Hard to sell aircraft

[brien23]

From easy to sell to Hard to sell, Cessna 172 or a PA-28 probably the best selling if you have a good one it sells fast. Tail wheel aircraft Cessna 180 and 185 very good and sell fast, J-3 in a class by itself other rag-bags a little harder to sell. Complex retract, old ones are harder to sell than newer ones, Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft sell fast Mooney a little harder to sell and age of the pilot for insurance is a big part of any complex aircraft. Any long gone aircraft names of the past and made of unoptainium parts are hard to sell. Next up the planes not so much as aircraft but Insurance for them, any Seaplane and most any Twin the older the harder they are to sell, very limited market that have lots of Twin time or old pilot age and that kills insurance cost. Last but hardest to sell old Helicopters, many are chopped up and sell fast for more in parts, than the helicopter itself is worth, very small market. The home built market some are great aircraft and sell fast others not so fast and some only sell for parts.

 

[Piperonca]

Sad but true...sold my Dad's old Apache to someone who chopped it up. It was tired to begin with, and had sat in a hangar way too long. Old airplanes break your heart when you know they will fly no more.

 

[ArrowFlyer86]

Based on turnover and sales stats that I track religiously, I'd say "hard to sell" (illiquid) scales a lot with price. But I look at SEL mkt, certified only.
It's easier to sell a 1970's era V-Tail Bonanza than it is to unload a $1.2 million used (but still new), fixed gear SR22. So there's a trade-off in there somewhere in there between the age/complexity and price. There's exceptions, but that seems to be the general rule.

Another example even within the same manufacturer: on average older 35 Bo's sell about 3x faster than the newer A36s, which are usually about 2.5 - 4x the price.
In the Cessna eco system there seems to be a pecking order of liquidity too, largely correlating with price: A 150/152 sells the fastest by far, then 172, then 182, 182rg/turbo, 210, 210 turbo, then 206 then 210 pressurized. That usually correlates 1:1 with pricing order, too. And is pretty steady throughout time.

Can't comment on the multis, experimental and other category of aircraft. Everything will sell for the right price. But sometimes it seems discovering that price is painful for the one parting with the aircraft.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Old wooden homebuilts needing new fabric are hard to sell. Don't ask me how I know.

I wouldn't be afraid of an old, long-out-of-production tube-and-rag airplane. In Canada those can be registered as Owner-Maintained, and I can make nearly anything on those airframes. It's old engines that are the problem. Franklins and the like, along with the old British Gipsy engines. Had a Gipsy Major in my Auster. Parts are scarce. If it breaks down far from home you are really in a pickle.

 

[Ventucky Red]

Hard to sell airplanes... ones that have stratospheric prices..... vs. where the current market is at.

 

[trenton]

"Honey, I'm trying to sell the plane. It's been on Controller for months. I'm just not getting any offers."

 

[frfly172]

Insurance prices are starting to determine weather an a airplane's easy to sell ,if properly priced. Some of the singles Cessna and piper are very popular with older pilots ,because they can get insurance at a reasonable rate.

 

[francisco collazos]

You guys are crushing my dreams..I hope you are happy!!

 

[Rcmutz]

You guys are crushing my dreams..I hope you are happy!!

The insurance market crushed my dreams.

 

[unsafervguy]

there are no hard to sell airplanes, just overpriced ones. if the price is low enough it will sell

 

[Ventucky Red]

"Honey, I'm trying to sell the plane. It's been on Controller for months. I'm just not getting any offers."

Thread drift....

I use to have a VW Vanagon that I really worked to get back in shape after buying from a guy that let is sit for a very long time... even ending up pulling the VW engine and putting a Subaru in it... a vast improvement..

Anyway... I use to get a lot of "stop and talks" along with many, "is it for sale" to which I would give the "honey I don't know why they're not calling" price plus 10%.. which usually ended the conversation. One day this one gent said "okay, do you have the title and where is the nearest Wells Fargo.." I thought he was pulling my leg, but when the teller asked me if I wanted a check, or a direct deport to my account... reality hit... Two hours later it was gone...

 

[Gilbert Buettner]

"Honey, I'm trying to sell the plane. It's been on Controller for months. I'm just not getting any offers."

For a long time, I told my wife the airplane was for sale. I put the sign in the window right after I closed the hangar door.

Then I retired from full time work and agreed to sell it for sure. I expected it would take six months to a year. It was a V-tail Bonanza, and as soon as I mentioned I was thinking of selling on BeechTalk, I had a phone call. It sold in two weeks, without any other advertisement. And it was past TBO.