How to sell a boat Part II

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geronimo

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My question to the forum about selling a boat generated almost 1000 visits and 47 replies. I learned a lot and am currently following your advice, thank you.

Next practical question: I would tend to sell my Najad 390 fully equiped in a sail away immediately condition including portable ICOM VHF, Steiner binoculars, Toshiba laptop and MaxSea, personal EPIRB, new fenders, fully equipped kitchen, etc, even with a full tank of water and fuel.

Is this reasonable, or should one empty the boat and sell it only with fixed equipment (because the difference in price would be much less than the cost of such equipment). On the other hand is it not better to buy a really well equipped boat.
 
Selling a boat with a full inventory means the buyer has fewer uncertainties and problems. This makes it easier to sell, but may not always justify a firmer price. People expect a fair amount of kit to come with the boat.
You arent going to get rich hawking ódds and ends of gear round boat jumbles or websites. So unless there is something you want to keep yourself, like the binoculars, or you have another boat which can use the gear, I would include it in the boats price.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My question to the forum about selling a boat generated almost 1000 visits and 47 replies. I learned a lot and am currently following your advice, thank you.

Next practical question: I would tend to sell my Najad 390 fully equiped in a sail away immediately condition including portable ICOM VHF, Steiner binoculars, Toshiba laptop and MaxSea, personal EPIRB, new fenders, fully equipped kitchen, etc, even with a full tank of water and fuel.

Is this reasonable, or should one empty the boat and sell it only with fixed equipment (because the difference in price would be much less than the cost of such equipment). On the other hand is it not better to buy a really well equipped boat.

[/ QUOTE ]

A good broker could advise you here, with current price trends and what equipment will help or could be sold under seperate negotiation as part of the deal. He might even have clients on his database who are looking for a boat for a specific purpose that had not considered a Najad, but with the right gear and presentation by the broker, may add a Najad to their short list. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif


Ok tin hat on-here it comes.....
 
No need for a tin hat!

As a prospective buyer at the moment, The kit on board does have a bearing on my decision.... not 100%, I still want the right boat in the right condition first, but then between 2 good boats, the kits counts.....

However.... a but, and a big but..... thinking about it, I don't allow for that in the purchase price.... eg I wouldn't expect to pay a great deal more for a boat with more kit on it...

Actually, thinking about it a bit more... the sort of person buying your boat would probably be an experienced sailor.... this is unlikely to be a first boat purchase.... so they will have a good idea of the value of all the kit on board, and the amount it will cost them if it isn't there.... and they will probably, as has been suggested above, have sold their previous boat with a lot of kit on board, so will be needing the bits on your boat...

So, it will make your boat more attractive to view.... it will therefore probably not get you a better price, but it will help you sell more quickly.... IMHO of course....
 
I sold a boat in 2002, fully intending to buy another, but with no clear idea when. I decided that it would be better to leave most loose things on the boat, as that would help with the sale, and I expected that the next boat would come with most of those things in place. My wife completely disagreed witht this strategy, but was gracious enough to allow herself to be overruled.
We sold the boat to a first time buyer so I think some of the equipment must have helped, but he did ask if I would include the charts as he was staying in the same area. I declined and kept the charts.
The next boat, when finally purchased, was only moderately well equipped, for instance there was no dinghy and the VHF didn't work but it did have 2 GPS sets. SWMBO has been "told you so"ing ever since. But it came from a different area with no charts so I got that bit right.
The new owners of our old boat have cleared out most of the extras we left behind, including the dinghy, though it has happened over a year or so.
I'm not sure if this helps at all; I think the amount of gear wasn't a major consideration when I have bought a boat but other people, particularly first timers, might be different. I agree that extras don't get realistically reflected in the price.
Not much help,
Derek
 
I'd certainly keep the binoculars and possibly the portable VHF Some people regard binos as personal and you can use them elsewhere. I seen a recommendation that you take your personal VHF set when you go crewing, I can't remember why -dinghy to mothership perhaps?
 
I used to race with a guy who was in retail and marketing senior management. He also agrees that putting in as much as possible really helps to sell a boat. His argument was that for instance £500-$1000 for a few books, cutlery, binoculars, etc etc, was a small price to pay when this could very easily be added onto the resale value. His theory was it could for instance make a boat that is difficult to sell at £5k without the bits and pieces sell for £6k-£7k much quicker. At the other end which is the category of boat he is more familiar with, a £120k boat has a far more flexible sale price range, and here again the cost of a few little trinkets is not here or there, if you are wanting to sell the boat quite quickly.
 
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