Opinions of usedboatmagazine.com ??
 

They contacted me on the sale of my Baja H2X, said they visit all the east coast boat shows to approach potental buyers and direct them to the website. Buyers also recieve a listing by US mail. All this for $129 :confused:

Can you list the website? Just want to confirm who it is before I say anything...

I'd find out how many hits they receive as well as how many boats are currently listed. Of those listed how many are private vs. dealer. Also, are they performance oriented? Finally, try finding them through the various search engines. If you can't find them, neither will a buyer.

So many of these sites fail that it would be easy to watch your $129 go down the drain.

I used www.boattraderonline.com to sell my Donzi. My .02 is they have the best and most used site on the net.

Good Luck!

www.usedboatmagazine.com

Their claim to fame is traveling to boat shows to find potential customers. Their website has tons of boats, plenty go-fasts too. I agree that boattrader is the best online source but I'm just wondering if anyone was experienced with their service i.e. been approached by them at a boatshow, received a mailing, etc.

They contacted me also after seeing my ad in the BoatTrader magazine. I told them no and they continued to call every 4-5 days and pester me. I did sell the boat locally a few weeks later. After I told them it was gone, the phone calls stopped. I have been to several boat shows and never heard of them. My advice is to steer clear and save your $129.
Think about how many cases of beer you can buy for $129!!!!!!

The format is like ABL "American Boat Listing" which is nothing but a rip off.....they do advertise your boat.....but it was the sells pitch and bugging you every 4-5 days .....telling you that they were going to a boat show and had person looking for a boat like the one you have.......what a joke........I have had a boat with then for 2 1/2 years and not one response from their site

It looks alot like the ABL site, but the two don't appear to be linked. ABL is a company that is best avoided. They committed fraud when approaching me about selling my boat and got a sternly written letter from the state for their actions. You need to determine if the two are related before proceeding.

Looks more like the FWBOATS.com WEB SITE.
abl IS A JOKE, THEY DECEIVE YOU INTO GETTING AN ADD.
Sure its on a website, and at shows. But they lie and tell you we have buyers for your boat and list it with us, most boats last less than a month!!!
What a joke, there is past history on them on this board.
Get a broker

RUUUNNNNNN!!!!
 

If this is in ANY way related to American Boat Listing, RUN! The folks at ABL are nothing short of lying crooks.

Well they just called me again and left a message. Said he has interested parties on my boat. How can I make this guy put his money where his mouth is?? If he can set me up with a buyer, I'd gladly pay the $129 as finder fee but I'm sure this "buyer" will somehow disappear when I pay. I still think boattrader.com should get my business.

Ok, here's how I did it. They also told me that they had a buyer that was looking for my boat. I put the fees on my credit card and wrote on the contract that it was contingent on the potential buyer contacting me within 48 hours. When nobody called, I asked for my money back. They told me to take a flying leap and wouldn't return my calls so I contacted my state consumer protection agency. I provided the state with a copy of the contract and a statement of what they told me. ABL came back and tried to argue that I never wrote that contingency on the contract and that they never told me about a buyer. They also said that because they were not based in Wisconsin that they did not need to follow Wisconsin law. The state essentially said BS! They listed several statues that the company had violated and said that they were formally warned about their buisness practices.

If you want to try and rid the world of scum like ABL (and their kin), then please proceed with the contract. I put the charge on my credit card to help ensure that I could get my money back, but ABL promptly refunded it when told to do so by the state. I'd also gladly supply you with a copy of the letter from the state regarding their practices. It won't have much weight in your state, maybe less so because it's a sister company, but it would help establish a precident.

BTW-it's been almost a year since all this shook out and the ad is still up on their site. I get occasional calls about it, so yea it does work. :rolleyes:

Have you looked at www.Yachts-ByOwner.com yet. Works just like a broker except you show your own boat and there is only a 3% commission instead of 10%.

As much as I dislike ABL Boats---just going by the stories you guys tell---I actually found my boat on ABL...and it's still listed there...

2 sites are related
 

I don've never had to deal with ABL, but from the tone of this thread, they are not to be trusted. I did a little checking computer-style, and both usedboatmagazine and abl are owned by people from the same area of new york. Both servers that host these 2 sites are ownedby the same company. The 2 servers are probably in the same room. They use the same DNS servers. Translation with all computer geek speak removed. 99% sure both sites are run by the same people. If you had problems with ABL, expect the same from usedboatmag.......Be careful. :confused:

About the time that heat starts getting a bit too hot is the time you need to start up a new company. Good sleuthing!

I am currently using: usedboats.com for our listings. They have 86,400 boats listed as of yesterday. We used to use trader, but they got too pricey. Just an FYI.

Not for nothing.
How do you get info on any of those boats on usedboats.com.
Not had info???
Am I missin somethin?

A guy from usedboat magazine.com called me again. I told him the sales approach has a bad reputation and no one has heard of them at boat shows. I told him I'd I want to add a condition to the contract about the "buyers" interested in my boat but he wanted no part of it. His tone changed quite a bit, almost angry. Said he was NOT associated to ABL. That was it.

My boat is on boattrader.com