Sorted by state: NY, NJ, Delaware, MD, VA, NC (OBX), SC, Florida
Sellers Post:
· Pictures of board
· Dimensions of board
· Condition of board (1-10 scale)
· “Good for… (Big/small waves, beginners, experienced riders, etc.)”
· Where you’re from; Areas you’d meet up to sell/trade the board to a buyer
· Price of board (OBO)
· Reason for selling
· If you are willing to trade… If yes, what boards are you looking for?
· Contact info
Hope to get my blog posted on http://www.easternsurf.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/easternsurfmag/?hl=en to get the word spread out to the local east coast surf community.
USER PERSONA: SELLER
25-year-old experienced surfer that has collected boards over the years. Some of them now don’t fit him or he doesn’t use. Wants to sell but doesn’t get hits on FB and craigslist b/c surfers in his area don’t use those marketplaces. If he tries to sell them to surf shops, they charge him 30% for selling it for him. Would drive to meet up with someone (30 miles max).
USER PERSONA: BUYER
13-year-old beginner surfer and his dad want to get a board so he can learn. The dad is unsure if the kid will love surfing and he doesn’t want to buy him a brand-new board that costs $800, especially if his kid will outgrow it in just a few years. The dad is willing to meet up in a public place 30+ miles from his house to purchase a board for cheaper than the surf shop’s offer, as long as the board’s in ride-able condition for his son.
COMPETITION:
My professor was worried about potential websites that buy/sell used surfboards already but there are a few important things that separates my blog from those competitors. To surfers, the experience of buying a surfboard is like buying a home. You wouldn’t just look at pictures of a house online and buy it before seeing it in person. The user experience of meeting up with the seller is nothing you can get online, and my blog is the only site that surfers could potentially trade boards on. Another thing that I noticed during research was most of these online websites are exactly like the surf shops. The boards they sell are insanely expensive for used surfboards ($500-$800), you could buy a brand-new board for that price. None of the sites allow you to sell your used boards. You can only buy the used boards they have posted, which also differentiates my blog from theirs. I’ve researched into finding a marketplace (community) that east coast surfers sell their boards on and found nothing. The user experience of meeting up with the seller, being able to sell and trade your boards, and not getting ripped off by surf shops and online sites with their expensive boards are the three reasons why my blog is different than the competitors.
I found a website that is similar to mine but it hasn’t been active since August 2018. Before that, they were posting frequently and got a decent amount of views on each post.
