Boat sale advice

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pouch

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Hi,

I have finally had to come to terms with selling the boat.
This is not something I want to do, but I think the business is about to close and I need to make savings where I can.

She is a Snapdragon 747, currently sitting in the boat yard where we have had a lot of work done. However, whilst most major work is done, she still needs a few things doing to her before going back in the water. What is the best way to sell her?

I realise that I am going to get a very low price this way, but I don't have a choice?

Broker will likely take a long time, I am thinking forums and ebay, any other suggestions?
 
You need a website or web address where there are lots of, preferably current, photographs. Include a description and kit list etc. You can then point to the address from forums, free ad sites etc etc.

Sorry it's a sale under duress
 
Sorry to hear that your circumstances are forcing you to sell, never a good position to be in. You might find Appoloduck is a good place to start, it's free so might be worth a try. I sold a boat a few years ago on there. From asking around I think it's a real tough market out there, your boat should be one of 2 things (IMHO), very cheap or very good, if it's neither expect it to hang around for a while. Best of luck to you.
 
As someone who spent a few weeks looking for a Snapdragon 747 earlier this year, I can certainly recommend Apollo Duck http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/ as it was the first site I checked most days. Boats and Outboards http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/ was usually my second choice, but the layout and functionality are less good there. Ebay wasn't somewhere I looked at mainly because I wanted a fairly relaxed and secure purchase (surveys etc.) and I, perhaps mistakenly, thought the Ebay format was more suited to a quick "sold as seen" type sale.

The good news for you is that the 747 is a popular boat (moreso than the earlier 24) and none of the ones I looked at hung around for very long. The boat I bought required small several repairs and upgrading of heads and cooker etc. but as all these had been made known via the survey the purchase price was, I felt, fair to buyer and seller alike.

Best of luck with the sale.
 
Photo hosting.

A friend of mine sold his boat recently on Apollo duck, had some good response for it. I would also suggest that if you advertise you could put a hyperlink to a photo hosting site such as PutPic this can give you fifty or so additional photos that you could not put on A.D.
 
Apollo duck and B&A certainly good advice, also Boatshop24 (same company as B&A) works well. This is the website for 'Boat Trader' magazine, which used to be great when it was called 'Buy a Boat for under £xxx' or whatever. The magazine is a bit of a waste of time these days though.
If there's any way it's humanly possible, try to get the remaining work completed before you put her up for sale. Otherwise people will hammer you on price. If you're realistic with your price in the first place it's easier to stick to it.
Ebay is definitely a good bet in your situation. Put on lots of detail, and pictures that show all angles / areas of the boat. Don't just say 'phone for details' - write up something that's interetsing and keeps the buyer's attention as they browse ebay when they should be working.
Use a classified ad "with best offer". That way you can set it to automatically reject offers below a certain amount so you don't have to waste time with all the total dreamers and bargain-hunters. You will still have to sift through a fair amount of chaff and people wanting to swap it for a 1983 Golf GTi, but at least you'll get responses and there's every chance you'll find a serious buyer.
If you get the price or description wrong on the other sites you'll get silence.
I'm intrigued by your reason for not using a broker being it taking too long. A broker can sell the boat just as quickly as you if you let him list it cheaply enough! ;-) With respect, for the type and value of your boat it might not be easy to find a broker to take her on - but if you do you might possibly get her stored in his yard free or very cheaply while she's being sold, which may be of some help to you.
Best of luck.
R
 
Is there a SnapDragon owners club. I am selling my Drascombe Drifter through the Drascombe club, it's only a £11 to advertise and if I wanted a SnapDragon the first thing I would do is Google to see if there was an owners club - hopefully if an enthusiastic club member owned the boat it would be looked after and an owners club can give you all the technical info needed when you are choosing to buy one ;) Seems to be the obvious place to advertise one. Good boat by the way :)
 
Sold mine last year
Classified ad on Ebay and on appalling duk, I think that Ebay produced the final sale, took about 8 weeks and in the end we got 4K.
Make sure you put lots of good photos on the advert, we are just buying another boat and didn't even consider any that didn't have a decent set of pictures, actually that's not strictly true the one we are buying only had outside pics until I emailed the seller and said get some internal pics up, but it had only been on AD for 12 hours
 
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Sorry you have to sell pouch. I've sold 4 boats with a website made with Moonfruit (other free build yourself a wee website services are available), all from less than 2 weeks to no more than four months, one my own and 3 for others. When you've made your site, link to it from Apollo Duck, Boats & Outbaords, Preloved, Gumtree & anywhere else you can think of. Also have an Ebay classified ad. Buyers seem to like the fact you've made a web site.

If you don't have time to do a website, do a good job of an Apollo Duck ad (by which I mean fill in all the categories properly with associated photos) and that is a website in its own right (has a unique url) that you can link to from other places...

You can use the RYA &/or the MCA bills of sale for the transfer of ownership...

Above all, have the boat as well presented as you possibly can, do all those little jobs if at all possible or be honest about what's not bang up to scratch and price very competitively compared to others currently for sale...

Good luck, here's one of the sites I did as an example, doesn't take too long to do if you know your way round a computer and MS Word, say...
 
djbreeze said:
Good luck, here's one of the sites I did as an example, doesn't take too long to do if you know your way round a computer and MS Word, say...
Click to expand...

That is a nicely done website - don't need bells and whistles or anything complicated. When you have good content less is more. I didn't read the whole website mind!, but some pics of the boat "in action", ideally on a sunny day - whether sailing or anchored helps sell the dream.

Not sure what to put on? Put everything! Everything "you" would want to know before buying a boat (or simply before driving 100 miles to have a look). Apart from helping make a sale it also saves you time in responding to further info requests, for politeness' sake probably best not to say "read the effing website" :mad: when they ask a question you have already answered on the Website - but you can simply send them the link to the relevant page. As and when folks ask questions you did not think about initially, add that info.

Also get in your mind how a sale will work, paperwork, timing and practicalities - nothing says boat likely owned by a numpty (and maintained accordingly) than a Vendor who appears clueless on what happens next.....

....can always tweak how things work later (if needed and agreeable to you) - but the buyer at least starts off knowing what is needed / expected.
 
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Thank you all for you wishes and very helpful suggestions.

It seems like the best way is going to be for me to put together a solid resource of pictures & info, ideally in a web site
Then also feature that on the web site suggested.

The 747 has always seemed popular, at least we have invested in the hard expensive work already, but I know it is going to be a pain in the pocket to sell.

I'll put a link up when I have the info, for feedback, I'd better go & take some pictures!!

Thanks
Martyn
 
Nice looking boat - looks like you have put both some TLC and some thought into her.

And a nicely done advert, except might want to tweak the headline:-

Snapdragon 747 sailing boat - 5 birth Bilge keel

:D

And just an idea, but might be worth mentioning that she would take a small outboard (4 or 5hp?) on the stern as an interim measure (until the engine was installed). Albeit an outboard bracket would first need to be fitted.
 
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