Selling suggestions
- Thread starter wenwillow
- Start date
A listing at http://www.wcha.org/classifieds is usually the best way to find a good new home for a canoe like this. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/ad-instructions for a description of the process. Good luck with the sale,
Benson
Benson
Canoes are a niche item and wood/canvas canoes are a small niche within that niche. Therefore, you should take advantage of as many advertising venues as you can. The WCHA classifieds is an obvious place. In addition, there is Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, other FB canoe groups, and paddling discussion forums with classified ad sections such as Paddling.com and CanoeTripping.net.
MGC
Scrapmaker
Glenn is spot on. Wooden canoes are niche within niche. It's been my experience that FB tends to attract more serious buyers than WCHA classifieds. When I sold my 1906 Old Town Double Gunwale I did not receive a single contact through this site's classifieds. I was shocked. I had presumed that this would be the perfect place to put it in front of a knowledgeable audience. This was a very original canoe that required nothing and was offered at a very fair price.
Through my FB listing I received considerable interest and was able to sell it quickly.
I think a shortcoming of the classifieds is that new listings no longer generate a notice on the forum, as they once did. Unless you are specifically looking for a canoe in the classifieds here, new listings simply happen without notice.
I have much better luck with CL and have sold quite a few canoes there.
Wooden canoes in Paddling tend to move very slowly or not at all. That audience includes a small contingent of the same folks who are watching here, CL and FB.
It's important to consider, most folks are looking for a deal. Unless you have something rare or unique, it's hard to get top dollar. Crazy prices based upon replacement cost estimates do not fly. There are canoes that I have seen offered for sale for years without sale. Some of these are removed from CL (or whatever) for months or more and then reappear sometimes a year or more later. I recall a B grade Rushton advertised for sale in Buffalo that has shown up off and on for at least three years now. The seller simply doesn't understand the condition of the boat and the work it needs in order to approach his optimistic valuation.
Through my FB listing I received considerable interest and was able to sell it quickly.
I think a shortcoming of the classifieds is that new listings no longer generate a notice on the forum, as they once did. Unless you are specifically looking for a canoe in the classifieds here, new listings simply happen without notice.
I have much better luck with CL and have sold quite a few canoes there.
Wooden canoes in Paddling tend to move very slowly or not at all. That audience includes a small contingent of the same folks who are watching here, CL and FB.
It's important to consider, most folks are looking for a deal. Unless you have something rare or unique, it's hard to get top dollar. Crazy prices based upon replacement cost estimates do not fly. There are canoes that I have seen offered for sale for years without sale. Some of these are removed from CL (or whatever) for months or more and then reappear sometimes a year or more later. I recall a B grade Rushton advertised for sale in Buffalo that has shown up off and on for at least three years now. The seller simply doesn't understand the condition of the boat and the work it needs in order to approach his optimistic valuation.
John Sand
LOVES Wooden Canoes
Last year I sold a wooden dinghy. I listed it on Craigslist, WoodenBoat, and Small Boats Monthly. Craigslist got the only replies and the sale. I do think a boat like yours may interest a regional audience rather than a local one. List it everywhere you can, the cost of the ads is not much compared to even a bargain price. Good luck to you and the next owner.
