Where do most people go to sell a used aluminum boat these days?

Stevum said:

I personally have had great luck on-line by listing boats I have refurbished on both FBMP & CL simultaneously. The one thing I've seen a lot of rookies do is not having a detailed description of the basic boat & trailer + all the accessories that you will include in the deal. If you do not have a clear title for the boat or trailer include that right at the get go. Nothing is worse than spotting a great deal & then being given the run around about how the title was lost, misplaced or his 2nd cousins wife let it go without transferring it etc. Here in SD you must have a title for each to register them for plates (trailer) & yearly sticker (boat). The other thing that greatly improves your selling odds is PHOTOS. You can not have too many pictures to present to a prospective buyers. All angles, transom, interior, motor both with & without cowling etc. Remember you are virtually kicking the tires for them on-line. Another way to improve your sale is Clean The Damn Boat Out! No one wants to see a boat for sale that has old tires, grills, garbage bags & such piled up to the gunwales. I have seen boats listed that look like they were just pulled out of a slough & some dough head wants a fortune for it. Boats in this condition just scream extreme neglect & a "Don't give a S#@t attitude. As far as the boat registration #s go there are numerous Ebay vendors that do a great job on custom decals made specifically for your boat's registration #s. Choice of colors, fonts & more. I have used these various guys over a dozen times & you can get a full set (both sides) in a heavy vinyl decal 3.5" tall for less than $6 with free shipping. I hope this helps.

PS. As mentioned in other posts, keep your guard up when dealing with strangers. I like to meet @ a Walmart, Menards, Lowes or any big box stores with security surveillance. Never invite them into your home & trust your gut. Always have a 2nd adult present with you to let them know you're there for the sale & no other BS.

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How many photos do you need of a row boat? Show the inside, both sides and maybe the transom.
Trailers from NJ are an issue because everyone wants paperwork, but 90% of those who own trailers or boats generally just gets a tag for a home made trailer and uses it on all their trailers. Trailers never have papers. To sell one with papers it takes going and getting a notarized bill of sale at the notary or local bank. This means you can't just sign over the thing and let the buyer go. on his way like you can with the boat. If its got PA papers and reg its a lot easier, you just sign the trailer title and the old registration card and its theirs.

Right now a new 14ft open boat, no trailer, no motor, just the bare three bench seat aluminum hull, is $3,499 plus tax. Add another $1,900 for a trailer if you want to go through all the hassle of registering a new trailer and lowing the Certificate of Origin in lieu of an annual registration card. I prefer to keep the CO and call it homemade.

Take that same new boat, two years later and try and get more than $500 for it and it won't happen on CL or FB here. The dealer will sell it for $3k, to someone who is willing to make payments. The cash sale limit here seems to be about $100 lately. The same for motors.

I've gotten a ton of deals over the past year on newer motors, I just picked up a 2006 50hp Mercury that looks almost brand new, it was on CL all summer for $800 with no takers. Two weeks ago the seller dropped the price to $400, and it still sat. I shot off an offer of $200, and he took it. I had to remove the motor from the boat. When I got there he had already hung a free sign on the boat.

A 16ft Starcraft Super Sport with a few soft spots in the floor and some rotten transom wood. He wanted $100 for the trailer which was pretty much worthless being a 50 year old painted Tee Nee trailer with about double the needed capacity for that boat. I left out of there with the boat, motor and trailer for $250.

I sold the trailer minus the boat and motor last week for $400 to some guy with a trihull as it sat with no papers. Like most old trailers, there were no numbers and the only sign of it matching the old registration was the painted over TeeNee logo on the fenders. The boat and motor are now on a small roller trailer until I decide whether or not I'm fixing up that boat or swapping the motor over to my current boat. That 50 4s will be a lot more responsive on my open Mirrocraft than on that heavy Starcraft SS

The Starcraft would be better off with a three cylinder 70hp OMC 2S .
It will need a new transom panel and some floors but that's no big deal. I just don't need another boat, but the reality is I doubt the hull minus the motor will bring enough these days to bother with. Its probably worth more in scrap than on CL as a boat.