Selling a boat? Here's a tip

[winter]

I know times are tough right now and people are tending to hold on to their cash. They are also seemingly not going to outright buy an impractical thing such as a boat. For the last few months, i've tried to sell my Checkmate Persuader 202 with no luck. I posted it on CL, boat trader, ebay, these forums and scream and fly. No offers at all!

Then, I posted a few ads on craigslist under the 'barter' section. I tossed in i'll trade up or down for just about anything, but i specified harleys, cars, trucks etc... all the things that are much easier to sell than a boat! I have no real need for anything else, but selling a boat in a bad economy with winter closing in is very tough.

Within 2 weeks of posting a few ads, I rec. 5 trade offers... A large tractor, an SUV, 2 cars and one bike, which was a 99 Harley low rider. Well, I jumped on the Harley as they are fairly easy to sell and hold their value.

The idea here is basically a toy swap, little or no money exchanged. I also posted outside my region which may irk the CL community, but in the ad i offered to either deliver or assist with transportation. I'm in SE Pa, but i went after the coastal areas such as NJ and DE. Try it! It may delay you getting the much needed $$$ in the pocket, but at least you may end up with something easier to sell than a speedboat.

 

[Boston Predictor]

That's a good Idea too. Ive done this myself, BUT my only problem was the low baller's looking to get rid of some junk "projects" they got kicking around. Sometimes when a deal seems too good to be true it really is. Other times I got very similar offers, which made me wonder if there is just one Mother F'er out there sending these kinda scams...you definitely have to be carefull of what you get yourself into on craigslist though.

 

[winter]

True enough, but really, it's not all that bad. As the seller, the ball is in your court. I always act like I don't NEED to sell the boat, only that i'd like to and move on to something different. Yeah, you'll get allot of wierd offers. But you may find someone more desperate than you and perhaps will offer up some cash to sweeten the deal. This particular guy offered an even trade for a harley. He trailered it from mid-NJ to Pa (2 hours), i used his trailer to get the bike to my house and he'll be coming this weekend for the trailer. I know, it was a one in a hundred kind of deal, but keep trying, you'll score sooner or later.

 

[Big Red]

Your 100% right winter I trader my jetboat earlier this year for a Harley. The bike was worth 3 grand more than my boat. But the guy really wanted my boat and could not sell his bike. I also got some other offers, camper, big jacked up suburbin, mustang, 3-4 pickups

Trades are up and if got what somebody else wants you will make out like a bandit.

 

[winter]

Your 100% right winter I trader my jetboat earlier this year for a Harley. The bike was worth 3 grand more than my boat. But the guy really wanted my boat and could not sell his bike. I also got some other offers, camper, big jacked up suburbin, mustang, 3-4 pickups

Trades are up and if got what somebody else wants you will make out like a bandit.

What, you didn't opt for a jacked up suburban? What kinda redneck are ya?
Glad to hear you made out on the deal. Like I mentioned, the ball is in your court as the seller, you can make the deal. Just make sure that whatever you are trading will be easier to sell than a boat. A jacked up suburban is about the only thing i can think of that's harder to sell than a boat!

 

[Big Red]

What, you didn't opt for a jacked up suburban? What kinda redneck are ya?
Glad to hear you made out on the deal. Like I mentioned, the ball is in your court as the seller, you can make the deal. Just make sure that whatever you are trading will be easier to sell than a boat. A jacked up suburban is about the only thing i can think of that's harder to sell than a boat!

Well I already have a 74 4-wheel drive Ramcharger that I had since I was 20 thats been sitting in the garage unused. Plus I have a 94 Toyota 4wd and am my wife's subaru is all wheel drive. I was cought up on my 4wd stuff. But to tell you the truth I did like the way the suburban looked and I might have traded for that money pit but it had a small block in it.

 

[Needafunboat]

This thread keeps getting weirder. First big red passes on the jacked up truck. The he busts out the Toyota and Subaru's! If he mentions a Prius (or a saturn hybrid) next, I say we pay off Chris change his name to big green!

Seriously though, I like the barter idea. When you're buying/trading for profit, you have no emotional side messing up your judgment. Only thing is that you need to traffic in things you are familiar with. I personally don't know what trouble spots to look for in a used harley for example. It also has the advantage of some potential excitement/wildcard factor.

I think I'll take that approach with the 2 seadoo's next spring! I didn't get any good offers on CL this Fall. I did get some trade offers - one of those fat-tire-2-wheeled dirtbikes was about the weirdest one. Like the dirtbike equivalent of orthopedic shoes!

Glad to hear you moved the boat Winter...

 

[Big Red]

I have been buying, selling and trading my`whole life on the side. Its like a hobby but I always have something for sale.

You can not have emotions when you trade you will get beat every time. Be very careful with the one's that play the Christian card to heavy. I have been stuck by more people claiming and talking about church and god then anybody else. Its a scam, some people use this so you believe everything they tell you.

Trading on stuff is a bit tricky but fun. You must do your research and no what something is worth. If you place a add of something you have for sale and say or possible trade the phone will ring. You already have the upper hand on the trade because they called you and you have something they want.

Trading on seasonal stuff you get good deals on like motorcycles, boats, ski's, etc. But if you get it in the fall you must sit on it till spring to get top dollar out of it. If I am taking something like that on trade I will knock 20-30 percent of its value off. But remember you have the upper hand they called you.

One thing I see a lot of people do is when they sell their boat they give you everything. Anchors, covers, life vest, wax, high dollar radios and speakers,ropes. Come on people use your heads keep that stuff if the guy wants to buy your boat getting all that other stuff will not make or break the deal. So thats stuff you can sell or keep for extra money.

For instance 2 months ago I bought a 70 nova to resell. I took the msd box and distributor off it replaced it with a stock one. I pulled all the autometer gauges and tach out of it. It had a Barry Grant carb I stuck a Holley I had laying around on it. And I changed out the be-cool radiator for a auto zone special. I made 1287.00 off that car on a quick sale and kept all that stuff.

If you trade on something with a engine and they tell you some crap like it will run but needs a carb or just a tune up. Thats a big red flag the way I go about this is IF YOU CAN NOT HERE IT RUN CONSIDER IT BLOWN UP.

Believe nothing you here and half of what you see and you will be OK

 

[winter]

......Glad to hear you moved the boat Winter...

Thanks! I feel allot better now that i'm back to one boat, and a true keeper this time.

Red, you and i must be brothers somehow. I typically part out the goods and sell them as well. OTOH, I gave the 202 away last night with only two orange life jackets and some dock rope. Everything else found it's way in my new boat pretty quickly. Some of the stuff (vests, anchor, bumpers) have been with me for the last 3-4 boats