Guys i am now really in need, i need to sell th boat quicly i have reduced the pric but still have had no proper enquires, any advice?

Hi Russ.... suggest you put some photo's of the boat with your ad...... she is a very nice looking boat which I nearly bought just before you did.... there are some action shots already on this web site of the previous owner sailing her at upper thames or cookham which you could link to.... best of luck

Yes I agree with you Steve. I put my boat up for sale about 6 months ago with some good pictures and she sold in a matter of days.

Pic added. If you have a better one, send it in!

Here is another one

 R Home / Main Gallery Page / open_meetings / upper_thames / 2005 / bourneendweek2005_pic2.jpg

Cheers. Didnt know what that boat was before!

Cheers Mags wasnt sure how to ad pictures!  it is such a shame that she has to go.  But baby is apparantly more important then boat (according to better half)

Russ,

Dont worry matey, I had to sell my beloved Terrabyte 3478, the 'Thumb' put the pressure on! Now stuck with an OK!!!

Family comes first. You can always get another boat in a few years time!

Stuck? The OK is agreat substitute for the Merlin. It is what i sail when i have no crew. Admitedly that is the only time i sail it but its a good classic racing dinghy.

Russ, just remember in 6-7 years time you have a grass roots light weight crew!!

Not much in it.  Waiting time for new baby: 9 months.  Waiting time for new boat: 7 months

When you have kids, you're still allowed to have a boat in the garage to look at in the evenings...

It also provides the perfect reason for not having any more!!  Kids that is!!

At least you can still sail your Albacore. Cant believe that you let your brother convince you that was the way to go.

In 8 years time your light weight crew will probably want his own Optimist and you will spend weekend sorting his/her boat out or ferrying them about to junior meetings.

Can you imagine the alternative though? A child that doesn't want to sail - makes me shudder just to think of it.

All, as russ's brother I feel the need to let you know that I had no influence in him buying an Albacore. Maybe he feels that he might be able to get within a lap of me if he buys one (brotherly love isnt it great)

Your advert is now much better for a picture. Having browsed through the for sale section there's some hopeless adverts. Many have broken links to the design guide because they can't spell (tails for Tales etc) or use the standard design name and there's a ROTS modified with exactly 4 words of description and no photo - b** all use to a potential buyer, especially if they have to travel far. I'm considering updating to a 34xx plus hull in a design suitable for heavyweights (26-28 stone) but am not ready to do so yet.

PJ raises a couple of really important points.

Mags' superb efforts over the last 12 months have transformed most of this site.  There remain, IMHO, two weak areas.  First, a lot of the adverts of boats for sale are probably no use.  Out of date, too little information, no genuine effort to market what may well be really good boats.  This is particularly bad news for us as a quick trawl on Google ('Merlin Rocket for sale') shows a large number of references to that site, and it cannot be good that this is the point of entry for newcomers. As a first step, why can't we have a system whereby an ad automatcally lapses after 6 months?

Second, the big task of upgrading the Design Guide has got to be completed, ideally with an index to designs at the front so that HBR, ROTS or Canterberry Tails can still be found.

I know nothing about web design or the MR designs generally except what appears on this site.  However, if there is anything I can do, will someone please tell me.

Bill,

You are absolutely right. In this day and age of digital photography, internet access etc, unless you have neither, there really is no excuse not to post a good picture(s) if you intend to advertise your boat. Very simple email it to Mags the webmaster, fairly low res.

I have bought at least 3 boats now just through viewing a good picture and speaking on the phone to the owner. I personally do not want to travel several hundred miles only to be dissapointed. This is the age of archair shopping for god sake!!

In terms of boats listed for sale. Again I agree 6 months max. There are boats on the list that have sat there for a good 18 months 2years if not more, and I bet still being used fairly regularly, although this is not reflected in the price considering the depreciation in condition.

The Design Guide does need updating. I would offer my services although I would not know where to start. Davo did a sterling job several years back 2002/03 but designs like EZRoller and Winder Tales MK1,2 & 3 need to be included.

For those that dont know HBR = Heap Big Rudder, don't ask me why and ROTS = Riders on The Storm (3382). I think one off's but I stand very much to be corrected.

Plus.......HBR 3408 which is on the For Sale list (Rising tsar) was once owned and very successfully sailed by Chairman GGGGGG and the late and great Nick Yeoman. 

A very nice boat for anyone considering buying.

Design guide update is well underway. I just need data on the EZ Roller to complete.

As for secondhand boats i try and contact everyone on the list every six months so all boats are at least checked twice a year.

Great news on the design guide - go for it.  

On the For Sale - you shouldn't have to do the chasing.  If a boat hasn't sold in six months, there is a message for the would-be seller.  Let the ad lapse and they can come back with an updated one with a better price, description or deal.

Regarding the comments on the secondhand list....I appreciate what you say, and am happy to make changes if need be, though dont you think it is the sellers responsibility to write a decent description, not me/chris?

Talking of boats and babies, I have obviously married a gem, 1st born due in 8 weeks and I'm being encouraged to get on the water. What's the youngest crew age allowed?

My little girl is a budding sailor she loves being down the sailing club watching the boats, having said that she does also like eating mushed up vegtables so i dont know what to think.  But give i another 16 years when she wants her first car i will make her feel very very guilty that i had to sell my boat.

If she is eating mushed up vegetables she is obviously well on her way to being a Merlin Rocketeer who seem to take have their dietary intake as a liquid.  She is obviously working her way towards complete liquidisation so don't give up hope.  (Keep her away from ponies though).

Can't imagine a typical 16 year old being particularly fussed about that

Mags, I totally agree that it is up to the seller to write a decent ad and produce a photo.  You and Chris already do more than enough.

My point was that a list which contains out-of-date or poor ads does us no favours if someone is looking for a boat.  A simple six month limit would help by making unsuccessful sellers revisit their earlier effort.

Sorry, I also meant to say thankyou for the earlier compliment too!

Some sort of limit may be the way to go, but I will let Chris decide on the process he wants to use for chasing people up. He does already make an effort to contact these people regularly.

I am pretty sure that 2687 was sold on ebay earlier this year but it is still on the site.  The guy's number is there so it could be easily checked but it really should be the seller's responsibility to remove it or inform Chris.

Bill,

We don't really have any say in the what someone puts in their advert. That has to be their responsibility as the seller to provide an accurate description of the goods for sale. I have had complaints about one or two boats that were "creatively" described, but really don't think there is anything i can do. The buyer must beware, and this is of course where up to date photos are a help.

Of the 50 boats for sale i am confident that nearly all of them are still for sale - if you contact an owner and find a boat is sold please, please let me know and i'll take it off. It doesn't matter who tells me as long as the boat is definatly sold. The last email round was in April (I think).

My stance on the six month rule is that it would be fine for post 3200 boats and probably pre 2000 boats as good examples of these seem to find homes reasonably quickly. Boats in between can take a long time to sell - even well priced ones - because there are less people around these days who want a boat of that vintage. This is certainly not to say that they are no good, but they appeal to a smaller section of the market than the modern or vintage segments the latter of which are in demand for river sailing.

The you have the travel factor. If you're looking for a great example of a vintage boat or a nearly new Winder and one appears you will probably be inclined to travel to buy it. If you're looking to spend £300 on an old Phantom Kipper to yott around on handicap at a club like Redditch you are not going to be inclined to travel more than about 100 miles for your steed because the petrol and time & effort spent will probably cost nearly as much as the boat!

Taking boats off after 6 months may end up making more work than it solves.

On that basis i prefer to do the email round becasue quite often there is nothing wrong with the adverts, the boats, or the price. It's just a shortage of buyers in the area combined with plenty more to choose from that don't ever reach the second hand list.

None of this is cast in stone of course, but that's just my take on what we do and why i think it works!

Ebay is a pain!

I see boats on there, but i'm never sure when they "sell" that they are collected - i've taken a couple off and then had to relist them due to a non-paying bidder.

My advice is that ebay is best avoided for boat sales, bidders seem more common than buyers.

He He with the comments of kiddies and boats, it's all so true. Tosh lovingly looks at the merlin in the garage most evenings, spends most Saturdays helping with Joe in his new Oppy at Byfield SC and therefore made to feel guilty is he so much as dares to mention sailing on Sunday with the 'when do i get some time off' look form my good self.  So he says, welllll, i'll sell the merlin then and I say, nooooooo you wouldn't be the same without a boat..... and so it goes on!  The upside is, Joe is starting to be a budding sailor and according to Tosh a pretty good crew, excitement all round at a lightweight and readily available crew............who unfortunately doesn't like beer, though i'm sure there are plenty of willing helpers in that department. Maybe we'll wait until he's at least 8 though!

Good luck with your baby

Mrs Tosh, you seem to be the only non-sailing wife on this forum. Can you give us husbands any tips on how to achieve the utopian goal of both going sailing and keeping the wives happy?

I'm pretty sure that hiring babysitters is no good...but what about throwing money at the problem in a different way? New pair of shoes per open meeting?

Lol, that should be cheap for some......

Paul McCartney - two weekends per pair?

This has certainly generated some comment! I do agree with the 6 month rule so that ads are regularly reviewed by the seller. Adtrader gives you far less time than that but you have a review and re-list option. 
There are so many boats up for sale that often the decision is "which one to go and see" and a good picture and description will often be the pull between two similar boats, even if both are at a distance. 
The design guide update would be really useful. I'm re-working the CVRDA website (www.cvrda.org) and want to include links to it and some other pages from there, which will hopefully bring a few more new visitors in.

As for the wife business - divorce the philandering partner, join a sailing club and find a new one to helm/crew with! Worked for me :-)