Ebay again

I don't know why, but I check Ebay for Hobie stuff quite regularly. Maybe it is to see the wild prices people pay, or maybe hoping for a beautiful set of sails someone is trying to give away. Anyway, lately, I have been looking at the veracity of the listing, and have been amazed at the errors, and in many cases, down right lies. One was so egregious, I reported it, though I doubt Ebay will do anything.

Here is one- The listing says 1990's H16- no hull no. given. No comptip (pre- 1986), sail no. 72XXX (early 80's?). I believe the seller, who claims to be a charity (BoatAngel), is avoiding Ebay listing policies by passing along and not verifying info from the person who donated the boat! The listing says it comes with a main and spin- but pics show a main and two jibs- all different colors/patterns. A Franken boat? I would be really ticked if I bought something like that, drove a couple of hundred miles to get it, and found out what it really was!

I often send sellers the link to the age-hull data and many are good about correcting their listings, some,like this one don't (intentionally?).

Another listing stated "I believe it to be an '86." However the sail pattern/# puts it at around 1982. I provided the seller the ser./age link,, but he hasn't changed the listing. I also pointed out that it appears to have no comptip (pre-1986). When did they stop installing boom vangs? I also asked about probable delams, since it has deck ports on each hull fwd of the pylons (one black one white????). The listing says the yellow decks are not faded, of course not since they are bright yellow and obviously recently painted- and the decks don't match the obvious age of the faded hull striping. It looks like a rehab boat, too. Seller said owner didn't install the ports, sure!?!?!!? if he didn't I'll bet it was done by a repair shop. Did any H16's ever come out of the factory with deck ports? He says they are shown in his manual??- They are not shown in any H16 manual I have ever seen in print or online. Might not be a bad boat, however, if the bids stay in the low hundreds.

The there is the two-fer listing in AZ with a BIN of $800- two H16's for the price of one. Looks like a storage facility is trying to clean out the junk. One boat was listed as a 1999. I pointed out that the serial number made it a 1980. He changed the listing. One boat had a nice full cover, though. 5 bids so far.

I guess the old axiom still holds true- buyer beware!!!!

Oh, well, enough ranting, I guess I'll go sailing.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

I saw a cooler rack go for $60 the other day. Not sure why (except that he had pictures of it installed), most others seem to go for $30-40. I've got one if anyone wants to pay me $60 for it.

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1984 H16 - #80541

Boat Angel is notorious for inaccurate listings and hidden costs. Some of their keel boat listings are outrageous. But as you mention, they are covered by claiming they are simply passing along specs provided by the donor.

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Frank, sailing '02 Getaway in Wichita KS. Lake Cheney
(Hobie 17 RIP, storm of '05)

"The listing says 1990's H16"

I see they have included a Eagle Cuda 168 fish finder for the winning bidder.I guess they assume we do a lot of fishing while flying a hull.
....let's see tiller in one hand,main sheet clenched between your teeth and fishing rod in your other hand all while your out on a trap. LOL.

If I were a betting man, I would say BoatAngel (CarAngel) is a scam. They have decent feedback, and do broker boat exchanges so the buyer actually gets something which he picks up from the donor-but BoatAngel does not physically take possession of the item before the sale- pretty slick! I could find almost nothing about them online, except somewhere it said they are a church, not a charity (as they claim). And while they probably do some minimal charity work, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts, most of the charity goes into their pockets. The donor gets the write-off, the buyer gets a boat (or car) and the government and us tax payers get scammed.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

But they have billboards! They can't be a scam if they have billboards!

/sarcasm

I do like how they tack on a several hundred dollar administration fee to each purchase.

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1984 H16 - #80541