HOW TO SELL OR RESELL YOUR BOAT

Selling your boat can be frustrating if you don't know where to start. No worries! Here, at Skier's Marine, we want to be your trusted source for all things boating, including how to resell your boat. Join Greg as he walks you through different tips and step you can take to make the process go much more smoothly.
When selling your boat you may find some terms you are unfamiliar with. Below we’ve defined these terms to help you sell your boat easier:
Private Party - Refers to selling your boat on your own to another individual.
Trade - Refers to selling your boat to a dealership through the acquisition of another boat/RV/auto in which you get your boat's value reduced from the price of the new vehicle.
Wholesale - Refers to selling your boat to an entity who is purchasing your boat to resale it usually at a less value than private party or trade pricing.
ACV - The “Actual Cash Value” of your boat at that time.
Title - The state's way of tracking ownership of a vessel allowing taxes to be imposed on the vessel in an ongoing manner.
Bill of Sale - The legal document used to transfer ownership from one party to another.
Warranty Transfer - The transfer of a boat's warranty from one party to another usually for a fee in which the new party gets the benefit of the boat's original remaining warranty.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR USED BOAT WORTH?
It can feel like a guessing game when determining how much you should sell your used boat for. We have found that there is an easy way to always come to a fair price for your and for your buyer. First, we recommend visiting NADAGuides to find the value of your boat based on the bank's valuation. When building your boat on NADAGuides, the best place to start is by selecting only the correct engine and trailer are listed with no additional options. Remember, brands and boat types that are popular when you are selling can bring in more than NADA while less popular brands/types may bring in less than NADA.
To find the exact price your boat should sell for, we suggest comparing NADA to local (if possible) and nationwide comparable. To do this, go to boat selling websites like Boat Trader, Only Inboards, IBoats or other similar sites and search for boats for sale that match your same model. Then, remove the highest and lowest priced boats before averaging the sale price of the rest of them. This average less 5% for negotiations should be the actual sales price of your boat. Keep in mind that if you are trading in your boat, the dealer will expect to make a fair profit on your boat so expect to deduct another 10-13% from that average to come to a reasonable trade number.
There are three ways you can resell your boat - between private parties, trade it in at a dealership or sell to a dealership buying group. Depending on your financial situation, your interests, and the condition of the boat, each of these options have different advantages.
When selling a boat between private parties, you’ll net the most profit for your boat. However, there are some disadvantages - selling a boat privately is a lot of work. You are solely responsible for all paperwork, any demos a customer might want and more. If your boat still has a warranty available, one of the parties in a private sale will be responsible for paying the transfer fee. You’ll also need to be aware of any legalities for your state; for example, person to person boat sales are non-taxable in some states. In some cases, selling a boat privately can take almost as much of an investment as buying the boat originally.
The second way to resell your boat is trading it in for a newer boat. This option will net you the second most value for your boat, behind private sales. This is because the sale will be impacted by the tax rate. This means your resale value for trade-ins can be about 10% less than for a private seller. However, this is a great option if you are looking to get a newer model for a much lower price.
WHERE TO SELL YOUR BOAT ONLINE:
Facebook Marketplace
Craigslist
Boattrader
Only Inboards (only if your boat is an inboard)
Iboats.com
Boats.com
Yachtworld.com (only if your boat is actually a yacht)
Ebay.com (we recommend being careful with this one)
WHAT PAPERWORK DO I NEED TO SELL MY BOAT?
A boat bill of sale lists out the terms of a transaction between a seller and buyer. In some states, a bill of sale may not be required to complete the sale, but we strongly recommend using one as it provides proof of the details of the transaction. Your bill of sale should include the boat’s hours of operation, the registration information and must state “Bill of Sale” at the top of the document. We also recommend attaching a photocopy of the driver’s license along with the printed information listed on it. To ensure your safety, you may also want to run an instant OFAC to protect yourself and avoid any possible legal repercussions. Below, we’ve provided a blank template to help you get started.