Time to sell my Mac...looking for tips/advice

[c130king]

Fellow Mac Enthusiasts,

After 6 years of enjoying my Mac, König, I have decided to try and sell.

As several of you are already aware I have recently retired from the USAF and I bought a bigger boat and a sailing charter/school business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I really enjoy sailing on König and I have the new (2011) dual-axle aluminum trailer, new (2012) spinnaker and new (2011) tow beast and my plan was to keep it for road trips to all the Mac Get-Togethers that I really enjoy participating in. But after many days/nights of contemplation I have to be realistic and admit that all of those Get-Togethers are proabably going to be right in the middle of my busy charter/school season and thus I probably wouldn't be able to drag myself away.

So I am going to sell. And the point of this post is for some tips on how to do this. I have bought an ad in the classified section of this website. And I have it listed on Craigs List for Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi. Anyone have thoughts on other venues? I am not interested in going through a broker at this point.

I always appreciate the thoughts/tips/advice I get from the great folks on this forum.

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König
Sailing on König YouTube Channel

[seahouse]

Hey Jim!

Hmmm. Mississippi Gulf Coast eh? Sounds warm. Maybe future Mac get-togethers will have to come to you then?

Good luck in the future endeavors - Brian.

[Judy B]

Hey Jim,

Good luck with the charter business.

What other forums do you frequent....It'd be nice to stay in touch, friend.

Fair winds and following seas,
Judy B

[kmclemore]

Crikey, you all are acting like Jim is going to leave the forum, never to be seen again!

He's only selling his boat... there's no reason for him to vanish.

[parrothead]

Hi Jim,

Sailingtexas has a Mac-specific section of their classifieds, but it didn't do us any good this spring (perhaps because we're so far from Texas?) -- we also listed here on the MacGregor Sailors site,but got the most traffic, and actually sold Blue Heaven due to a "featured" ad on sailboatlistings dot com.

Best wishes,
Doug

[Seapup]

As several of you are already aware I have recently retired from the USAF and I bought a bigger boat and a sailing charter/school business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Just curious, could you share some details of your new business, sounds interesting.

[c130king]

Since you asked...

My new business:

http://www.northstarsailingcharters.com

http://www.facebook.com/northstarsailingcharters (would appreciate any and all "Likes"... ) ... okay, that was blatant begging...

The move to Mississippi from the Pentagon was initially "unplanned" and after we bought my mother-in-laws house I started the job search...but suitable jobs in Mississippi were scarce. So back in April while I was visiting Mississippi and stressing about the upcoming retirement with no job my wife just sort of threw on the table -- "Why don't you open up a sailing school as that is what you would really love to do?".

Did some quick googling, found this business, the guy wanted to sell and within 3 weeks I owned North Star Sailing Charters. But I still had 5 months left on my sentence at the Federal Pen known as the Pentagon so the business was mothballed and for several months. Retired on 31 August, got to MS on 2 Sept, did the ASA Instructor Course the last week of Sept and then the 2 week CG Captain's Course the first 2 weeks of Oct. Business re-opened on 19 Oct.

So far things are going well...better than I expected. And based on the response so far I am very optimistic that things will get really busy once Spring/Summer comes around. Thus I don't think I will make the Mac road trips that I originally thought I might (and really did want to do). So I will sell. Based on what I do I do not think the Mac is suitable or appropriate to use in the business...not worth the expense.

If anyone is down in the Gulf Coast area and wants to go sailing give me a call...I am sure I can come up with a "Macgregor Discount"...

Cheers,
Jim

[c130king]

Hi Jim,

Sailingtexas has a Mac-specific section of their classifieds, but it didn't do us any good this spring (perhaps because we're so far from Texas?) -- we also listed here on the MacGregor Sailors site,but got the most traffic, and actually sold Blue Heaven due to a "featured" ad on sailboatlistings dot com.

Best wishes,
Doug

Doug,

Thanks. I added my ad to that site.

Cheers,
Jim

[Hamin' X]

Keep the Mac, add it to the fleet, write it off and open a Macgregor dealership.

~Rich

[MadMacX]

Jim, Sorry to hear that you are selling your Mac,now that I'm Macless I'm looking again, when I sold my I listed on boattrader.com in a free ad, graiglist, and a couple of other places. By far I got the best response was from boattrader. It was finally sold to someone that saw it on boattrader. btw, I originally purchased the boat from an ad on boattrader.com.My advice, take lots of pictures and have them ready to email to prospective buyers. Also be ready to negotiate. every baot site out there says don't pay the sellers price because it's a buyers market, so price accordingly. Just so you know, there are plenty of bsers out there that are willing to waste your time and talk your ear off, but never show up to view the boat, also, be ready for the Mac bashers. I had one guy ask me to tow the boat to his house in Minnesota so he and his mechanic could check it out, needless to say I took a rain check on his offer. throw some extras in if need be, most folks don't have the necessary safety equipment on hand to outfit their boat. I even took the buyer out on the boat for his first cruise after he purchased the boat, when the guy showed up to pickup the boat he forgot the drawbar for his hitch so I ended up giving him mine., there are plenty of people that want a sailbot, but they don't know how to sail or what is required for maintenance or upkeep. Selling is a very frustrating experience, but stick with it and it will sell. good luck,
pat

[Sea Wind]

how about ASA101 taught on the Mac for the buyer?

[c130king]

Jim, Sorry to hear that you are selling your Mac,now that I'm Macless I'm looking again, when I sold my I listed on boattrader.com in a free ad, graiglist, and a couple of other places. By far I got the best response was from boattrader. It was finally sold to someone that saw it on boattrader. btw, I originally purchased the boat from an ad on boattrader.com.My advice, take lots of pictures and have them ready to email to prospective buyers. Also be ready to negotiate. every baot site out there says don't pay the sellers price because it's a buyers market, so price accordingly. Just so you know, there are plenty of bsers out there that are willing to waste your time and talk your ear off, but never show up to view the boat, also, be ready for the Mac bashers. I had one guy ask me to tow the boat to his house in Minnesota so he and his mechanic could check it out, needless to say I took a rain check on his offer. throw some extras in if need be, most folks don't have the necessary safety equipment on hand to outfit their boat. I even took the buyer out on the boat for his first cruise after he purchased the boat, when the guy showed up to pickup the boat he forgot the drawbar for his hitch so I ended up giving him mine., there are plenty of people that want a sailbot, but they don't know how to sail or what is required for maintenance or upkeep. Selling is a very frustrating experience, but stick with it and it will sell. good luck,
pat

I looked at Boattrader.com but they want $49 for 2 weeks. Seems a little steep to me. I have a craigs list and sailboatlisting ad along with this site. Maybe this spring if I haven't sold it yet I might start investing more money in the advertising. Definitely not critical yet. Won't bother me too bad if I don't sell...but I will still try.

And I guess you haven't read too many of my posts or visited my website...I have 347,813 pictures of Konig...no worries there...

Thanks,
Jim

[c130king]

how about ASA101 taught on the Mac for the buyer?

Hey Pedro,

Definitely do-able if it is a local that buys it.

Cheers,
Jim

[taime1]

I've bought and sold a number of things on the used market, including homes, cars, musical instruments, tools and whatever else. The key is that your item must be clean and uncluttered. A little bit of staging can help sell a boat just as much as a house. Make sure that the boat and motor are shiny and that nothing "extra" is on the boat, so that it looks as big as possible. Make it smell nice too, Febreeze or scented products really go a long way. You want to make it as attractive as possible for the greatest demographic possible. So whether it's a family, old salt, young or old couple, young punk, or just fell from outerspace newbie sailor, this boat is the boat that can suit their needs. And really, it probably can.

Make a good ad with enough detail and the best pictures you have that show both the boat, and the sailing dream. Buyers will want to know what you are selling and why you are selling it. You may get a few low-ballers, don't mind them, they're just looking out for a ridiculously good deal. I've been one of those too, and it can be an effective tactic.

I sold my 26s this summer (to buy the ), by advertizing in the local used stuff website and when the first people came to visit, took them out and showed them everything both good and bad. Cold beverages also helped the sales pitch and we negociated a price we were both comfortable with when we returned to dock. I included delivery in the deal, about a 2-hour trip, so I took my dad with me and had a good father-son roadtrip. I was pretty lucky to sell in about 3 weeks.

It's always easier to buy than to sell. But it's easier to sell (and negociate) when you're not under the gun to do so.

[RussMT]

Um....doesn't THIS website have a classified section?