Is this a King or a Princess

Unless there are holes in it, there is really nothing to go wrong that can't be fixed cheap. See if you can get a pic thru the flue collar, and of the cat with the flame shield removed.

The biggest expense is a new cat. Bypass gasket retainers cost me about $35 for that one stove, and a six pack while a buddy welded them in. Bricks, maybe, but those look good. Even a new thermostat is ~$150, I think.

That stove looks to be in really nice shape. At least they took half a minute to wipe some of the dust off. I wouldn't be afraid to by it unseen.

 

Looks like it's been burned a little hot.
Even if it needed a bit of work, it would save me a bunch of money.
Although, I really prefer buying new.

 

The front discoloration? I'm not sure how much you need to worry about that. You can tell the flash is, so that might have something to do with it. On and the top and side panels of the stove it is solid with no color deviation.

 

Well, the top of sister's stove had clearly been glowing at some point, around and behind the flue collar. It's still straight, and looks pretty good after new paint,.just a very few pits. I can't see that in these pics, and the paint looks original, or somebody was careful to mask the decals.

The bypass door and everything around it are 1/2" steel. The frame around the cat is very robust, and I can't see that ever getting warped or damaged.

I'd try to buy it from under you if I had the cash. Heck, buy it and if you don't like it I'll swap you a Spectrum

 

Waiting for a response from the seller.
Still not sure I like the idea of buying used which may cost only a few hundy less than a new IS.
We'll see.
If only WS would get out the intro price, so I can make up my mind-less.
If I have to wait much longer, I'll forget what I was doing.

 

This is another decent CL search engine:
http://zoomthelist.com/

 

That's a good point, and may be worth waiting for.

Or you could maybe have a fire in a slighly used BK next week, for under $1k.

Tough call. Maybe it won't be available and you won't have to think on it at all.

 

For 650 I wouldn't even hesitate. Only thing I'd have them do is remove the cat and box the cat and door separately for the trip.

 

Mine is discolored(faded) on the front and top(above the cat), I can say for a fact it's never been over-fired.

 

Just got an email from the seller. Looks like someone is stopping buy today to look at the stove. It might be gone.

Dave lucks out and gets to postpone his stove purchase even longer.

 

Yep, lucky me. )
Still no response here.