Re: Funny "TLC needed" boat ads on Craigslist.
Excellent thread. As a certified CL junkie, I hope no one minds if I use this thread to give some of my CL pet peeves.
1. Have a price. This "best offer" stuff is bogus. Tell me how much you want. This isn't ebay.
2. Pictures. And not pictures from 100 yards away with the cover on. I realize it can be a hassle to snap pics. But if you don't snap pics, all you'll get is 100 emails asking for pics. You want to sell your heap, take pics.
3. Don't put "no emails, calls only" in your ad. I can't get pictures in a call, if that's what I want. And I'm looking on CL specifically to avoid wasting tons of time on the phone. This is the 21st century. You posted on the internet. You want the convenience of having your ad on the net, you have to work by email. That's how it works. Welcome to 2009.
4. This is a big one. Don't bother with telling me how much you have "invested" in accessories. The word is "spent". Boat fenders aren't an investment. You bought them because you wanted them. You spent that money. It's gone. It may sweeten the deal, but it doesn't make your boat extra valuable to me.
5. I mentioned this in another thread. You can just stop telling me "The trailer alone is worth what I'm asking for the whole boat." No. It isn't. If I was shopping for a trailer, maybe it would be. But if I want a boat, your clunker isn't worth what you're asking just because it has a trailer. I'm supposed to buy your boat, take it off the trailer and junk it, then go shopping for a boat that needs a trailer?
6. Don't bother telling me how much the part will cost to fix your boat. I'm not a moron. If your nice boat could be running for $30 you'd have fixed it instead of letting it sit uncovered in a field for 10 years.
7. Post it once or twice, then think about changing your selling price. Quit putting the same non-running over priced heap in a new ad every week with the same too high price. You're only insulting peoples intelligence. You're 14' tri-hull tub isn't worth an extra grand because you painted it with the local football teams colors and put stickers on it.
8. Ok, last one. Learn to classify your boat. It isn't a "ski boat" just because you managed to pull your uncle out of the water on skis once in the 80's.
Sorry for the rant. I have a similar one for motorcycle ads. ;-)
