How we sold our Albin

[jack Stone]

This is just a tip on how we found a buyer for our 05 Flushdeck. We were the lowest priced 05 Flushdeck on the market for a long time. After having 2 brokers, many web sites and local boat sales books we had no luck finding a buyer. We are just outside Wilmington NC. This is a small town but with a lot of water and many boaters. We are on the ICWW with easy access to the open ocean. What we found was there are many down our way that either didn’t know Albin or appreciated the Albin 28 “look”. This is a land of Clorox bottle Searays.
There was a local dealer here but they didn’t sell that many prior to the collapse of the company a few years back.

We went on vacation last year to Maine for the coldest 2 weeks in July we have felt in years. We toured many of the coastal towns but when we got to Boothbay Harbor we found several 28th lined up at a local marina. (A side note here….whoever was the dealer up there must have had an option they sold, most of the 28’s had a Sampson post at the foot of the bowsprit…a really nice feature).
Each harbor had at least one 28. The light came on when we saw all of the Albins in Maine.

Our tip from what we leaned? If you’re trying to sell in an “Albin free zone” like ours, get the word out in a target rich environment. We posted an ad in the Maine Craig’s list for our boat in NC. Well we were found by the nicest couple from California via Maine for a boat in North Carolina. They came, the liked, they bought a great boat.

She ant the prettiest girl at the dance but she is beautiful to us.
So if your stuck somewhere in no Albin land try getting the word out from an area that has people that can appreciate this type of boat. You might find nice folks like we did.

Good luck

[jcollins]

Thanks for the tip Jack. I made this a "sticky" for other members.

[RicM]

This is very true, and a basic of good marketing. It is amazing that regional tastes vary so much but it's true. Having shipped my 28 TE to SE Florida for the winter (See "Southern Venture" thread), my boat is considered a complete oddity at the facility where I keep it. The standard there is a 26-32 center console with, at the least, twin 250 hp outboards, but more usually triples! This is a "dry storage" facility where my boat sits high and dry on a cradle for 3 weeks, then they launch it for me the day before I arrive. I live on it for a week in a slip, then they haul it with a giant forklift and put it back on the cradle after I leave. None of the workers want to move my boat, they have no idea how to control a single screw with bow thruster! And they don't want to learn. I have never seen another 28 TE on the water down there. The only thing close is a Duffy hull that a guy down there has tricked out as a Bahama's sportfisher.

[tbnolin]

You are so right on the style of boats down here. The boat of choice are center consoles for fishing, with outboards, which makes sense.
A whole different way of boating down in these parts!!
Thanks for the tip on advertising. Just listed with a broker this week...he seems confident that it will sell....but than...the all do!!

[joepeters]

i sold my 28 TE in NY to a man in Canada who saw my ad on BOATSFSBO amazing what the internet can do