Ebay Crazy

A set of 27 year old H16 sails just sold for an outrageous amount on Ebay. Yes, they were the really colorful "Tequila Sunrise" design, at least from the pics the seller included they looked in really good shape, and the seller claimed except for a few years of "light use," they spent 22 years stored inside in a sail bag, but wow! From what I have seen, sails of similar vintage go for anywhere from $150 - $400 on Craigs List and Ebay, depending on condition. This set was bid up and sold for $710!!

That sure beats the $100 I spent on the decent set of Tequila Sunrise sails below which also came with battens and boom!!!

_________________
Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

WOW I guess I need to sell my if they bring that kind of money!!!! I could then buy a brand new set for racing!

_________________
'83 H16 Tequilla Sunrise and Cat Fever

Ebay is crazy. I have people that bring me their boats with a pile of parts that they got off of Ebay, and they have no idea how to use or install them. I have a policy to not replace any standing rigging bought off of Ebay. Buying stuff on Ebay here in the bay area is very prevelant and eating into my bottom line, but why I'm not sure.

Case in point from last week:
Customer bought H16 trap wires for $43+$8 shipping.
Hobie trap wires on my wall are $50
The customer didn't understand that they needed rope locks, line, shock cord, shackle, etc, and had no idea how to install them, and they needed their boat to be ready for the weekend.
Brought them to me to have them installed, which I would have done for free if they bought the lines from me (took .5 hour at $85)
The second nicopress didn't cover the tail of the 1X19, so there are sharp wire ends sticking out right next to the handle (I'll post some pics in the next few days). The coating on the wire is different than on the Hobie wire and doesn't seem to hold up as well to UV.

Customer spent about $50 more for the system than I would have charged them if they bought it from me. I would have given them a superior product that was made correctly, just like every other Authorized Hobie Dealer would have done. Hobie factory parts are superior to after-market the vast majority of the time. And oftentimes the price is very close to what you'd pay on ebay, or from any other source. If you want your local dealer to better support fleet, throw a little business their way. You'll get better quality for close to the same price.

I can't figure it out. It's not speed of shipping. The auction in my example lasted 7 days, with a big question being if they were actually going to win it at the end of the 7 days. It's not quality. It's not support from the distributor. It's not price (at least not in my example). What is it?

Used sails are a little different than my example.

Gotta stop typing now there's money to be made, I've got to post some more stuff on Ebay.

_________________
Sail Revolution
Join us on our new FB Page!

Jeremy, the sails pictured in my post (plus boom and battens) were the ones shipped to me by my brother from your area last year. We were able to slip an extra inch past FEDEX

_________________
Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

It's insane. My next set of sails are going to be new from the dealer, provided they go to a new color scheme soon. The current 08 sails are fugly.


I'd never by rigging on ebay. Hulls, sails, seaway blocks, maybe, but not rigging.

It's part the phenomenom of what made ebay what it is today! Although not logical. It's the whole bidding (unsure) thing. It's like the neighborhood bike shop that is gone, because somebody wants to save five bucks on the internet, but don't care about fit or somebody that has the same passion about their sport that could help them tenfold. I feel your pain. Some sails are just old and other ones are truely vintage in great shape and there is a big difference in the dollar department.

With sails, I think it is a matter of the pattern. I'm always on the lookout for a good set of Cat Fever for my 16. If Hobie made them new, I'd probably go that route.

I think that Hobie is missing the boat there. If they would bring back classic patterns once in a while, they'd probably find they have a market that has been going untapped. Just my 2 cents.

As far as Ebay, I've got to agree that the quality is not there. I bought a comptip cover for winter storage (from one of those guys make a career of producing aftermarket Hobie stuff for Ebay), and within a couple of months, it had faded significantly. Next time I'll stick with my local dealer - like I do with all the rest of my gear.

It's been said before, but it bears repeating:

Hobie 16 sail cloth is an odd weight. Hobie Cat has to order a lot of it to make it economical. They don't make nearly as many sails as they used to. Therefore, the color choices are limited:

White
Gray
Bright Blue
Yellow
Bright Red
Bright Green

Cat Fever has 5 different colors, including 2 shades of orange. Hobie Cat isn't going to make "retro" sail patterns anytime soon.

Actually, the new "Smoke" pattern looks pretty sharp. The red is awfully bright, though.

Sure, but if in a given year(s) they choose a pattern that uses the same palette from a favorite classic, they could promote it and take advance orders. I guess that the challenge would be in coming up with "modern" designs with older colors. Frankly I've seen very little enthusiasm for the modern patterns. Maybe I'm just getting old!

I'd be all over the smoke if my boat wasn't blue. I just don't find red sails on a blue boat visually pleasing.

Don't they charge a lot extra for the other colors. I would't mind a set of all blue sails to go on my blue boat.

According to the catalog, Hobie Cat charges about $220 more for a custom color H-16 main and $150 more for a custom color jib (although I think that you can get an all-blue jib for the standard full-color rate - about $400)

Last year's "Misty" pattern would look pretty slick with blue hulls.

It is pretty crazy how 20+ year old sails can go for that much though. I've seen a set of Smokin' sails (like mine) go for next to nothing. I guess the lesson to be learned is that if you have the tequila sunrise sails or cat fever sails then you're in good shape when you go to sell.

_________________
1984 H16 - #80541

no worries! your not old! I'm 28 and hate the colors on the sails from the past few years! Tequila sunrise and my other set are my two favorites! By the way, anybody no the name of these sails??? I guess with two sets of vintage sails I'm in really good shape!

_________________
'83 H16 Tequilla Sunrise and Cat Fever

That's the color scheme I have and apparently it's called "Cat Fever". It was made in the early '80s.

_________________
The ox is slow but the earth is patient

Those are Cat Fever - just the one's I'm looking for.