How to Get The Most Money For Your Used Snowmobile

When it comes to selling your used snowmobile, just like any market, it’s all about exposure on timing. You can have all the exposure in the world, but if it’s when the market is more interested in picking up a boat, you won’t do well. In the same scenario, if you place an ad in a newspaper read by 400 people during prime buying season and chances are few will bite. We are going to show you how to maximize exposure for your used sled and time it so there are a plentiful amount of buyers to keep the price high.

1. Exposure

There are a few ways to get your snowmobile in front of the eyes of buyers. You can do it online, a snowmobile event, or in a trade paper. 

For online exposure, more is better. Craigslist is an obvious one, but Facebook Marketplace has emerged as a great place to get active buyers interested in your sled. I listed my snow bike on offer up, let go, craigslist and Facebook a couple of years ago. Craigslist got the most interest, but nothing serious, but Facebook Marketplace yielded a buyer that paid asking price. You can even go a step further and post your listing in relevant snowmobile groups, and area buy sell. Facebook is convenient in that regard as you can blast the post everywhere and not worry about keeping track of the leads as it is all off one listing. You need to use all the free listings, as it will maximize the number of people that see it. We are playing a numbers game here, and the more people that see it, the more interest that it will drum up. It’s a lot easier to say no to a lower offer when you have four others interested than when you have one person interested in a matter of weeks. There are enough free listing places in this day and age where you do not need to waste your time with paid sites like eBay.

List your sled on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Sledswap, Let Go, Offer Up any other place you can find.

In-person events like grass drags and swap meets are also great. Online is fantastic due to the sheer number of people that can see it, but it takes time and effort for someone to come out and look at it. Outdoor events are significant because people attend for the specific reason to look at sleds. You don’t have to worry about no shows, and if someone is serious enough, they will return with cash. No scheduling your time for someone to look at it, and people will become more aggressive to purchase when they see another potential buyer checking it out. We’ve sold many sleds this way in addition to selling studs at the Prairie Riders Grass Drag in Belvidere, IL. We don’t have experience selling at large swap meets like Haydays, but from our experience, we see a lot of unsold sleds leaving the event. There is just more competition from others selling used snowmobiles at the more significant events. Avoid any event that is primarily inside because the swap meets are usually small and get little traffic. Too small of an event, and you’ll be wasting your time, the key is mid-size!

Trader papers are an old school way of listing your snowmobile and should be used if you don’t list online. They usually cost money, and if you sell your snowmobile, your ad is still listed, and you will receive calls after it’s sold. I’ve never done it, but with the success we’ve had in other avenues, it is not worthwhile.

2. Timing

The best time to sell a snowmobile is October-Early January. People want to spend money on something they can use soon, which is why these are the prime months. You can get a good amount outside of those dates if you have something sought after or rare. With the most amount of people in the buying window, there will be the most demand for your sled, which equals the most money. Use supply and demand to your advantage.

Another thing the keep in mind is spring order options like a Ski-Doo X or XRS package, Polaris 850, or Arctic Cat and Yamaha spring order only Turbos will hold up better in the used market as they are more appealing and rare. Any sled that develops a bad reputation won’t fare as well.  

Good luck out there, if you are looking for a stud package for your trail sled that looks as good as the day you put it on, check out our Top Gun Series Stud Kits. We specialize in using stainless so you won’t be selling a sled loaded with rusty studs. Numerous people become customers after purchasing a used sled with our product and want the same setup when they move to a new snowmobile. Check Out our Top Gun Stud Kits.