Boats are great for your weekend relaxations. They are also your best companion if you live by the coast. But despite all your cherished memories, you may want to sell your boat at some point.
To sell it to the appropriate buyer & get handsome cash is often challenging. There are some vital factors that influence the chances of selling your boat at a reasonable price. As most of the people ignore them, they simply become disappointed after selling their long-term companion.
To make sure you don’t get that disappointment, we will be talking about ten factors that make a difference between a generous & moderate deal.
1. Make Your Boat Look Better
If I ask you to choose between a worn-out, shabby looking boat & a beautifully painted boat, what will you choose? The answer is obvious! It takes only 20-30 seconds on board for your buyer to decide whether they will buy your boat or not.
If you want to have a firm grasp over your buyers, make the first impression count. For boats, it’s always looks, looks & looks. If you look almost as good as it did in the old days, then consider it half sold.
Seeing the ratty dock lines or dusty black gunk will irritate your buyers, thinking that you don’t take care of your boat.
Instead, you can add newly-coated varnish, polish the metals, and clear the stains. Give it some paint to look stunning.
You can check it out for yourself. Go onto any boat-selling website, and you will see that the better-looking boats for sale catch a better price.
2. Focus On Thorough Detailing
On the inside, you need to make some changes like washing the carpets with shampoo to smell good, clearing all the junk, etc. Keep your oven, stove, & refrigerator neat & tidy because some buyers judge by seeing the kitchen condition. Never rule out these small things.
Another critical point is the odor of your boat—the last thing you want to smell your boat so bad that your customers walk away immediately. It is ubiquitous, considering the number of times you stepped into your boat with specks of dirt on your shoes, spilled beer, or coffee.
If you don’t want to kill your sale, leave the hatches open for proper ventilation, and add chemicals to make sure you neutralize any aroma left.
3. Remove Personal Belongings
Whenever you take a buyer on your boat, you need to make them feel like it’s their own. So, if you have any particular things, it can be a photograph of your family or some towels or a book, remove those.
You can choose to add some pillows or cushions to create a decorative appeal. Another important thing most of the people overlook is leaving the toaster & blender in the galley. These don’t add up any beauty to the boat.
4. Ready The Boat For A Final Check-up
Imagine taking a buyer for a short cruise on your boat, but suddenly, your boat stopped. Can there be any worse situation than this?
If you don’t want to spoil the deal at the eleventh hour, do a proper check-up of your boat. List all those things that you need to take a look at.
You may have lived with a damaged windshield wiper, but to your buyer- it’s an example of poor maintenance. Remember Murphy’s Law? Your buyer will always look for that one thing to switch the deal off.
Check the engine, cure the wiper, have enough life jackets ready, see if the fire extinguisher is working.
5. Take High-resolution Photos
In this digital age, putting your boat up for sale is a child’s play. Use filters while capturing photos as much as you need to get that elegant look.
Usually, pictures are the only option for online buyers to make a decision. If you upload blurry, low-quality photos, yours is sure to stumble. So make sure you have high-resolution and detailed pictures.
For selling your boat online, you also need to use a few SEO tricks to make it appear in the search results. Use the right keywords and tags in the description.
6. Showcase Its History
It’s a smart approach that will give you authenticity in selling your boat. Showcasing the history of your beloved boat will keep the buyers wondering to know more.
You can share the good times you had with your family on this boat, the date of its very first cruise, & all those adventurous moments in photos.
7. Be Up-To-Date With The Market & Pricing
No matter how finely you maintained your boat, your boat is worth exactly what your buyer will pay. It is bitter but real, and you must accept it. Remember that the boat market is unstable and be sure to check out narrow boats for sale.
So, do some proper research, and then put the “for Sale” sign. Take an expert’s help if needed. If you want to generate profit, wait for the moment when there are fewer boats to sell.
8. Get A Broker’s Help
Though it’s costly, investing in a broker for professional suggestions is entirely worth it. A broker knows the market very well. So, if pricing is your concern, a broker can save you a lot of time since he has more in-depth knowledge.
9. Communicate Both Online & Offline
You need to put up the sale information of your boat online. Along with this, offline marketing is equally important. Your potential buyers can be anywhere.
They may have seen your boat on a website, on someone’s phone, or in person. No matter what the situation, you should always be ready to talk to the buyer.
Never tell the best price of your boat over the phone. Meet them in person to finalize the deal. Maybe they are trying to find your last price before going somewhere else. You can never be sure whether they have the solvency to buy or not.
10. Keep Your Documentation Ready
Serious buyers will always scrutinize every detail. That’s why you must complete your paperwork and keep it ready.
Be sure to have the registration paper, Coast Guard documentation ready. Also, the specification of your boat size, engine, mechanical information, etc. needs to be there.
You can also add information about the recent upgrades & services completed.
Final Thoughts
The boat market is very volatile, and prices can sink like rocks. Be sure to get your boat back to its top shape. Consider the tips mentioned above, and always be aware of the current market stats to get the best available deals.