eBay and Boats
I sometimes call it, “Give it away bay!” Good for buyers occasionally, but not so good for sellers most of the time. What makes an auction interesting is how desperate the seller wants the boat gone. This is usually indicated by the starting bid price. Let’s say you have an 18 foot boat with a trailer that is reasonably priced at $10,000.00. You want it sold but feel you can’t take less than $8,000.00. So, you start the biding at $8,000.00, which you feel is very 
reasonable. And as reasonable as that bid may be, on eBay you may not get any bids because people want big bargains.
It all comes down too how bad you want that boat gone. Some brave souls might start the auction at $1.00 and it goes to the highest bidder in that 7 day period. They might get close to the $8000.00, but chances are it’s going for much less. Let’s say the top bid is $6150.00. Well, it’s gone, but not for as much as you would have liked. Well maybe not, because often bidders do not follow through with the sale on large items. You may have to re-list the item again until you get a for real buyer. eBay can be a good thing, it just depends on what you’re selling and to some degree where you are located. Let’s say you live in a very remote area that simply has no buyers for your boat. eBay will get you a bigger audience, which will possibly help you sell the boat.
I have never sold a boat on eBay simply because I am not a desperate seller. I didn’t have to have that boat gone and was therefore not willing to take less than I felt was fair. Here’s an interesting thing to do. Go to eBay and look up boats. Check the box on the left that reads completed auctions. You will need an eBay account to do this. Look at all the auctions page by page. You will see the boats that sold (the ones in green print) were very often inexpensive boats in the $3,000 or less range. This tells me that if you got an old boat you want gone cheap eBay might just be the place to get it sold.
Now let’s talk about buying a boat on eBay. Hey! Desperate sellers sound like a good thing to a buyer. Yes, but why are they so desperate to get ride of this boat? It could be they simply need the money or just want it gone. Or, it could be the boat needs work and lots of it. Buyers need to go look at the boat or have it inspected by a marine surveyor. Do not buy a boat sight unseen even if the pictures look good. A real estate friend of mine recently said eBay is a place where people sell things they can’t sell anywhere else. I can see why he would say that, but at the same time I have seen some pretty nice deals. So be smart, check it out before you bid.