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Advice on selling Raft and Gear

11K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  burros 
#1 ·
Hello raft experts!

I was wondering if you might be able to help me out. On the recommendation from a friend, before a Grand Canyon trip, I had purchased an 18’ Campways Havasu bucket boat raft, with frame and some gear. My friend thought I could either use it for my upcoming Grand Canyon trip or he felt that I wouldn’t have a problem re-selling it as it was a single owner boat in good condition. (I didn’t end up using the raft on our trip, as we were going for 30 days and a river guide friend of a friend thought that the frame/space wasn’t as efficient as it needed to be for that long of a trip.)

So, now that the 2015 rafting season is starting, I’m hoping to sell it. There is a raft, frame, and a lot of accessories (bow and stern boards, 4 pin and clip 10' oars w removable blades, 2 drybags, 2 drybag backpacks, 2 bilge pumps, electrical inflation pump, manual foot pump, 9 life jackets, bow and stern lines, bucket with ropes, 2 rocket boxes, patch kit, 3 ammo cans, lantern, etc.) Picture of the raft and frame is attached. The raft is located in Boulder, CO.

Several questions for you, if you have time and wouldn't mind sharing your thoughts:


- Do you know what material the Campways Havasu raft is made of? (I think it’s 1973) Or is there a way I can find that out?

- Do you know around what the bucket boat and accessories would be worth? (Or do you know folks that might be interested in an older bucket boat in good shape?)


- Do you have any recommendations about the best place(s) to post it, to reach an appropriate rafting audience? (I'm already planning on the classifieds section here, but was wondering if there were also other places recommended...)



Thanks for any info and assistance!
 

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#2 ·
Unfortunately the market for 40 year old 18' bucket boat is a small one. I paid well under 2k$ for my 18' maravia self bailer with aluminum welded frame. I do believe yours is a hypalon boat, thats a plus since hypalon seems to last.
NRS gear swap is a good place to post as well as craigslist under boats tagged "raft".
 
#4 ·
Thanks Spider. Wow, sounds like you got a great deal on your boat! Most raft ads I've seen (mostly from Craigslist) have been around 2k for just the rubber. Most newer self-bailers seem to be in the 5k range (from some limited research.) I remember when I originally was thinking of buying the boat, I saw an 18' rubber only for $2k, and recently saw a 17' rubber only for $1900. Here's a current Havasu example for $2200: Campways- Havasu 2 ton rated , 17'6" long X 7'6" wide raft - Sporting Goods - Bicycles - Since For

I know the boat is older (which makes it hard for me to find comparable boats), and I don't have the experience to know how much that matters; so difficult for me to determine a fair price. (I don't mind if I over paid, just looking to see if folks had an opinion on what would be a fair price to sell it for.)

I know when I did my original research, prior to purchasing the raft, I saw that some people commented that they really liked the Havasu (which is one of the reasons I initially bought it.) In fact, someone right here MountainBuzz said " Some of us old-timers think the Campways Havasu is about the best handling boat ever built. " ( http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f44/price-my-raft-51431.html )

I know it will be a small market for it, but I'm sure it will be a good boat for the right person with the right circumstances; especially with all the gear that comes with it. I think it would be a good low-cost entry option. Just need to find that person. ;)

Thanks again for your time and thoughts.

K2 - sorry, going to try to sell the whole package. Will keep you in mind if that doesn't pan out.
 
#5 ·
kinda hard to say without seeing it in person. I guess I would start by asking $1000 obo and then expect to come down a bit. Like it was stated before, there isn't a big demand for old bucket boats, especially 18 footers, but I am constantly amazed at what people ask for their used rafts. If you want to stick with the trend, you should ask $4,000 and mark it up piecemeal for all the gear. Then re list it on craigslist every week for the next five years.

There really is no better place to advertize it than here, but you could also try Craigslist and ksl.com
 
#7 ·
Ok, I'll offer one more bit of advice here: Get some better pictures! People won't look twice at an older boat like that if it looks soggy and faded in the pics. Blow it up tight, so that all those wrinkles are gone. Maybie clean it and wipe it with 303. Put the oars on it and also take pics of all the gear your including spread out on your driveway. You want that raft to look like a nice tight boat that is ready to go on the water. Otherwise most people will never take a second look.

One trick that I see alot is that people will spray their boat down with a hose to make it look shiny and colorful right before they take their pics. Personally, I think this is shady, and I would ask for a picture of the raft completely dry before I drove any distance to look at it if it seemed wet in the pictures.

Good luck, somebody out there wants that ol' pig.
 
#11 ·
A few more suggestions in addition to what's already been said:

*Include pictures of just the raft (three to six pics, including bottom)
*Be prepared to sell the raft and gear separately, piece by piece. The raft alone will likely be the quickest sell. The frame/floor setup screams HEAVY and bulky and further narrow the audience. List prices of individual and groups of gear, as well as a cheaper price for the entire package.
*List it on Craigslist in Idaho (Boise), Utah (Salt Lake), Southern Utah/Arizona, Western Slope (Colorado). The raft was made for big water rivers, part of the reason the buyer audience is so small.
*List it on KSL.com in their classified section. That gets 100x the traffic/ads of Craigslist or the greater Utah area.
*Compare your raft and gear to others on MountainBuzz, Craigslist, and KSL. Look at the $2K Riken bucket boat that was posted today on MountainBuzz - much newer, nicer, and smaller than your raft, in cherry condition - and should go for close to asking price. Big difference between that one and yours when comparing pics to pics.
 
#17 ·
antique campway Havasu

I would make sure you wash the boat down with some soapy water after pumping it up real tight to give it a good leak test for the rubber and the valves. I used to guide many campways in the 70's on the rio grande amd we always had pin hole problems with the hypalon from those days. That said, the Havasu was the boat is a great Big water/grand Canyon boat and was very popular all thru the 80's. If the rubber and valves are good and the seams are not delaminating, good sign someone stored the boat well. The value of the boat is 100% dependent on the condition, but with the age, just the boat in great condition, maybe $5-600 max I am guessing. Be a great lake fishing boat with a troller motor.

The frame has no value and would never hold up to the big water you might use the boat for, but would work for class II and easy class III. I have been on trips in the eighties when many wood frames broke, even hard woods on small boats. I am old school and actually own 4 bucket boats as I prefer the way the BB handle, track, pack, ease of maintenance. I have a bucket buster system with solar charger, which works very nice with a hand pump and have made it down the grand twice and many other long trips. There is an art to running big water with clean lines by back rowing and hitting the waves just right, just like running an open canoe/dory or trying to keep your guests dry on cold days.
 
#19 ·
value of Riken SB 14'

Rather than start a new thread....I'm looking for some input on pricing my boat to sell.

1987 Riken River Rider Hypalon 14' self bailer. Has patches, either for wear spots or pinhole size leaks and holds air just fine. Problem is we used a barrel pump on the floor last year and blew the center floor baffle from over inflation.:-( Ran the rest of the week long trip without any issues though. Repair doesn't seem worth it.

I'd include a three bay frame, 2 oars, cooler, repair kit, and all the wood (side rails and floors).

I was thinking $600 - $800. Does that seem reasonable or is it worth nothing except to me?
 
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