How Can I Sell My Boat

/ Selling Your Boat Privately

Our world and community have been changed significantly with COVID, and this issue now adds another level of thought when bringing strangers to your home to sell your boat. Selling privately takes effort and patience.

PROS

• Pricing it right, should see a reasonably quick sale.
• If you want to be in control of the sales process, this way is for you.

CONS

When you find a potential buyer, they will want to come and inspect the boat, remember the golden rule – first impressions are everything when it comes to selling a boat! Ensure you have removed your personal items, cleaned and detailed the boat, polished the sides, repair any torn or worn upholstery, ensure the cushions are clean and the underside of the cushions free from any mould and no salt on the engine block, tyre shine the tyres and ensure they are inflated, aerials up, clears fitted and zips lubed, toilet clean etc. Although this is again more work for you, a tidy and clean boat will help you in a successful sale.

In the end, more money back in your hand but still a lot of effort and higher risk.

What’s Your Best Price

I cringe every time I hear this, and you should too. Whether innocently or intentionally, its a method of getting you to discount your boat twice!

First, you accept the idea of taking less, and then when they show up and Find something you didnt put in your description, magically- They want more money off because you left that out And with a boat, people will find something you missed in your description!

Offer to gladly negotiate prices AFTER they inspect the boat.

Do You Need A Broker To Sell A Boat

While for sale by owner might make sense at times in the real estate world, the reality is that selling a boat is often more complex and much more time consuming than selling a home. Showing the boat and handling sea trials can be extremely time consuming. Additionally, selling your boat through a broker is much more likely to result in a quicker sale than by yourself. Ask potential brokers about their experience before selecting one to handle your sale. How many transactions have they been involved with? How quickly do they typically sell? Are they willing to show the boat any day of the week? How hungry are they to sell your boat?

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We Place Our Brokerage Listings On More Sites Than The Competitiongiving Your Boat Maximum Exposure To The Market

Our aim is to find you a buyer as quickly as possible for you at the best possible price.

A dedicated monthly email delivered and targeted to qualified International Yacht owners and prospects. In addition, we attend the largest International Boat Shows in Europe, along with more boutique shows set around the very best marinas and locations featuring our Brokerage Boats

• We handle the purchase and all sales documentation
• Hold your funds in our secure escrow account
• Coordinate impartial 3rd party inspections
• Full transfer of ownership
• We aim to ensure a smooth & enjoyable sale.

Our success in the market place is consistently growing, with clients wishing to buy and sell their yacht through Clipper Marine Mallorca. By capturing every opportunity and giving our customers the best selection of Brokerage Motor and Sailing Yachts we work hard to secure a successful sale.

S Involved In Selling A Boat

Selling a boat is like selling a house but few people see it that way.

If you want buyers to drool over your vessel and start dreaming about owning it from the moment they see it, you have a lot of work to do.

Its important to have a process when selling your boat to reduce prepping time, expenses and time to close the deal. Start by determining the boats worth.

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Working With Boat Brokers And Dealers

If you understand how to sell your boat, but you really dont want to invest all the necessary time and effort, you can always enlist the help of a professional boat broker or dealer. Or, you could simply trade in your boat if youre buying a new one from a dealer who accepts trades. Both options are easier than selling a boat yourself, but there are some pitfalls to either approach. Brokers will take a cut of the proceeds, and you rarely get anything like top dollar on a trade-in. To learn more about these options, be sure to read Trade-In or Sell Your Boat.

Interacting With Potential Buyers And Navigating Sea Trials

Now that your boat has been listed for sale online, it is time to show it off to potential buyers!

Follow our seven tips to make sure that you start on the right page, and finish the chapter to enable you to move onto a new one. Here are seven things to consider when interacting with potential boat buyers.

• Play Fair be honest and up-front before you meet with the seller
• Preparation is Key Be sure you know your boat inside and out before chatting with potential buyers
• Communicate Quickly with Buyers Be responsive, polite, and friendly
• Be a Good Salesperson Engage the buyer in conversation about what they want in a boat
• Negotiation Tactics Be ready to go back and forth a few times with potential buyers
• Set Your Rock-Bottom Sale Price Have your absolute bottom sales price calculated before interacting with buyers

How well you communicate with buyers, and your professionalism will go a long way in ensuring a quick sale. Also, ensuring that your vessel is clean and tidy, especially amidst a pandemic, will be important in building trust with potential buyers.

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Focus On The Cleanest Areas

To create that wow effect, capture the cleanest places on the boat. You want buyers to see it and start thinking of how to make it their own.

Highlighting the best parts gives prospective buyers the impression that you took great care of your boat.

If the aesthetics are excellent, they will expect the engine and other systems to be in top shape.

Take Pictures in Good Lighting Conditions

The best pictures are shot when the lighting is perfect. So even if you are planning to sell your boat offseason, wait for that perfect time when the photographer can capture the vessel in rich detail.

When people see pictures of your boat sparkling in the sun, they automatically envision themselves piloting it or having a party on the deck.

So help them visualize owning the boat and it will be easier to sell. Plus, premium-quality pictures propel you above the competition that used poor quality photos.

Make Your Boat Visible Everywhere

Craigslist and Ebay are the basic tools for private listings, but there are a few other ways to gain exposure. Try creating for sale signs and placing your boat in a location where it will be seen by boat-minded commuters. Marina lots, near a highway, and even driving around on a busy boating weekend will attract attention for your vessel.

A few other ideas for boat exposure include:

• Posting on social networks
• Craigslist ads in nearby cities

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Negotiating Price And Closing The Deal

Once the buyer is ready to sign on the bottom line, its smart to work with a broker to sort out contract, tax, registration and insurance details, depending on the state of sale and the boats future home. Dont call one broker and go with him interview several, and find one not only who knows the ins and outs of the legalities, but who also can help the buyer feel that your boat is just as special as you have promoted it to be.

In the end, youll hopefully be giving the buyer a great boat as well as his own first great story to tell about becoming its owner.

Class Associations And Clubs

If you own a popular boat there is likely an owners club, a class association, or a brand association out there. If you never got around to joining it when you owned the boat, many of them are just websites you can sign up for. And almost every one has a trading post for boats, parts and accessories.

Not everyone in these clubs owns a boat, they may be there because they admire them and are looking for one. I found a Laser through a Laser sailors association. I didn’t own a Laser at the time, I went there looking to buy a used one.

Club members are enthusiastic about their boats, so if they see a nice one for sale they may tell friends about it.

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Can You Split Freedom Boat Club

You can split your membership fifty-fifty with another member if you join Carefree Boat Club. You should request whether the Freedom Boat Club in your area allows you to split your membership as some may allow splitting to some extent. Once you are a member, you are allowed to bring family and friends as you see fit.

List Your Boat For Sale Online

In a 2020 study, digital formats took up the majority of U.S. adults daily media consumption time, while for newspapers and magazines the average time spent was just nine and eight minutes respectively. With a decline in consumption for newspapers and magazines comes naturally less-effective classified advertisements in print to sell your boat. If you want to sell your boat quickly, safely, and for the best price, then you should sell your boat online.

Long before the world relied on Google, Boat Trader magazine was the go-to place to sell a boat. In 2008, the magazine successfully shifted from print to digital media, and today Boat Trader reaches more than 10 million visitors per month. By far the most popular websites to sell your boat range from boating-specific marketplaces like Boat Trader, boats.com, and YachtWorld, to more general marketplaces like Craigslist and eBay. We suggest casting a broad net, but also placing your focus where boaters browse on boating marketplaces!

• eBay

And on Boat Traders For Sale By Owner platform, you can list your boat for sale on the website in under three minutes!

Above Video: Boat Traders Colin Voreis walks you though how to list your boat for sale in under 3 minutes on Boat Trader.

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No Two Used Boats Are The Same

One thing that is for sure, unlike a car, is that you are not going to find your identical boat out there. Someone will have the same hull but upgraded motors. Another boat owner will have the same motors but more/less electronics. You will get in the ballpark easily, but the rest you will have to use your best judgment.

Best practice here is to consider what it would cost someone to upgrade then back down from that .

What Information Do I Need To List My Boat For Sale Online

That means at a minimum you should ensure there are no typos, spelling or grammatical errors. As we in the journalism business like to say, If you couldnt be bothered to spell things correctly, people are going to wonder what else you got wrong. People will stop reading a sloppy news story. With a clunky classified boat listing, they might just move on to another ad.

Provide as much detail as possible within the allotted space on the website where youre listing your boat. Use exact builder specifications for the boats dimensions, including length , beam, draft and gross weight. Provide bullet points to highlight improvements, optional upgrades and aftermarket equipmentsuch as additional seating, electronics and navigational systems. Dont forget to include model numbers and brand names for any equipment onboard as well as details on the boats electrical system. Overall, make it easy to read and digest.

Include details about every feature on your boat including upgrades and equipment.

Also, for buyer and seller peace of mind, consider a Boat History Report for your vessel. For a while, buyers purchased the reports , but now sellers are providing the reports upfront too. You can purchase a report at boathistoryreport.com, a nationwide database that details boat histories by hull identification number . The site has roughly 100 million boat registration records on file. Obtaining a boat history report as a seller is another way to ensure a quick sale of your boat!

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How To Sell A Boat With Boatshed

• Your local Boatshed Broker will make an appointment to visit your boat.
• We take unlimited photos, videos & record your boats full inventory, this takes approx 1.5 hours.
• As soon as your boat goes live on Boatshed, it gets marketed across all Boatshed offices 70+ across the world.
• Plus we can also tick a box which sends your boat to Yachtworld, Boats.com, The YachtMarket and many more, your local broker will advise.
• As soon as your boat goes live on Boatshed websites, your broker will send your boats first marketing campaign, targeting only active profiled buyers who are looking for a boat like yours.
• Your local Boatshed Broker manages all customer enquiries, questions and requests for information and will keep you fully informed at all times.
• we accompany all viewings and we relay all offers to you for your consideration.
• All monies are placed in a secure Clients account.
• We handle the sale from start to finish, keeping you informed throughout.
• You only pay for our service if we are successful in finding a buyer.

Autobuytm Sell Your Boat Online We Pay The Maxtm

Boats are part of the lifestyle in the south-eastern part of the country. However,selling your used boat is quite complicated. If you are looking to sell your boat,AUTOBUY is the right place to sell it for the maximum value. Boats are not easyas selling your cars and have lot more legality, paper work and other arduous tasksassociated with it. With AUTOBUY you can sell your boat online, fast, and hasslefree. Time is of prime importance if you are selling your boat. A used boat thatis on the market unsold for over 60 days loses its value remarkably. The longeryou keep your used boat on the market, there are higher chances for it to collectdust, rust, mechanical issues and even lose its sheen and attractiveness, reducingthe value of your boat heavily.

Selling it yourself is once again a difficult task and takes a lot of time and effortto find a suitable buyer and complete the legalities and paperwork all by you. Thereare high chances for your boat to remain unsold even after long days on the marketif you are trying to sell it by yourself. A Dealer would buy your vehicle sooner,but the dealer would charge you a fee and commission for purchasing your vehicle.They would most definitely offer a price that is less than actual market value asthe dealer would intend to the sell boat to a new buyer with a profit margin.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AUTOBUYTM

THESE VEHICLES WERE PURCHASED BY AUTOBUY

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Preparing Your Used Boat For Sale

Properly preparing your used boat for a sale is key to selling it quickly. Just as important as when selling a house, proper staging is critical to achieving your desired price. As a boat seller, you should make sure your boat is in the best possible condition before putting it on the market. A well-maintained boat will be more appealing to buyers and will help you sell your used boat faster. Here are a few steps to prepare your boat for a quick sale.

• Clean the boats interior and exterior thoroughly
• Repair minor cosmetic problems
• Organize your boats service records
• Check and repair your boat trailer
• Give your engine a tune-up and fix any known mechanical problems
• Disinfect surfaces to prepare your boat for in-person showings

Take this helpful tip from Boat Traders Gary Reich. When I sold my little 18-foot center-console, I removed everything from it and loaded it into the back of my vehicle. Fishing rods, tackle boxes, safety kits, two-stroke oileverything. Then I scrubbed and cleaned out every last stowage compartment and locker on the boat, Gary said after selling his boat. Removing everything will help your prospective buyer imagine the boat as his or her own, versus one thats piled full of someone elses stuff.

Above: Cleaning a boat thoroughly before selling it is always a good idea. Photo: Gary Reich.

How To Sell A Boat

Everything you need to know about selling your boat. This boat selling guide provides step-by-step information to sell your used boat.

Once youve decided to sell your boat , getting to work in a professional and systematic manner will boost your chances of a swift successful outcome. This boat selling guide is intended to provide information for private sellers to follow, with step-by-step instruction on how to sell a used boat.

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Selling Your Boat Yourself

If you cant get a broker or dealership to sell your boat, sell it yourself.

Selling a boat yourself is no fun as it is like a full-time job.

The main things you have to do when selling your boat is to advertise, show it and then sell it.

If your boat has flaws that buyers can use to negotiate a price reduction, beat them to it by saying upfront that you ask that price because of so and so.

You also have to organize sea trials and show the boats capabilities.

You need to learn to weed out time-wasters who are not serious about buying.

Some boaters feel uncomfortable showing their boat if it has shortcomings. But its better to be honest about the true state of the boat and hope you can find a buyer who can love it as you do.

When you find the ideal buyer, all that will matter is the joy and happiness they will derive from owning the boat.

Remember that the decision to buy a boat is emotional, not logical or economic. So do your best to portray your boat as worth the price and hope for the best.