The process of selling your boat privately can be a daunting task. If you’re interested in learning about the ins-and-outs of selling, then look no further! The experts at Boat Trader have compiled an extensive list of suggestions to ensure sellers know how to sell their boat fast. If you’ve sold a boat before and are ready to list your boat for sale right away, then Boat Trader’s private sellers page is where you may want to navigate.
We begin with some basic steps to understand before you strike a deal with a buyer. It is best to review and understand each of these steps prior to listing your boat for sale. Think of it as studying for an exam. You want to know each of the steps very well prior to meeting with potential buyers. So, let’s get started! Here are the seven steps to selling your boat online.
- Prepare your used boat – for a quick sale, think CLEAN!
- Photography and video – stand out from the crowd!
- Determine your boat’s value and pricing – use our Price Checker to price your boat
- Where to list your boat for sale – determine the best websites to list your boat
- Negotiating – be ready to communicate with buyers
- Paperwork – ensure you complete all required documentation for a boat sale
- Payments – learn how to accept payments safely and get paid
Above: Boat Trader’s Lenny Rudow walks through the steps to sell your boat online in this helpful video.
Preparing Your Used Boat for Sale
Properly preparing your used boat for a sale is key to selling it quickly. Just as important as when selling a house, proper staging is critical to achieving your desired price. As a boat seller, you should make sure your boat is in the best possible condition before putting it on the market. A well-maintained boat will be more appealing to buyers and will help you sell your used boat faster. Here are a few steps to prepare your boat for a quick sale.
- Clean the boat’s interior and exterior thoroughly
- Repair minor cosmetic problems
- Organize your boat’s service records (this will come in handy when writing your online listing descriptions and showing your boat to potential buyers)
- Check and repair your boat trailer (if applicable)
- Spruce up the engine(s), give them a tune-up, and fix any known mechanical problems
- Disinfect surfaces to prepare your boat for in-person showings
Take this helpful tip from Boat Trader’s Gary Reich. “When I sold my little 18-foot center-console, I removed everything (and I mean everything) from it and loaded it into the back of my vehicle. Fishing rods, tackle boxes, safety kits, two-stroke oil—everything. Then I scrubbed and cleaned out every last stowage compartment and locker on the boat,” Gary said after selling his boat. “Removing everything will help your prospective buyer imagine the boat as his or her own, versus one that’s piled full of someone else’s stuff.”
For more intel related to selling used boats that may show some age, see How to Sell Your Used Boat.
Above: Cleaning a boat thoroughly before selling it is always a good idea. Photo: Gary Reich.
Lights, Camera, Action: Make Your Boat Stand Out!
Once your boat is spotless, it’s time to take high-quality, detailed photos and video. Remember, the more photos the better! If you choose to sell your boat privately and own a smartphone, like an iPhone, you can shoot professional-quality photos without the need to hire a pro.
When shooting photos, find an attractive, uncluttered spot in order to capture the best possible imagery. Direct sunlight can be harsh and may create glares and strange shadows that end up making the boat look worse than it actually is. Try to shoot your photos during “Golden Hour”—in the evening—or in the morning when the sun rises.
In addition, try to photograph your boat on the water. While trailer shots will suffice, there is no better place to show your boat to potential buyers than on the water. While you’re there, don’t be afraid to shoot a short walk-around video describing different aspects of the boat. Hold the camera horizontally, click “record” and show the boat off by walking through the vessel, showing a cold start, and talking about different options and features.
Photos and videos have never been more important in selling a boat quickly than they are now. Ensure that images are not blurry and well lit, and you should have success in attracting potential buyers.
Above: Be sure the lighting is right when shooting photos or video of your boat. Photo: Ryan McVinney for Boat Trader.
Determine Your Boat’s Value: How Much Is My Boat Worth?
There are a number of factors that determine the value of a pre-owned boat. The most obvious ones include size, age and model as well as the current average price in the marketplace. Also remember that determining the value of a classic boat or an antique can be a bit different than determining value for a modern production boat. The latest 2023 statistics show that average boat value in the United States is up 7.67-percent over 2022, meaning private sellers can potentially ask for more money than they may realize for the boat gathering dust in the garage or front yard.
After that, there are more subtle elements like condition, location and equipment can be factored in. The best way to find the value of your boat quickly is by using Boat Trader’s boat price checker tool. With this tool, you can determine the value of your boat based upon similar boats that are currently on the market. For an even deeper dive, you can head to Boat Trader’s search results, where you will find up to the minute pricing on boats like yours.
Websites such as NADAGuides can also help you pinpoint a real-world value on the boat you’re selling. The company pulls in data from dealers nationwide and crunches resale numbers to establish the values it lists. NADAGuides compiles the data and publishes the values every two months. While the prices may not be as up-to-date as the live pricing on Boat Trader, NADAGuides is surely a reputable source that can help inform your pricing decision!
Ensure all high use areas on the boat are cleaned well when welcoming potential buyers aboard. Photo via Lenny Rudow.
Pricing Your Boat Accurately
The next thing you need to do is come up with a reasonable price based on the boat’s value. The average value of a vessel may not necessarily dictate your asking price—especially if you want to sell the boat fast. If you’ve made extensive modifications that may greatly increase the value of the boat, be sure to include those points within your listing description. But also remember that most accessories will not increase the price of your boat.
There is always a tendency among boat owners—or enthusiasts of any kind—to harbor an overinflated sense of what their boat is worth. It’s normal. It happens because boats are emotional purchases, which have often produced a lot of happy memories for an owner. This contributes to the exaggerated sense of value in many cases.
The goal is to sell your boat for top dollar so you can have more money to spend on your next one. However, you want to be as realistic as possible about the price of the boat you’re selling.
Boat Trader’s Emma Coady recommends to, “Set your rock-bottom sales price in your head before listing your boat for sale.” This will ensure you will not walk away from the deal disappointed. Knowing your rock-bottom price will give you a baseline for negotiating with potential buyers!
List Your Boat For Sale Online
In a 2020 study, digital formats took up the majority of U.S. adults’ daily media consumption time, while for newspapers and magazines the average time spent was just nine and eight minutes respectively. With a decline in consumption for newspapers and magazines comes naturally less-effective classified advertisements in print to sell your boat. If you want to sell your boat quickly, safely, and for the best price, then you should sell your boat online.
Long before the world relied on Google, Boat Trader magazine was the go-to place to sell a boat. In 2008, the magazine successfully shifted from print to digital media, and today Boat Trader reaches more than 10 million visitors per month. By far the most popular websites to sell your boat range from boating-specific marketplaces like Boat Trader, boats.com, and YachtWorld, to more general marketplaces like Craigslist and eBay. We suggest casting a broad net, but also placing your focus where boaters browse – on boating marketplaces!
- Boat Trader
- boats.com
- YachtWorld (you will need to list through a Broker—and typically pay a brokerage fee—to list on YachtWorld)
- Craigslist
- eBay
And on Boat Trader’s For Sale By Owner platform, you can list your boat for sale on the website in under three minutes!
Above Video: Boat Trader’s Colin Voreis walks you though how to list your boat for sale in under 3 minutes on Boat Trader.
What Information Do I Need To List My Boat For Sale Online?
Next, sit down and write a good, comprehensive advertisement giving as many details about the boat as possible. As mentioned, the online boat listing you create is the first impression of your boat—and of you, the seller.
That means at a minimum you should ensure there are no typos, spelling or grammatical errors. As we in the journalism business like to say, “If you couldn’t be bothered to spell things correctly, people are going to wonder what else you got wrong.” People will stop reading a sloppy news story. With a clunky classified boat listing, they might just move on to another ad.
Provide as much detail as possible within the allotted space on the website where you’re listing your boat. Use exact builder specifications for the boat’s dimensions, including length (LOA), beam, draft and gross weight. Provide bullet points to highlight improvements, optional upgrades and aftermarket equipment—such as additional seating, electronics and navigational systems. Don’t forget to include model numbers and brand names for any equipment onboard as well as details on the boat’s electrical system. Overall, make it easy to read and digest.
Include details about every feature on your boat including upgrades and equipment.
Also, for buyer and seller peace of mind, consider a Boat History Report for your vessel. For a while, buyers purchased the reports (they still do in many cases), but now sellers are providing the reports upfront too. You can purchase a report at boathistoryreport.com, a nationwide database that details boat histories by hull identification number (HIN). The site has roughly 100 million boat registration records on file, and obtaining a boat history report as a seller is another way to ensure a quick sale of your boat.
Once the listing is complete and posted it will immediately be exposed to countless potential buyers, but you can give it a bump via social media like Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. See Promoting Your Listing on social media for a range of ideas and strategies that will help you reach an even broader audience.
Interacting with Potential Buyers and Navigating Sea Trials
Now that your boat has been listed for sale online, it is time to show it off to potential buyers!
Follow our seven tips to make sure that you start on the right page, and finish the chapter to enable you to move onto a new one. Here are seven things to consider when interacting with potential boat buyers.
- Play Fair – be honest and up-front before you meet with the seller
- Preparation is Key – Be sure you know your boat inside and out before chatting with potential buyers
- Preparing for a Sea Trial – COVID-19 safety and cleanliness is key
- Communicate Quickly with Buyers – Be responsive, polite, and friendly
- Be a “Good” Salesperson – Engage the buyer in conversation about what they want in a boat
- Negotiation Tactics – Be ready to go back and forth a few times with potential buyers
- Set Your Rock-Bottom Sale Price – Have your absolute bottom sales price calculated before interacting with buyers
How well you communicate with buyers, and your professionalism will go a long way in ensuring a quick sale. Also, ensuring that your vessel is clean and tidy, especially amidst a pandemic, will be important in building trust with potential buyers.
Boat Bill of Sale And Ownership Documents – Paperwork!
As we all know, selling a boat cannot happen without paperwork. Typically, the higher the price, the more paperwork there is. From boat title and proof of ownership to boat bill of sale agreements and contracts, this can be a tricky process.
To sell a simple runabout, PWC or a bass boat, the paperwork you need to fill out will vary by state. However, in most states, typically all that’s needed for cash transactions is the title signed over to the new owner, who then takes it to the department of motor vehicles office and applies for a new title.
If you are selling the boat to a buyer from another state, there may be a bit more paperwork involved, such as an application for boat registration of a hull number. But don’t be intimidated, it’s not a terribly difficult process.
You can get templates for proof of sale and release of liability by simply searching those terms on Google, but most titles have language on them that indicates the seller is releasing the vessel to the buyer. Your state’s DMV also might offer PDF versions of those forms.
Don’t forget, if you’re selling a trailerable boat along with a boat trailer, you’ll also need to transfer ownership of the trailer as well before your buyer can legally drive it away. Otherwise, they will be driving the boat on your trailer, and you may be liable in the event of a collision or traffic violation.
Payments
When selling a used boat, there is a short period where the price is negotiated. Once the buyer and seller agree on a price, it is time to secure the boat purchase. At this point, the buyer will be expected to make a payment. Payment methods vary from person to person. Here are our tips on how to handle payments for your boat:
- Don’t hand over the keys and listed documents until the buyer’s funds have cleared.
- Consider using a marine lawyer or specialist agency for particularly large, valuable or complex boats. For example, a superyacht would fall into this category.
- Failing to provide a watertight documents portfolio can delay progress with a boat sale. Before you reach the agreement stage, you need to ensure that every relevant document is present and correct. You can then show potential buyers a streamlined collection of relevant documents, which can simply be handed over on completion of the sale. For more detailed information, read our article Paperwork Needed To Sell A Boat.
- If you’re accepting cash make sure you look out for counterfeit notes by checking the dollar bills. Fold one side of the bill before unfolding it to an angle of roughly 130˚. Hover a magnet over the ‘1’ and watch closely. If the bill moves, it’s real. Check the serial number – if the number is a different number to the treasury seal, or matches that of another note, it’s a fake.
- Ask for a third-party to check and count the cash with you before releasing the vehicle. Checking currency for large sums of money is not recommended. It’s an arduous task and requires time and attention, so don’t underestimate what you’re taking on. Bring a trusted third-party with strong concentration skills to check the notes with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I sell my boat fast?
The speed at which a boat will sell varies. Advertising the boat in as many places as possible is typically faster than listing in one place. Price is probably the key determining factor in how fast a boat will sell. Listings priced below market values will sell typically faster. If you follow the steps above, you should be in good shape to off-load your boat in no time! In a hot boating market like we are seeing in 2022, many boats can sell within 3-4 weeks of being listed for sale.
How long does it take to sell a used boat?
Typically, the higher the price, the longer it takes. Figure 8-12 weeks as a baseline. Time of year can also be a factor. There are typically more consumers looking to buy boats in the spring, summer and fall months, but during those times, there is also typically an elevated number of boat listings on the market. That said, your best bet is to list your boat on a website with an audience of potential boat buyers like Boat Trader or boats.com.
Do boat brokers take a percentage of sale price on Boat Trader?
No! If you list your boat for sale as a private seller on Boat Trader, we do NOT take any commission. Boat Trader only charges for the up-front listing cost, beginning at $59 for any size boat.
Should I sell my boat on craigslist?
If the boat is priced below a certain threshold, say $5,000 or so, Craigslist can be a viable option. But, you should remember that there is more competition for ad space on Craigslist (not only boats, but other items, too!)
Do you need a bill of sale to sell a boat?
It varies by state. Consult your state’s DMV for specific requirements. Regardless, it is always wise to write an agreement and have all parties involved sign it.
How much is my boat worth? How do I price my boat?
As discussed above, start by using Boat Trader’s boat price checker tool, browsing Boat Trader’s search results and then look at consulting NADAGuides.com for more information.
What are the best websites to sell boats online?
- Boat Trader
- boats.com
- YachtWorld (you will need to list through a Broker for exposure on YachtWorld)
- Craigslist
- eBay
When is the best time of year to sell a boat?
The best time of year to sell a boat differs by website you are listing your boat for sale. Generally, any time of year is a good time to list on boating marketplaces like Boat Trader or boats.com. There are typically less boats listed for sale in the winter months, which could help your boat to stand out to potential buyers. Website traffic volume to Boat Trader typically increases as the summer months approach and throughout the entire summer season. This is also a great time to list for sale as there are plenty of buyers looking for their next boat for the season. It may be more difficult to sell your boat on more general marketplaces like Facebook and eBay in the winter months, as your listing would be competing against products outside of boating, and search volume for boats is typically lower in the winter months.
Conclusion
Even after you’ve gone through all the steps above to price and sell your boat, you may realize that selling a boat online, especially on Boat Trader, is often still a local transaction! With the increase in mobile phone and online usage across America, it is imperative that you check all of the boxes and give yourself the best chance to sell your boat for top dollar.
Now that you are a pro and ready to list your boat for sale, we invite you to browse private seller listing packages on Boat Trader and get your boat sold fast today.
Editor’s Note: This article was last updated in December 2024.
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