Typical difference between asking and sold prices?

[Shrew]

The challenge with soldboats.com is you don't know the condition of the vessels. You can guess based on the 'time on market' and 'sell price'.

Two boats of the same exact year, make and model. One sells for 12K the other for 31K. My guess is the one for 12K was a basket case.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by bobnlesley

I'd be wary of believing that Gord; everyone knows that 87.623% of statistics that you see on the internet are spurious and simply plucked out of thin air.

64% of Canadians, are bad at math, according to a recent statistic.
Lucky me, I belong to the other 46%.

A Statistic Regarding Americans:
Math illiteracy effects 8, out of every 5 people.

25% of the cruisers, in the world, are on medication, for mental illness!
That's scary!
It means: 75% are sailing around, untreated!

[Networker]

Originally Posted by Emoyeni

I’d be curious to hear what everyone thinks the average percentage price change is between the asking price and sold price for boats posted on YachtWorld. For that matter, Facebook as well. Is there a place to get hard numbers?

I'm somewhat looking at boats currently. Clearly, the answer is it depends mainly on how in-demand boats are or that model is.

With that said, once I find a model I like, I ignore YachtWorld and have brokers pull the listing price, sold price, days on the market, etc. I also have them pull the date sold.

While anecdotally related to my search only, the majority of boats sold in 2021/2022 had 0-5% discount. Boats sold since 2023 have seen discounts get back to 10%, sometimes 15-30%. In order to get a 15-30% discount, the boats were older AND sat on the market for 9+ months.

In the last few months, the same model/year of boats in 2021-2022 that were getting a 0-5% discount are getting a 10-12+% discount now, as the COVID buying craze is over from what I'm seeing.

The boats I'm looking at are potentially in the 15-30% discount range as the model is older and larger, and thus, there is less demand for it. I've had the luck of preferring boats/models that others don't want; even my last boat, bought in 2021, I got a 20% discount off the asking price, which was 25% off their original asking price.

I prefer models in the 1996-2006 range as they're solidly built, have real wood inside, have curved edges on furniture, fiddles, and STORAGE. They were built to live aboard and travel around the world. They're darker, smaller windows, not as roomy, so not everyone likes them, thus the discount is higher. I've looked at many of the newer models from 2015+, and they're clearly built for the charter market as they have 1 cabinet in the galley and 1 in each cabin; the furniture is IKEA quality with sharp edges that will kill someone at sea. But they look nice so everyone wants them. With them, you're going to get a 5% discount as demand is higher.

[MicHughV]

Start with...." do you really like the boat.....
Then do a price comparison.....shop around, look at similar boats, etc
Then establish a $$$ budget that YOU can live with....ie, don't be looking at Ferrarri's with a VW budget.
Anticipate stuff you'll have to fix, replace, add, and so on......add that up...$$$$
But most importantly, keep in mind what you'll be using the boat for. ie, don't look at a boat with an 8' draft if you plan to cruise the B'mas, etc.
It's a process of elimination and you'll eventually whittle down prospective boat models to something that will suite your needs.

[dan104]

Boat pricing is really a strange game, prices vary greatly by location and age.


Some key factors:


Location: closer the boat is to repair sites and busy sailing harbors
ex: Annapolis +25-20% Grenada -25-20%


Boat age: Getting a loan for a 20 year old boat is hard so those are typ bought with cash (and smarter buyer).


Equipment included and age of it: I bought my Gozzard loaded to the gills in USVI (not charter type) at $94k against similar one not loaded in Deltaville VA at $130k


I got that price by asking owner directly what price would make him happy and then making offer that with option to renegotiate after survey (he fixed everything the survey found and I bought her like a beachhouse (they took their cloths off the boat and handed me the keys so boat was fully stocked and ready to go, we still talk when I have a question so it was a win-win for all).


I sold my last boat easly by not trying to make money but rather find someone who would love her, the result was I got asking price as it was fair and not setup to be a starting point.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Shrew

The challenge with soldboats.com is you don't know the condition of the vessels. You can guess based on the 'time on market' and 'sell price'.

Two boats of the same exact year, make and model. One sells for 12K the other for 31K. My guess is the one for 12K was a basket case.

This is not quite true. With a soldboats account one not only gets the data I showed, one also gets access to the original listing and all photographs.
With a little persistence one can also track every listing and photograph that was ever published on YW on a specific boat.

Punchline ... if a boat was sold 3 times over 20 years I can access all three of those original listings and photos.

[Emoyeni]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

It varies a lot. Look for how long the boat has been listed. Google the actual boat, sometimes you will see it listed with a different broker a year back etc. The longer it's listed the more negotiable it usually is.
-List prices are almost always high. A boat I sold had 3 available in the US. All were listed at $135k-to $140k. 1.5 years later I took 90k for mine as maintenance and moorage was adding up. That's like 34% off asking price.
-I bought one boat that was listed at $120k for $65k, but it was a mess and needed work. I originally offered 100k, did a survey and rejected the boat. I then offered 65k 'as is' after thinking about it. In the end it was not a bargain but turned out a beauty. (avatar)
-Popular boats are far less negotiable. You can search the type and try to see what prices are and how they move down over time a bit.
-How you make an offer matters! You need to sell your offer to the seller's broker. Convince him. Supply reasons like "I cant decide between this boat for a bit less or that boat" "That boat has a lot of gear" etc. "the engine in this boat is not that popular with owners"

Thanks this is great info. I think you’re spot on about giving the broker good reasons because they’re probably just going to take those reasons to the seller and push them to sell so that they can conclude the deal quickly.

[MicHughV]

Yep, brokers are very integral to buying/selling a boat. He is trying to make a buck out of the deal as well. If he can't get a buyer and seller on the same page, he doesn't close the sale and makes no money whatsoever.
If there are two brokers involved, they are obligated to split the sales commission. You can be sure that they are on the phone with each other trying to figure out where the sweet spot is.