You tried talking him down from 45 bucks? I wouldn't have sold it to ya afterwards... lol
I love my WSM and wished I got one 7 years ago! As for tips/techniques, I don't use water in the pan as a heat sink. I picked up a clay pot base, wrapped it in foil, set that in the water pan, and wrapped foil over all of the above. After the cook is done, ball up the top layer of foil and clean up is done. I love the minion method and start with ~15 lit pieces of charcoal. KBB produces a lot of ash and will smother the coals well into a long cook, but it's cheap. Lump burns clean, but fast. Stubbs is the best of both worlds, but kinda pricey. Having an ET-732 allows worry free overnight cooks while I get a good nights sleep.
What are your initial cook plans?