Many reasons can come to mind when one considers selling a possession or being engaged in the business of selling a particular item, which in today’s case is the boat. So, you may have found this article because you are interested in selling a boat, either for personal or professional business reasons. So, we’re going to help you.
Here, we will be talking about how you can successfully sell your boats, either the ones you own, have personally used, or those you have in your inventory.
What is a boat?
A common misconception is that boat is a general term for any watercraft. But unlike the ship and yacht, boats are far smaller and are designed for basic water travel and purposes. Although there can be many more uses for boats, two of the most common uses are for recreational and fishing. While it is commonly propelled manually by paddles or oars, it’s not uncommon to see ones that have motors.
Its size varies as far as it uses, but it is designed to substitute for bigger watercraft. Boats are generally carried by ship for emergencies. Families who live by the lake, ocean, or rivers own at least one boat for their personal enjoyment, recreation, and leisure. Resorts by the beach also have ones that they often rent out to their customers.
What to do first?
If you have a boat or if it is your passion and you would like to break into the market, we’re going to talk you through the first things you must do to set you up to succeed.
1. Gather enough and important information about the boat
To start selling anything, you must be equipped with the right and helpful facts about the boat you are selling. This will give you an idea of the value of the product you are selling. In addition to that, these are the pieces of information that can help you market your boat. This will also serve as the foundation of your product; hence it’s essential that you clearly define the name, the model, and the year that the boat was created. Take note that other details may include the motor or the engine and the fuel that will be used to run the boat.
2. Condition
After gathering and sifting through the right data, you must determine the boat’s health. It would be beneficial to ask such questions as if it is used? If it is, how long has it been used? Has it been reconditioned, repaired, and fully functional? Or maybe, you would like to sell the boat without repolishing it and just keeping it the way that it is at a marked-down price.
Is the boat brand new? If it is, when has it been built; what year? The bottom line is you must be transparent about the actual state of your boat. Transparency often leads to a satisfied customer as it will surely help them make the right decision. In addition to that, the condition is a good gauge for the price justification.
3. Clean, repair, and restore
Next, if you want to get the best possible price and sell your boat or boats, you must put them in a very pleasing condition. It means that they are expected to be polished and be in their best physical appearance. Even if the boat is already used, you may still want to carry out necessary practices to make it look as good as new.
Your intention is for these boats to look good and visually pleasing. You must clean them and repaint them if necessary. But another significant component to making sure that you increase your chances of getting these boats sold is to repair the boat if it has damage. Recondition it to turn it into its best possible state. Again, with all the changes you’re going to carry out, you must be transparent.
4. Define the price
Once you have fully known, profiled, and fully reconditioned your boats, name the price. Make sure that it’s reasonable. Justify it with all the changes or the condition of the boat you are selling. It’s a great practice that you make it a little higher than it’s supposed to be made, so you have a wiggle room for negotiation in case your prospective buyers ask.
Now that we’ve laid the starting points on how you can sell your boat let’s talk about where to reach out to your prospective buyers.
Online Listing Services
Craigslist.org
Craigslist is a platform whose main objective is to provide a way to advertisers to put their business online. It’s essentially the equivalent of a broadsheet’s newspaper’s classified ads. Although, one may say that it’s more effective because it’s free to list an advertisement here. So, if you are determined to reach out to as many potential buyers as possible, you should take your boat advertisement here. Getting started is easy. On the left side of its homepage, you can easily see “Create a Posting” text, which you should click to be redirected to a page where you would be asked to choose what type of posting you’re trying to make which shouldn’t be hard to decide on. It can be either “For Sale by Owner” or “For sale by dealer.” Once you’re chosen the right option for you, find the options that relate to boats. As of this writing, there are two options: “boat parts” and “boats.” These first steps are the most important. In the succeeding sections, you will have to fill out related information about the boat you’re selling and the contact mechanism your prospective buyers can reach you out.
FreeAdsTime.org
Free Ads Time will surely be worth your time. Without the need to spend any dime, you’re going to be way up there reaching out to your potential buyers. To get your ad listed, you must click on the “Post an Ad button,” which is easily visible at the top right hand of the homepage. After that, you will have to select a category and subcategory. In the dropdown, you must choose “Vehicles” and “Boat and Yacht” for the category and subcategory, respectively.
Olx.com
Olx is known as one of the pioneers and leading online listing services. It’s not an unknown secret that you must get as much exposure as you can when selling. Surely, Olx will help you get the exposure you need. It has an extensive scope, which will be helpful for any seller to maximize their prospective clients. It’s often known as a rival of Craigslist. While Craigslist dominates the USA, Olx is famous on the other side of the world, like Asia.
WallClassifieds.com
Wall Classifieds is a free online listing service that’s so simple to use, although there are some instances that you will find yourself entangled in ads popping everywhere. It may cause discomfort or a petty annoyance, but the overall process is smooth and easy. Click on the Publish Your Ad” button to start publishing a listing. In the Category and subcategory fields on the next page, you must select in the dropdown “Vehicles” and “Boats,” respectively. In the succeeding sections, you must put in the details of the boat and information related to you. Hence, your potential buyers will have a way to reach you.
Kijiji.ca
Kijiji is a good listing service with reliable customer support. Nonetheless, if you are outside Canada, you won’t be supported. The platform is ideal for any listing service since it’s organized and has no unnecessary litter, which makes other online listing platforms a little jarring to use. Posting an ad is a smooth process, but you will have to create an account to do so. Don’t feel wary about it since making an account is free.
Ologames.com
Although Ologames specializes in Home, Sports, and Game Ads, you can still count on it for posting boat-related advertisements. In a lot of ways, it’s similar to Wall Classifieds. Nonetheless, it possesses its own quirks. So, when selecting the category and subcategory, you won’t find an option for vehicles and boats. Instead, you must choose Items and Other Items, respectively, in the category and subcategory section. The following sections and pages will have to be the same drill: you must put in the necessary details to help your prospective buyers come up with the right decision.
GiganticList.com
To get started listing your boat ad, you must begin by clicking the “Publish Your Ad” button, which you can easily find at the top right corner of the homepage. Fill out the category and the subcategory sections by selecting the “Vehicle” and “Boat and Ship” sections. After that, you must click the “Continue” button, which you will find on the left after a few ads, to be able to type in the title of the ad and the description of the boat in the succeeding sections.
eBay.com
eBay has a huge audience as well. It also belongs on the list of the most famous online listing services. But eBay isn’t entirely free, and it has some rules that somehow veer off from other listing services. While you may post freely, they may take a cut – albeit a small percentage – from the price of your product once it’s sold. It’s a small amount, and given the exposure you can get from the platform, it will be worth it. You must have an account to post an ad, and you can sell via bidding.
Boat-specific online marketplaces
Boats.com
Boats website is an online platform that exclusively provides an avenue for boat sellers to reach out to boat enthusiasts. The platform is available in the following countries: Canada, Australia, UK, Spain, Germany, Francy, Italy, Netherlands, and the USA. When selling or advertising your boat, you will have to complete three steps. The3 first one is Choosing Your Package, wherein you will be provided with three options for the package you are willing to pay for. After that, you will build your listing by providing sufficient information for the boat you are selling before you can release that ad.
Yachtworld.com
If you have the money to fund the marketing for your boat, then make no second thoughts of dropping in here the boats you are selling. But unlike Boats, when you express your intent on selling your boat, Yachtworld will connect you to a broker that will oversee the entire selling process for your boat. You will have to fill out a simple form, which after submitting, you will have to wait for the response.
Boattrader.com
Boattrader is also a boat-dedicated platform that caters mainly to the most avid boat enthusiasts. But you won’t be able to use their services for free, and you must pay a premium that starts at $99 dollars as of this writing. The upfront cost may vary depending on the package and the listing service that you would like to sign up with. Feedback is generally positive for sellers who have used the platform. So, you can feel confident that so long as you have a great boat selection, you will be successful selling them here.
Social Media
Never underestimate the power of social media. It’s a powerful and effective tool if you would like to reach as many audiences as possible, even those parties who may not be initially interested in boats. Not only is social media easy to use, but it’s highly engaging and entertaining as well. There are many platforms that you can explore. Among the best of them are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, although Youtube may not readily qualify as a social media.
Although Facebook has its online listing feature that’s right there in each Facebook account, you may still create posts on your page that your friends can easily share if they like your boat. But if you would prefer the traditional online listing practice, you can click on the Facebook Marketplace section in your Facebook account. Fill out a few fields and upload some photos of your boat. Once you’re done, you can submit it and have Facebook’s algorithm connect you to interested audiences.
Like how you can post on Facebook, you can also create content that quickly catches attention and uploads them on Instagram and Twitter.
If you have a little more time, you can create information and engaging videos about your boats and upload them on Youtube and Facebook. Share them yourself and have your friends do the same thing so you can reach as many people as possible.
Offline Selling
Now that we have talked and laid out the benefits of taking your boat selling online let’s not overlook and simply undermine physical and offline selling.
Selling to a dealership or creating your own store to have a physical touchpoint will still pay off well and turn out effective. Many people are still not confident just taking everything online, and there remains a massive market in physical selling and not yet an old-fashioned form of business transaction.
In fact, online selling isn’t a substitute for offline selling. Rather, the two are complementary ways of selling to maximize efficiency and reach as many prospective customers as possible.
Now, if you are deeply interested in selling physically, you must arm yourself with the right knowledge and talk to the experts, get their opinions and advice about the matter. Do not just talk to one expert, and you must research and bargain well with different dealerships to provide a justifiable cost for the boat you are selling to them.
If you plan to set up your store, you must also do your due diligence and homework. Visit different stores and emulate their best practices.
Advertising on a newspaper’s classified ads may also help you get your word out about the boat lineup you are selling.