Sabco Brewmagic - why do newbies sell them soon after buying them?

This is a serious question....

Not looking to start a flame war, but reports have it that the Sabco is a functional system, it makes consistant beer, it is well designed and supported.

What is puzzling to me is when they are offered for sale. We see them on the Classified Section usually posted by somebody who is new to the forum. And their story is that they bought it, used it a small number of times, and that it is now time to get out.

I seldom see the same behavior with B3's, Blichmann, or other hobbiest built systems. When these are sold, its from members who are active in the community.

Just because someone is new to the forum doesn't mean they are new to the hobby.
Maybe because of the way the economy has been, people bought them and now need to sell them because they need the money back. I've never seen anyone say they are selling their Sabco "because it blows'.
Other than that, I really don't have an answer.

I understand that being new to HBT does not mean that they are new to brewing; but experience in brewing usually means that the person has a pretty strong idea of what they want.

The economy has hit many people hard, and an expensive set up would be a quick way to gain back some of the cash when needed.

But the puzzle to me is that its the Sabco systems that are flipped by new or newer people to the HBT community.

In contrast, the other systems are sold by people who have been around in HBT for a while.

I'm having a hard time concisely putting all this into words.

It just seems to be a an odd correlation. I may be missing something here.

Why do you care? Are you thinking of buying one?

No interest at all in buying one.

Just trying to wrap my head around it.

If you have one please chime in and tell us about it. I'd be interested to hear more.

I know what you mean. I really don't know much about sabco's - so I certainly have nothing bad to say about them. But, I have kind of been looking for used B 3's for the past year, and almost never see them. Sabco's seem to come up all the time and often with little use. I have kind of wondered some of the same as to why that is.

Perhaps it is as simple as more sabco's are sold new, so more are sold used. Could also have to do with where sabco's are sold vs. where B 3's are sold and which boards people frequent??

I don't know . . .but I notice what you are saying.

I think the main difference is that the people who spend time on the forum and/or get involved with DIY projects are more committed to this as a hobby. Sabco bm systems are an easy albeit expensive toy for people who may not realize how much work and dedication go into making (good) beer. They may buy it for themselves with all good intentions, but it ends up collecting dust next to the rock crawler project or something because they aren't fully committed to it the way you need to be in order to be any good at it. The other side of the coin is the person who thinks they are going to follow sam's lead and start up a brewery on it and then quickly realize the economies of scale that go into commercial brewing and conclude that it makes little to no sense.

Then again it could simply be that brewing in 10 gallon batches takes up too much time when you and your buddies drink that in a couple days.... I skipped right over to 1/2 bbl batches and don't plan on being at that level very long either. My neighbors are too damn thirsty!

+1 to what fortuneteller said, I love my brewmagic but while ive only had it for less than a year already wish I could brew more beer at one time. I dont forsee myself personally selling it to fund a bigger system as I plan on utilizing it as a pilot system. As a matter of fact the guy that sold me my system (I bought it used and it was made sept 2010) called me 5 months later wondering if I would be interested in selling it back to him so he could use it as a pilot system for a brewery he was hoping to open.

Marquez said:

And their story is that they bought it, used it a small number of times, and that it is now time to get out.

Click to expand...

Short answer: Ever hear of the phrase "more money than brains?"

Long answer: Some people just jump right into hobbies with both feet, and they have a lot of disposable income (or they think that they do). They think that having the best gear for a hobby is going to make them good faster, and when it turns out that it's not the case, then they get disappointed and then they move on to something else. That's just the way some people are.

I was that way with musical instruments, until it finally occurred to me that I just don't have the patience to learn.

LandoLincoln said:

Short answer: Ever hear of the phrase "more money than brains?"

Click to expand...

As I started reading this thread, this was my first thought.

Agree with Lando... When I started the hobby, I REALLY wanted a sabco. All that shinny bling... Almost pulled the trigger with my bonus but decided to hold off. I'm glad I did because had I bought it, I'd probably be selling it. Not because I need the money or have decided not to brew but because there just isn't a good reason for a NEW hobbiest to spend $6k+ on a system that they may not understand. $6k right off the bat is a hefty price for a hobby.

I've been brewing extract brews for years and have finally acquired enough equipment but most importantly, enough knowledge to attempt an AG. I know it may taste like ass but I'm excited to try. That's the best part for me. Trial and error. Practice makes perfect.