boattrader.com vs. boats.com

[Magicfloat]

We have used boattrader for years with good success to sell our boats. Boats.com keeps wanting me to add their site. It has always been my contention that trader is the leader,and a shopper would always go to trader first. Seems like a duplication of effort and I would be wasting money.Comments?

[DollaBill]

Depends on the model. Generally, under 50K does well on boat trader. I have had more success with boats 50K to over $1MM on Yachtworld.com. Been using both since 1999. Both are better than print. Print media is dead.

[Semper Fi]

Originally Posted by Magicfloat

We have used boattrader for years with good success to sell our boats. Boats.com keeps wanting me to add their site. It has always been my contention that trader is the leader,and a shopper would always go to trader first. Seems like a duplication of effort and I would be wasting money.Comments?

I see your point. However, you could be reaching more potential customers. I would try it and track which site the customers are calling from.

[Wobble]

I check them both when looking for something as well as iboats, hard to say if it is worth your dollars to advertise in both.

I would say that many of the listings I look at get dismissed for lack of pictures or detailed information about the boat.

I think that is the main issue, you can google a specific model boat and find many listings, the quality of the listings determine who gets the first call

[Tony Montana]

I say it depends on the boat. If you have a boat that there are not tons of them for sale go with only trader. If there are several of your boat out on the market put it on several sites. 9 times out of 10 a buyer will find your boat if that's what they are looking for. Just my .02

[berns29scarab]

i've used ebay on numerous occasions and may not have sold them during the auction BUT have always gotten a great response and sold a few after the fact...just my .02

[MOP]

I am a broker and started with Soundings now part of BT back in 1979, I keep good track of my advertising yield, print was the first to go though still alive in the very most upper market place. I tracked Boat Trader/Sounding "vs" Boats/com/Yacht World for over three years, I dropped Trader this summer it just could not compare. I have a pretty diverse group of boats and feel I cover the average Joe very well.

Phil

[hpoffshore]

We do Boattrader, Yachtworld, and are just getting set-up with boats.com...I think it has something to do with how the search engine being used by the shopper sees the website that you have your boat(s) advertised on. I would say that the more coverage increases the opportunity for "hits".
Hugh

[100-Plus]

boats.com is owned by Trader online. Take your pick. Either way your money is going to the same place. But both are pretty effective, from what people who've sold boats through both sites have told me.

[dockrocker]

I've never been to boats.com. Use trader and yachtworld almost every day when I'm supposed to be working