How To Sell My Boat Online

Things You Need To Know To Safely Sell Your Boat Online

Every one of us owns something we want to get rid of. It might be furniture, or accessories, or vehicles – but selling a used item is not an easy task. Buyers have become more aware of the online market, and demand the most of what theyre paying for. If you have a boat you want to sell, it may not be the easiest. Here you will find some tips that should help you sell your boat online.

Embed Checkout Page In Site & Sell Boats Online

Primarily, just copy the embedding link of the plan given in the box and embed the checkout page on your WordPress site or anywhere you want.

Edit the Page & Paste the Copied Link

Subsequently, after copying the link, all you need to do is paste it in the text area of the editor.

Save & Publish the Checkout Page

Following the previous step, just paste the code and then tap on the Publish button. Voila! Your checkout page is embedded.

Check out the Final Look of your Checkout Page on WordPress Site

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.

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Lights Camera Action: Make Your Boat Stand Out

Once your boat is spotless, its time to take high-quality, detailed photos and video. Remember, the more photos the better! If you choose to sell your boat privately and own a smartphone, like an iPhone, you can shoot professional-quality photos without the need to hire a pro.

When shooting photos, find an attractive, uncluttered spot in order to capture the best possible imagery. Direct sunlight can be harsh and may create glares and strange shadows that end up making the boat look worse than it actually is. Try to shoot your photos during Golden Hourin the eveningor in the morning when the sun rises.

In addition, try to photograph your boat on the water. While trailer shots will suffice, there is no better place to show your boat to potential buyers than on the water. While youre there, dont be afraid to shoot a short walk-around video describing different aspects of the boat. Hold the camera horizontally, click record and show the boat off by walking through the vessel, showing a cold start, and talking about different options and features.

Above: Be sure the lighting is right when shooting photos or video of your boat. Photo: Ryan McVinney for Boat Trader.

Selling My Boat On Craigslist

I feel its a must to address selling a boat on Craigslist because its that one platform that everyone believes works, but also the platform everyone is the most afraid of.

Here Is The Deal:

Craigslist rings your phone! However, it is also true that:

• Many of those people will never ask you one question about the boat before asking for a discount first
• Many of those people will be dealers or brokers trying to pitch you their services
• Many of those people will be dealers or Flippers offering you significantly less so that they can sell your boat for their own profit.
• Many of the emails or texts you receive could be scam artists.

So, if you are in a rush you should use Craigslist! However, be prepared for the debris thats going to come in with that flood of action your listing recieves.

Tip: If a lot of people are calling you offering you cheap prices upfront, thats a good sign. Those are dealers or people that flip boats on the side who think your boat is in high demand.

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How Long Does It Take To Sell A Boat

Selling a boat in a timely manner is key. Just like a house, the longer a boat stays on the market, the more buyers wonder what could be wrong with it. Working with a yacht broker or boat dealer to sell your yacht will most likely expedite the process, given the contacts and marketing savvy that they have after all, they have made a career out of selling and helping to purchase yachts.

How To Sell A Boat Fast Part 1

Founder & CEO YATCO – The Official MLS of Yachting

If you want to learn how to sell a boat fast, first you want to discover the pros and cons of selling a boat on your own or through a boat dealer or yacht broker. Please find below the ultimate checklist for boat owners on how to sell a boat fast yourself, or with the right yacht broker below.

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How To Sell A Boat On Boat Trader

Boat Trader is a website where you can select a package, upload your boat information and sell your boat fast. Although they may have lots of visitors to the site, selling a boat on Boat Trader is not nearly the same as using an actual person to conduct the business of selling a boat properly. On Boat Trader, you select your package, build your own listing, and then you must watch the listing closely to see if you get any bites. Another important thing to remember in selling its all in the images. If you do not have professional images of your boat, then you risk the chance of potential buyers skipping over your listing.

Boat Restoration And Upgrade Costs

In case you skimmed over it just before this section, I want to highlight again the importance of understanding that upgrades or restoration costs to a boat do not pass on directly to a buyer. You may have loved that new Garmin Electronics upgrade, but your buyer is a Raymarine fan. Why should they pay full price for your favorite gear? They wont They just wont!

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How Long Does It Take To Sell A Used Boat

Typically, the higher the price, the longer it takes. Figure 8-12 weeks as a baseline. Time of year can also be a factor. There are typically more consumers looking to buy boats in the spring, summer and fall months, but during those times, there is also typically an elevated number of boat listings on the market. That said, your best bet is to list your boat on a website with an audience of potential boat buyers like Boat Trader or boats.com.

Pricing Guides For Boat Sales

Helping to arrange Boat Financing for your buyers is helping yourself get paid, and contrary to common sense, many people are shopping before they ever actually secure the funds! A new Boat Lender just popped up here in South Florida called Hydro financing and I would definetly give them a shout. Theyre designed specifically to get in and out quickly with rates that are just as good as you would get through any other lender!

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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.

What Is The Best Time Of Year To Sell A Boat

What most people is that the best time of year to sell a boat is between February and June. You can probably expect 3 times the amount of action in this time period as opposed to waiting to get into the heart of Summer. And in case you live in a perpetual boating season, such as in Florida, this time period still holds up!

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Where To Sell Your Boat Online

Once upon a time, placing newspaper and magazine classified advertisements was by far the best way to sell your boat. If that were still the case, you wouldnt be searching the internet today for a better solution, and you wouldnt be reading this article. If you want to sell your boat quickly, safely, and for the best price, then you should sell your boat online.More specifically, you should list it for sale on boats.com, Boat Trader, or YachtWorld. Yes, full disclosure, our company owns these sites, but that isnt the only reason were advocating for them.

A site like boats.com attracts a high volume of visitors because it features hundreds if not thousands of models in popular boat types such as bowriders.

What Is The Best Way To Sell A Boat

The best way to sell a boat is to first take inventory of your own knowledge and marketing skills. How much of an expert are you, or would you fare better knowing that someone with contacts, leverage, and marketing capability can swoop in and sell your boat faster? In either case, work through the boat sellers checklist below to help determine the better route.

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Ask Yourself: Can I Sell My Boat For Free

The quick answer is, you can sell any boat for free. However, some boats may not sell quickly or for a good price unless you spend a little on advertising since you may not reach all the sellers you need to.

What boats sell well for free?

• Sailing dinghies, like Lasers, Optis, and other small day sailors. I’ve sold several this way.
• Canoes, kayaks, and rowboats
• Smaller sailboats
• Anything on a trailer

The key to whether you can sell it for free is finding out the market. Who is your buyer, and how far will they travel for your boat? Once you know that, you can figure out how to get your boat in front of the buyers and where it makes sense to advertise it.

One consideration on your market is portability of your boat. You can strap a Laser dinghy on a rooftop, but a Capri 22 keelboat needs to be on a trailer if it’s outside of cruising range. A forty foot cruising sailboat has takes commercial trucking or delivery on its own bottom.

Boats which are portable are easier to sell. If you try to sell that Capri 22 but don’t have a trailer, it will be harder to sell outside your home waters. Someone can drive two hundred miles to pick it up on a trailer, but they may not want to sail a small boat that far, so they won’t buy it if they can’t get it home.

Large and expensive boats which need to attract buyers from a distance are harder to sell for free.

How Much Does A Boat Broker Charge

Typically a Boat or Yacht broker is going to charge a commission fee of between 5% and 10%. Thats typically and the factor that is usually going to affect what you will pay is the size of the boat. A broker selling an 80ft Yacht can and should charge more for their services than someone who is simply listing your 20ft center console for you.

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Sell Your Used Boat Online

• Buyers From all Over Europe

  Your ad is automatically translated into many different languages and will appear on boat24.com in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom

• Attention, Ready, Online

  Place your detailed ad within minutes, even with pictures. You can change and adjust it at any time.

• Meaningful Statistics

  Visitor Statistics: Check how many prospective buyers have seen your ad, and optimize the text and/or pictures to get more visitors.

• Find Instead of Search

  You ad is automatically optimized for different search engines and gets top rankings on Google & co.

• Questions? Answers!

  We are here for you 365 days a year. Just write us on [email protected] and we’ll answer you shortly.

• Don’t Give Spam a Chance

  Our security system protects you from spam and scams.

• For iPhone and iPad

  Your boat will be published on our iPhone App.

• Everything at Your Fingertips

  With a boat24.com account you can edit your ad at any time, and delete and view your previous requests.

Power boat sold quickly and found a top new boat. Thank you very much!

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.

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How Does A Boat’s Location Affect Price

Location has a big impact on boat prices. While this variable is more or less out of your control, you do have to take it into account when determining a reasonable price to ask. Gaining insight into just how much higher or lower you should price your boat compared to other parts of the nation can be very difficult, but as a general rule of thumb, in areas where population density is low and theres a much smaller pool of buyers, the boats value could be as much as 10-percent lower than it would be in more heavily populated areas.

Other factors, such as the general availability of boats in an area, can also play a role. In some parts of the nation like south Florida, there may be so many boats of the same size and type on the market that pricing can get competitive. And in some others, such as on an inland lake in middle America where the choices are much more restricted, it can actually inflate a boats value.

So How Much Should You Sell Your Boat

Okay: now are you ready to answer the how to price my boat for sale question, once and for all? At this point it should be clear that pricing your boat is as much an art form as it is a science, and youll need to do a lot of research if you want to get top dollar without working to sell the boat for months on end. Most sellers settle on a number, list their boat, and see how much attention it draws. If people dont come rushing, they drop the price incrementally until buyers seem interested.

There is, of course, one other option that greatly simplifies matters: rather than selling your boat, trade it in on a new one. If this is an option youd like to examine, check out Trade-In or Sell Your Boat to learn the ins and outs of the process. Whatever you decide to do, one thing is for sure: when you kiss your old boat goodbye youll be sad, but when you say hello to your brand new boat itll be one of the happiest days of your life.

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Set A Realistic Price

The market value of your boat is the amount someone is prepared to pay you for it. Now.

How much you have spent is your business, and you probably won’t get it all back.

Being able to show receipts for recent maintenance will help sell the boat, however that doesn’t mean that all your costs will be returned.

What is a realistic price?

It’s not hard to check your competition – all the other boats on the market at present.

Use a searchable database of boats for sale to see the asking price of similar boats, and also see what your asking price can buy.

Firstly, go to a large sales site like Yachtworld.com and search for boats for sale of the same make, model and year. How does your boat compare?

Then look at boats for sale for the same price you would like for your boat. Is your boat competitive?

Ask yourself: ‘If I had the cash would I buy my boat at this price, or is one of the others on the market better value?’

If the answer is one of the others, then ‘Can I really expect to sell my boat at this price?’