stock/sell pin locks as well?

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if you go to http://www.mceverdistrib.com/ it looks like he does. I would call if if you are looking to get some they are easy to work with I just placed an order for 40 for my brew club. If you buy in bulk he is willing to discount.

Anyone in the Sacramento Area want to do a group buy? I'm personally good for 5 or 6 myself. Let me know. I may be willing to arrange it.

seedubxj said:

Anyone in the Sacramento Area want to do a group buy? I'm personally good for 5 or 6 myself. Let me know. I may be willing to arrange it.

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If you need any info and plan on purchasing from the same guy, check out my New England Group buy. I have spread sheets posted in the links there for calculating everything. You'd need to get and updated shipping estimate, though.

Will do. Thanks!

Purchased a pallet load of ball locks from Fred at http://www.mceverdistrib.com/ a couple of weeks ago. Shipped super fast (freight obviously) and ended up being less than $30 a piece including shipping. Many even came pressure tested, and all are in great shape. If you're looking to do a group buy, I'd give him a call.

jesse55lv said:

Purchased a pallet load of ball locks from Fred at http://www.mceverdistrib.com/ a couple of weeks ago. Shipped super fast (freight obviously) and ended up being less than $30 a piece including shipping. Many even came pressure tested, and all are in great shape. If you're looking to do a group buy, I'd give him a call.

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+1
I just placed an order and got 40 of them for cheaper than you will find any where on line for the same condition. If you call and they don't answer don't worry leave a message and he will call back. If you buy in bulk he is willing to work with you.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting more people in on my New England group buy.
Quick question. To pressure test a keg, you just... add some pressure, and if it holds, it's good, right?

Mine are arriving Monday, and I searched the forums for just this issue. Seems the consensus is to pressurize and spray the lid with soapy water or starsan solution and look for bubbles. I think no matter how well mine fare during the pressure test, I am definitely replacing all o-rings. I happen to live 3 miles from MoreBeer, so I can just stop by and pick up a few kits. I read somewhere that the o-rings on soda kegs retain a soda smell that turns some people off.

Keg lube and reseating the closure work great for small, slow leaks. A buddy of mine did that with his pinlocks if he ever had a problem. I never saw it take more than one reseat.

For what it is worth, I was able to go walk around the warehouse while selecting my kegs. He said that post washing he hit them all with pressure.

He let my friend and I just pick the ones we wanted based on appearance while he went and did something else. There where thousands, no way he hit them all with pressure anytime prior to our arrival. Every single one I selected (based on cosmetic appearance) let out a nice healthy hiss when pulling the pressure relief valve. I know they could still pass this test and have slow leaks; but my point is I think your chances of getting an unrepairable keg are pretty small.

Good thought. An easy test is to pull the release of the keg when it arrives. After several days being jostled around during the shipping process, if it's still holding, you're golden. If it doesn't hiss, it still may be fine, just wasn't one of the ones pressurized before shipping

Update, mine just arrived in CA, after about 7 days in shipping (weekend didn't overlap very well with the shipping schedule). Each keg was fully pressurized, so I can only presume no leaks. Very satisfied.

Anyone in DFW looking for a group buy?

seedubxj said:

Anyone in the Sacramento Area want to do a group buy? I'm personally good for 5 or 6 myself. Let me know. I may be willing to arrange it.

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Depending on unit price I could be interested in up to 10. I'm in the North Bay.

Jukas, have you visited this guy yet? I've called him a number of times, but never gotten a call back. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/for/2961127160.html Not rock bottom pricing by any means, but it may save you money in the long run to avoid shipping? Let me know if you ever hear from him heh.

pfgonzo said:

Jukas, have you visited this guy yet? I've called him a number of times, but never gotten a call back. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/for/2961127160.html Not rock bottom pricing by any means, but it may save you money in the long run to avoid shipping? Let me know if you ever hear from him heh.

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I knew what the ad was before I ever even looked. I never hear back from him even after leaving him several voicemails. The first I told him the quantity I wanted, later I just left a message that I wanted to buy. Others on HBT have had the same experience with him, no return calls.

I'm guessing he's hoping to sell in a lot to a single buyer.

Wow, $35 for uncleaned pin-locks and $45 for dirty ball-locks? That's not a good deal. You can just buy them from an online merchant for $40 shipped and call it a day.

TheGreatReverend said:

Wow, $35 for uncleaned pin-locks and $45 for dirty ball-locks? That's not a good deal. You can just buy them from an online merchant for $40 shipped and call it a day.

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Link?

TheGreatReverend said:

Wow, $35 for uncleaned pin-locks and $45 for dirty ball-locks? That's not a good deal. You can just buy them from an online merchant for $40 shipped and call it a day.

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$40 shipped is getting hard to find (at least outside bulk buys). If you're lucky Farmhouse Brewing has 2 packs for $79.99 shipped, though they go out of stock almost instantly when John gets a new batch.

I bought 4 of them when they were in stock, and will have to make do with those until I can find a semi local bulk buy to get in on, or a lucky score on Craigslist.