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Re: Selling a boat

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Rick Morel

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Feb 10, 2012, 6:51:28 PM2/10/12
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On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:46:32 -0500, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu>
wrote:

>We sold our first boat, in 1994 or '95, through this forum. No brokers,
>no yards, no advertising. The boat was a 1976 Parker/Dawson 26. I
>mentioned on this forum that it was for sale. It had been sitting in a
>yard for a year with a broker supposedly looking for a buyer with no
>results whatever. A man in Washington state (we live ijn New York state)
>said he wanted to buy it. We agreed on a price, I gave him the
>dimensions for a trailer which he had built in Washinton. He then drove
>the trailer from Washington to New York in the middle of February,
>looked at the boat, handed me a certified check, loaded the boat onto
>the trailer and departed for the Gulf Coast to go sailing. He then towed
>it home to Washington where he and the boat were last heard from. We
>kept in touch for awhile but we have heard nothing more in some time.
>
>Now we are trying to sell our present boat, a 1982 O'Day 37. We have
>signed up with all the appropriate organizations that promise to make
>your boat widely known. And indeed our ad with SailboatOwners.com has
>drawn more than 1,600 hits since September but nary a follow-up. We have
>had perhaps three semi-serious queries that have gone nowhere. We get
>lots of scamming spam. We have contacted brokers, especially one on City
>Island that sold a slipmate, a Beneteau 35, in two weeks. But frankly,
>that broker's yard piled on so many charges, including $5,000 to
>sandblast the bottom, we doubt the owner netted more than $10. So we are
>reluctant to enage a broker until we absolutely have to. As a friend put
>it, give it over to a broker and make it go away. There are an awful lot
>of boats for sale out there.
>
>We don't expect to luck out twice and have some eager buyer pop up on
>this forum. But we would not mind some advice from those who have
>successfully sold a boat into this market.


Try

http://www.sailingtexas.com/

It's not just for Texas. Although it was 3 weeks before he could get
down to Florida, we in effect sold our Pearson Rhodes 41 in a matter
of days.

It's free, but they ask you to pay $25 or 1% of your selling price
AFTER you sell.

Rick

Wayne.B

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Feb 10, 2012, 10:35:09 PM2/10/12
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On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:46:32 -0500, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu>
wrote:

>We don't expect to luck out twice and have some eager buyer pop up on
>this forum. But we would not mind some advice from those who have
>successfully sold a boat into this market.

===

What about EBAY or Craig's List ?

Another approach would be to create a web site with some pictures and
specifications. Just post a link to it once in a while.

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Wayne.B

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Feb 11, 2012, 11:34:36 AM2/11/12
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On Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:04:25 -0500, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu>
wrote:

>In article <f7obj7lhgkbhama52...@4ax.com>,
>waynebatr...@hotmail.com says...
>eBay I might try though there are restrictions and conditions. I have
>thought of listing there with a high reserve just to get a better idea
>of the boat's value in the market. We have listed on Craigslist. The
>responses have been really weird. Essentially the same story a dozen
>times over rather transparently aimed at accessing my PayPal account.
>
>For what it's worh, here's a link to one site:
>
>http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/25408

===

Boat looks good, should sell eventually.

I sold my last boat through Mike Frank at Prestige Yacht Brokers when
he was in Stamford, CT. I've known Mike for a long time (over 30
years) and he is extremely knowledgable about boats and selling them.
It might be worthwhile to give him a call.

http://www.yachtworld.com/prestigeyachtsales/prestigeyachtsales_20.html

http://www.yachtworld.com/prestigeyachtsales/prestigeyachtsales_19.html

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Justin C

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Feb 11, 2012, 3:16:04 PM2/11/12
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On 2012-02-11, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu> wrote:
>
> For what it's worh, here's a link to one site:
>
> http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/25408

Two things, the can of Raid in one shot might make people think
you have an infestation of some kind!

Secondly, that shot of the boat motoring might lead people to
think she's more of a motor-sailer, best to show only sailing
shots. These are just my opinions, and are first impressions, buy
I believe it's always best to avoid the possibility of negative
first impressions if possible.

The stove is a good shot to include.

I think you should de-clutter totally. Make the bed if you're
going to include a shot of it. Scrub (*really* scrub and clean)
the heads - take down the bra too! Make it as tidy and clean as
possible - then re-shoot the pictures, and make sure they're
clear. Include a shot of the galley so that when the guy says to
his wife "I want this one" there's something for her to like too!
(yes, sexist I know, but a buch of flowers in a vase on the
counter can make a the difference).

Nice looking boat all the same.

When we bought ours, I was sold on the type (long-keel, moderate
disp.), reputation and external condition, my wife was sold on the
cabin. If it's going to be a joint decision she's got to love it
too.

Good luck with the sale. What you getting next?

Justin.

Wilbur Hubbard

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Feb 11, 2012, 4:16:00 PM2/11/12
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"Justin C" <justi...@purestblue.com> wrote in message
news:4tui09-...@moonlight.purestblue.com...
A nice looking mid-sized cruiser but the price? And, 30 years old! Asking
price of $38,000 grand??? Oh my! These days, with the glut of decent used
boats on the market and the minuscule numbers of serious buyers with
serious cash, an asking price of about HALF that would be more realistic
and would probably result in a sail within a month or two.

Put her on the market for 20-22K and see what happens. . . Otherwise plan
on keeping her for a long, long while.


Wilbur Hubbard

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Wayne.B

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Feb 12, 2012, 12:14:07 PM2/12/12
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On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:05:52 -0500, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu>
wrote:

>Our next boat? Canal boat on the Seine.

That would be very cool. We know a couple living on an 80 ft canal
boat in the Burgundy region of France, with their home base just off
the Saône River. They are spending their summers on the canal boat
and winters managing a marina in the Turks and Caicos islands.

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Flying Pig

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Feb 12, 2012, 3:13:27 PM2/12/12
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Further to the asking price...

If there are those who are familiar with, and specifically wish to look at,
your model, pricing it at somewhere in the range of double what it will
actually bring will eliminate nearly all lookers.

Much to my surprise and dismay, the monohull market has fallen through the
floor based on prices for our boat, which I have followed since the time we
started looking at this type. Typical asking prices are in the neighborhood
of half of what they were in 2004, having started their steep decline 2-3
years ago. Even STELLAR examples (of which I'm directly familiar) have
recently gone for 2/3 or less what they were at that time.

When we bought our boat, it was listed at 10% less than the owner wanted,
based on the recommendation of our broker, who suggested a price point that
would allow searchers to see the "under 100K market." The owner, the guy
who maintained this out-of-state owner's boat, and the owner's daughter's
boyfriend spent 3 weeks doing what the broker called a "surveyor's
punchlist, but which in reality was only a spitshine and a bottom job on the
boat before Lydia saw it. I'd seen it totally by coincidence when it came
on the market during an engine survey on a boat we eventually walked away
from; it looked dark, somewhat rough, and otherwise not all that appealing.
That 3-person, 3-week work totally made the difference in curb appeal to
this boat, and the rest is history.

In our case, the pricing really didn't make any difference, because we were
looking at every possible M46x available, but we'd have written off the ones
at the high end (~<150K in the US - for some reason, out-of-country examples
were 60-150% higher; that persists today, albeit at much lower total dollars
due to the slide in pricing).

So, in addition to doing all the other suggestions WRT marketing, I'd
suggest taking LOTS of pictures after a spitshine to the boat when the ice
clears. Were it me, and I really wanted to sell the boat, unless (as it's
been suggested in your comments) I really didn't care if it sold any time
soon, I'd take it off the market so as to not confuse the issue as you've
currently presented it.

Buyers are bargain seekers, even if it's totally bristol. (The exception
might be if this is a very rare example, none others available, and a buyer
who just HAD to have this model boat.) Knowing that you'd be willing to do
work to it on a counter following a survey is nice, but will deter all but
the most dedicated and patient buyers. Not knowing what quality of
remediation you'd provide would make most nervous, unless you committed to
using vetted contractors with warranties of merchantability and fitness that
the new owner could feel comfortable to rely on. Advertising it with known
issues and establishing a value to your remedies in each case would only
confuse and muddy the waters (IMHO, of course), in addition to making a
higher starting point in the pricing.

My 2 cents, hoping the day we have to think of selling our boat is so far in
the future that it's irrelevant to any of the work we've done or money we've
invested (which we are already sure we'd not recoup, every time we do it)...

YMMV :{))

L8R

Skip

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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Anonymous

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Feb 12, 2012, 3:25:29 PM2/12/12
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What a fucking moron!

"Dear Jessica,

It's difficult to send you this e-mail but I think it's probably the right thing to do. At least I hope so.

But, anyway, this is what you'd probably hear from them if you tried to tell them about a trip to Florida to go sailing with some old guy about the age of your father.

"You're thinking seriously of going to Florida to sail with WHO? And, he's 63 years old? And you've only talked to him on the Internet? What, are you thinking? Why would you want to do something like that?" And, so on and so forth.

Well, that's OK. I also felt something profound communicating with you on Usenet and it seemed so simple and joyful just sharing thoughts. And I felt love. You and I are kindred spirits and it's too bad about the great age difference. If you were to come for a sail, I think I know what the result will be. You would be disappointed because I'm too old and I would end up frustrated because you're too young and we'd probably both be unhappy with the situation. I don't see much chance for any other realistic outcome, do you?"

http://losenotloose.com/887ta

Neal D. Warren/Wilbur Hubbard/Gregory Hall
PO Box 1015
Tavernier, FL 33070
305 304-7546

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Bruce

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Feb 12, 2012, 8:18:10 PM2/12/12
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On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:13:43 -0500, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu>
wrote:

>In article <4f36da92$0$2610$892e...@auth.newsreader.octanews.com>,
>wilbur...@thefarm.invalid says...
>Ssshhh! Wilbur. My wife might hear you!
>
>Seriously, I know the price is too high. Wife's idea. But there is logic to
>it. 38K represents a boat in tip top Bristol fashion, and the upper edge at
>that. If a serius discussion were to open there would be price reductions
>reflecting specific conditions and the cost to set them right. The water
>heater needs replacing, for example. If I do it the price is unchanged. If
>buyer does it the price drops a couple of thousand. And so on. But I would
>not be devastated if forced to keep her another season.

On the other hand, you say that there have been a number of hits on
the Broker's site but no follow-up. Perhaps that is the reason.

You might try asking the broker for advise about the price - what have
similar boats sold for?

--
Cheers,

Bruce

Justin C

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Feb 16, 2012, 1:57:54 PM2/16/12
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On 2012-02-12, Gogarty <gog...@dublin.edu> wrote:
>
> Our next boat? Canal boat on the Seine.

Nice. No sailing, but access to inland waterways across Europe. I
wish you a hold or decline in the price of diesel!

Justin.
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