Where best to sell an engine?

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G12

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Hi chaps,

I'll soon be pulling the Yanmar 2GM20 out of my boat and wanting to sell it.
It's getting replaced with a bigger 3YM30.

Where's best to sell it? Market place usually seems full of lunatics and there are quite a few other options but I've never used any of them.

Anyone got any experience of selling their old engine?
 
I've used ebay on a couple of occasions, sold a knackered bmc 1.5, an old Seagull and an early Honda 2hp. All sold quickly. Just make sure you use lots of photos, accurate descriptions etc etc. And stress collection only. If you've never used ebay, get someone who has used it to advise. Alternatively you can use Gumtree but I've never used them.
If a dealer is fitting the new engine, they may give you a decent price for it. Also try boatsandoutboards.co.uk
 
Ebay works just fine.
Attach lots of photos and highly reccommend video of it starting from cold and running both before and after being removed from the boat.
Anything you can do to reassure the potential buyer that the item is as described is worthwhile.
 
If using E-Bay sell it through a classified ad with plenty of photos which can be enlarged by the viewer this will cost you around £40.00 , if you sell through their auction it will cost you at least 10% of the selling price, when I decided to retire from sailing I sold most of my stuff on Facebook which has no sellers fee !
 
In the last two months, I've sold four boats and one 1935 car (only one of which was mine: the rest I was advertising for a close friend), all through classified ads on ebay (which I've not used before).

Yes ..... really!

I was amazed at the response levels, and I won't hesitate to use ebay again, should I have something else to sell.

An ebay classified currently costs £19.99 for 28 days exposure.
 
Slowboat35 said:
Ebay works just fine.
Attach lots of photos and highly reccommend video of it starting from cold and running both before and after being removed from the boat.
Anything you can do to reassure the potential buyer that the item is as described is worthwhile
Click to expand...
And may I add - explain why your selling it as it shows your not selling it because it's worn out.
Maybe add how long you've owned it, any service evidence and how reliable it's been
 
silverdawn said:
If using E-Bay sell it through a classified ad with plenty of photos which can be enlarged by the viewer this will cost you around £40.00 , if you sell through their auction it will cost you at least 10% of the selling price, when I decided to retire from sailing I sold most of my stuff on Facebook which has no sellers fee !
Click to expand...
If I have substantial items to sell I wait until ebay offer £1 seller's fees which they do every month or six weeks or so.
And dont use paypal, they do screw you.
 
silverdawn said:
If using E-Bay sell it through a classified ad with plenty of photos which can be enlarged by the viewer this will cost you around £40.00 , if you sell through their auction it will cost you at least 10% of the selling price, when I decided to retire from sailing I sold most of my stuff on Facebook which has no sellers fee !
Click to expand...


I agree, local advertising works well esp in a sailing area like the South West. I feel you may get less time wasters, offering 1/10th of the price, asking how much it would be to post to Poland etc, etc.

My last engine sold well(some years ago now though) locally and I had lots of interest. I showed it in action on the boat and gave the chap a firm date for collection.

.
 
Rappey said:
And may I add - explain why your selling it as it shows your not selling it because it's worn out.
Maybe add how long you've owned it, any service evidence and how reliable it's been
Click to expand...

This 100%.

My first reaction, which would be quite common I think would be "why is this person going to the significant trouble and considerable expense of changing a perfectly good engine, unless it was knackered"

You would need to have a pretty good explanation if you wanted sell it to the bargain hunters
 
A friend and myself bought a pair of metal detectors. After a few months we put them on ebay.
He used the blurb on the box and sold his.
I used a more personal approach saying how it would be fun to find a hidden hoard, walked miles, got very muddy, found a whole total of 27p and it wasn't for me.
Mine sold for nearly twice as much. The personal touch made all the difference
 
I considered buying a boat which I would have wanted a different engine in.
The only secondhand engines I would consider buying would be from a dealer who'd offer some sort of warranty because he'd had it running in his workshop, or an engine I'd seen running, driving a boat, in the water.
Its just not worth the work, even DIY for a retired bloke', to install a motor that might be a pile of poo.
It costs money to collect the engine, get it lifted into the boat, to have the boat in a yard while you do the work and so it goes on.
It soon makes sense to rummage the savings and buy a new Beta, knowing it puts a little value on the boat.

So, in the OP's position I'd suggest advertising it last summer so people could see it powering the boat nicely, not smoking, starting from cold etc etc etc.

The Yanmar dealers in Bridport offer a PX.
I never got around to talking to them, I took the plunge for a boat which has a Beta already.
They advertise on Apolloduck.

Gumtree and Facebook have their uses for selling things, especially stuff that's expensive to post. Ebay would be first choice if you can get a zero selling fees offer.
Apolloduck is good, sold a few racing dinghies on there for free.
 
I've bought and sold loads of stuff on ebay including a Volvo Pentax engine and my old Merc. When selling i always start at 99p with no reserve. No problems ever but I've also sold 3 boats on Apollo Duck.
 
I sold lots of stuff on eBay when I sold my farm and when selling things of a mechanical nature I would put. "This is a cash on collection sale"
selling this way I sold a JCB, Excavator and a Tractor which went to Poland.
 
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