Options for selling sailboat?

Jul 7, 2009
26
Hunter 340 Detroit
I am a sailor in the midwest. I have been contacted by a local Used Car Dealership, who has taken a 28 sailboat with an inboard engine in trade for a car. am looking at options for selling this vessel.

Thank you for your time.
 
Oct 26, 2005
2,057
- - Satellite Beach, FL.
Right here on this site too.
Tabs at the top- Classified Ads- Sell your boat.
 
Jan 1, 2006
8,004
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Certainly SBO. There are other sites. A 28 foot sailboat can fetch between $5,000 and $12,000 roughly. If a car dealer took it in a trade I would think towards the low end. You need to watch your listing expenses, storage fees and repairs - that may end up being a condition of sale - they can erode your net if the boat is on the market for a while. I would look for someone who has experience turning around a sale, maybe a liquidator, or yes a broker, and lose the boat ASAP at what ever price it will fetch.
 

BobM

.
Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
Don't forget Craigslist. I have sold a car on it and it is a good way to get local attention. You will need to make it clear to buyers, especially if there is no trailer, that transport will be expensive
 

higgs

.
Aug 24, 2005
3,736
Nassau 34 Olcott, NY
What does the car dealer want from you in exchange for this boat? Even if it is free, if it is not in sellable condition you could get stuck with it. Do you have a way to dispose of the hull? Sure, it has an inboard, but what condition is it in or is it only good for scraps? Too many variables if you ask me, and I think you did.
 
Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
Oh HELL yeah, craigslist by all means. You will get to communicate with every foreign conman, nut, freak, weirdo, idiot, stalker, dummass, and people with nothing else to do in their lives but be a bother. You will LOVE that experience. Or BUY an add and save yerself..
 
Jan 9, 2013
76
Hunter 27 Mooresville, NC
Rope,
If this awesome deal doesn't work out for you, and you don't get rich selling a boat nobody else wanted located in a state surrounded by water...let me know!

I just got an email from a Prince in Dubai, who's looking for a place in the us to stash some money....:)
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
1. First have the boat surveyed. This way any potential buyer will see what issues are real and what are not. This survey will also set a selling point for you.

2. Spend a little and have the boat detailed. Pretty things sell, ugly things do not.

3. Spend a little and post on a legitimate classified site like SBO or Yachtworld (if you can) or Boat Trader. Craigslist and Sailingtexas are also good site. Don't worry about the spam on Craigslist. I list there a lot get very little spam.

4. Once all is said and done, make the selling price reasonable. Mark up of maybe 15% or so. Don't go overboard. If priced right, the boat will sell itself.

JMHO
 
Oct 26, 2005
2,057
- - Satellite Beach, FL.
You can get a good idea of what the price should be by looking up same make/model/year/condition on a site like yachtworld.
Sailboats are like anything else with a wide variety of quality and costs and asking what a 28' boat is worth is like asking what an certain length car is worth with no other details. There are used boats in that length that are valued at $50k plus and others that can't be given away.
 
Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
I ain't gonna lie about it, I sold a boat two days ago on craigslist. I didn't say it wouldn't work, and I ended up with a helluva nice guy who bought the boat. However, COUNTLESS conmen crap sent to my phone. Idiot things. If I had a few minutes I would yank their chain a minute, and when I felt particularly contentious I would waste their time for hours with "Jethro" questions or whatever. Now, I put a phone number in the add, and bearing in mind that I am particularly vicious on an incredible level, I usually manage to wade through the trash fairly quickly. A complete separate craigslist account is a huge help too..
 
Mar 22, 2004
733
Hunter 30 Vero Beach
What are you going to do with the money once you sell it? I had a guy that wanted to trade his 2004 Fatboy for a sailboat a couple of weeks ago. I considered it for a moment, but then decided it wouldn't be a good idea.
If you're looking to buy something with the profits from the sailboat, consider a trade.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,536
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Sailing texas is not free as one person indicated but asks for a nominal amount but in most cases reailable. This site also offers an excellent choice as well. As for Craigs list, you have to be careful. As a dealer, I dealt with nearly all sites and generally you will find many folks who ask a lot of questions without knowing sailboats, those who try to jerk you around and in some cases, scam artists which I experienced a lot on Craigs List.

If purchasing or selling and you do not feel confident of the other person, you can go thru a third party to handle the transaction. However, do not let the boat go until you have reliable funds in the third party or your hands. If wire transfere, I would set up a separate account and when the funds come in, transfere them to your regular account and that way you are sure your regular account is safe. Once, I had a fellow wanted to pay in cash but I was supspicous and called the cops and it turned out all the bills were counterfit. In other words, you have to be careful.

dave condon
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,432
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Good experience with Craigslist ...

I was surprised when I sold a brand new Ford Transit Connect on Craigslist (within 60 days of purchasing it new off the lot - but that's another sad story I don't want to get into) for my asking price, which was higher than I anticipated selling it for. I was contacted by only a few people and they were legit buyers. My stepson is always selling mechanical things like jeeps, pick-ups, PWC's :redface: & so on thru Craigslist and has never had any bad experiences. He finds stuff that he is interested in, usually by just keeping his eyes open and then he sells stuff when he loses interest. It seems like he is just trading dollars on most the stuff, not making any money, not losing much either considering he gets some use for awhile ... just no complaints!