Tips on selling

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="08bcca23.jpg"> <div>  <img src="HTMLobj-163/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="184" height="24">   </div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LubyFishing.com"><U><B>Home</B></U></A>   </div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sponsors"><U><B>Sponsors</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles"><U><B>Articles</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tournaments"><U><B>Tournaments</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Gallery"><U><B>Photo Gallery</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A>  </div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Article 2</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> TIPS ON SELLING YOUR BOAT</div> <div> <B>Date: </B>2/06 </div> <div> You’ve been through every tackle box you own, theoretically to get them “organized”, although truthfully when you’re done your baits aren’t better organized, they’re just disorganized differently but you feel better about it. Once that’s done and you’ve cleaned, oiled and respooled every reel and done just about everything else you can think of to get ready for “the season” that you can do in the basement, you move to your boat thinking that it just might also need a bit of cleaning or organizing. After 30 minutes of that fun however, you decide that perhaps your time would be better spent at the local boat show – you know, just to look. So you grab the wife and kids, jump in the truck and drive downtown, pay too much to park and to get into the show. </div> <bR> <div> Fast forward a few hours and as you are considering how many new baits you could have bought for the price of the three hot dogs, the giant pretzel, two lemonades (for the kids) and a couple of beers you’ve paid through the nose for from out of the blue all your dreams come true when your wife says those eleven little words that you never thought you’d live to hear (and most of us don’t), those words of course are “honey, isn’t it about time that you got a new boat?”. Well, if that’s not enough to make you forget the 50-spot that is missing from your wallet, nothing will. So with great enthusiasm you spend several hours visiting every dealer, and not just to kick the tires for a change. After what your kids believe to be just short of “F-O-R-E-V-E-R”, you finally decide that you really want one of the new Skeeter 21i boats (blatant plug, I know) <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.skeeterboats.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.skeeterboats.com"><U><U>http://www.skeeterboats.com</U></U></A></FONT> and after bouncing around between the various Skeeter dealers you decide that you’re going to buy you new dream boat from Twin City (yeah, another one, I know) <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.twincitymarine.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.twincitymarine.com"><U><U>http://www.twincitymarine.com</U></U></A></FONT>. Now it’s down to brass tacks and you have a decision to make about your current boat: should you sell it yourself or trade it in? You know you’ll save yourself some hassle if you trade it in but you also feel like you’ll get more if you sell it outright, which you typically will. Well, after careful consideration you decide to sell your boat yourself – after all you’ve taken great care of it so you shouldn’t have any problem selling it so, after putting a small deposit down to hold your new boat at the show price, you return home and imagine how nice your new boat will look in your garage – but first things first you need to find a new owner for your current boat. Below are some the choices that you will face, as well as my thoughts on each gained over the years and from personally having gone through this process many times.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Q: How should I prepare your boat so it looks as good as possible?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>A:</B> Assuming your boat is a few years old and not made of metal, you will probably need to go beyond just running it through the local car wash - you’ll need to do a thorough detailing. This may require some buffing using a high quality compound such as 3-M Rubbing Compound, which you can do yourself if you have sufficient knowledge and equipment, but if don’t you are probably better off spending the money (typically around $12-$15 per foot of boat) to get the boat professionally detailed. There are generally a number of reputable companies in every major city that provide this service. If, like me, you live in the St. Louis/St. Charles area I’d recommend that you use Midwest Fiberglass http://www.midwestmarinefiberglass.com as there rates are competitive and they can also take care of any damage to the gel coat or fiberglass that you feel is necessary and at a price you can live with. While this may sound expensive, you are likely to get every bit of what you spend and more back in the form of a higher sale price, not to mention being able to sell it quicker.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Q: Where, When and How I Advertise?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>A: </B><B>Where</B>: While I’ve occasionally had luck advertising in local papers and magazines specializing in used boats I’ve found the best bang for the buck tends to be Internet sites with high readership rates. The best such site that I’ve found is the one by Mid America Outdoors <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.midwestbasstournaments.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.midwestbasstournaments.com"><U><U>http://www.midwestbasstournaments.com</U></U></A></FONT>. I sold my last boat using this site in just two weeks to a gentleman from the west coast. As an added bonus, their rates are extremely reasonable – only $30 for up to 6 months! Not bad considering that you can easily spend $80 or more for a couple of weeks in a decent sized newspaper. </div> <bR> <div> <B>When:</B> Although timing of your ad is less critical if you use an Internet site that allows you to keep you listing for an extended period of time, you are likely to get the most interest immediately following the boat show season (January – early March, depending on the region). The reason for this increased interest in used boats is two-fold, one is the fact that fishing season is just around the corner and people who didn’t want to store a boat all winter are starting to look around and the other is a little phenomenon called “new boat sticker shock”.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>How:</B> The most important thing to me is to highlight my boat’s features, color, condition, etc. without undue enhancement and complete with one or more photos, when possible. I’ve found that if a potential buyer feels like they’ve been mislead as to any important factor (e.g. the condition of the boat, motor or trailer, the warrantee, the electronics, speed, etc.) they are NOT likely to buy the boat, but if you are honest up front the same exact condition may not be a deal-killer. My feeling is that a buyer feels that if you’ve misled them about one thing, it’s likely that you are misleading them about other stuff as well. In short, honesty is the best policy and always treat someone like you’d want to be treated (or perhaps more importantly, like you might be running into the buyer over and over at the local lake, which you might). That said, you should be as thorough in your description as possible. This is another reason to consider advertising on the Internet as most sites allow ample space for a full description as well as one or more color photos. Some of the less obvious features that might get a potential buyer to follow up on an ad include:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Condition of the tires</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Pixel count on the electronics</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Whether the trailer features a break-away tongue</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When were the water pump and lower unit (and other stuff like that) last serviced? </div> <bR> <div> Another trick I use is to look at other boat ads and copy the favorable aspects that are applicable to the boat I’m selling.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Q: How much should I ask?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>A:</B> The short answer to this age-old question is, it depends. For example, how quickly do you need to sell your boat? If time is of the essence, you may want to set your price at the lower end of the spectrum for boats similar to yours. Thirty minutes on the Internet looking up prices for “competing” boats will be time well spent here. While you don’t want to leave too much money on the table you sure as heck don’t want to be priced so high that all of the potential buyers avoid your boat, ultimately forcing you to lower your price later when there are fewer potential buyers. A trusted dealer can also help you to properly set your price. Other obvious considerations to factor in include:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The age of your boat</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The (real) condition of your boat, motor and trailer</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Any extras that are included such as color graphs, GPS unit, etc.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The price of other boats similar to yours </div> <div> Other pointers:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Once you’ve sold your boat, get a Bill of Sale made up and notarized and bring it with you when you register your new boat. This can significantly reduce your sales tax burden, depending on the laws in the state the boat is being registered. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You may want to transfer the license plate from your old boat to your new one, depending on how much time you have left on your tag. Again, individual state laws may differ on this point so discuss with your state’s revenue department or your boat dealer for guidance.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Be aware that quite often the first call you will receive will be from a boat broker or another advertiser. Hints that this might be the case include a messages something like “I’m interested in the boat you have for sale”, at which point you might become excited thinking you have a potential buyer but if their call back number is a toll free number with an extension, your likely to be disappointed. "Honestly, I’ve never sold a boat through one of these types of companies so I don’t know if they really work but, they might. One thing I do know is that they tend to keep calling back until you tell them “thanks but no thanks”</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don’t be afraid to solicit help selling your boat from your network of friends and others (e.g. the local bait shop that you patronize, etc.). </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Posting fliers just anywhere that will allow you to do so is a cheap way to get the word out about your boat.</div> <div> One last suggestion, be patient and be willing to negotiate on price, delivery options (I’m writing this as my team partner, Roy Dale, is driving us back from delivering my last boat to a buyer that we met up with 1,300 miles away in Winslow, AZ so this isn’t just lip service), etc.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Submitted by:</B> Dwayne Luby, St. Peters, Mo</div> <div> <B>Sponsored by:</B></div> <div> Skeeter boats <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.skeeterboats.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.skeeterboats.com/"><U><U>http://www.skeeterboats.com/</U></U></A></FONT></div> <div> Yamaha Outboards <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard/products/lifestylehome/home.aspx" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard/pro"><U><U>http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard/products/lifestylehome/home.aspx</U></U></A></FONT></div> <div> Twin City Marine <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.twincitymarineinc.com/tcm2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.twincitymarineinc.com/tcm2.ht"><U><U>http://www.twincitymarineinc.com/tcm2.htm</U></U></A></FONT></div> <div> Performance Propellers 636-949-3121</div> <div> Ardent Reels <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.ardentreels.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ardentreels.com/"><U><U>http://www.ardentreels.com/</U></U></A></FONT></div> <div> B&R Outlaw Rods <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.broutlawrods.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.broutlawrods.com/"><U><U>http://www.broutlawrods.com/</U></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>