Important Advisories

Tips for selling your boat

Frequently Asked Questions and Helpful Answers

How do I get started using I Sold My Boat? Do I have to create a USER ID?

You DO NOT need to create a user id to view boat listings or place an ad on our site.

How do I create an ad for my boat online and list it immediately?

That's easy! Point your mouse on "Create/Edit an Ad" then click on "Place an Ad Online". If you are a new user, register with us by clicking "Register and create a login". Registration is FREE. There, all you'll do is create your own unique login name and password and contact information, like your email address, that will be used to display in your listing.

Once logged in, you can create an Ad for your boat. Go through the secure PAYPAL payment process - once your are done with the payment, Paypal will automatically route you back to our site, at which point your boat would be listed.

The digital image of my boat is more than 200 KB. How do I resize it to less than 200 KB to upload it to your site?

If you don't have an image editor, Click HERE to download 'IRFAN VIEW' - a popular FREE image viewer/editor. Install it and open the editor. Open the digital photo of your boat in the editor.

At the top of the editor, click on Image, then Resize/Resample. On the popup, make sure the Preserve aspect ratio check box is checked. You can choose various resizing options on this popup, and then click OK. The editor would now display the resized image - make sure that it looks good. Then click on File and then on Save as, on the popup, give a name for the resized image and then click Save. Make sure you know which directory you saved the new resized image to.

On your computer, go the directory where you saved the image and check whether the resized image's size is below 200 KB. If yes, then you can choose to upload this new resized image, else, follow the steps outlined above and resize the original image to a smaller size again, until your image's file size is below 200 KB

How do I place an Ad for my boat without creating a user id?

Simply click on "Create/Edit an Ad" then click on "Place an Ad via U.S Mail". This link is located at the bottom of the login screen. Once there, you can place an ad with us using our printable form you can download in Adobe PDF and mail it in via regular US Postal Service. We'll even scan a photo for you for free and post it to your ad online or you can send it to use digitally in an email after we're posted your ad online.

Is your site secure/ is my information safe?

For your online payments, we utilize Paypal payment services and they use 128 bit SSL encryption on their payment pages. You can use the offline ad creation process if you are still concerned.

I want to create an ad online but I don't have a Paypal account. What can I do?

You DON'T have to have a Paypal account to pay I Sold My Boat.com using a credit card on their service. Just proceed to pay following the instructions for making a payment without a Paypal account. It's easy!

Why does your name sound so familiar?

Even though I Sold My Boat .Com is one of the newest Classified Boat Shoppers, recently launched in late summer of 2004, we're quickly becoming known to lots of boaters and broker/dealers in Southern New England and Long Island Sound. Maybe our name sounds so familiar because the phrase "I Sold My Boat" is probably the happiest phrase a boat seller wants to say and happiest result of their advertising efforts as well! So give us a try!!

Why are your prices so low?

Because we are new, we are trying to show off our selling services by offering you an unbeatable opportunity to affordably advertise your vessel. We've created an affordable advertising vehicle for selling boats that works! And we want you to give I Sold My Boat .Com a try so we're offering a Feature Photo Ad listed Until It Sells for only $39.00 !!!

Can I find I Sold My Boat .Com on major search engines?

Yes! We advertise with Google and have reciprocal links to other boating resources. These links are growing fast! That means more exposure for your boat. We primarily target New England and the New York/New Jersey coastline but that does not mean your boat will not be seen everywhere else. Please look for us in the coming months at regional boat shows in the Northeast.

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Important Advisories

ATTENTION I Sold My Boat.Com Users:
Beware of "PHISHING" SCAMS from bogus emails claiming to be overseas brokers or buyers wanting American boats. These unethical people will send you a bogus check and ask you to send an over payment of money back to them. *The problem/scam is that because it takes so long for their bad check to be verified by your banks clearing house system (up to 4 weeks) that their bad check eventually bounces after you have already sent them your good check overpayment, leaving you burnt! Thus, when using the internet, use the utmost caution and good old common sense about responding to offers to buy your boat. Never conduct business with overseas buyers for your boat. There are thousands of potential buyers locally! Be skeptical of people wanting to buy your boat sight unseen. Why would anyone pay thousands of dollars to buy something without first coming to see it? THINK ABOUT IT! To protect yourself, practice online safety by never responding to requests for personal information online. Never send money to a potential "buyer" or ship your boat to unseen buyers for any reason.

*If you have received these types of emails: (1) End all communication with that email address immediately. (2)*REPORT ANY OFFERS/EMAILS Like the ones just described or ones you suspect to be phoney to the U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION at: spam@uce.gov

ATTENTION I Sold My Boat.Com Users:
The FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency, suggests these tips to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm

Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get spam that is phishing for information, forward it to spam@uce.gov. If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at http://www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft Web site at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft.

Visit http://www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.

ATTENTION I Sold My Boat.Com Users:
Important JPEG Vulnerability Patch for Windows Systems : On September 14, 2004, Microsoft released details and patches for a newly discovered vulnerability involving JPG files, widely used for photographs and online images. The exploit can be engineered from a malicious website or via email. The vulnerability revolves around a buffer overrun condition that occurs when processing deliberately malformed JPG files. A successful exploit would allow the attacker full control of the system.

Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS04-028.mspx for further details on how to protect your computer.

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Tips for Selling Your Boat

We've all heard the expression, "there are two times in life when a boater is happiest, when he buys a new boat and when he sells it!" There is some truth to that adage as we all know and that is because of the effort it takes to properly buy and then sell a boat.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when selling your boat that will also help potential buyers feel the joy of owning your boat!

First, thoroughly clean and detail your boat, inside and out. This initial step is a critical part of the sales process and tells the potential buyer that you have taken care of the boat. If you don't have the time to do it right, pay a professional detailer a few bucks to do all or just certain parts of the boat you can't do yourself.

Second, don't overprice! Take the time to research an appropriate price to list your boat for. Understand the local competition you have from other sellers of similar boats in the area. The best way to do this is to use Internet (because it is fast and free) to check prices on online boat advertisers that specialize in your area and then look at values on http://www.nadaguides.com or one similar.

Third, advertise properly. It takes either a lot of good luck OR a lot of exposure to potential buyers to sell your boat fast. Just hanging a sign on the back of your boat rarely works. To get the proper exposure, use an online listing service. For practical purposes, use an online classified listing service that is local and concentrates its target marketing on your state and region, like www.isoldmyboat.com based out of Rhode Island. It is a lot cheaper than using those classified papers because you can list your boat indefinitely, until it sells for one price.

Boat shoppers love photos and details. Take a nice clear photo of your boat and list it with descriptive details of all the great features and extras your boat has. The more descriptive you are in your ad the better chances you have of getting a buyer to call.

Lastly, be patient. Most boat sellers concur that it usually takes three to six months on average to successfully sell a boat after a listing. That doesn't mean you won't do it faster or it won't take longer either. Just keep that in mind in planning your boat selling campaign and don't rule out the use of brokers. The right broker will negotiate a fair commission and might even allow you to still sell it yourself if you can, without commission to him, just to get your listing. So, consider all your options and best of luck!

Happy safe boating!!

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