Buying a Boat Angel donation boat

[Cormorant]

I would imagine that being a charity, and getting boats for free, Boat Angel would just want to take whatever cash they can get and move the inventory along fast.

I suspect a lot of the relistings are due to people bidding, then having an "Oh sh*t!" moment when they actually win and realize they're not ready to deal with the boat.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Max Sail

I'm thinking of bidding on a boat angel donation boat. Has anyone bought through them?

Wondering what pitfalls to look out for and how the experience went...

Glad you asked, I've wondered also.

[roverhi]

Bought a Holland 30 from Boat Angel a couple of years ago. Made a stupidly low bid but not stupid enough and was very surprised to win. As it turned out, one of the sails that came with the boat was worth more than I paid for it. Didn't know about the $250 document fee which was a surprise but still got a very good buy. Other than that it was a no problem purchase.

Kept the boat for six months but an irate wife and too long a commute so I reluctantly put it on the market. Put an ad in Craig's list and sold it in a week. Broke even not counting the airfare.

[Mike Vogdes]

On my dealings with Boat Angel I was actually the second bidder, the winning bidder did not respond after 24 hours from the close of the auction and Boat Angel contacted me seeing I was next in line. I closed after calling the marina where it was stored to check if there was any money owed, there was, and Boat Angel took care of it.
Boat Angel was easy to deal with in my experience.

[Ballenxj]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Glad you asked, I've wondered also.

Me too.

[tsell]

I bought our boat just about one year ago from boat Angel. $13.50 for a Pearson 26. Very smooth transaction, and the previous owner was great to deal with. We are planning to sail together in the spring.

[Mike Vogdes]

Wow !!

I,ll give you $14.00 right now...

[MBLittle]

I'll give you $10!

Wait. I'm really bad at this...

[Mike Vogdes]

Nice.. Nice refit too.

[tsell]

We got lucky. There was not much interest in a 40 year old boat on Thanksgiving weekend. Add to that that it was on a mooring a needed to be moved within 5 days, and you get a pretty limited number of people interested. I did have to do the rudder bushings, and LOTS of cleaning.

I am able to do all the work myself, so I have put about $1000 into the project.

Boat Angel is good to deal with, but as with any purchase of an old boat, especially one that someone is willing to give away, you have to be ready to fix things.