How to Price your Boat With One Good Month of Season Left

Boating season is almost over. For many, this means thinking about getting their boat ready for winter. That said, a few of us prefer to try to sell our boats before the season ends, removing the need to winterize. If that is you, how you price your boat over these final weeks will decide whether it sells or sits in storage until spring.

When considering selling during this last month or so of the boating season, it is important to know that it can be a balancing act. Obviously, you want to get what your boat is worth, but you don’t want to overprice it, which could easily leave you holding onto it through the winter. 

Here’s how to go about that.  

Start With the Current Market, Not What You Paid

The first step is determining what your boat is actually worth. It can be tempting to use what you paid as a deciding factor, but really, that has nothing to do with what your boat might sell for now. Instead, you want to take a look at the current market and what similar boats are going for. 

Look for boats that are genuinely comparable:

• Same or similar make and model
• Similar model year
• Similar length and configuration
• Similar engine type and horsepower
• Comparable engine hours
• Similar overall condition
• Similar electronics and equipment
• Similar trailer or other included equipment
• Similar geographic market

Be careful when doing this. Keep in mind that a boat that has been meticulously maintained will be worth more than a similar-looking boat that has been heavily used or poorly maintained.

Price Your Boat from other Selling Prices

Online listings are useful when it comes to trying to determine a fair asking price, but they can also be misleading. Keep in mind that the amount a seller lists their boat for is not necessarily the amount it will sell for. If a listing has been sitting on the market for months, there is a good chance that the asking price is too high. On the other hand, a boat that disappears from the market quickly likely sold at or near the original asking price. 

If you can, try to gather some info about actual completed sales. You can use the info gleaned from browning online listings, but this might also include dealer trade in values, brokerage opinions, and info on boats that have recently sold in your area. 

Adjust for the End-of-Season Timing

Whether you like it or not, having only one good month of season left does affect how much your boat will sell for. A buyer looking for a boat early in the season might be willing to pay a premium for immediate access to a boat that they will be able to enjoy for months to come. Meanwhile, someone looking to buy a boat at the end of the season knows they will have to put their new toy away for the winter in just a few short weeks and might be looking to save a few bucks because of this fact. 

Basically, if your goal is to sell before winter, your price needs to make buying now attractive enough that the buyer doesn’t decide to wait until spring.

Decide What Matters Most: Price or Timing

And this is where carefully considering timing comes into play. If selling now – before the winter sets in – means selling for less, is that a trade-off you’re willing to make? If selling now is important to you, your strategy should be different from someone who is happy to keep their boat through the winter and try to sell again next spring.

There are three basic approaches.

The maximum-price strategy

You list toward the top of the reasonable market range and accept that it may take longer to sell. The risk here is that you may miss the remaining seasonal buying window, but if that doesn’t matter to you, this might be the way to go. 

The market-price strategy

You price close to where comparable boats are actually selling. This is a good middle ground and is often the safest approach. Choosing an in-between price means you remain competitive without signaling that the boat has a problem.

The quick-sale strategy

You price slightly below comparable boats to create immediate interest. This can be an excellent way to go when your primary goal is to sell quickly. A competitively priced boat will almost definitely generate multiple inquiries in no time. That said, you do need to be careful here as a dramatically low price might make potential buyers suspicious. 

Think About the Cost of Waiting

So suppose you could sell today for a fair market price, but you believe you might get several thousand dollars more next spring. It might seem like a no-brainer to hold out until the weather warms up again, but this isn’t necessarily the case. You see, you do also have to consider the costs of holding onto the boat. 

In order to keep the boat through the winter, you will need to pay for storage, winterization, insurance, and you’ll need to keep making payments on the boat loan if you have one. You’ll also need to stay on top of maintenance and account for depreciation. When all is said and done, it might not be worthwhile to hold onto the boat over the winter season just to make a little bit more money. 

Condition Has a Major Impact on Price

We touched on this briefly earlier, but it’s worth repeating: two identical boats can have dramatically different values because of condition. Yes, you love your boat and it has been wonderful, but try to evaluate it as objectively as possible before deciding on an asking price. 

Look at:

• Hull condition
• Gelcoat and paint
• Upholstery
• Flooring
• Canvas and covers
• Engine condition
• Engine hours
• Service records
• Batteries
• Electrical systems
• Electronics
• Bilge and pumps
• Plumbing
• Trailer condition
• Tires and brakes
• Safety equipment
• Bottom condition
• Recent repairs

Obviously, a well-maintained boat that is in great condition will demand a higher selling price. That said, be careful about assuming every dollar spent on maintenance adds a dollar to the boat’s value. Routine maintenance protects value, but it does not increase value dollar-for-dollar.

Equipment Can Help—But Only If Buyers Want It

Upgrades are great, but it’s easy to overestimate how much those upgrades are actually worth. You shouldn’t expect to recoup the cost of any upgrade made to your boat. That said, you may be able to use upgrades to entice buyers. This can be extra helpful at the end of the season, when you want to sell quickly. 

Our advice? Don’t increase boat price to cover the cost of upgrades, but do list upgrades and features as a way to encourage buyers to purchase your boat before the season runs out. 

Use the Remaining Season to Your Advantage

Selling at the end of the season may not be ideal timing, but it’s not the worst timing either. Use the remaining good weather to show your boat off. In order to take full advantage of the remaining time in the season, make the boat easy to inspect and sea trial, giving buyers a chance to see the boat in the water, hear the engine run, test electronics and systems, and take the boat out for a spin. 

Once winter arrives, doing these things becomes difficult or even impossible in some cases. Use the ability to do a full inspection before the season ends as a selling point. 

Avoid the “Room to Negotiate” Trap

Many sellers deliberately price high because they expect buyers to negotiate. This is understandable and I have definitely left a small amount of negotiation wiggle room. That said, leaving too much room for negotiation can backfire. 

As an example, if similar boats are listed at $50,000 and you list yours at $60,000 because you “need room,” buyers may simply skip it. Essentially, you want to price to attract offers, not to avoid negotiation. If nobody calls, having an extra $5,000 of negotiating room doesn’t help you one little bit.

Make the Listing Support the Price

At the end of the season, buyers have even more reason to be selective. Your listing needs to give buyers reason to buy now rather than waiting until spring. This means you’ll want to include high-quality photos that show the entire interior and exterior of the boat from multiple angles including, electronics, storage areas, any upgrades, and any flaws. Be sure to clean the boat before taking photos!

Your description should also be specific and well-thought-out. List the extras that are included. Mention any problems the boat might have. Explain how the boat was maintained, and mention why you loved the boat. 

Watch the First Two Weeks Closely

Your initial listing period provides valuable information, so pay attention and use this information to your advantage. 

• If the boat gets lots of views but almost no inquiries, the price may be too high, or the listing may not communicate the boat’s value.
• If buyers repeatedly say some version of “I like it, but it’s priced higher than comparable boats,” take that seriously.
• If you receive multiple serious inquiries quickly, you may have priced competitively or even too low.

The market is giving you feedback. Listen to it.

Know When to Reduce the Price

If you have a well-written listing and the listing has been posted in a place where eyeballs are going to be on it, but you aren’t getting any interest, it might be time to reduce the price. Lowering your price doesn’t mean your boat is bad or that you have failed, so don’t look at it that way. Instead, take the lack of interest as the market’s way of communicating that your price is too high and adjust accordingly.  

As an added note, it is good to avoid tiny reductions and focus instead on making meaningful adjustments that move the boat into a different search bracket. After all, the idea is to get more eyes on your listing, and help it sell more quickly. 

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