Best way to sell boat

[Roger L]

Looking for the best way to sell my boat without a broker but I hate dealing with tire kickers and squirrels. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Comodave]

I have sold several boats on boattrader.com.

[jgwinks]

Originally Posted by Comodave

I have sold several boats on boattrader.com.

Haven't bought one there but looked at a few. The only problem I've had with boattrader, from the buying side, is some people don't remove the listing when the boat's sold. Lots of dead ends. I suspect some set up a dummy email just for the listing then don't look at it again after the sale so they don't know they're still getting hits.

[Larry M]

Post your boat here on the Forum. The Classified section gets lots of traffic. I just looked and there are 23 people viewing right now. In our library, there is a sample purchase and sale agreement you could also use.

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/...?do=file&id=77

[psneeld]

I sold mine (had 2 other TFers interested) just by mentioning here on TF that I may sell it soon.

Wound up selling it before I really wanted too.

Have a decent boat at the right price and it takes very little marketing. Expect a competitive price and there is competition.

[CharlieO.]

I bought ours off of Facebook Marketplace.

[Comodave]

Originally Posted by CharlieO.

I bought ours off of Facebook Marketplace.

I don’t do Facebook…

[Jim Cooper]

Best way to sell boat?
Price it right!

boattrader, yachtworld, TF...but don't discount Craig's List

[SeaDogAK]

I sold my Tollycraft 37 on Facebook Marketplace.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Roger L

Looking for the best way to sell my boat without a broker but I hate dealing with tire kickers and squirrels. Any suggestions? Thanks

Make them jump through a lot of hoops
That sorts out the ones that are serious.

My recent result here
https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/...1&postcount=62

[twistedtree]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Make them jump through a lot of hoops
That sorts out the ones that are serious.

And that's exactly why brokers are often unresponsive to inquiries. They are sorting. When you are on the selling side, there is a huge amount of noise in the system with all sorts of lookers and talkers who will just waste your time.

[slowgoesit]

Originally Posted by twistedtree

And that's exactly why brokers are often unresponsive to inquiries. They are sorting. When you are on the selling side, there is a huge amount of noise in the system with all sorts of lookers and talkers who will just waste your time.

Peter,


I understand what you are saying, buy it's a poor businessman (or woman) who discounts a perspective buyer from an initial inquiry. We were serious about purchasing a boat, and had numerous brokers blow us off when we asked for info on boats they represented. Several of them apparently because we had the audacity to actually ask questions prior to sending in a deposit check! Yup, one of them actually told me that . . .

We ended up finding the boat we wanted, the Seller's broker was extremely helpful during the buying process, spending quite a lot of time answering our questions about the boat, even doing a face time on the boat until his phone battery died!
He didn't know us from Adam, but he didn't discount us either. We made an offer sight unseen, flew out for inspection, survey, and sea trial, and all was well. We paid cash.
Since we purchased our current boat, we've been contacted by several of the brokers who wouldn't give us the time of day when we were looking . . . . we have a list . . . . which we've shared with several people we've met. . . . Karma is a . . . well, it comes back around to bite you, shall we say!

[nwh10]

Might not help this time, but if you establish a good online presence - here, on a website dedicated to the make of your boat, and on specific Facebook groups - and become known as an honest and meticulous owner, your boat will sell in a nanosecond. That's what happened with our last one. My reputation preceded me. As soon as I began to make noises about looking for a larger boat, potential buyers contacted me. The boat sold for the asking price to the first person who came to see it. He flew here and wrote a deposit check in a week.

[Pete Meisinger]

Best way to sell a boat? Lots of pictures and not too much verbage.

pete

[Bacchus]

Originally Posted by twistedtree

And that's exactly why brokers are often unresponsive to inquiries. They are sorting. When you are on the selling side, there is a huge amount of noise in the system with all sorts of lookers and talkers who will just waste your time.

Get it out there via online visibility - TF Classifieds, Boat Trader plus others - Facebook, Craigslist etc.

The only problem with making it hard to make contact is you never know who the perfect buyer is ahead of time and you risk turning off the perfect buyer.

I like to talk to potential buyers and try to assess how serious & capable they are first - then establish your availability based on that assessment.
I find a direct phone conversation better than swapping 10 - 20 messages or emails and quickly ask potential buyers to call me. Most acammers avoid the phone and prefer txt & emails.

[twistedtree]

Originally Posted by slowgoesit

Peter,


I understand what you are saying, buy it's a poor businessman (or woman) who discounts a perspective buyer from an initial inquiry. We were serious about purchasing a boat, and had numerous brokers blow us off when we asked for info on boats they represented. Several of them apparently because we had the audacity to actually ask questions prior to sending in a deposit check! Yup, one of them actually told me that . . .

We ended up finding the boat we wanted, the Seller's broker was extremely helpful during the buying process, spending quite a lot of time answering our questions about the boat, even doing a face time on the boat until his phone battery died!
He didn't know us from Adam, but he didn't discount us either. We made an offer sight unseen, flew out for inspection, survey, and sea trial, and all was well. We paid cash.
Since we purchased our current boat, we've been contacted by several of the brokers who wouldn't give us the time of day when we were looking . . . . we have a list . . . . which we've shared with several people we've met. . . . Karma is a . . . well, it comes back around to bite you, shall we say!

I agree, and should have elaborated. I agree that broker behavior has been terrible for many people, and I would be equally annoyed in a buyer's shoes. It just explains what they are attempting to accomplish - not that it's a good way to go about it.

[Nick F]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

I find a direct phone conversation better than swapping 10 - 20 messages or emails and quickly ask potential buyers to call me. Most scammers avoid the phone and prefer txt & emails.

Right on !

[Max1]

I found quite a few boats on Facebook Marketplace. It shows ad's in geographical radius decided buy the searcher, though outside the radius is also shown after all the local ads are exhausted.

[Cartouche]

Originally Posted by Roger L

Looking for the best way to sell my boat without a broker but I hate dealing with tire kickers and squirrels. Any suggestions? Thanks

I sold my 390 here on the forum I posted it here and the Manship facebook page I agreed to hold it for a member here on TF and had two other confirm buys in less than 24 Hours from the face book listing 1 in St John New Bruswick and the other in Hamilton Ontario. If it is a good boat it will sell easily in this market. However I was very lucky having a friend who owns the largest Brokerage in Canada (United City Yachts) who handled the sale for me No Charge as it had to go over the border from Canada to the US which was allot more complicated than either the buyer or my self knew.

[Cold Duck]

Depends a lot on the size type of boat. For local I have had great success with Craig's List, it's free. But if your market might be wider, then you want a national audience.