Best websites for used narrowboat sales

[BrenMyster]

Hi guys

 

Im on the market for a narrowboat and wondered what the best websites to find boats are. First I started on eBay which now i realise isn't the best option. So far I have found

 

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk

 

and

 

http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk

 

Wondered if there were any other big sites like these that people use to sell boats. I've been looking on some smaller sites and independent brokers but the choice of boats is obviously very limited.

 

Cheers

 

Brendan

[Nightwatch]

Far too many to list. Just keep searching the web. Waterscape may have a list of brokers as well.

 

Martyn

[ditchcrawler]

Hi guys

 

Im on the market for a narrowboat and wondered what the best websites to find boats are. First I started on eBay which now i realise isn't the best option. So far I have found

 

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk

 

and

 

http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk

 

Wondered if there were any other big sites like these that people use to sell boats. I've been looking on some smaller sites and independent brokers but the choice of boats is obviously very limited.

 

Cheers

 

Brendan

But the boat you want may be with one of those independent Brokers as you call them.

[Ray T]

Lots of adverts in "Canal Boat" and "Waterways World."

 

http://www.canalboat.co.uk/canal-boats

 

http://www.waterwaysworld.com/

[magictime]

If we're talking about "big sites" like Boats and Outboards and Apollo Duck, as per the OP's question, I really don't think there can be "too many to list". In fact I couldn't name a third one.

 

I'd expect any broker wanting to advertise a boat to the largest possible number of potential buyers to use one of those two sites. Not every broker will put every boat on there, I suppose, and so it might still be worth looking at the limited selections on individual brokers' websites, but as far as I know there's no other comparable site where you'd expect to find hundreds of boats for sale from dozens of brokers and private individuals.

 

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is that if you only check those two sites you won't be missing many of the boats that are currently up for sale, just as you wouldn't be missing many of the properties that are currently up for sale if you only checked Rightmove and Zoopla.

[bigste]

The best deals are often the ones that are not advertised.

[BrenMyster]

Cheers guys.

 

Guess is just a matter of looking on as many sites and I can. I have found that most brokers i've come across list their boats on on of the bigger sites anyway.

[Mendip-Locks]

Lots of adverts in "Canal Boat" and "Waterways World."

 

http://www.canalboat.co.uk/canal-boats

 

http://www.waterwaysworld.com/

Is there any ads on the Canalboat website I couldn't see any there?

 

I'd say Apolloduck and Waterways world are my top two.

What I find looking on the independent's though is boats appear there 1st and if they don't move them initially then they put them up on either or both of those two.

My search list is as follows;

http://vcmarine.co.uk/inland-waterway-boats-for-sale/

http://www.longportbrokerage.co.uk/narrowboatsforsale

http://www.boatshop24.co.uk/motorboats/canal-narrow-boats

http://www.tewkesbury-boat-sales.co.uk

http://www.sankeymarine.co.uk/boat-sales#

http://www.boatshopuk.co.uk

http://www.boatwrecks.com/power.asp

http://www.devizesmarina.co.uk/results.php?exeSearch=true&searchSaleRent

http://www.tingdeneboatsales.net/search-results?used=used&boattype=All&minprice=Min&maxprice=Max

http://www.theyachtmarket.com/static/boattype_narrowboat_9.html

http://www.alvecotemarina.co.uk/brokerage/for-sale/

http://www.nortoncanesboatbuilders.co.uk/home/index.php/boats-for-sale

http://www.calcuttboats.com/saleboat.html

http://www.ashwoodmarina.co.uk/brokerage/used-boats-for-sale?layout=edit&id=90

http://canallist.co.uk/narrowboats-for-sale/

http://www.marineserviceschirk.co.uk/boats-sale/

Then there are the bigger ones

Wilton. https://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/default.aspx

Rugby boat sales http://rugbyboats.co.uk

http://www.thesalespontoon.co.uk/search

http://www.abcboatsales.com/boat-sales/

http://www.abnb.co.uk

http://greathaywoodboatsales.co.uk

https://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/

https://www.venetianmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/default.aspx

http://www.aqueductbrokerage.co.uk

http://newandusedboat.co.uk/used-boat-search/

http://www.swanleybrokerage.com

http://www.lakelandleisureboatsales.co.uk

 

Blimey looks a lot written down! some of those are bookmarks some from many hours of Internet digging and off the top of my head!

Apolloduck is still the place though set up an account and an alert then as soon as a new ad is posted that fits your criteria you get a mail and can be on to it.

Same goes for boats and outboards and all those type sites.

Ade

[cuthound]

Is there any ads on the Canalboat website I couldn't see any there?

I'd say Apolloduck and Waterways world are my top two.

What I find looking on the independent's though is boats appear there 1st and if they don't move them initially then they put them up on either or both of those two.

My search list is as follows;http://vcmarine.co.uk/inland-waterway-boats-for-sale/http://www.longportbrokerage.co.uk/narrowboatsforsalehttp://www.boatshop24.co.uk/motorboats/canal-narrow-boatshttp://www.tewkesbury-boat-sales.co.ukhttp://www.sankeymarine.co.uk/boat-sales#http://www.boatshopuk.co.ukhttp://www.boatwrecks.com/power.asphttp://www.devizesmarina.co.uk/results.php?exeSearch=true&searchSaleRenthttp://www.tingdeneboatsales.net/search-results?used=used&boattype=All&minprice=Min&maxprice=Maxhttp://www.theyachtmarket.com/static/boattype_narrowboat_9.htmlhttp://www.alvecotemarina.co.uk/brokerage/for-sale/http://www.nortoncanesboatbuilders.co.uk/home/index.php/boats-for-salehttp://www.calcuttboats.com/saleboat.htmlhttp://www.ashwoodmarina.co.uk/brokerage/used-boats-for-sale?layout=edit&id=90http://canallist.co.uk/narrowboats-for-sale/http://www.marineserviceschirk.co.uk/boats-sale/

Then there are the bigger ones

Wilton. https://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/default.aspx

Rugby boat sales http://rugbyboats.co.ukhttp://www.thesalespontoon.co.uk/searchhttp://www.abcboatsales.com/boat-sales/http://www.abnb.co.ukhttp://greathaywoodboatsales.co.ukhttps://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/https://www.venetianmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/default.aspxhttp://www.aqueductbrokerage.co.ukhttp://newandusedboat.co.uk/used-boat-search/http://www.swanleybrokerage.comhttp://www.lakelandleisureboatsales.co.uk

Blimey looks a lot written down! some of those are bookmarks some from many hours of Internet digging and off the top of my head!

Apolloduck is still the place though set up an account and an alert then as soon as a new ad is posted that fits your criteria you get a mail and can be on to it.

Same goes for boats and outboards and all those type sites.

Ade

And virtually all of those sites adventire on Appolloduck, so best to look there first.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

I'd say Apolloduck and Waterways world are my top two.

What I find looking on the independent's though is boats appear there 1st and if they don't move them initially then they put them up on either or both of those two.

 

 

Which would mean that by not perusing the 'independents' you are likely to miss the 'cream' and just end up viewing the rejects.

[MtB]

The best deals are often the ones that are not advertised.

 

 

The former being the result of the latter, if I may suggest...

[BrenMyster]

great info guys, Thanks

[anniewhere]

If you're on Facebook, join this group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=250694035082682

 

And depending where you're looking, there are some regional ones, too, like https://www.facebook.com/groups/178384468913736/or https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=73933281285

 

Sometimes people advertise their boats in those groups before putting them on Appollo Duck or going through a broker.

 

Hope that helps.

[Mendip-Locks]

On 11 January 2017 at 01:36, Mendip-Locks said:

Is there any ads on the Canalboat website I couldn't see any there?

 

I'd say Apolloduck and Waterways world are my top two.

What I find looking on the independent's though is boats appear there 1st and if they don't move them initially then they put them up on either or both of those two.

My search list is as follows;

http://vcmarine.co.uk/inland-waterway-boats-for-sale/

http://www.longportbrokerage.co.uk/narrowboatsforsale

http://www.boatshop24.co.uk/motorboats/canal-narrow-boats

http://www.tewkesbury-boat-sales.co.uk

http://www.sankeymarine.co.uk/boat-sales#

http://www.boatshopuk.co.uk

http://www.boatwrecks.com/power.asp

http://www.devizesmarina.co.uk/results.php?exeSearch=true&searchSaleRent

http://www.tingdeneboatsales.net/search-results?used=used&boattype=All&minprice=Min&maxprice=Max

http://www.theyachtmarket.com/static/boattype_narrowboat_9.html

http://www.alvecotemarina.co.uk/brokerage/for-sale/

http://www.nortoncanesboatbuilders.co.uk/home/index.php/boats-for-sale

http://www.calcuttboats.com/saleboat.html

http://www.ashwoodmarina.co.uk/brokerage/used-boats-for-sale?layout=edit&id=90

http://canallist.co.uk/narrowboats-for-sale/

http://www.marineserviceschirk.co.uk/boats-sale/

Then there are the bigger ones

Wilton. https://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/default.aspx

Rugby boat sales http://rugbyboats.co.uk

http://www.thesalespontoon.co.uk/search

http://www.abcboatsales.com/boat-sales/

http://www.abnb.co.uk

http://greathaywoodboatsales.co.uk

https://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/

https://www.venetianmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/default.aspx

http://www.aqueductbrokerage.co.uk

http://newandusedboat.co.uk/used-boat-search/

http://www.swanleybrokerage.com

http://www.lakelandleisureboatsales.co.uk

 

Blimey looks a lot written down! some of those are bookmarks some from many hours of Internet digging and off the top of my head!

Apolloduck is still the place though set up an account and an alert then as soon as a new ad is posted that fits your criteria you get a mail and can be on to it.

Same goes for boats and outboards and all those type sites.

Ade

Two I forgot are,

http://www.towpathtrader.com

http://www.boatshed.com/dosearch.php?rank=-raw_gbp_price&bq={"category"%3A["75"]%2C"category_child"%3A["112"]}

just for my benefit as I bookmarked this page!

 

[Neil2]

Nothing to add as regards the list but bear in mind that some brokers/marinas are notoriously bad at removing sold boats from their listings, or just leaving them on with a "sold" sticker.  Check the listing is still live before you get too excited.

[Neil Smith]

There is a few on the for sale section on this forum.

Neil

[tizzy]

When we were looking seriously I Googled the length of boat we wanted and that  brought up lots of boats from the big sites and some private sales  but before that we spent hours looking at loads of boats online so we knew what we wanted (even if we did do a complete 180 on the type of toilet we wanted  ) we bought from a small broker and have been really happy with our boat.

Tizzie

[cuthound]

4 hours ago, Neil2 said:

Nothing to add as regards the list but bear in mind that some brokers/marinas are notoriously bad at removing sold boats from their listings, or just leaving them on with a "sold" sticker.  Check the listing is still live before you get too excited.

This is very true.

When we were looking to buy I always phoned the broker first. Just as well, I would say about 40% of the boats on our shortlist had already been sold, but not updated on the brokers websites.

Mind you it works the other way too. We found two boats that were "due in at the weekend" and so looked at them before they were advertised. One of them we bought.

[Jim Batty]

On 10/01/2017 at 13:07, bigste said:

The best deals are often the ones that are not advertised.

I think this is right!

To be honest, we pretty well gave up on the 'big sales sites' when looking for a boat, because after much searching, researching and narrowing the field, at least half of private sellers we contacted never bothered to respond. It was becoming a waste of time.  Another pitfall dealing with the private sellers was a tendancy to exaggerate the condition and value of their boats. For us, not having a vehicle and dependent on making journeys to visit boats by train and/or bus, some of these became expensive wastes of time!

Ultimately we found the boats at good marina brokerages to be fairly and competitively priced (they don't want them sitting around), they had people who responded to emails or phone calls promptly, they could give reasonably good feedback about a boat -- and often they would check on a detail or two if we were serious about coming out to see it.

For what it's worth, we went up to Braunston Marina to look at two boats we were interested in. Both had sold before we arrived. But a quirky narrowboat had just come in that weekend and wasn't on the books or website yet. It turned out to be our 'dream boat'. So we made an offer ... and a counter offer ... had it surveyed ... and ended up with a new home.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Jim Batty