Advertising Advice for selling a boat

[Don S/V ILLusion]

I found your listing but only after entering criteria for year, region and price range. If I search based only on price, size and location, it disappears. It also disappears if I search based only on price and size. Or year and size. No wonder you can’t sell it quickly.

 

[Tally Ho]

Storage is always up for discussion. We went from Maine to Florida and back without autohelm - we enjoy the action of being at the wheel, though do see the attraction of autohelm for others. Easy to add. We are composting head fans. Having done part of our voyage south with 20 boats as part of Sail Magazine's 2015 ICW Rally we can attest to the joy of not having to worry about pumpout facilities. Everything is in the eye of the beholder, and you are correct that our decisions can be "marks" against Kinship. We did not remove the holding tank knowing someday we would sell.

Wasn't trying to denigrate your boat (she looks very clean and well kept), but those are my hot buttons.
I single hand a lot, so rely on AP.
I got tired of cleaning up after my dog, so don’t want to deal with carrying human waste.

She will sell. You have to have faith.

I had my Hunter 280 up for sale sort of informally (no brokers, just websites). Then I sort of stumbled into another boat and I found myself with 2 boats in the marina and Avery unhappy Admiral. I dropped the price $1,000 (what it was going to cost me to store it for the winter), and sold her a few weeks before we hauled out for the winter.

Greg

 

[Donna & Rob]

I don't need an answer, just giving you info. If you don't need an answer, that's fine also. Hard to sell something that doesn't appear. Good luck.

Oh...but I do want to figure the YW site problem. I am going to ask the broker to remove the post and repost it. As you say, you can't sell something that is not appearing in a search. It is a puzzle. Thanks again for taking time to look and to respond.

 

[Donna & Rob]

Wasn't trying to denigrate your boat (she looks very clean and well kept), but those are my hot buttons.
I single hand a lot, so rely on AP.
I got tired of cleaning up after my dog, so don’t want to deal with carrying human waste.

She will sell. You have to have faith.

I had my Hunter 280 up for sale sort of informally (no brokers, just websites). Then I sort of stumbled into another boat and I found myself with 2 boats in the marina and Avery unhappy Admiral. I dropped the price $1,000 (what it was going to cost me to store it for the winter), and sold her a few weeks before we hauled out for the winter.

Greg

No, I think most people share your autohelm fandom and it could very well be a mark against Kinship. The visual of your dog/human comment made me laugh! I totally get it. Thanks for the pep talk. I wish it only cost $1000 to store in Maine. I just did a lot of searching for the boat on YW and it came up with different search parameters, but not all. I think we will expand our own ad placements - try to hit some other East Coast Regions. If our friends are any indication, sailors are happy to travel to other parts of the East Coast to get a boat - even in these times. We may just have to get used to the idea of an additional season, if needed, and put off other travel desires! Sometimes we just need to remember that we are fortunate beings with the luxury of a great boat. Can't (shouldn't) complain! Thanks again!

 

[SycloneDriver]

I'm probably gonna get roasted for this, but I had very good luck using POP Yachts to sell my last boat. When I bought my last boat I cleaned it up and listed it on Craigslist even though I wasn't ready to sell it yet. I listed it because I knew it would take a long time to find that "one" buyer that wanted my boat. Six years later I was ready to buy another Beneteau that I had been keeping an eye on for several years. I cleaned my boat and freshened up my Craigslist add, lowered the price too. At the same time I put for sale signs on the boat. The signs worked and I started getting calls.

The new Craigslist add caught the attention of POP Yachts, again. They are relentless and have harassed me for years. I know a guy in Florida that now works for POP Yachts, so I decided to give it a try. I sold the boat in about four weeks and got my asking price. I was literally about to accept an offer for half my asking price. The buyer over paid, I felt a little guilty but I got over it. This also allowed me to over pay for the boat I wanted.

I did look at a few other boats before I bought the Beneteau 31. I made a few observation as a seller and buyer. As a seller I expected the potential buyer to overlook a little dirt/clutter. As I buyer I looked at two Hunters at my old marina, I knew the owners, I was really put off by the clutter of personal items and the dirty bilge. Lesson learned, clean boat and remove/store personal items.

Although POP Yachts was a pain to deal with, it was worth it in the end. They sold my boat quickly and I got my asking price.

 

[FastOlson]

I have known some really good brokers in the NW, over the last 40 years. For a little teeny while in the 80's I sold new small sailboats and a few brokered boats. One big takeaway is that sailboat brokers vary in their approach and effectiveness. A Lot.
Are there other competing brokers in the area? How hemmed in are you, per you written brokering agreement?

The digital media long ago replaced the "rolodex" but hard work and attitude are as important as ever. Later when we were shopping for a big boat, less than half the brokers we contacted actually followed up and showed evidence of really 'working' their listings. It's a funny business- we once sat in the office of a guy in Seattle whose decor clearly showed that his real interest was country clubs and tee times!

Good Luck to you!

 

[Donna & Rob]

I'm probably gonna get roasted for this, but I had very good luck using POP Yachts to sell my last boat. When I bought my last boat I cleaned it up and listed it on Craigslist even though I wasn't ready to sell it yet. I listed it because I knew it would take a long time to find that "one" buyer that wanted my boat. Six years later I was ready to buy another Beneteau that I had been keeping an eye on for several years. I cleaned my boat and freshened up my Craigslist add, lowered the price too. At the same time I put for sale signs on the boat. The signs worked and I started getting calls.

The new Craigslist add caught the attention of POP Yachts, again. They are relentless and have harassed me for years. I know a guy in Florida that now works for POP Yachts, so I decided to give it a try. I sold the boat in about four weeks and got my asking price. I was literally about to accept an offer for half my asking price. The buyer over paid, I felt a little guilty but I got over it. This also allowed me to over pay for the boat I wanted.

I did look at a few other boats before I bought the Beneteau 31. I made a few observation as a seller and buyer. As a seller I expected the potential buyer to overlook a little dirt/clutter. As I buyer I looked at two Hunters at my old marina, I knew the owners, I was really put off by the clutter of personal items and the dirty bilge. Lesson learned, clean boat and remove/store personal items.

Although POP Yachts was a pain to deal with, it was worth it in the end. They sold my boat quickly and I got my asking price.

You have an interesting story as well as a cautionery tale. We will store this info away for next year if the boat is still in need of a new home. At this early stage we are not ready for the aggressiveness that you describe. We did read reviews of POP and can see why you might get roasted!
You have joined others on this thread with regard to CLEAN deCluttered boat presentation. Got this one covered. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Donna & Rob]

I have known some really good brokers in the NW, over the last 40 years. For a little teeny while in the 80's I sold new small sailboats and a few brokered boats. One big takeaway is that sailboat brokers vary in their approach and effectiveness. A Lot.
Are there other competing brokers in the area? How hemmed in are you, per you written brokering agreement?

The digital media long ago replaced the "rolodex" but hard work and attitude are as important as ever. Later when we were shopping for a big boat, less than half the brokers we contacted actually followed up and showed evidence of really 'working' their listings. It's a funny business- we once sat in the office of a guy in Seattle whose decor clearly showed that his real interest was country clubs and tee times!

Good Luck to you!

We are not hemmed in with our agreement and we did talk to our broker about giving him the 60 day notice to exit it. We may do that in a couple months. The reality is that we now live 6+ hours from where the boat lives, so having a local person to show the boat (he did have 2 showings over the winter) is a huge plus for us. The Broker offered to refer us to other good brokers in the area, if we decide to try another one, as well as provide us with all the pictures and the write up he did. (This is a nice person.) The Casco Bay - MidCoast area of Maine has a lot of boats and brokers have been very busy selling motorize boats. Sale for sails has been slow. Our broker is actually a huge sailing fan since learning as a kid, and did a lot with his family and alone. He is a fan of the Hunter 380, so we are not up against disinterest. It is hard to judge his activity in this time where there are no boat shows. Should be be looking for a broker who is spending hours on line looking for buyers? Is that what they do? We are going to try and move the boat a bit closer to Portland Maine, but don't really think location is the issue. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[SFS]

Well that is good news, that he is excited about that model of boat, and is a sailor himself. I would judge a lot by how concerned (and effective) he is about the YW issue of the yacht not appearing in standard searches.

 

[jaysweet]

FWIW: I found your boat easily on yachtworld by searching for a 38 foot Hunter in Maine.

I suspect that the biggest issue in selling it now is that you're right at the end of the season. Most people (unless they're looking for a bargain) won't want to buy a boat just in time to pay for storing it all winter. (Especially in Maine, I imagine.) They'll want to buy it in the spring.

With that said, we actually bought ours (new) with an early October delivery date, so what do I know?

 

[Kings Gambit]

The suspected reason for the up-trend in boat sales, which is clearly evident in Southern California since late spring, is actually COVID-19 driven. Families have been so restricted in where and how they can vacation together that buying a boat for a few summers’ family vacation fun is the ticket. (Socially distant as a family on the boat.) Same thing with the spike in RV sales. Summer will soon be over in ME, so that market interest is likely waning. No going to a boat in storage for family weekend get-away’s in freezing weather, etc. So, the advice to get the boat to FL to sell is good; but, well, that’s a whole other enterprize. BTW. FL has the reputation of being a “dumping ground” for boats. Prices can be low compared to places where “inventory” and hence selection is low. Slippage is not as widely available as it once was, and not as cheap.

 

[Donna & Rob]

The suspected reason for the up-trend in boat sales, which is clearly evident in Southern California since late spring, is actually COVID-19 driven. Families have been so restricted in where and how they can vacation together that buying a boat for a few summers’ family vacation fun is the ticket. (Socially distant as a family on the boat.) Same thing with the spike in RV sales. Summer will soon be over in ME, so that market interest is likely waning. No going to a boat in storage for family weekend get-away’s in freezing weather, etc. So, the advice to get the boat to FL to sell is good; but, well, that’s a whole other enterprize. BTW. FL has the reputation of being a “dumping ground” for boats. Prices can be low compared to places where “inventory” and hence selection is low. Slippage is not as widely available as it once was, and not as cheap.

Thanks for your thoughts. We are going to stick with this market. We have moved the boat closer to a new grandbaby (still in Maine) - even if we only use it for a weekend get -away next season.

 

[Donna & Rob]

You have an interesting story as well as a cautionery tale. We will store this info away for next year if the boat is still in need of a new home. At this early stage we are not ready for the aggressiveness that you describe. We did read reviews of POP and can see why you might get roasted!
You have joined others on this thread with regard to CLEAN deCluttered boat presentation. Got this one covered. Thanks for sharing.

By the way, we posted on Sailboatlistings.com and got an email from a POP representative within two weeks. They backed if as soon as I said we already had a broker. We also got a scam offer.

 

[NINEv2]

We will check this site out. Thanks.

At the risk of being a noob reviving an old thread I have a cautionary tale of my own.

We're in the market for a boat, though not quite as big as yours. And I very realistically may have just swung and missed on one but I digress... sailboatlistings.com had been very useful in helping us know what to expect pricewise for our desired boats. Or so I thought. If you do a search for a specific model, say a Hunter 260, you should take note of the original listing date of the ad. I've inquired about probably 20 listings now and I've received a response for one. Maybe I'm a little slow and it just took me too long to notice, but what I thought was a great tool to let me know what to expect is mostly just a sales listing graveyard. At least for what I'm looking at (Hunter 260, 270, Cat 250, Mac 26).

It looks to me like there is some association between this site and sailboatlistings so I'm not trying to badmouth anything, but it looks like they don't pull down old listings. Maybe my expectations are a little askew pricewise.

I hope you sold and everything worked out!

 

[sailme88]

Five (5) years ago I listed a boat. After selling it in the first thirty (30) days, every effort was made to removing the listing (s) ... I still get inquiries ....

 

[jssailem]

Once you post something on the internet it takes on a life of its own.

Post wisely.