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Old 10-12-2013, 12:40   #1
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Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

Has anyone here had any experience selling a boat on BOATSFSBO.com? If so, what was your experience.
Did you think you got what you paid for?
Any other sites you might recommend to get high visibility short of going through a broker to advertise on one of the broker only sites.?
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Old 10-12-2013, 14:38   #2
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Power or sailboat?
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Old 10-12-2013, 14:48   #3
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

My son in law listed his boat for sale on Craigslist and got an email from these guys pitching their company so he asked me about them. I did some internet sleuthing and it sounded like 100% flim-flam to me. Their claim to list on the top 40 websites linked to web sites I have never heard of and none of which ever turned up when I was searching for a boat.

Do a google search for used boats and see if ANY of their popular web sites show up in the results.

Even searching their web site I couldn't find boats for sale and it looks like the 40 different top websites are all just the same guys under a different name and linking to each other.
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Old 10-12-2013, 15:12   #4
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

This site and the sister sites give you some exposure ... it all depends on the fee they ask for.

Have you considered boattrader.com ... well known boat listing site, they show up in any boat search. Not sure how much their service costs.
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Old 10-12-2013, 15:36   #5
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

To sell a power boat for under $20,000 boatsfsbo wanted $229 for the listing. To list on boattrader.com was is $49/$109/$159 for 2/12/24 weeks and boattrader usually comes up in the top google results when you search online.

I also usually see sailboatlistings.com in the top google results. Not certain but may be free to list.
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Old 10-12-2013, 15:38   #6
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I also usually see sailboatlistings.com in the top google results. Not certain but may be free to list.
They are. As long as you dont want your boat in the front page.
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Old 10-12-2013, 17:38   #7
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

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Power or sailboat?
38 C&C sailboat.
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Old 11-12-2013, 03:40   #8
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

To list with a reputable yacht broker with a listing on Yachtworld- Cost=free. BTW, I'm a reputable broker in case you were wondering.... Good Luck.
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Old 23-02-2014, 12:03   #9
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

very good site they put your boat a lot of places not just on there site- I think our buyer did see it on there actual site but we had calls from people who said they saw it on sites we never had heard of- my wife and i thank them and have told other people to use them we were not happy with craigslist everyone wanted to send us cashiers checks and pay pal without even seeing the boat it is a joke i would not use craigslist again i am not even sure it is safe to be honest with you
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Old 23-02-2014, 13:01   #10
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

New member Mr Smith (?), whose very first post is to endorse a commercial website? Very curious. Might actually be a satisfied customer but on the other hand am I being paranoid to wonder if this might be someone connected with boatsfsbo?

Regardless I repeat my previous objections to the company.

For a test I just went to the boatsfsbo.com website and picked one of their featured "boats of the month" from the top of the page, a Carver Mariner 36. Then went to google and searched for Carver Mariner 36 for sale. Boatsfsbo did not show up in the first 5 pages on google. Maybe they were in there someplace but I stopped looking after 5 pages.

I then checked for listings on the other web sites listed by name on fsbo.com: usedboatyard, theyachtmarket, boatsville, saltydog, ebay and boatshopper. Now I might have missed one in my search but doing the same search the first one of these sites I found was theyachtmarket on the bottom of the second page. Went on to page 5 again and no other hits until an ebay listing on page 5 which may or may not have been the same boat.

When I was boat shopping I spent hours and hours searching for a number of different boat models on the internet and never got a single hit on boatsfsbo.

So you want exposure for your ad it doesn't look like you will get it on this web site. Unless fsbo rates have changed you will also pay more money for less exposure compared to boatrader or listing with a broker who will post it on yachtworld.
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Old 23-02-2014, 13:36   #11
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

"we were not happy with craigslist everyone wanted to send us cashiers checks"
Sandbag 'em. Tell them you'd love to do business, please mail check. Preferably to a bogus address like an empty lot, or the local PD HQ, or "general delivery" at the local PO.
Ignore it if it comes, tell them it hasn't, please send another one. Which you also don't get, couldn't them please send one by FedEx because you'd really like to wrap it up before you go out of town next week?
They want to play? OK, so play. Find ways to enjoy the game.

A top listing on Google searches doesn't mean much any more. Usually it just means someone paid for the top slot when certain words were used. Search for "buy (anything)" and you'll often get a hit on Target or Walmart--who usually don't sell whatever you've searched for, but apparently bought the keyword "buy". As well as a couple of other less reputable "commerce" referral sites, that also never have what you're looking for.
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Old 23-02-2014, 14:55   #12
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

Quote:
Originally Posted by hellosailor View Post
"we were not happy with craigslist everyone wanted to send us cashiers checks"
Sandbag 'em. Tell them you'd love to do business, please mail check. Preferably to a bogus address like an empty lot, or the local PD HQ, or "general delivery" at the local PO.
Ignore it if it comes, tell them it hasn't, please send another one. Which you also don't get, couldn't them please send one by FedEx because you'd really like to wrap it up before you go out of town next week?
They want to play? OK, so play. Find ways to enjoy the game.
Have done that a couple of times when I had a little extra time or I felt a little extra annoyed. Did it once to a bogus craigslist add offering a $5,000 lawn tractor for under $1000. Traced the seller's email to an IP in Ukraine so confirmed it was totally a scam (like I didn't already know). I strung him along for a couple of weeks before he gave up.

Before my email supplier got better at filtering and I still got the Nigerian millionaire letters I would occasionally run them around for a while.

All very enjoyable.



Quote:
Originally Posted by hellosailor View Post
A top listing on Google searches doesn't mean much any more. Usually it just means someone paid for the top slot when certain words were used. Search for "buy (anything)" and you'll often get a hit on Target or Walmart--who usually don't sell whatever you've searched for, but apparently bought the keyword "buy". As well as a couple of other less reputable "commerce" referral sites, that also never have what you're looking for.
Totally correct and very annoying On google searches I always ignore the top 2-3 results that are shaded and even labeled ads and everything in the right column which usually includes the Target and Walmart "search results". I tried clicking on these a few times in the past and you are totally correct, they NEVER had what I actually searched for.

However, I have to say, if a web site supposed to be a top internet marketing group doesn't show in the first 5 pages, at all, then I have to question how "top" they are. When I searched for the "featured boat" on fsbo using their exact wording + "for sale" I got yachtworld (several different listings), boattrader (again several listings), numerous other boat selling sites, yacht brokers and then even into discussions and questions on this forum, the hull truth and others and never saw FSBO once.

So I agree that google results are manipulated by ads, sellers, padding your web site and lots of other tricks. But for a supposed top marketing web site to never show at all in a search they are not really on the ball, especially considering how much they charge.
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Old 23-02-2014, 15:02   #13
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

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Originally Posted by SailK2 View Post
To list with a reputable yacht broker with a listing on Yachtworld- Cost=free. BTW, I'm a reputable broker in case you were wondering.... Good Luck.
You mean free + 10% of the sale, right?
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Old 24-02-2014, 22:09   #14
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

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Originally Posted by SailK2 View Post
To list with a reputable yacht broker with a listing on Yachtworld- Cost=free. BTW, I'm a reputable broker in case you were wondering.... Good Luck.
You can get a yachtworld, yatco etc... accounts without being a broker. I did it years ago. That's all the brokers do for listing. None of your personal sites matter anymore.

If you want to really broker your own boat call a bunch of brokers and tell them your boat is for sale and you'll give them 6% as the selling broker which is the going rate. Keep the other 4% for yourself. Giving a broker a central listing on your boat is stupid these days. You can make your own boat a central listing since most states don't require licensing. If in FL or CA just file a incorporation and call yourself a Yacht Brokerage and apply for a license does not cost as much as the 10% a broker charges. Simple as that.

Unless your selling boats like mega yachts where expertise in advising, advertising to a client is keen and your so wealthy and preoccupied you can't show your own boat there is no use for hiring brokers.

If your willing to pay to enter a boat show and still pay a broker to sit on your boat for 10% you are IMHO a moron unless your boat is worth over a few million. In that case only a few brokers in the USA that actually can sell boats of that grandeur to make the 10% worth it.
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Old 25-02-2014, 05:39   #15
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Re: Selling on BOATSFSBO.com

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Originally Posted by satdiver View Post
You can get a yachtworld, yatco etc... accounts without being a broker. I did it years ago. That's all the brokers do for listing. None of your personal sites matter anymore.

If you want to really broker your own boat call a bunch of brokers and tell them your boat is for sale and you'll give them 6% as the selling broker which is the going rate. Keep the other 4% for yourself. Giving a broker a central listing on your boat is stupid these days. You can make your own boat a central listing since most states don't require licensing. If in FL or CA just file a incorporation and call yourself a Yacht Brokerage and apply for a license does not cost as much as the 10% a broker charges. Simple as that.

Unless your selling boats like mega yachts where expertise in advising, advertising to a client is keen and your so wealthy and preoccupied you can't show your own boat there is no use for hiring brokers.

If your willing to pay to enter a boat show and still pay a broker to sit on your boat for 10% you are IMHO a moron unless your boat is worth over a few million. In that case only a few brokers in the USA that actually can sell boats of that grandeur to make the 10% worth it.
Good point to bring up. Most sellers are not aware that their are two different ways to list your boat with a broker.

There can be good reasons to give a central listing to a broker. Ideally the broker that owns the central listing, knowing that he/she is guaranteed a minimum of the listing fee when the boat sells will be motivated to push the boat harder and do more advertising than just listing the boat with yachtworld. The listing broker should also facilitate showing the boat even for other brokers; things like making the keys available and opening the boat to air out before the visit.

I have also seen additional perks like free or reduced price docking at the marina by the broker's office and keeping an eye on the boat if you're an absentee owner. However if I ever did give a central listing I would make sure the listing contract include several details and a no penalty exit for the seller if the broker failed to live up to the conditions.

By the way, never sold a megayacht but knew a few brokers in that end of the business and was told that they never got even close to 10% on a multimillion deal. The broker's commissions on a sale that size is almost always negotiated as part of the deal and could be just a few percent.
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