Making an offer on a Boat

[NorthPacific]

Simple question:

What do you or have you initially offered on the asking price of a boat?

[Mike OReilly]

Simple answer: What it's worth to me.

[NorthPacific]

Thanks mike

Any other gems

Start low and work up. Don’t know how low never been good at haggling.

[Mike OReilly]

You're looking for the secret answer that doesn't exist.

Do your homework. Research the boat and the market it's in. Assess the value of the boat in context. Then decide what it's worth to you. You already own a boat, so you already have a foundation to make an assessment.

But would you rather just hear something simple like, offer 80% of asking price? Is that better?

[NorthPacific]

Lol that’s what I want to here.

I know what I would ask for my boat but I don’t know I’d get it. Actually dam sure I would not.

[LittleWing77]

Hey North,

It's a difficulty in this market because boats are suddenly grossly over-priced. For example, a boat I've had my eye on that's been languishing in the yard for the past 3 years at a posted price of $25,000 (an eminently reasonable price for this particular boat), suddenly this week has been jacked up to $45,000. <Sigh>

Mike O'Reilly (as usual) is absolutely right. Some homework will be involved. Look at good, bristol versions of the boat you want. What are they priced at? Look at poor/old versions. What is their price?

I do know that a bristol Pacific Seacraft 34 is just about to be sold for $74K after being on the market all Summer for $89K. I think the offer/counteroffer process had begun in July, however, before boat prices became unrealistic.

The other suggestion I have for some self-leavening is to look at a particular price - say the $25,000 I was considering. Then take that dollar amount out for a spin and ask yourself: What other boats (similar size, condition) could I get for that same dollar amount? It helps you determine if the seller is being reasonable (and if you are being reasonable potentially spending that amount for the boat you want).

One thing I'll also pass along that I learned from someone on this Forum: Don't let yourself be seduced by a seller who has "recently installed the [top of the line/expensive] gee-gaw", if it's a component that's already meant to be on the boat. If they installed a $10,000 golden flushing head, that's on them. If the boat is meant to have a head, the seller doesn't get to add $10,000 to the selling price just because he's installed a $10,000 head.

Any enhanced gear that is inherent to the boat does not get to be added up into some inflated selling price just because the seller has recently bought and installed new and wants to pass that cost along to the buyer.

That's flawed math. Don't fall for it.

Good luck finding your new boat!
Warmly,
LittleWing77

[Mike OReilly]

LW makes an excellent point about the current market, which is why I said you have to research it yourself... Right now it seems boats are hot, so prices are higher and firmer in general. It's probably a lousy time to buy, although a good time to sell.

My view is that most used boats don't really have an operating market. Unless you're into a truly mass-market boat in a large area with lots of boats moving hands, then normal market forces are hard to call upon.

As LW says, it's not hard to get a sense of the top and bottom ends of the boat you're looking at, but how applicable this will be to the exact boat you're looking at is harder to say, especially if it is older, with few moving in the market. You can look at comparable boats to further extend 'the market', but in the end, you have to decide what the boat is worth to you.

Most owners list knowing they'll get haggled down, although in this hot market the range may be less. So as a general guide I'd say offer something that won't kill the negotiations before they begin. In the past an 80-90% offer is very safe. But given current realities, perhaps it's not anymore.

If I were wanting to buy, I'd wait a couple of years. Assuming the apocalypse actually ends, and we get back to something approaching normal, my bet is all these boats (and RVs, and recreational properties) will come back on the market in a big way, driving down prices. But that's just my unsophisticated guess.