Best way to sell boat

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Roger L

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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 have sold several boats on boattrader.com.
 
Comodave said:
I have sold several boats on boattrader.com.
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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.
 
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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.
 
Best way to sell boat?
Price it right!

boattrader, yachtworld, TF...but don't discount Craig's List
 
I sold my Tollycraft 37 on Facebook Marketplace.
 
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Simi 60 said:
Make them jump through a lot of hoops
That sorts out the ones that are serious.
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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.
 
twistedtree said:
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.
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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!:eek: 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!:D :dance:
 
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.
 
Best way to sell a boat? Lots of pictures and not too much verbage.

pete
 
twistedtree said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
slowgoesit said:
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!:eek: 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!:D :dance:
Click to expand...


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.
 
Bacchus said:
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.
Click to expand...

Right on !
 
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.
 
Roger L said:
Looking for the best way to sell my boat without a broker but I hate dealing with tire kickers and squirrels. Any suggestions? Thanks
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
psneeld said:
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.
Click to expand...

Wound up selling it before I really wanted too.
Oh ,quit yer damn complaining. You know what they say about a bird in the hand. :rofl:
 
Roger L said:
Looking for the best way to sell my boat without a broker but I hate dealing with tire kickers and squirrels. Any suggestions? Thanks
Click to expand...

It's typically one OR the other. It can't be both. Either the broker deals with tire kickers or you do.

About the only way to avoid this is through private sale to an acquaintance or 'friend of a friend' via word of mouth.
 
try Yachtx.com

I have my boat under contract, hopefully goes through this week. My recent learning:
First of all watch out for scams - had at least 5 attempts "to send me money / cashiers check , right now, to hold the boat while they arrange picking it up sight unseen, on behalf of a buyer who is too busy to do the transaction" and one " I will send you crpto from Spain account immediately".
Second : I did list it on my own ( FB forum, boat trader, etc) and then with Yachtx. Yachtx is listing and selling for a fraction of the 10% commission and trying to disrupt the brokerage business.
Full disclosure - I did not sell with yachtx, I have no business interest with them, and they stepped aside when I got my own buyer, but I like the idea of being able to use a broker that can get you on yachtworld, etc for less than 2% commission.
Just suggesting options.
 
We have sold multiple boats on our own through Boattrader. I clean out the boat and get all personal stuff off the boat. Then do a good detail cleaning the boat. Then take a well lit photo of everything that I possibly can so the prospective buyer gets a good idea of what the boat actually looks like.

We bought our current boat through a broker. We live about 2.5 hours away from his shop. I told him that we wanted to sell out last boat but that I would do all the showings since we were so far away. I also told him I would take the photos too. And I just wanted him to get the boat listing up on Yachtworld and handle the closing. I then told him I wanted a discount on the commission. He thought about it for a minute and said how about 5%. We agreed. He did drive up and take his own photos and did a great video. The boat sold in a couple of days. He was happy and so was I.
 
Comodave said:
We have sold multiple boats on our own through Boattrader. I clean out the boat and get all personal stuff off the boat. Then do a good detail cleaning the boat. Then take a well lit photo of everything that I possibly can so the prospective buyer gets a good idea of what the boat actually looks like.



We bought our current boat through a broker. We live about 2.5 hours away from his shop. I told him that we wanted to sell out last boat but that I would do all the showings since we were so far away. I also told him I would take the photos too. And I just wanted him to get the boat listing up on Yachtworld and handle the closing. I then told him I wanted a discount on the commission. He thought about it for a minute and said how about 5%. We agreed. He did drive up and take his own photos and did a great video. The boat sold in a couple of days. He was happy and so was I.
Click to expand...
Nice to see the art of negotiating at work and successful.
I've thought of listing real estate with a sliding commission scale lower for quick sale and increasing with longer time, more advertising & work on real estate broker side. It puts the onice on seller to set a reasonable price and rewards the seller for doing it. Win / win IMO
 
This thread would be much more informational if people would say what type and the price the boat was that they sold themselves
 
Pete Meisinger said:
Best way to sell a boat? Lots of pictures and not too much verbage.

pete
Click to expand...

As a buyer looking at present, and the seller does not want a lot of looky loos it’s best to describe the boat to the fullest extent. Posting pics with no other description is useless to a buyer. The more info provided the less calls he will have to deal with.

IME, most brokers don’t take the time to reply what so ever, and private sellers won’t hardly respond when they see a area code off the coast. I’ve given up calling and trying to talk about any boat for sale and just going to wait till I travel to Seattle to find a boat. It’s been a total waste of time, to the point I’m aggravated with the whole experience of hunting a boat.
 
Don L said:
This thread would be much more informational if people would say what type and the price the boat was that they sold themselves
Click to expand...

Probably at least 9 or 10 of them, too many to list.
 
I sold my last boat summer 2022, probably waning days of Covid so the market wasn't quite as hot. All the usual places (Craigslist, Marketplace, BoatTrader). I probably "sold" it about 50 times to Nigerian princes, guys with cashier checks, etc., before a real human being showed up and paid American money.

It takes tenacity and patience to sell your boat!
 
Don L said:
This thread would be much more informational if people would say what type and the price the boat was that they sold themselves
Click to expand...
Re Post #19 Listed for $179,999.00 CDN sold for $179,999.00 CDN (No Commission) She was priced right for a Freshwater boat, Swans in Toronto just sold one for $209.000.00 CDN for an 01
 
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