I've had good luck selling kayaks over eBay, believe it or not. I don't ship them. One of them I delivered to a fellow who lives within a few hours' drive of me, and another one I sold to a fellow who drove to my place from a city several hours away. A little OT - I insist that the buyers paddle the kayak first. I talk to them about the joys of kayaking and also about some of the problems which can occur. I have them sign a statement that they understand that kayking can be dangerous, that instruction is (IMO) necessary, safety equipment, yadayadayada.... This will appear to be embarrassing CYA stuff to some, uselessly incomplete information to others - but at least it salves my conscience knowing that I've talked to the buyer and that he really does understand both the joys and the potential problems of sea kayaking. Bill Hansen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Ebay boat sales appear to favor more densely populated areas closer to 'big water'. Living in landlocked Iowa, making a 6 or 10 hour round trip to p/u a boat purchased sight unseen would be something of a gamble. Sea kayaks are still a novelty here, and so when one comes up for sale it usually attracts the notice of those who paddle. A recent Ebay sale featured a boat from the town next to me. A nice, well-known boat by a popular brand. The minimum bid was 500-900 below what most shops would charge for this boat Used in very good to mint condition. So we took the 10 minute drive to look it over. The hull needed some attention...dime-to-nickel sized chips of missing gel coat revealing glass layers (tho no scuffing or damage to glass), and a fairly large hull area beneath the seat where the flatter, shallow vee sections had been rubbed through the sealer and heavily scuffed the gel coat. We knew that the repairs would likely run in an amount that would bring the final cost of the boat more in line with buying a used one in a more 'untouched' condition. It was, by my estimation, a fair sale by an honest and very agreeable seller (from whom I bought a nice array of slightly used accessories at an attractive and fair price). My point here is that we drove ten minutes to figure out the boat wasn't for us. The eventual buyer was facing an 8 hour round trip. The seller had made every effort to disclose and describe the condition of the boat, and I'd like to think that most in our community would be as scrupulous as this seller. Still. The prospect of making a long drive for a specific used boat (versus an array of them in a shop), leads me to wonder if buying a used boat on Ebay is best left to those with repair skills or access to good repair shops. -w *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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