Need Money? Here’s How to Sell a Boat to Make Some
Boat lovers never want to sell a boat, but there are periods of time that the only option is to do so. Though not all cases include dramatically sad scenarios, it’s best to make sure there’s no emotional bond between you and the boat.
However, if you feel ready to cruise a new journey and certain about your decision, here’s a complete guide on how to sell a boat. If that’s not the case, This is How to Buy a Boat – Everything You Need to Know. Moreover, if you’re sure about selling your boat and want to get everything ready for that, here’s a Guide on Preparing Your Boat for Sale.
You Need to Have a Selling Method
There are two main methods to sell a boat: DIY and working with brokers. The first may obviously be troublesome because you will have to do everything by your own! I won’t suggest you to bear all the hard work especially if it’s your first time trying to sell a boat. However, gaining more profit from selling a boat is only possible through this method. Thus, if money matters more than time and energy, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be your own broker.
On the other hand, a broker can take care of the hard work and five you more time to do other stuff, while asking for a share of the sale. Having a broker is a good idea, especially when it’s your first time trying to to sell a boat and/or have not enough time.
- find a broker or be the broker:
If your decision is to be the broker and handle the sale, it’s time to prepare for some hard work! Make some research on stuff you should know about selling a boat (e.g. selling techniques, paperworks, prices etc.); and bear in mind that being cautious is the key to make a profitable and reliable deal.
If being a broker doesn’t sound charming to you but working with one does, then try to find a trustworthy broker who is capable of and willing to help you with the sale. Although you have to pay an approximately 10% of contract to a broker, having them around and letting them to lend a hand worth it to try.
- is it worth to work with a broker?
The answer depends on your situation. Working with a broker for selling small and not profitable boats is definitely not a smart move. Most brokers usually don’t accept to sell a boat which would only make one or two grands, and it’s eventually hard to find a broker to sell a small boat. Furthermore, all brokers will ask for at least 8% of deal, which means you may have to pay all the gained profit to the broker!
But that’s not true for major deals and big boats. Having a broker to work with you on selling a big boat would enable you to organize the sale better and ask for help from an expert — when needed.
- what if you be the broker of your own?
There are some pros and cons when it comes to being your own broker (i.e. to sell a boat by your own). The most important thing about privately selling a boat is the fact that there won’t be any broker share, which means you can have 8 to 10% more than signing a deal through a broker. However, the downside of not working with a broker to sell a boat is that you will have to do plenty of hard and time consuming works (including paperworks!).
Selling a boat by your own would be hard — no doubts about it — but it’s worth it. Since the whole process of making a deal will be through you, the money you gain from the contract will be completely yours. For this reason, if you are capable of handling a boat sale without any need to professional help, it’s better not to let anyone have a hand in it.
Buyers Can’t Find a Hidden Boat; Show it!
Deciding to sell a boat mentally wouldn’t cause a flood of buyers to your house. It’s not rational to keep your hands off of work and wait for something positive to happen, right? So don’t let the sale process stop right after the beginning. Making decisions on how-to-dos is an important part of selling a boat, but not acting accordingly would ruin everything right away.
You have to plan for “showing” phases too. There are thousands of buyers out there that are dead serious about buying a boat, but that doesn’t mean they will find your boat through smelling and sixth sense. For this reason, you must plan to show your boat at proper locations and/or on related websites to make sure that potential buyers will be aware of your presence. When showing your boat, try these tips:
- clean it up and take realistic photos
First things first: before showcasing your boat and its features, clean it up and make it shine like the first days of cruising. A good look is always affective to gain more attention. Buyers are more likely to check physically attractive boats which seem to be in a better condition — comparing to others.
After the cleaning part, it would be the time to take some professional and realistic photos for online showcasing. When taking pictures of the boat, try not to include equipments that won’t be sold on the boat. (In other words, keep everything in realistic point of view).
- make it easy for buyers to check the boat
Seriously interested buyers will ask for a time to visit your boat on-site. For this reason, try to keep your boat nearby easy-to-access locations in order to encourage potential buyers to pay an on-site visit.
Bear in mind that all buyers who want to spend couple of hours just to visit your boat are really precious. These group of people are more likely to become the next owners of your boat and that’s why you have to be patience and polite — while ready to answer all of their questions.
Decide on the Price
When it comes to how to sell a boat, most people become worried about Benjamin! Though you can’t make up unrealistic prices for your boats to be sold, there’s always some room for playing with numbers. However, you have to make sure that the decided price wouldn’t disappoint potential buyers and on the contrary, will bring much more positive attention. It’s hard to decide on a final price for a boat, so be prepared for a bit of discount when met a serious buyer. Do not go for definite numbers, because people are less likely to be willing for starting negotiations with an inflexible owner. (Which means you may lose plenty of potential buyers before the actual negotiations even start).
Here’s some practical tips on how to decide on a proper price to sell a boat:
- use a brokers help
Perhaps the easiest way of making decisions about the price of a boat is to use some professional help. “professional help” here means asking a broker to lend you a hand on pricing part. A broker has plenty of useful information about the business and knows what needs to be done to get more buyers’ attention. Also, they are aware of prices’ ups and downs which enables them to calculate properly and come back to you with a solid plan for pricing.
Note: brokers don’t work on one specific part of a sale, so when the decision is to use a broker’s aid to figure out a realistic price for a boat, it’s better to be prepared for letting an approximately 10% of the contract to go.
- make online research
If losing a sweet 10% of contact doesn’t sound like an option to you at any circumstances, a self-pricing journey probably would. The first step to find a proper number with enough zeros is making an online research. That is, you have to check for other similar boats and see what prices they’ve been sold for. That would help to get your head around the real prices in the industry and give some ideas to decide on zeros!
One great way to start researching is visiting Soldboats.com where you can search for boats based on models, designes and production date to see their actual prices in deals.
- try not to be greedy!
It’s a friendly reminder: DO NOT BE GREEDY WHILE PRICING YOUR BOAT! (Better yet, use it as a chance to stop being greedy throughout the rest of your life). Optimistic prices would cause a long waiting process with no hope for a way out. No one would spend extra money to buy a used boat. Keep in mind that people opt to buy a used boat, because it’s cost-effective.
Thus, marking your boat with a huge price tag would only increase the days waiting for something to happen — which won’t! That’s why you need to be extra realistic about pricing part while being open to good offers. When selling a big boat, losing a couple of thousands of dollars wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? So stop being greedy and don’t forget that a normal deal with a bit of profit is always better than having nothing!
Be Your Own Advertising Expert
You won’t wait for something magical happen after the pricing part is done, will you? You better not! The actual hunting for buyers starts right after the decision on price tag is made. When everything is ready for buyers to survey, it’s time to advertise and promote what you have for them. Advertising is the most important phase when it comes to selling a boat.
You will need a comprehensive description for your boat, emphasizing both upsides and downside of it. A well-written description wouldn’t hide any deficiency and exaggerate the benefits. Honesty is always the best option to gain buyers’ trust and encourage them to get in touch with you.
However, try to combine a well-written description with some beautiful and charming photos of your boat to draw both mental and visual attention on your boat.
You can also let a professional take care of advertising part. That is, a broker is also capable of advertising your boat online and offline! Thus, if you don’t have time for this extra time consuming works, it’s better to let a broker lend a hand on it.
Sign the Contract (But Be Cautious)
Well, you’re almost done! The only thing left is to wait for a serious buyer to start negotiations with. However, bear in mind that signing an inappropriate contract with your potential buyer may cause major problems and eventually great loss for you. So if you’re not sure about how legal stuff and paperworks must be done, the best idea is to ask a broker to help.
That’s it… Good luck with your sale!
Reference (s):
1. Holmes Rupert | 2018 | How to sell a boat | Boats |