Figuring boat pricing

[mippel]

It has come time to sell our first boat. The way we use the boat, it makes more sense to get something with more room for family, animals and friends. So it looks like it will be getting a pontoon soon. What is the best way to determine the local value of a boat? Is looking at Craigslist, narrowing down the ones that are close in size and year and go from there? Is there much of a difference in price between MerCruiser and Volvo in asking price? Or 3.0 or 4.3? Is there a chart out there with the rough costs?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[emoney]

Re: Figuring boat pricing

Searching Craigslist, Boattrader, Yachtworld, etc. etc. is a good way to get a feel for true market value. Make sure, however, that you search a couple different ways with one being local, of course, to judge your market and the other being make/model specific regardless of market. There's a different in resale value among brands so you don't want to be only looking at "18' runabouts" for example. Your local boat dealers have an inventory of used trade-in boats so have drive through some of those too looking at boats similar.

Closed Ebay auction searches aren't a bad indicator as well. For a "baseline", NADA Guides will give you a rough idea as well, especially if it's a later model boat that will require a lot of buyer's to obtain financing. Regardless of "market", a lot of lenders use NADA to base their loan values and that must be a consideration of the seller. Also, don't shy away from offering your boat to trade on sites like Craigslist. There might be a late model pontoon boat owner who wishes they had bought a runabout. That's the ideal way, imho, the "barter system". Usually, both parties "make out better". Good luck.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Figuring boat pricing

It has come time to sell our first boat. The way we use the boat, it makes more sense to get something with more room for family, animals and friends. So it looks like it will be getting a pontoon soon. What is the best way to determine the local value of a boat? Is looking at Craigslist, narrowing down the ones that are close in size and year and go from there? Is there much of a difference in price between MerCruiser and Volvo in asking price? Or 3.0 or 4.3? Is there a chart out there with the rough costs?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Take a look at Nada and go from there. Best bet would be to wait until spring though, hard to sell a boat for a decent price in MN this time of year.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Figuring boat pricing

Keep in mind that most of the boats that are listed on the advertising sites are the boats that have NOT sold . . . Asking prices for boats are typically higher than what buyers will pay. So, you have to ask yourself if you want to just advertise your boat or do you want to sell your boat; there is a difference.

Within a style and size range, and geographical area, the person offering the 'best' boat at the 'best' price sells their boat. Everyone else just sits there.

You can check NADA, but it typically gives high values for newer boats and low values for older boats. BUCvalue is a bit better, but many boats still will not sell at those prices.

So, my advice is to:

Check the advertised market.

Check NADA and BUC (you can get a limited FREE membership to BUC that gives you 3 lookups in 3 months)

Put your boat in the Best condition possible/practical

Price your boat to be the one of the best priced boats in that size/style.

Ignore the lowballers, as your price will already be low.

Also, be advised that we are in the Fall market and typically, supply is greater than demand. The Spring market favors selling, Fall favors buying.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Figuring boat pricing

It looks like it's going to be a nice day today in MN, so if you're not doing anything poke around at a few marina's or boat dealers, see what they are asking for similar boats to yours- dealer pricing would be on the higher end. You could also ask them what they'd pay you for your boat, if they're willing to give you a ballpark number, it'll be extremely low, perhaps half of what they'd try and sell it for.
Compare all that to Craig's list, or NADA, etc....
Old Jeep is correct, though, this is the time of year to be buying- my brother in law got a really good deal on a 1994 Sea Ray last week, private sale.

As far as the value of your motor, NADA will give you a rough idea on the value of your 4.3L engine vs the 3.0
- it may be a couple thousand, and if your 4.3L is fuel injected it's worth more yet. Not sure if the Volvo vs Mercruiser matters. I think on my boat when it was new the Volvo drives were a hundred bucks or so more than the Mercruiser. Not sure how much it matters on a used boat's value unless your potential buyer is extremely brand loyal- Fears one or the other.