Advice on How to Sell our electric Ericson to a Good Home

[SusanSMiller]

We unexpectedly bought from friends at a retirement party our first sailboat in 2019, a 1981 28+ Ericson. The 28+ has gazillion upgrades by my retired engineer husband which includes a new electric motor. We want to sell her because we bought a new 039 Salona sailboat, also electric.
How to sell a sailboat, to serious buyers, without dealing with no-shows?
Looking for advice from those with experience who know how to sell a boat to someone who will take good care of her.

 

[Kenneth K]

How to sell a sailboat, to serious buyers, without dealing with no-shows?

Simple. Add a line to your web post that says, "Princes only please, no frogs!"

 

[Prairie Schooner]

We unexpectedly bought from friends at a retirement party our first sailboat in 2019, a 1981 28+ Ericson. The 28+ has gazillion upgrades by my retired engineer husband which includes a new electric motor. We want to sell her because we bought a new 039 Salona sailboat, also electric.
How to sell a sailboat, to serious buyers, without dealing with no-shows?
Looking for advice from those with experience who know how to sell a boat to someone who will take good care of her.

Hi Susan (& Greg),

You might try putting an ad here in the EYo 'for sale & wanted' forum. Anyone checking in here regularly likely has a commitment to the brand or at least an affinity for respectful conversation. I read the posts by you and Greg on adding the electric power and found it interesting. The story about how you came to the boat is charming. I'm sure there would be some interest in a boat like yours. Include lots of photos, descriptions, and any links to posts about work on your boat. It would probably be a niche interest so bump the ad every X# of weeks with more photos/info.

I sold a Catalina 22 on CraigsList, along with a fair number of boat parts. I've shopped on CL for boats and purchased a fair number of boat parts there. People will say that you get more crackpots and scams there, and it's probably true. I am comfortable sorting through and dealing with those, and have a couple good stories for a cocktail party if lying about our sailing exploits starts to lag. Facebook Marketplace is another common outlet and should allow you to examine the personal page of people who contact you to pre-screen them. I rarely go on FB because of the lack of privacy. Then there's YachtWorld online, as well as others.

Because electrification makes your boat so interesting, you may get some tire-kickers who are not serious buyers. The downside of going public and handling the sale yourself is that you expose yourself to the spectrum of human behavior. If avoiding no-shows, etc is a priority, it might be worth putting the boat with a broker. Their commission is the payment for saving your time.

Another option would be to donate it to a Sea Scout Ship (troop). The SS Ship around here has a significant focus on technology training and yours would be a great boat toward that end. As I understand it, they won't own the boat. It is donated to a separate organization. But I'm pretty sure you'd still get the tax right-off.

I'm glad your foray into boat ownership turned out so well that you are upgrading. Will you have a place on the new boat for your anchor?

Good luck!
Jeff

 

[Loren Beach]

How to sell a sailboat, to serious buyers, without dealing with no-shows?

Some friends of ours used CL to sell a 70's 27 foot sailboat, and their ad specified that offers would only be considered if the prospective buyer were standing on the dock beside the boat. While not a precise answer to this question, they did seem to weed out the flakes this way. And, sold he boat for their asking price.

Besides the usual hassle of doing any private sale, you are selling into a niche part of a larger (sailing) niche. Given that electric repowering is a technology that moves pretty fast, and only a few sailors are really well informed, there is the added challenge of educating potential buyers as well as enticing them.
I would hazard a guess that your ad should show details and brand names of the major parts of the propulsion, energy storage, and charging parts of the scheme. Someone who is sort of "hanging on the edge" of such a purchase will need lots of reassurance.
Good Luck!

 

[SusanSMiller]

Hi Susan (& Greg),

You might try putting an ad here in the EYo 'for sale & wanted' forum. Anyone checking in here regularly likely has a commitment to the brand or at least an affinity for respectful conversation. I read the posts by you and Greg on adding the electric power and found it interesting. The story about how you came to the boat is charming. I'm sure there would be some interest in a boat like yours. Include lots of photos, descriptions, and any links to posts about work on your boat. It would probably be a niche interest so bump the ad every X# of weeks with more photos/info.

I sold a Catalina 22 on CraigsList, along with a fair number of boat parts. I've shopped on CL for boats and purchased a fair number of boat parts there. People will say that you get more crackpots and scams there, and it's probably true. I am comfortable sorting through and dealing with those, and have a couple good stories for a cocktail party if lying about our sailing exploits starts to lag. Facebook Marketplace is another common outlet and should allow you to examine the personal page of people who contact you to pre-screen them. I rarely go on FB because of the lack of privacy. Then there's YachtWorld online, as well as others.

Because electrification makes your boat so interesting, you may get some tire-kickers who are not serious buyers. The downside of going public and handling the sale yourself is that you expose yourself to the spectrum of human behavior. If avoiding no-shows, etc is a priority, it might be worth putting the boat with a broker. Their commission is the payment for saving your time.

Another option would be to donate it to a Sea Scout Ship (troop). The SS Ship around here has a significant focus on technology training and yours would be a great boat toward that end. As I understand it, they won't own the boat. It is donated to a separate organization. But I'm pretty sure you'd still get the tax right-off.

I'm glad your foray into boat ownership turned out so well that you are upgrading. Will you have a place on the new boat for your anchor?

Good luck!
Jeff

thank you for your thoughtful, helpful response! ~susan

 

[SusanSMiller]

Some friends of ours used CL to sell a 70's 27 foot sailboat, and their ad specified that offers would only be considered if the prospective buyer were standing on the dock beside the boat. While not a precise answer to this question, they did seem to weed out the flakes this way. And, sold he boat for their asking price.

Besides the usual hassle of doing any private sale, you are selling into a niche part of a larger (sailing) niche. Given that electric repowering is a technology that moves pretty fast, and only a few sailors are really well informed, there is the added challenge of educating potential buyers as well as enticing them.
I would hazard a guess that your ad should show details and brand names of the major parts of the propulsion, energy storage, and charging parts of the scheme. Someone who is sort of "hanging on the edge" of such a purchase will need lots of reassurance.
Good Luck!

thank you for your thoughtful, helpful response! ~susan

 

[SusanSMiller]

Simple. Add a line to your web post that says, "Princes only please, no frogs!"

Ha! Good! ~Susan

 

[Mark F]

Hi Susan,
Any thoughts on price. I'm not in the market but I do talk to EP curious people from time to time. Like Jeff wrote putting an ad here in the for sale/wanted section couldn't hurt!