Used Boat Sales

[Z ROCK]

I placed an ad at the beginning of winter selling my boat.
Recently I was contacted by a broker/agent asking if it was still for sale. He claims he has a ton of people looking for good used performance boats, and that used boat sales haven't been this strong in years. Is this just his "sales pitch" or are used boat sales really strong this year? Also he mentioned that used boats are getting "top dollar". Any truth to that either? Thanks for any info.:tiphat

[pancepance]

One word:
COMMISSION
Tell the broker to bring you the deal (if there are so many) and you'll cut him in.
There are a ton of boats out there you'll see listed by both the owner and the broker. Ask him what else he's got other than the traderonline ads and such. You can do all that yourself.
Otherwise you sign away a percentage of the sale and it could still sit for a while.
JMTC

[Baja4Brian]

I placed an ad for our 98 Mariah 22' bowrider on boatraderonline.com last Sun. Within the week, three people have called on it. Two want to come down to Table Rock to look at it this weekend. I plan on buying an Islander once its sold. I think the used market is pretty strong.

[TeamBajaMarine]

4 boats have been sold off of BAJABOATSFORSALE.COM and we havent even fiinished our search engine optimization, all buyers came directly through TBM. I too think the used market is strong as it always has been. Good deals are out there and when there is one, there are always buyers.

[missouri]

A broker gets 6-7 percent with no investment as opposed to paying interest on the money invested in one they purchase or trade for....he's selling you....sales are good for clean boats!

[MR BAJA]

Depending on where you are at it could be O.K....but down here in TX....it's just a sales pitch...sorry.

MR BAJA!

[bryan275]

No different than a Realtor calling wanting to list your house.

[ckmansell]

If it is just a an individual who likes to dabble and wants to broker it for you I would pass.

However, have you thought about brokering with an actual new boat dealership? This is usually worth it. They get a ton of lookers on site. They can usually get what you want out of the boat plus make their commision without any cost to you.

I see lots of used boats a LOTO set for a very long time. However brokered boats at the dealerships tend to move quickly.

[Z ROCK]

Here's his story.
The fee is a flat $190.00 ...(no % or commission)
This includes an ad on the web site and a listing in
their directory which travels with them to all the boat
shows they attend.
You send them some photos via e-mail or whatever.
They call you and get all the specs for your boat.
Then they create an ad...which as I mentioned go on the site, and directory.
All potential buyers are pre-screened to see if they have a means to pay (not sure how they do this)
People who qualify get a copy of the directory. They get an idea of what the buyer wants, then steer them toward your boat if applicable.
It seems people are interested in good condition, larger, go-fast boats...but don't want to take depreciation like with a new one.
Seems like a standard deal with possibly more coverage. I would list with traderonline if I went with a paid listing because their coverage is huge.
They apparently got my name from one of the free ads I had listed.

[TeamBajaMarine]

Michael,
Sounds alot like ABL (alaboutboats.com) that was bought out by boattrader.com. I remember seeing theses guys at a show and then they contacted me about my Hammer way back when. I looked them over and basically they had binders and binders filled with boats, way to confusing and too much stuff to look at for my tatse. I also noticed that there was noone at their booth looking at these binders.

[kidbaja]

:p $190 and no commissions. Doesn't sound like their going to do to much for you. Where do they place the adds? I do not think they post on TEAM BAJA MARINE.COM. They don't post on off shore only. Where are they going to sell your boat? It does not seam like they are bringing anything to the table for you that you can not do your self cheaper. At least the right dealer will tell you if your price is too high, They have a large exposure area but most of all they can finance. Life is easy for the consumer when someone else does the banking. As far as boat sales I just read in the Chicago Tribune Sunday that BIG (mega yacht) boat sales are up.

[mkilroy]

what I hate is when people list a boat for sale and when you try to deal with them they don't even budge on the price. Why list a boat when you don't want to sell it? There are many of them out there also....

[missouri]

Some ppl. just don't like to dicker/deal, too much stress...
Then there are some ppl. you just know you will never satisfy and I've used that strategy so I wouldn't have to deal with them, or have enough profit to fix their complaints...
3rd, if you have 20 calls on a boat you can hold your price, if I have a boat and your the only caller and summer is almost over...you will leave with it no matter how much I lose...
I've bought and sold cars and boats on the side for 30 years and have seen it all.....