Tips on Selling Boat

[Leardriver]

My experience is that more often than not, the seller wastes the buyers time, not the other way around.

Shine that boat up. Make it spotlessly clean. Cosmetics are everything. ​List it on Craigslist, and put your phone number. It adds legitimacy to your sale effort. If there isn't a number, I won't pursue it. I know people are scared of their own shadows these days, but if you are making the effort to sell something, make yourself available. It isn't a privilege for a buyer to have to jump through hoops.

Blue book is artificially low, because there is no provision for hours or salt water. A nice fresh water boat can bring double the blue book.
If a boat is listed on boat trader, which costs money, over the free service that everyone uses, Craigslist, then I assume that it is overpriced or has a problem.

So, do your research and you will quickly settle on a fair price. In areas where it snows, you can't give away a boat after the fourth of July. The season is wrapping up, winterization looms, and storage all winter is a consideration. Buy boats in October, sell them in March.

 

[bruceb58]

I bought my Wellcraft off Boat Trader and my Pontoon off CL. The Wellcraft ended up being the way better buy of the two so where it is placed means nothing.

I have found that in my area of the country, boats sell for the NADA price or much less. NADA on my Wellcraft was $28K and I bought it for $22K. It only had 70 hours on it and was essentially like new.

My brother, who is an auto dealer but also sold boats for awhile, used both services. Most buyers contacted him through BoatTrader.

I would always use both services to maximize exposure.

 

[roffey]

Years back I was in new car sales. I believe you have to treat all people the same and consider them a serious buyer. You never know who is going to walk up with cash in hand. I've called people about boats and cars and you get an attitude over the phone and I think why should I give this guy my hard earned cash. This is really a two way street.

To answer the OPs question what you need to do is clean the boat and trailer as best as you can. Shampoo the motor, wax the hull, Armor All the dash and vacuum the carpets. Make sure the battery is full and will turn the motor over and make sure the motor will start. I would even warm the motor up before a potential buyer shows up. As far as a test ride leave that for last and keep in mind all here in the form say they will not buy a boat with out water testing first, like I said its a two way street and be nice or at least pleasant.

 

[444]

I put my magic jack phone number(easily changed if needed) in the ad. I state that it is a land line and that texts won't work. I do not put an email contact in the ad. 99% of emailers and texters are time wasters. A serious buyer will pick up a phone and give you a call. If you have a smart phone, the magic jack app gives you a second phone number for your phone that you can easily cancel later. I love this because it cuts out the time wasters and still keeps your real phone number private.

This will eliminate 90% of your problems. The last 10% can almost always be solved by you. Clean your boat thoroughly, be complete and honest with your description and pull the boat outside and take some nice, appealing pictures. Include pics of hull, interior, motor and trailer. Nothing worse that time-waster sellers who are too lazy to pull their boat out of the corner of the garage and clean it before taking some pics. Do yourself a favor and test-start it before your potential buyers come down.

Cash only. Will take a non-refundable cash deposit to sit on it for a few days if need be.

 

[bruceb58]

I advertise on Craigslist for my vacation home rental, boats, cars and other items. I have at least 3 CL ads going at any one time. I never put a phone number or an email in the ad. I just let the Craigslist email forwarder do its job and then i give them a phone number.

When I sell something that is over $20K, kinda hard to say cash only. If need be, we will finalize a transaction at a bank to make sure everything is legit.