Aquire more boats or Retire what you have?

[Kevin_R_Clark]

Haven`t read this whole thread yet, got to the part about you guys hating to sell your boats. Look at it this way, you do the hobbie in general a big favor when you do sell them. My thinking is if you could get people just starting out hooked up with your PROVEN boats there would be a whole lot more people in this Hobby. It has been my experience that if one of us newbies takes the time to seek you out you are more than willing to help! So why not go one step farther and sell them a boat that you are familliar with. The two biggest obsacales for the newbie is a reliable fast boat and the connections for parts and help. So if it is sitting on the shelf collecting dust and you haven`t run it for a couple of years sell it. You guys know that for the most part you never get anything close to what it is worth, that is just the way it is.

Anyhow I maintain a fleet of about 10 boats, continually upgrading as I learn more.

 

[Don Ferrette]

Good point Kevin. My first boat was used. A very fast Aeromarine Sprintcat with a CMB90, helluva beginner boat!

 

[Scott Schneider]

As one who has built and kept and built as sold over 30 boats in the last 10 years the biggest trouble in getting them sold to ANYONE is the simple question of, Is It a Competitive boat? and can I get parts or support for it?

Most times the anwser to both is an honest NO. Racing caliber hulls get outdated real fast as the engines get more powerfull. So we have the hull as slower than the current ones out and an engine that makes less power or is no longer built with no parts support.

Which leaves us with the only real buyers to be newbees that are already in sticker shock as to the cost of this hobby. If they cannot get it real cheap they wont buy it either.

<_< So we keep what we have and don't sell them because they are Great boats that run well ! and most guys with many boats are not willing to take it in the shorts for the $$$$ they lose in selling them. :blink: A very difficult issue to have others finance those wishing to get started and if buying racing hulls to race get ones that won't keep up anyways. :angry: Granted a lot of current hulls get sold within a year or so of being built, and those guys get good $$ for them. But the collectors of 5 year old or more boats this is pretty much what I have found. Scott

 

[Kevin_R_Clark]

Scott,

I understand how you feel. Reality is that R/C is the cheapeast entry level of any kind of racing I can think of. And $400 to $500 is what most people will spend to get started. Now after the new person spends this amount and gets off the beach and goes fast enough to get an adrenalin rush their usually hooked. The sky is the limit after that. It doesn`t matter how outdated the equipment is, they don`t know the difference anyhow. Buy support I mean just what it takes to get them off the beach and around the course 6 times at a decent speed. All I am saying is what you have alluded to, after it is a couple of years old then it is really not worth more than a few hundred. Anyhow I started in 99 with a $350 Youngblood OPS 7.5 Mono off ebay, now I hate to add it up but I am sure I have around 5 to 10 grand invested and climbing faster than ever. I have just seen to many people come and go cause they couldn`t get off the beach and around the course.

 

[Mike G]

I think the biggest mistake we make is thinking we have to sell our old race boats to racers or experienced boaters, the "Play Boater" market is 10 X the size of the "Race" market, that is where the $$ are for our old stuff. I am as guilty as the next guy, I hate to think the old girls get retired. :huh: