Selling a used board so it actually sells

Put the volume in, first

Buyers filter by litres before they look at anything else, so a listing with no volume is invisible to most of the people who would have bought the board. Read it off the stringer near the tail, where most manufacturers print it, and put that number in. It is thirty seconds of work and it is the single largest thing you can do for the listing.

If it is not printed anywhere, say so, and give the model and the exact length instead. A stated estimate that is labelled as an estimate loses you nothing. A confident number you made up loses you the sale at the meeting, when the buyer weighs the board in their hands and stops believing the rest of the listing.

Photograph the damage, not around it

The instinct is to shoot the good side. It costs you the sale, because the buyer finds the repair at the meeting instead, having travelled across town, and now every other thing you said is in question. Photograph the repairs deliberately and close up. A board with three documented repairs and a fair price sells. A board that looked perfect in photographs and is not sells to nobody, twice.

• Deck and bottom, whole board, in even light. Overcast is better than midday sun.
• A side on shot so the outline and the thickness are readable.
• The volume and dimensions printed on the stringer, close enough to read.
• Every repair, and every soft patch, individually.
• The fin boxes and the leash plug, so the buyer knows the system before they arrive.

Describe it the way a surfer would

Say what the board is good at and who it suits, then say what is wrong with it. Both halves make the other one believable. Somebody reading a description that only lists strengths assumes there is something you did not mention, and they are usually right.

Your own words are worth more here than a tidy paragraph. A buyer who is nervous about a used board wants to hear from a person, and no two sellers describe a board the same way.

Price it against the board, not against what you paid

• Look at what comparable boards in the same volume and shape are listed at now. That is the only comparison that controls for fit.
• Subtract the repairs. A ding shop quote for the work outstanding is a real number and it is fairer than an argument at the meeting.
• If you have a flight booked, price for the time you have rather than the price you want. Everyone can tell when a seller is out of time, so it is better to have priced for it on purpose.
• Decide your floor before the first message, and then hold it or accept it without resentment.

The meeting

Meet in daylight, somewhere public, with the board dry. Let the buyer take as long as they want with it, and answer what they ask directly. A buyer who is allowed to inspect a board properly and finds it as described will usually pay the asking price, because what they were really pricing was the risk of being lied to.

SurfPoint takes no payment and holds no funds, so the money is between the two of you. Cash in person, once you both agree, is the normal way it is done here and it is the one nobody has to trust anybody for.

Common questions

How do I sell a used surfboard quickly?

Put the volume in the listing, photograph the repairs rather than hiding them, and price against comparable boards of the same volume and shape rather than against what you paid. A listing with no litres in it is invisible to buyers who filter by litres, which is most of them.

Where can I sell a second hand surfboard in Bali?

List it here, and meet the buyer in person. SurfPoint is a search layer rather than a marketplace: the listing brings a buyer to you and the sale happens between you, in cash, with the board in front of you both. There is no fee, no payment step and nothing to ship.

Should I fix the dings before selling?

Fix anything open, because an open ding lets water into the foam and a waterlogged board is worth almost nothing. Beyond that, a tidy documented repair costs the price very little, so you rarely gain by paying for cosmetic work. Photograph what you did not fix and price it in.