Best way to sell our hot tub.

[Uzona]

This is not an advertisement to sell here..so I won't list details.  However, you guys and gals were a wealth of information when I purchased my hot tub, so I was hoping you might be able to give some advice on the best way to sell it.  We love our tub, but alas, we will soon be moving and can't take it with us.

The tub was originally about 10K in 2007, but I believe it was a 2006 model.   It's a top of the line model from a reputable major manufacturer.  We would like to get $2500 to $3k for it.  Is that a reasonable expectation?

What's the best way to sell it?  Should we try to find a local dealer and see if they can resell it for us, or should we put it on craigslist/ebay?  Local want adds? We are in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

I'm worried about putting it on online for several reasons.  First is fraud, so I assume cash only is the only way to be sure I dont get ripped off.   I'm also concerned about safety..the thought of giving my home address out for prospective buyers to come inspect the tub is a bit disconcerting.   It's also a bit of an advertisement that this house is soon to be empty.

I would welcome any advice from those of you with more experience in these matters.

[hottubdan]

If you are not comfortable selling it on Craigslist.com I would recommend you contact the dealer you bought it from to see if they can sell it on consignment.  If they are gone, contact the new dealer of your brand, assuming there is a local one.

[Hot Tub Guru]

Craigslist!

[Uzona]

Thanks for the replies.  The local dealer is no longer in business.  There are no dealers for this brand left in the state.

Craigslist is most likely going to be my best option, but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask for alternatives.  Thanks again.

[dronning]

Get the word out with friends, family, neighbors etc.., post it at work or?

Word of mouth just by asking everyone if they know anybody that might be interested.  We sold our last 3 cars this way, we never placed an ad.

Dave

[ndabunka]

You can call pretty much ANY Spa dealer and see what they will give you for it.  Your asking price sounds reasonable but dealers have to make money too so they may try to buy it for as little as $2K.  However, if you do sell it yourself you may well be able to ask more for it than your target as most spa less than 7 years old typically sell for about 50% of what they sold for new.

If it were me, I would place ads in craigslist & eBay and your local newspaper. Do NOT mention a word of "moving soon" as it really isn't relevant to the buyer.  Just tell them that you have decided to sell the spa because you don't use it as much any longer.  Don't schedule showings when your hubby is not around.  Don't schedule anything late at night as they may try to use that as an excuse for not being able to see it well.  Just pick a weekend day and tell prospective buyers that they can come at certain times.  That way you can have one buyer come after another and this will reinforce to the buyers that you have others who have interest.  In fact, if it were me I would probably have a good friend of mine (who could play along) show up near the end of each showing and act as another buyer.  I would not recommend that they pretend like they will buy it for X or anything like that.  Just that the buyers KNOW that you expect another buyer RIGHT after them so that they know they can try anything funny.  Don't worry about them trying to come steal it in the middle of the night.  You can't easily drain and move a tub overnight without alerting someone.

[smartin737]

Speaking as someone who literally just bought their first hot tub off of Craigslist TODAY (how timely is that?!) after months of searching can I offer some advice for listing it if you do go that route?  It will sell much faster if you take a little time with the ad (you would not believe the percentage of ads that don't include this information):

- make sure you list the manufacturer, model and year model
- state if it is running or not (people will not want to see one that isn't as you can not verify if it is indeed working.  You wouldn't buy a car if you couldn't even turn it on would you?)
- list what extras it includes - cover, lift, steps, etc.
- include pictures!! 

For what it is worth, I have bought and sold a lot of things successfully on Craigslist and have never run into a problem.  As ndabunka said, use some good safety sense and you will be fine.  In regards to the money, I would imagine you could also use Paypal since that amount of cash might be difficult for someone to come up with.  I haven't done it before for a Craigslist sale, only ebay, but I think I can be done.  Good luck!!

Sandy

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  Good advice there, the only problem with pay-pal is if the buyer isn't happy (or lying) pay pal will side with the buyer in a heartbeat and refund their money!  The seller will then have to dispute it, which can take a long time.
  I suppose the seller could wait till he gets cash transferred from pay-pal but the buyer may not want to wait,might not go down like that but you never know who your really dealing with.  I like cash for an item like that.