Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 19-09-2008, 15:25   #1
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: WCVI
Boat: EndeavourCat 30
Posts: 66
Yachtworld Asking Prices VS Actual Sale Price - or What is the Markup ?

I have cruising Yachtworld nonstop for about 3 months - - hey, it's my monkey - some people facebook some people yachworld. Anyway, I'm trying to get a sense of what the average markup on a vessel might be when is placed for sale.

I have searched out many listings and seen prices reduced from past ads by 40-50% in some cases.

I have also done some "blue book" pricing with NADA www.nadaguides.com and BUC www.bucvalu.com. In many cases these book prices are 30-50% less than the current Yachtworld asking price.

I realize that some sellers are just posers, some are true sellers and some are under duress to sell (the most flexible of all).

So the questions are:

  1. How much of a percentage do you discount the Yachtworld price by when you shop?
  2. Do you feel the "blue book" prices represent a good starting offer or better yet a target final price?


Please feel free to weigh in with anecdotal info/stories.
talus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 15:44   #2
Registered User
 
Reality Check's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: West Indies, Now live aboard as cruiser/ voyager often with guest/ friends
Boat: 36' Bene
Posts: 585
Send a message via ICQ to Reality Check
neither mean anything....

Every yacht is different and so are the sellers and buyers

No formula exist... just like cars and homes and it changes with location and local market conditions... you just have to know what is what and work the best deal you can.
__________________
I prefer a sailboat to a motorboat, and it is my belief that boat sailing is a finer, more difficult, and sturdier art than running a motor.
--- Jack London
Reality Check is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 16:00   #3
Registered User
 
speciald@ocens.'s Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: On the boat - Carib, Chesapeake
Boat: 58 Taswell AS
Posts: 1,139
I think you can assume a 10% mark-up of prices ( to cover brokers fee ). Only way to tell is to make an offer and see if is accepted.
speciald@ocens. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 16:03   #4
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: WCVI
Boat: EndeavourCat 30
Posts: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reality Check View Post
neither mean anything....
Every yacht is different and so are the sellers and buyers
Neither what mean anything? Lenders use "blue books" to help determine financing. Take an agreed upon price to your financier and he will check it against his values --- you might not get the loan if you agreed sale price is too high.

I understand that every yacht and seller is different - I think I already said that. I'm looking for peoples experiences, gut feelings, good insider information etc.
talus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 19:46   #5
CF Adviser
 
Pelagic's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2007
Boat: Van Helleman Schooner 65ft StarGazer
Posts: 10,280
I believe 30-50% less than asking price is a good average area to begin your negotiations and purchasing budget on a used boat.

Where your gut comes into play is when you start specific research into the history of a particular vessel and the Seller.

Find out what the present Seller paid for it? How long has he owned it? Why is he selling? How good is the boat management? What real improvements did he make?

At the end of the day, decide what the boat is worth to YOU…not what anyone else tells you it is worth… and stick to that number.

By doing due diligence of circumstances and survey of the physical condition….. that information allows you to be patient in finding what you want at the price you have decided upon.

People will call you lucky…(but you made your own luck).

Just remember, it is ALWAYS a Buyer’s marker, despite what the brokers would have you believe. Cash Rules!
Pelagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 20:46   #6
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: WCVI
Boat: EndeavourCat 30
Posts: 66
30-50% is what I am thinking as well.

Here is an example of a 27% reduction in the asking price... Used 44 passage maker power catamaran for sale - Loose Lynx (no idea what it sold for in the end).

Now I can understand that there would be a fairly limited market for this type of catamaran - it is a pretty specialized vessel - but it was designed by Malcolm Tennant and built by Pedigree Cats in WA state... Malcolm Tennant 44' Trawler style Power Catamaran and I'm certain there is no way you could get it built today for that kind of money.

Pelagic - I think your right on target... it is always a BUYERS market.
talus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 21:58   #7
Moderator Emeritus
 
Ex-Calif's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ohio
Boat: Now boatless :-(
Posts: 11,580
Images: 4
Whether you are in a buyer's market or a seller's market depends on whether you are buying or selling - LOL...
__________________
Relax Lah! is SOLD! <--- Click
Click--> Custom CF Google Search or CF Rules
You're gonna need a bigger boat... - Martin Brody
Ex-Calif is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-09-2008, 23:24   #8
CF Adviser
 
Pelagic's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2007
Boat: Van Helleman Schooner 65ft StarGazer
Posts: 10,280
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ex-Calif View Post
Whether you are in a buyer's market or a seller's market depends on whether you are buying or selling - LOL...
Only if you have that option not to Sell
Pelagic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 03:42   #9
Registered User
 
Boomp's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Massachusetts
Boat: Morgan OI 30' Itinerant
Posts: 254
I figure 2/3 of the asking price before the survey. Its a buyers market and there are too many for sale to pay more. Negotiating via the survey can do wonders because you subtract the deficiencies.
__________________
A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drowned, he said, for he will be going out on a day he shouldn't. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we only be drowned now and again.

J.M.Synge, in The Aran Islands
Boomp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 04:15   #10
Registered User
 
amarinesurveyor's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Jupiter, FL
Posts: 169
I was curious what it sold for, so I checked my resources. Soldboats is available to yacht brokers and surveyors by subscription - it is listed there as selling in September, 2005 for $335,000, 84% of the asking price of $398,000. What we don't know is the original offer or what the agreed price was prior to survey. It's always interesting to find what they sold for, but that assumes the brokers list the sold prices truthfully.
Btian
amarinesurveyor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 05:11   #11
Registered User

Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Tampa Bay
Boat: Columbia 8.7 As You Wish III
Posts: 164
Search

Kind of the same conclusion I came to. 30 to 50 below seems a good place to start. My search is very specific in terms of the boat. For my purposes production boats will work. LA aboard with the occassional daysail in the Bay. Nice thing about production boats there is plenty to choose from. Other nice thing is I have a boat and it floats.

Only madding thing is sure wish they would update more often. Oh we sold a month ago.
ksmith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 05:11   #12
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Boat: Islander Freeport 38C, " Bristol 29.9, "Rag Time"
Posts: 21
Re: prices used boats sell for, I have found the most important pre-buy requirement is research, research, research, not just for prices but for style, value, and comparisons with every other boat that might fit your needs. In the last two years we have researched hundreds, maybe thousands of boats and ultimately purchased the first one two years ago for an incredibly low price after making three offers on other boats that fell apart. Our broker made the big difference on the first one, a really honest guy with morals. He found the boat that fit our needs and our pocketbook for less than we expected to spend. The second one, a thirty-foot sailboat was purchased after the same exhaustive research and study for at least three months, and turned up unexpectedly when all else had failed. It was just what we were looking for and had been listed at top-of-the-market price for five months. When it had not sold, the owner panicked and dropped the price by more than half. The boat was priced so low in comparison to comparable boats and was almost in turn-key condition, so I accepted the asking price...one heck of a good deal. The surveyor assessed the boat at almost double the price I paid for it. In each case the end result, the purchase of two boats, was totally different from what I initially started to look for, but each turned out really well primarily because of the research that was done.

Good luck on finding the boat that will fit your needs.
BoatTed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 07:03   #13
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: NY
Boat: Panda/Baba 40
Posts: 868
Live they say in Civ4: "Everything is worth what it's purchaser will pay".

The numbers in YW are clearly skewed by folks having their ships listed, but not seriously for sale. Everybody else raises their asking prices accordingly.

Given the volume of boat sales, I tend to think that if you haven't sold in the past year, your price is too high (regardless of what your broker may tell you). This logic may not apply to very large boats (say 50+) which may have a much smaller market.

I think 30%-50% is about right. Only the brokers know for sure.

edit: Everyone who sells seems to think they "gave it away". Everyone who buys thinks they "got the deal of the century". This should tell us something.
anotherT34C is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 07:20   #14
Registered User

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: St Charles MO
Boat: Easterly 36 Aft Cabin
Posts: 180
BUC values are the average from actual sales of that model boat and it's condition. I would use BUC it's much more accurate than NADA.
__________________
7.25 years until the Carib
easterly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-09-2008, 07:21   #15
Marine Service Provider
 
Maine Sail's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Maine
Boat: CS-36T - Cupecoy
Posts: 3,197
The only real...

The only real data brokers use comes form SoldBoats.com which is part of Yachtworld and password protected for brokers only.

Ask your broker to give you a SoldBoats print out on comps. If they refuse walk away and find a new broker. ANY good broker shold be MORE than willing to do this. NADA and BUC mean nothing and are usually way, way off of actual selling prices compiled by brokers/Yachtworld/Soldboats..

As for offers it depends on condition. A boat in the 95th precentile of condition, meaning it's in better condition than 95% of the comps on the market will usually sell very close to asking and may often involve multiple offers. I was second in line on my boat.

If the boat is beat, ridden hard and put away wet and in the 60th percentile then 20-30% bellow is a reasonable spot to begin. If the boat is trashed and in the 30th percentile you can go as low as 60-70% bellow asking as it's likely been on the market for years.

There is no "one single formula" for each boat but Soldboats is a close as you're gong to get.

While BUC used to be more accurate many brokers have stopped reporting to BUC, Computer Boat Values and others in favor of Soldboats.com. Yachtworld has obviously had a hand in this by making it much easier to report sales on Soldboats.com. Brokers are like anyone else they take the path of least resistance..
__________________
Marine How To Articles
Maine Sail is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
price

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 19:57.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.