Establishing the Market Value and Asking Price of Your Boat

The essential fact sellers must grasp when marketing a boat is: Your boat is not special. Sorry to shout, but it's a point that seems to need emphasis. We all think our boats are special. Heck, I sell boats for a living, and I know very well that my boat is not special, yet there is a part of me that STILL thinks mine is somehow special. If I had to sell it, the market would inform me of the cruel reality: MY BOAT IS NOT SPECIAL.

It doesn't matter that I baby it in every possible way. It doesn't matter that I have spent considerable time and money on modifications to my Boston Whaler and yet more modifications to my Whaler. It doesn't matter that it looks almost new, and that everything works. The fact is, it's a couple of decades old, there are plenty like it on the market at any time, and it's just not worth much money. It is worth about what all the others like it are worth.

If you have done something to significantly change the value of your boat, such as repowering it or significantly upgrading the marine electronics, do not expect to recoup your expense. A newer engine or upgraded electronics will make your boat easier to sell, but the thing to keep in mind is that older engines and electronics will often still do more or less the same job.

I see boat owners try to tack the price of all the new stuff onto the basic price of the boat, and the boats do not sell. As a general rule, the way to get your money back out of a new engine on an old boat is to keep the boat and enjoy the engine. If you sell the boat, buyers are not going to pay the full extra cost of the new engine.

Analyze the Competition - Look at Recent Comparable Sales

The easiest way to establish a value for your boat is to look at the competition. Check all the boat listing websites and magazines for boats of the same make and model of similar age. Check NADA and other valuation sites. Ask a yacht broker to give you a list of recent reported comparable sales from soldboats.com. (I work at a yacht brokerage, and yes, we will do that for free.)

Once you have a good idea of market value and the asking prices on competing boats, especially those that are nearby, try to look at the situation like a buyer. Do not listen to that part of yourself which says your boat is special. To the owners, they're all special. To the buyers, they're all used boats.

If you want to be the one who gets the call from a buyer, your boat has to look like a good deal. You can wait a long time for someone who wants to pass up all the good deals and pay top dollar for your special boat. If you want to sell your boat quickly, it has to be priced to compete with all the rest, and it has to look and work better than all the rest.