When used boat shopping - what brings you in?

[Dante2004]

Hopefully this is the right section. I'm not actually posting my boat for sale, I'm asking for suggestions for selling a boat.

When you search the dozens of online sites that list boats for sale, what about an ad will make it more appealing that another?

Pictures?
Video?
Detailed description?

Trying to sell a boat right now. We're going to clean it up this weekend and make it look real nice. Obviously that will help. Then take a bunch of pictures and post an ad.

Which sites do you suggest?

Do you think it would be worth it to shoot a video? I have a nice camera, so that isn't an issue. I've seen people that are selling cars/boats/etc and they shoot the video and then post it on youtube (or whatever) for people to see.

What would you like to see in a video if you were looking at an online ad?
I guess I don't see the point of taking a video of something that you can shoot with a still image. Video of the engine bay? What's the point. A picture will do the same thing. Video of the boat starting up right away? Video of the boat crusing across the lake? Trim tabs operating? I see how all that stuff would be beneficial...

By the way, it is a 29' cruiser...so I would want to show that all the gadgets work. Toilet, AC, stove, tv, etc.

The faster I sell the boat (and the more money I get) the faster I get into a wakeboat...

[jjaszkow]

I know that when I am shopping for things, I never watch the video. The only reason that I would be interested in a video is if I was unfamiliar with the particular (wake)boat and wanted to see what the wake looked like.

For me, enough pictures to give me a very good idea of the condition of the item, and a detailed description (features, high level overview of maintenance, any issues) are enough to tell me that I need to look at the item in person.

[Dredd]

If I were looking at cruisers I would definitely watch a video. A walk through with a little narration would be great.
The last few big ticket items I've sold, I posted a few pics in the ad then a link to more pics (don't overload the ad itself because some people might be viewing on something with low bandwidth like a smart device) and a link to a video. Sometimes moving video just helps put things in perspective better than stills and as you mentioned video also has the ability to prove that mechanical things work.
As for the text, I bullet the exceptional features out and try to convey that I'm knowledgeable about the item (shows that it's been well cared for) but don't go overboard either because then it seems like you're trying too hard.

[CarZin]

From someone who recently purchased, and looked at a ton of listings...

1) Really good photos. I do not think videos are necessary. But tons of high quality images of every part of the boat. Dont make me think you are hiding anything.

2) List your Hours on engine: You'd be amazed how many listings dont have the hours. If pissed me off.

3) List your price. It also pissed me off that so many boats required you to call the broker/dealer for the price.

4) Fully complete feature list. List every option on the boat. If people are new to the brand, and they dont know certain options are not standard, and you dont list it, they'll think it doesnt have it.

[Brit Rider]

Info on service, emphasis on it's regularity and pics of service receipts. That stuff is a huge deal to me.

[Wakeboarder3780]

Others have stated most of these but I'll post what was important to me.

Clearly listing boat hours and price is huge. If someone makes me call for either of them, I'm not bothering, on to the next post.

Pictures are good but unless the person goes apesh!t and takes 30+ you aren't going to see everything. I personally liked the video because the boat owner actually walked around the boat showing the cosmetic blemishes. Then walked around the inside showing any minor flaws in the vinyl etc. Then showed it firing up right away, etc.

I bought my boat half way across the country. I had a 12 hour drive one way to pick it up. The video is the one thing that made me feel it was worth it. Another nice thing about video is it gives you a much better idea of perspective. He showed me some pics of these holes in the vinyl and they looked huge because his camera took such a detailed shot. Then I saw it on the video and immediately stopped caring.

I do a combination of pictures and video to cover your bases. The first 2 things I listed are the 2 main things stopping sales these days. The 3rd biggest thing is ridiculous prices. The internet is out there. People shop around. People aren't going to buy your boat if you're trying to take people for a ride on the price.