What You Paid vs the Advertised Price

[Liam Wald]

Bought my current boat in 2003. It is a Beneteau 331. It was 6 months old when I bought it and had less than 50 hours on the Yanmar. It was basically new. Seller was asking $105. He had paid $130. I offered $85. we settled on $87.
After 7 years I have put 9K miles under the keel and 800 hours on the Yanmar, mostly singlehanded. I really like the boat and will likely be my last.

[nautical62]

It all depends on how much the owner overpriced the boat to start with and how desperate they are to sell.

My extremes:

Paid asking price for a non-negotiable new boat in charter. (Well, got the "discount" they offer any new charter buyer.)

Had an offer of 50% of initial asking price on a used Morgan OI accepted, but I walked away after the survey indicated to me, even that wasn't worth my while.

My suggestion is to base your offer on what a boat is worth to you, not the asking price. I think the correlation of asking prices to final selling prices are all over the place and not a very reliable guide.

[Vasco]

Yes it's not like buying a used car. There's no "Kelley Blue Book" on used boats. Too many different boats and too much difference in condition not to mention location. In the end it will come down to how much you want the boat. The fair market value is what you and the seller agree on.

[VERTIGO]

Does the "rule of thumb" work for most boats or is the price a factor? A $20,000 boat selling for 25% off (for easy math sake) Owner parts with $5,000 A $300,000 asking the owner to part with $75K I know all situations are different however just wondering what has been the experience of the Higher cost boats, would one be laughed at asking to drop 60-75K off a price??

[meyermm]

The lower the volume the harder to price, it is easier to work out modern production boats as lots to compare with including gear fitted. But it is interesting to see the vast differences in asking price between what appears near identical boats as in make model year and gear. That is why I advise people to buy through a broker and use the broker to neutralise the owners emotion.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Anzo

Used the owner's broker, who is one of the best guys I've met in the business, Bill Adams of United Yacht in Annapolis.

I also bought a boat through Bill. Very stand-up guy.

[kiwa]

That makes very interesting reading -
Thank you all for taking your time to post a reply - its all very heartening.

Kiwa

[ozskipper]

I bought an 8metre boat in Aus 12 months ago. The guy took 75% of the asking price.


Cheers
Oz

[BlueWaterSail]

From my experience, brokers build a 10% "negotiating discount" into the listing price. After that, it comes down to the results of the survey, and the estimated cost of fixing whatever critical issues it reveals. The key is to get "real world" pricing for any must-do repairs, this is the part where brokers like to gloss over the details to secure the sale.

When I bought Steady Beat I accepted the previous survey (one year old) after making sure all the repairs had been done (they were), hired a rigger go over the rig and a mechanic to go over the hull/engine/electrical (both trusted advisors), and when both gave the thumbs up that was good enough.

BWS

[Patient]

I visited my "dream boat" a few weeks ago and it was reduced by $20,000 2 days before I head down to take a look, so I didn't bother to press the broker any further. Was a steal at the price offered. Roughly half of what I had seen on Yachworld for the last year. There was a contract on it at the time, but the buyers seemed a bit flaky about it. Never the less the broker was kind enough to let me take a look and meet me.

Funny thing though, is that the broker told me a story of how not even a month earlier a previous interested party offered %20 less than offered and the owner was "Visibly angered by the premise.", he was "Insulted" by it. Medical bills forced him down to the price that eventually got her sold. I missed the contract by a day, but it made me a bit scared about haggling.

Another interesting conversation with the broker was how a lot of people incorporate their "upgrade plans" into a price reduction. "This vessel is lacking radar", "I need to upgrade the furling system". The premise was compared to someone trying to push an offer for a house lower than listed because they wanted to put in silk drapes. Made sense to me. She sails fine, so why should the buyer have to lower the price because I want XYZ? I am curious if anyone here has been able to reduce the price based on that idea.

There are some great deals to be had, but I am depressed about my missed opportunity as the listing for the same boat is twice what was offered for the one I had my eye on. I keep counting all the things I could have spent that additional money on. Furuno system, sails, Yanmar rebuild, Iverson dodger, etc etc. All those things listed in Red in the excel sheet as "Non critical" suddenly became feasible plans that would fit my budget now.

Moral of the story? If your heart flutters at an offer pick up the phone and call! There is sure to be someone that is thinking the same thing and you will be kicking yourself later. There is nothing lost by talking with the broker, its their job. Also do not EVER rely just on the listed price online, often they are not updated quickly at all so it doesn't hurt to try.

[ausaviator]

I'm looking at a deal on $100k for an asking price of US$139k on Catamarans . com and it was already discounted by around 15%. It would appear to be a buyers market, especially with the Aussie dollar being so high and the US in a little strife.

[bljones]

It is always a buyer's market if you know how to negotiate. Conversely, it is always a seller's market if you know how to negotiate.

[RodeTrip]

I bought my boat for $32,000 when the asking price was $35,000.

[LostAtSea2011]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Yes it's not like buying a used car. There's no "Kelley Blue Book" on used boats. Too many different boats and too much difference in condition not to mention location. In the end it will come down to how much you want the boat. The fair market value is what you and the seller agree on.

Prices & Used Values for Boats, PWC, Outboard Motors & Boat Trailers

[Dustymc]

As I mentioned earlier, we paid about 70% of asking price for a boat that was "reasonably" priced in the first place but minimally equipped. Other boats that we seriously looked at included:

1) We declined to make an offer, in part due to the great advice we got here. There are some boats that, in your particular situation, have negative value. I still really like that boat, and it'll make someone a fabulous project, but that someone is going to have to want to do more work than I.

2) A forthright seller asked us to make a $13K offer on a boat advertised for $28K. We agreed that the boat was worth about that, but not to us because of the work (largely cosmetic in this case) required. Again, someone will end up with a great boat, but it won't be us.

3) We had a $25K offer rejected on a boat advertised for $39K. The boat was worth $25K, so we walked away - even though we both really loved the boat. That boat quickly sold - I don't know for how much - so obviously someone else has other opinions of value. (Or maybe in that case we talked to a better surveyor!)

4) We looked at about a bajillion boats that were priced emotionally. The seller had put X dollars into the boat, and expected to recover most of that. I think the only way to buy these boats is after a "cool down" period, in which hopefully the seller comes to understand that their expectations are unreasonable. (And I think a fair number of these boats never sell and go on to become "yard queens".)

5) We looked at about a bajillion boats that, for whatever reason, just didn't work for us. These invariably come with a broker trying to convince us that we'll really come to love that thing we hate. We won't, so we walked.

As has been said so many times, the boat is worth what it's worth to you, and that has nothing to do with asking price. Don't put up with BS from brokers, don't get too emotional, be prepared to walk away from anything, and offer whatever you think the boat is worth.