How should I sell my boat?

[Dave_P]

I'm planning to put my boat up for sale in the spring.  I'm not quite ready to sell yet as there's some jobs I want to get done first and I'm having her painted in April to make her look her best.

 

I've never sold a boat before so I'm wondering the best way to go about it.  My options:

 

1.  Take the boat to a brokerage and let them sell it.  Pros:  It might sell quickly and I don't have to do much.  Cons:  They take a cut, but I'm not sure how much?  £1000?  £5000?  Anyone know?

 

2.  Sell it myself from my current mooring (they don't have any rule against this).  Pros:  I get all the sale price.  Cons:  I do all the selling work.

 

3.  Sell it myself from my current mooring but offer to take it to wherever the buyer is.  Pros:  I might get a higher price.  I get to enjoy one last cruise.  Cons:  Not sure?

 

4.  Take her down to that London and put her up for sale there.  Pros:  Might get a higher price.  Cons:  Time taken to get there, then I have to keep going down and moving on, unless I sell very quickly.

 

What are the wise thoughts of the forum on all this?

 

Of course, if anyone reading this is looking for a tried and tested liveaboard, let me know...

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

I'm planning to put my boat up for sale in the spring.  I'm not quite ready to sell yet as there's some jobs I want to get done first and I'm having her painted in April to make her look her best.

 

I've never sold a boat before so I'm wondering the best way to go about it.  My options:

 

1.  Take the boat to a brokerage and let them sell it.  Pros:  It might sell quickly and I don't have to do much.  Cons:  They take a cut, but I'm not sure how much?  £1000?  £5000?  Anyone know?

 

2.  Sell it myself from my current mooring (they don't have any rule against this).  Pros:  I get all the sale price.  Cons:  I do all the selling work.

 

3.  Sell it myself from my current mooring but offer to take it to wherever the buyer is.  Pros:  I might get a higher price.  I get to enjoy one last cruise.  Cons:  Not sure?

 

4.  Take her down to that London and put her up for sale there.  Pros:  Might get a higher price.  Cons:  Time taken to get there, then I have to keep going down and moving on, unless I sell very quickly.

 

What are the wise thoughts of the forum on all this?

 

Of course, if anyone reading this is looking for a tried and tested liveaboard, let me know...

Just mention it on Facebook and there will be a queue by the door.

[Dave_P]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

Just mention it on Facebook and there will be a queue by the door.

That depends on the asking price surely? 

[Guest]

Selling through a broker worked out very well for us. (Rugby boats) in 2015.

 

We had the boat moved down there specially. They dealt with all the marketing and the tyre kickers (and with the numpty who made and subsequently withdrew his offer).

 

Of course we paid (and I honestly can't recall the percentage now) but felt it was worth it.

 

That said boats were taking longer to sell back then and it's a different climate now. Why not try option 2 first and then move to option 1 if it doesn't shift.

[Machpoint005]

3 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

That depends on the asking price surely? 

 

Wherever you sell it, any boat is worth exactly what someone pays for it. Wherever you pitch the asking price, have a true price in mind. It could be the same as the asking price, or it could be the lower limit to which you are prepared to haggle. 

[Dave_P]

4 minutes ago, M_JG said:

Selling through a broker worked out very well for us. (Rugby boats) in 2015.

 

We had the boat moved down there specially. They dealt with all the marketing and the tyre kickers (and with the numpty who made and subsequently withdrew his offer).

 

Of course we paid (and I honestly can't recall the percentage now) but felt it was worth it.

 

That said boats were taking longer to sell back then and it's a different climate now. Why not try option 2 first and then move to option 1 if it doesn't shift.

What about option 3?  Do you think that would attract more buyers, especially first time buyers?

[MtB]

Consider your own priorities. Do you want top money for it? or minimum hassle?

 

My view is give it to. broker. They will get full market price with little or no time input required from you, less £4-4k commission.

 

If you have time in spades on your hands and want top money, then the broker offers little value as you can do all the legwork yourself. 

 

A boat for sale with a mooring might also seem more attractive to some buyers.

 

 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

What about option 3?  Do you think that would attract more buyers, especially first time buyers?

 

One of the reasons we had our boat moved was because once we had made the decision to sell the boat we didn't want to use it further in case we started to doubt our decision was the correct one.

 

I was quite happy to wave it off from our mooring at Pollington.

 

I guess it depends how you feel. But it I do think would be an attraction to a buyer yes.

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by M_JG

[Tonka]

Get Whilton Marine to give you a price for them to buy it

[Laurie Booth]

Paint the inside white, take it down to London, write a blog saying it cost nothing to live on the boat,

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Laurie Booth

[Dave_P]

2 minutes ago, Laurie Booth said:

Paint the inside white, take it down to London, write a blog saying it cost nothing to live on the boat,

 

I like it!  Perhaps I should also befriend an influencer and get them to post something about it?

6 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

we didn't want to use it further in case we started to doubt our decision was the correct one.

 

 

I hear this!!

7 minutes ago, MtB said:

Consider your own priorities. Do you want top money for it? or minimum hassle?

 

My view is give it to. broker. They will get full market price with little or no time input required from you, less £4-4k commission.

 

If you have time in spades on your hands and want top money, then the broker offers little value as you can do all the legwork yourself. 

 

A boat for sale with a mooring might also seem more attractive to some buyers.

 

 

I think my priority is to maximise the price.  But maybe the reach of a good broker means I can get more for it which would offset the broker's fee?  Is £4k standard?  I think I'm in the wrong job!

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

  Is £4k standard?  I think I'm in the wrong job!

 

Rugby boats charged a percentage fee based on the final sale price. So it wasn't fixed at any particular level. 

 

Just checked and their current fee is detailed on their web site.

 

For boats up to £70,000 our commission is 6%+VAT (minimum charge £1,500 + VAT), with discounts available for returning customers and higher value boats

Edited January 26, 2023 by M_JG

[Mad Harold]

Selling it yourself you will get lots of dreamers, people who just want to talk, people who want to know about canals and boats in general and use you as a source of information.

There will also be others who make an appointment to view your boat and don' t turn up, and if you are some distance from your boat, will waste a day.

I would use a broker, and let them sort out the genuine buyers.

[Tonka]

8 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

Selling it yourself you will get lots of dreamers, people who just want to talk, people who want to know about canals and boats in general and use you as a source of information.

There will also be others who make an appointment to view your boat and don' t turn up, and if you are some distance from your boat, will waste a day.

I would use a broker, and let them sort out the genuine buyers.

On the nice days you will get families who want a day out on a boat

[alan_fincher]

From memory of quite a few years ago, I think brokers were charging 5% to 6%.  However I think there is VAT to pay on top of their quoted fee.

I've no idea how things have changed since, though, but when VAT is added it will be a largish slice of the selling price.

 

But then you have to consider how much better the selling price might be via a broker, rather than if you sell direct.

If you don't use a broker don't underestimate the time you would spend letting "fender kickers" look at the boat, nor what the  costs to you might be driving to it repeatedly.  A definite argument for not dumping it in London, I think.

[Naughty Cal]

We sold ours privately. We decided that we would walk away with more money from the sale this way.

 

It was a relatively straight forward procedure. Advertised it on a few internet forums. We had three interested parties although only one came to view the boat.

 

The hardest part was deliberating between the three offers and deciding who was best served to proceed.

 

We agreed, as the chap who bought it didn't view the boat that we would offer to come and fix any problems that he found within the first few months. He didn't find any.

 

Price the boat sensibly and it will sell quickly and easily.

 

Personally I wouldn't bother getting it repainted. Just polish what you already have. The chances of the colour scheme you choosing being exactly what the new owners want is slim to none.

[Dave_P]

25 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

From memory of quite a few years ago, I think brokers were charging 5% to 6%.  However I think there is VAT to pay on top of their quoted fee.

I've no idea how things have changed since, though, but when VAT is added it will be a largish slice of the selling price.

 

But then you have to consider how much better the selling price might be via a broker, rather than if you sell direct.

If you don't use a broker don't underestimate the time you would spend letting "fender kickers" look at the boat, nor what the  costs to you might be driving to it repeatedly.  A definite argument for not dumping it in London, I think.

Do they charge VAT on the selling price or the brokerage fee?

1 hour ago, Mad Harold said:

 

There will also be others who make an appointment to view your boat and don' t turn up, and if you are some distance from your boat, will waste a day.

 

I'm not too bothered about that.  I'm either on the boat or 10 minutes away.

[Tracy D'arth]

1 minute ago, Dave_P said:

Do they charge VAT on the selling price or the brokerage fee?

on the fee

[Machpoint005]

...because they are charging VAT on the service, not the boat itself. 

[Athy]

Dave, unless I missed it, you missed one option out: let a broker sell it from your home mooring. That's how we sold our last boat via ABNB, the selected well: the first couple who viewed it bought it.

[mrsmelly]

All my boats have sold easily. My last boat I just mentioned on this forum I was considering selling it and lo and behold a forum member I had never met messaged me and said he would like to buy it. Boats were selling very well at the time a couple of years ago but I did him a great deal. Many reasons

1/ I sold it without any hassle

2/ He didnt want a survey, nowt wrong with the boat but its all the hassle and maybes

3/ He paid cash he already had straight into my bank

4/ I could have sold it for more if I wanted to squeeze the last few grand but cash added to my other cash enabled me a great deal on my next purchase

 

He loves the boat and like me is living on it, he very rarely posts on the forum but is still here and I think enjoying his boating life. So a win win for both of us.

He could sell it for more today which is great.

So ya never know, this thread you started may have a similar result.

 

[system 4-50]

Don't use a broker who won't let you see (stop) the surveyor savaging your blacking whilst doing his witchdoctor incantations so that your boat is still in good order if the sale fails to complete.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

Personally I wouldn't bother getting it repainted. Just polish what you already have. The chances of the colour scheme you choosing being exactly what the new owners want is slim to none.

 

Definitely.

 

Our boat had faded by the time we came to sell it and it had a few scratches in the paint. We opted to just have a polish and the scratches touched in. We also had the well deck floor and the gas locker repainted and the bow flashes touched in/repainted in the exact same colours.

 

It didn't cost an arm and a leg and it lifted the appearance of the boat considerably at relatively little cost.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by M_JG

[Machpoint005]

That's what second-hand car dealers call "kerb appeal". It certainly applies to boats, too. 

 

[Dave_P]

1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

 

Personally I wouldn't bother getting it repainted. Just polish what you already have. The chances of the colour scheme you choosing being exactly what the new owners want is slim to none.

You haven't seen the state of the current paintwork...