Richard M.
Very little activity and very expensive.
Very little activity and very expensive.

Boat Trader is the leading online marketplace in the United States for buying and selling new and used boats. Available at BoatTrader.com, the marketplace connects boat buyers with private sellers, dealers, brokers, manufacturers, and marine businesses across the country.Founded in 1991 as a weekly print classifieds publication, Boat Trader expanded online in 1996 through BoatTraderOnline.com. Today, BoatTrader.com helps buyers discover thousands of new and used boats for sale, research boat types and brands, compare models, find dealers and marine services, explore financing options, and connect directly with sellers across the United States.For sellers, Boat Trader provides advertising solutions for both private owners and marine professionals, helping connect their listings with one of the largest audiences of active boat shoppers in the United States.Boat Trader is owned and operated by Boats Group, a global leader in online boating marketplaces.
Boat Trader (boattrader.com) has 438 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 3.0 out of 5.
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Richard M.
Very little activity and very expensive.
PDQ
Similar to many reviews, the people who contacted me about my listing were scammers trying to get my contact info. I had no legitimate buyers interested in buying my boat. Customer service is awful - no response to my emails and left on indefinite hold over the phone. Do not use this platform for selling personal boats.
Response from Boat TraderNov 12, 2025
Hi there, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience and understand how frustrating that can be. Our team strives to respond to all inquiries within 48 hours, so it’s likely that someone has already been in touch by now — but if not, please let us know and we’ll reach out right away to help. We also take scam prevention very seriously and have dedicated measures in place to protect our users. If you receive any suspicious messages, please forward them to [email protected] so our team can review and take action. If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know.
Katie
The majority (possibly all) of the people who contacted me about my listing were scammers trying to get my contact information. Boat Trader's website messaging platform also doesn't work very well. Some threads are blocked, so I can't respond. Some threads show that they responded to me (via the left column) but the message doesn't show up at all when I click on the thread. Customer Service claims that the ones I can't respond to are scammers and they've blocked them, but one of those threads was the only person I thought might actually be truly interested in my listing, while the "send me your phone and email" people are still available to message. Customer Service said that they're still working out the bugs. Lastly, they set all listings to auto-renew and the only way to cancel this is to call them; however, it's hard to get through. They don't respond to any emails. In summary, I don't recommend Boat Trader. It's expensive, Customer Service is very poor, and it's unlikely you'll actually reach real buyers. It seems mostly like a scam itself.
Response from Boat TraderNov 6, 2025
Hi Katie, thank you for taking the time to share your experience we’re sorry to hear that parts of the process felt confusing and frustrating. We take scam prevention and safe communication very seriously, and we understand how concerning it can be when a conversation suddenly becomes unavailable. In most cases, this happens because the account you were speaking with was identified as engaging in suspicious activity elsewhere on the platform. Even if a message appears harmless, our system may restrict the account to prevent scammers from trying to move sellers off-platform or requesting personal information. We continually update these protections to keep the experience safe and clear for our community. After a recent conversation with our team, we reviewed the details of your account to ensure everything was handled properly. We can confirm that your auto-renew was successfully turned off per your request and that your listing is set to expire on its scheduled date. If you need anything as your listing winds down, or if you decide to sell again in the future, we’re here to help. Thank you again for your feedback.
Cindy Citro P.
I would not recommend boat trader. my pics will not post and customer service will not respond. I even tried calling but you cannot get thru.
Response from Boat TraderNov 4, 2025
Hi Cindy, thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. As we see in our notes, our team reached out and worked with you to get your photos uploaded while we addressed a temporary site issue that has since been fixed. We're sorry for the inconvenience and we appreciate your patience and feedback—it helps us continue improving the Boat Trader experience for all sellers.
PCH
If i could rate it ZERO I would. Customer service is next to non-existent, they are clueless if you do get them.. They give caned answers or dont reply at all. I am having the same issues as others i see on here. I reply to a customer inquiry and never hear from the customer. Messages seem to be blocked coming back to me. I tested this with another email address I have and confirmed it.
Response from Boat TraderOct 29, 2025
Thank you for sharing your feedback. Our team is always here to help and would like to review your account to resolve this. Please message us with your contact info or reach our team at 1866-373-5602 or [email protected] so we can assist you directly.
Health L.
Waste of money. Fake replies on my boat ad. I cannot get logged back in to update my ad. I have emailed them 5 times with no response. For me, it has been a waste.
Response from Boat TraderOct 29, 2025
We understand how frustrating it can be to receive suspicious or fake inquiries. we’re constantly working to block and filter scam inquiries. Our team is always here to help and can review your account to get you back in and update your ad. Please reach out at 18663735602 so we can assist right away. We hope you'll give us a chance to make this right and provide you with a better experience.
Matt E.
If it could be no stars that would better describe boattrader! Total scam! Paid for the premium package to list my boat, the ad is incorrect. After 15 plus emails and over 10 messages left no one will return my calls or respond to my emails to fix the ad. Stole my money and disappeared! Worst platform ever!
Response from Boat TraderOct 29, 2025
Hi Matt, we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We’d like to look into this further and help get your listing corrected as quickly as possible. Please reach out to us directly at [email protected] so our team can assist you.
Mark W.
Replies to the ad were permanently blocked. I would email boat trader to inquire about replies. They responded once and then stopped responding. When I finally got through by phone they said I had 4 inquiries. I’m still waiting to see who responded. I have had a much better response from Facebook marketplace. Boat trader is a scam. Save your money.