Dacron Sails - What's the deal?

[Windy City]

I've been trying to sell a couple Fantastic Condition Dacron Head Sails for awhile with zero interest. Is everyone only looking for plastic sails now or are they afraid of what's wrong with practically new sails at half price? I'm serious. What's the deal?

 

[bgstar19]

Hey Windy,
Are they cut for a roller furler?

 

[SG]

First, your target market is for Catalina 30's (I am assuming you're set-up roller furling). You need to go to those boats first. Then you might find out what other boats have the same effective measurements. That's your secondary market.

It's not a. Huge market, but

 

[Windy City]

Hey Windy,
Are they cut for a roller furler?

They have a #5 Luff Tape which fits a Schaefer SnapFurl, TuffLuff and others.

 

[Windy City]

First, your target market is for Catalina 30's (I am assuming you're set-up roller furling). You need to go to those boats first. Then you might find out what other boats have the same effective measurements. That's your secondary market.

It's not a. Huge market, but

Sorry I needed to update my Avatar and have. I'm a Capri 22 owner now.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I've been trying to sell a couple Fantastic Condition Dacron Head Sails for awhile with zero interest. Is everyone only looking for plastic sails now or are they afraid of what's wrong with practically new sails at half price? I'm serious. What's the deal?

Your question probably nailed the likely reasons. (BTW Dacron is plastic, too).

 

[delling3]

Well, assuming you are talking Capri 22 sails, may I ask what price you are looking to get for your sails? In my experience, used sails, regardless of age, rarely fetch more than 40% of the cost of new. I know that's not a "fair" price for a sail that's been used 3 times, but you also must take into account that when it comes to used sails, your definition of "practically new" and someone else's may be far different.

Serious racers are likely looking for mylar tri-radials or even string sails and aren't interested in Dacron. If you have a Dacron headsail from a premium loft (i.e. Ullman) you might have $1200 in a Dacron sail. When you look at what some of the off-shore suppliers (like Precision or FX Sails) will likely sell you one for $800. Suddenly, $600 doesn't look like a real bargain for a used sail. You must take this into account.

You may find a wider audience for your sails on eBay. I have had great luck selling sails there. I am often surprised by how much sails go for in an auction. Good luck selling!

 

[garymalmgren]

It's winter!
It's hard to sell a motorcycle or boat in winter.
I know you are talking about sails, but wait till spring rolls around.
BTW how long is a while?
gary

 

[Meriachee]

That sounds even more like a sales pitch than the original post. Did you guys notice the little banner in the page?

 

[odj22sailor]

LOL

 

[Phil Herring]

Yeah, this thread is treading just over the line of sales pitch.

I will leave it here but please be mindful that we do NOT permit advertisements in the forums, either for new or used sails. Thanks!

 

[Jackdaw]

(BTW Dacron is plastic, too).

Indeed, dacron is polyester fibers woven into cloth, mylar is extruded polyester into film.

 

[Windy City]

Well, assuming you are talking Capri 22 sails, may I ask what price you are looking to get for your sails? In my experience, used sails, regardless of age, rarely fetch more than 40% of the cost of new. I know that's not a "fair" price for a sail that's been used 3 times, but you also must take into account that when it comes to used sails, your definition of "practically new" and someone else's may be far different.

Serious racers are likely looking for mylar tri-radials or even string sails and aren't interested in Dacron. If you have a Dacron headsail from a premium loft (i.e. Ullman) you might have $1200 in a Dacron sail. When you look at what some of the off-shore suppliers (like Precision or FX Sails) will likely sell you one for $800. Suddenly, $600 doesn't look like a real bargain for a used sail. You must take this into account.

You may find a wider audience for your sails on eBay. I have had great luck selling sails there. I am often surprised by how much sails go for in an auction. Good luck selling!

Thanks delling ,your comments are very helpful. Painful, but make absolute sense. I'll go for a Plan B.

 

[letlmt]

How about the value of brand new factory sails that were never used? Is there a market for them?

 

[sroberts]

@Windy City - where are your sails listed? It may help if you provide a link to them. If that is illegal here please PM me with a link.