Selling a boat on Ebay?

[charlg]

Anyone have any experience selling a boat on Ebay? I have a local broker informally listing it (no contract) through YW, but I want to move things along quicker.

 

[nickysc]

ebay will be another place for you'r listing to be seen, I saw the boat that I bought for the first time on ebay, how ever I did not bid on ebay. Waited untile it went off and negoated a better deal privetly with seller weeks after it was off ebay. Most people want to look and take their time when purchaseing a boat.Unless you are willing to take a lot less than its worth, you probably won't sell it on the auction, but hopefully will spark a serious interest. Nicky

 

[Two Peas]

I sold my '95 215EC on eBay early this summer. I set a reserve price at a level that I was comfortable with, and put about 30 pictures up so potential buyers could see as much detail as possible.

The auction was for 7 days, and I didn't get any serious offers until day 5. I didn't get any bids over the reserve price until 2 hours before the end, and had 6 or 7 bids in the last 10 minutes.

The buyer came the same day with a certified cheque, did a test run, and then hauled it away happy.

I would have liked to get 10 or 20% more, but was happier to have sold it quickly. Then again, a broker would have taken that much anyway...

I'd use eBay again without question. It worked out for me very well.

 

[firecadet613]

ebay will be another place for you'r listing to be seen, I saw the boat that I bought for the first time on ebay, how ever I did not bid on ebay. Waited untile it went off and negoated a better deal privetly with seller weeks after it was off ebay. Most people want to look and take their time when purchaseing a boat.Unless you are willing to take a lot less than its worth, you probably won't sell it on the auction, but hopefully will spark a serious interest. Nicky

I bought my current boat this exact way. Found it this way, it was all the way in PA, and I'm in IN.

 

[quality time]

My buddy just sold a 19' Maxum in one day on Ebay. I think it has to do with the price range. If it's $10K or less you have a good shot at selling during the auction. If more, I think it is good advertising to stir up potential buyers after the auction.

 

[nauticaldog]

I've done it a few times, you just have to take loads of pictures, be as honest as you can with the listing, and make your starting price the lowest that you are willing to get for it. Also, make it clear that you would rather they come see the boat in person, or at least talk with you and ask as many Q's as they can come up with to get an honest feel for the boat,as well as reinforce the fact that they are bidding to BUY the boat, not come and look it over. Do some legwork though and see if your model/year boat are actually selling for that much on Ebay, if not you may not have any luck. But, each boat I've sold has had over 1000 views in a week, good luck getting that many hits on Boattrader on any of the other sites. Good luck!

 

[charlg]

Not bad...5 watchers in the first few hours.

 

[Gunn]

I've had a EBay watch that filters out the boats I want to see within a radius of my zipcode. I have only bidded on a couple that I thought I might have a legitimate shot at, and get a great deal. I've always been outbid.
The risk taken though is buying a boat without ever personally seeing it. So bunches of pictures will help, and you can get an idea of the honestly of the post by studying the overall description.
As mentioned though, what I usually see is boats for sale that never meet their reserve price. People bidding on boats on EBay know the risk they are taking, and want compensated for it. So price accordingly, and it will sell.

Tom

 

[Morpheus]

I recently helped a Boat Dealer sell some boats on Ebay that they wanted to get rid of, old stock. The exposure for them was great on ebay sold the boats in 10 days.

 

[charlg]

I had 15 'watchers' but no bids. I will try our CSR site.

 

[wish2fish]

Charlie,
your auction just ended yesterday. wouldn't be suprised if you get some emails