Buy a Boat off eBay?

[unbusted67]

Under what circumstances, if any would you consider buying a boat on Ebay? The act seems akin to bungee jumping or something: only for thrill seekers and the deranged.

[clockwork orange]

I guess i must be the thrill seeking type, ive bungee jumped 140ft off an old railway bridge in New Zealand AND bought a Lindenberg 26 sailboat on Ebay.
I would highly recomend the former but with the latter im not so sure,with mine it was cheap enough that it was not worth spending any money to go and look at it or have it surveyed, it was 500 miles away in Chicago,im deffinatly not a gambler but ive always liked these boats so i did just that.
Steve.

[clockwork orange]

Actually,maybe im just deranged.
Steve.

[Kefaa]

It can be bad if you are not careful. Having said that I bought my class C motorhome off Ebay. Request a 7 or 10 day inspection period. Most sellers will grant it. If not , try to inspect before you buy. BTW- I got a great deal this way but you need to understand the risks.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

I guess i must be the thrill seeking type, ive bungee jumped 140ft off an old railway bridge in New Zealand AND bought a Lindenberg 26 sailboat on Ebay.
I would highly recomend the former but with the latter im not so sure,with mine it was cheap enough that it was not worth spending any money to go and look at it or have it surveyed, it was 500 miles away in Chicago,im deffinatly not a gambler but ive always liked these boats so i did just that.
Steve.

.
I like .

[SkiprJohn]

I'd do it if it were a small production boat and very cheap and knowing there was nothing on it I couldn't fix.
regards

[clockwork orange]

John,that is exactly my attitude, i bought my current car on ebay 3 1/2 years ago also and its been absolutly trouble free.Sure you can get burned but as a boatbuilder ive seen many boats bought through brokers and that have had surveys done,that turned out to have major, expensive issues.
Steve.

[Boracay]

I brought a boat unseen off Ebay, worked out really well, good price, good condition.

Off course I had to travel to pick it up. Just as well it came with a trailer...

I hesitated before buying but the price was right and it was just what I wanted. My wife likes it too; it's nice and stable.

A bigger boat? I'd have to really want it, and the price would need to be really good.

[jerrymc]

I bought my current boat - Newport 30 MKII - through an eBay auction. The boat was being sold by Boat Angels, an organization that liquidates vessels, vehicles, etc. that have been donated to various charitable orgs. A friend had knowledge of other people that had sucessful dealings with them and I checked them out to my satisfaction. It is dicey, buying a boat sight unseen, but I had the opportunity to walk away from the deal after I had seen the boat with no more downside that the $100. deposit I put up at the end of the auction. I got an incredible deal..paid less than 1/3 market value and she is a sweet little boat that I am more than satisfied with. The boat had a current survey and I was able to meet and speak with the surveyor, as well as the former owner, who went out of his way to provide me with as much documentation & history on the boat as he had. Gamble? yes, but less than buying from a private party, advertising in the local paper, with no reassurances of clean title and honest escrow.

Having been an eBay store owner, a couple of years ago, my comfort level was somewhat higher because I know how eBay works and all the protections that are built into the system. Believe me, eBay shuts down any suspicous or shady activity at a moments notice or complaint from an unhappy buyer. Actually, it would be hard to get "taken" on a major purchase such as a boat or a car, because of all of the restrictions.

All in all, I was satisfied with the experience & happily sailing almost every weekend, here in so cal.

[Tropic Cat]

Yeah, but it's really difficult to do a sea trial this way. Isn't this like buying a pig in a poke?

A sailing dinghy is one thing but a cruising sailboat is something else entirely. Replacement costs on defunct on board systems / sails/ rigging / engine could break the bank.

[SkiprJohn]

It has to be cheap if it is sight unseen.
regards,

[scotte]

Originally Posted by jerrymc

eBay shuts down any suspicous or shady activity at a moments notice or complaint from an unhappy buyer. Actually, it would be hard to get "taken" on a major purchase such as a boat or a car, because of all of the restrictions.

I don't know about major purchases like a boat or a car, but eBay is not the least bit interested in protecting the buyer (don't know about the seller), as long as they get their cut. If you do the deal through PayPal it's even worse. Having been on on the buying end of a couple of auctions in the ~$20 range where the seller completely misrepresented items (as in saying it was X but in fact being a Y), I can attest to the fact that neither eBay nor PayPal gives a rip. Seller approval rating and prior auctions means nothing...

Again, your mileage will vary, and perhaps my experiences are not the norm - to be fair I've had dozens of good auctions as both buyer and seller, but those two as buyer were enough to sour me for eternity from either selling or buying ever again.

[Chattcatdaddy]

I would not discount a boat just because it was on ebay. If I was interested in the boat and could inspect the boat prior to purchase then I would bid. Doesn`t seem to be any different than a classified ad in the paper, yachtbroker.com, craigslist, or sailboat trader for that matter. In fact I usually see the same boats on multiple sites. Buyer beware pretty much applies to all boat purchases regardless of how you come across the ad.

[zeehag]

the boats i have seen on ebay at auction have looked like fine boats--the owners have been hard up---is not a bad thing to look for boats there---is much better than paying thru the nose for a broker boat and finding the same things still need fixing as the ebay one---the only difference is the boat in the brokers is 30+ thousand dollars and on ebay that boat might go for a grand total of 2500 dollars--no one is buying in this buyers market--brokers are not doing that well and are not pushing the boats in the lower price ranges--i know--i have one for sale thru a broker..LOL----

[forsailbyowner]

I bought Magic off ebay. Had major problems with documentation. Turns out the seller paid for the boat with a rubber check and pissed off cooper capital who had auctioned it off prior. It took calling the insurance company that originally totalled the boat to coerce the salvage company to give up the paperwork from the complete chain of ownership before documentation could be processed. Major grief not knowing if ownership was valid for a year and a half.