[Rhodes22-list] eBay Boat - Now what?

[Bill Effros]

Robert, Rob, Brad, Others,

Probably not.

As previously mentioned, I'm working on the third edition of my book, 
How to Sell Your Home in 5-Days.  The book predates eBay, and I 
routinely use the 5-Day Method to sell many large ticket items including 
cars and boats.

To sell a home, car or boat you price it in the ad at 50% of what you 
think you will get, and let the market drive the price up to the fair 
market value.  This always works with homes and cars because there are 
always enough local buyers for these items to make a market.  It's 
tougher with boats because there are rarely enough local real buyers to 
make a market.

Using this method nationally doesn't work well because most buyers of 
non-standard large-ticket items want to inspect the item before bidding 
the top dollar.  This makes sense to me. 

So sellers of boats on eBay seem to fall into 2 categories -- people in 
trouble who can't sell in the local market, and crooks trying to put 
something over on people who can't see what they are buying until after 
having paid for it. 

When the 5-Day Method is properly used, both the buyer and the seller 
get a fair deal.  Boats on eBay seem to have "winners" and "losers".  
None of us, probably including the seller, has the slightest idea of the 
fair market value of that boat.  Stan knows because he makes the market 
for Rhodes-22s.

I have been trying to decide whether to include a section in the third 
edition on selling boats.  I know how to do it, but it is not as 
foolproof as homes and cars.  Having watched this saga unfold, I have 
decided to omit the section on boats.  Thanks to all for publicly 
sharing your thoughts on this process, it has been very helpful.

Bill Effros




Robert Skinner wrote:
> Rob Lowe wrote:
>   
>> Well, I ended up being the high bidder on the boat
>> at $7K, but it was still below the reserve price.
>>  Guess I'll wait a day or two to see if the seller
>> contacts me at all.  Such an odd system, you figure
>> if he really wanted to sell it he would start the
>> bidding close to what he wanted out of it.  We'll see.
>>     
>
> Could it be that the seller was just collecting names?
>
> /Robert Skinner
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