Selling a Catamaran Down Under

[allergic2cities]

I have heard that it is possible to buy a good cat in the Caribbean or East Coast US and sail it to the South Pacific/Australia/NZ and actually make a profit on the sale. Anyone have insight into this unheard of, and questionably unlikely, phenom? Would love to find a way to sail there and come up at least close to what I paid into my purchase. Thanks!

[Gerrycooper56]

We did it with a monohull - covered the cost of the 1 year trip.

[karabil]

Originally Posted by Gerrycooper56

We did it with a monohull - covered the cost of the 1 year trip.

Aus dollar has dropped about 11% in last year, makes big difference unfortunately

[Factor]

Possible, but as indicated the dollar drop has an effect.

So the process shortly put is:

Pick a boat lets call it the Caribbean 42- say it cost 100k US, That is A Obviously you then need to asses if it needs any work to make the trip to Aus, if so thats +B (say for the purpose of discussion $10k US), then their is the cost of getting it here, thats +C (say agin for the purpose of discussion, 10K US) thats variable depending if you want a fast slow trip, through the Panama or not etc etc. So then that A+B+C is for arguments sake $120,000 US, which is at todays exchange rate for buying currency about $140K AUS. On arrival you have some clear in costs Say $1000, lets call it D. Then you need to pay duty of 5% on A+B+C if its a French or South African boat, which is the most likely, or indeed any country that doesn't have a free trade agreement with Australia. Some will suggest you dont have to ad B into that equation, so lets for the sake of argument say its A+C best case scenario or a+b+c worst case. .

So in Australian dollar terms that A+B+C equal 135,000 AUS dollars. Duty would be $6750 worst case or $6150 best so lets use $6000k and call it E. So thats $142,000 all up so far. Then you have to pay GST on A+C+E which is $14120 - lets call that F.

Running total is $156,120. Then there are some refrigerant and gas certification issues, and maybe 240 volt changes etc. Lets call that $5000 and name it G, running total is $161,120.

Now take that boat and research the market and see what the mythical Caribbean 42 is selling for, if after that research you think you can get better than $160K Australian, then you are going okay, subject to the few allowances for things like trip prep and passage to here being at or under budget. If they are well under budget then you have more opportunity for a win

Short story is that it is a long story. It certainly had more chance of success when the Dollar was high, less so as the Aus dollar drops.

If you approach it as an opportunity for a free holiday then that can increase the desirability for you and reduce the risk. It can work and has worked for some I kn ow, but like all things in life, just spend some time researching. eg if you decide that the Caribbean 42 is getting around $175K Aus, then you can work back and know what has to be your top offer price for the deal to work for you.

[StuM]

> then their is the cost of getting it here, thats +C (say agin for the purpose of discussion, 10K US)

Just to expand on that one: importing a yacht

Where the yacht is sailed to Australia, overseas freight will be determined having regard to essential sailing costs incurred under the most commercially viable conditions. Such costs would include sailing expenditure necessarily incurred while the vessel is actually sailing (and entering and leaving) those ports of call on the most commercially viable route. It would not include any in port expenditure related to the vessel's period of stopover
. Where supported by sufficient/reliable information, essential sailing costs would also include:

• cost of maps, charts pilot books, light/radio lists, etc.
• crew's hire/wages or forage allowance in lieu
• victualling or food costs (does not include tobacco and alcoholic beverages)
• bunkering or oil/fuel costs.

This is an indicative rather than exhaustive list, if you have any doubts or queries seek further information from a Customs Information and Support Centre 1300 363 263

[Gerrycooper56]

When we imported our boat there were 2 valuation methods available to Customs, the first being what you paid for the boat plus associated costs of getting it to Oz ( as indicated in one of the replies). The second method which was easier for Customs was a market valuation carried out by a licensed assessor, which then takes into account the local market at that time.
The free trade agreement with the US I think came into effect on boats built after 2000.
We bought our boat to live on in the US then sail to Oz and making a profit at the end was a bonus but not the purpose of the exercise.
Yachtworld could provide all of the answers here or even going to the Moorings website and looking at identical boats for sale in BVI's/Saint Martin versus the Whitsundays.

[dirkdig]

Sunsail/ moorings boats in the whitsundays can be a bit inflated i found. A Bahia 46 i inspected was listed at $585,000 sold for close to $400,000 i understand.
Its was in awful condition too.

[Gerrycooper56]

Originally Posted by dirkdig

Sunsail/ moorings boats in the whitsundays can be a bit inflated i found. A Bahia 46 i inspected was listed at $585,000 sold for close to $400,000 i understand. Its was in awful condition too.

If someone was actually prepared to pay $400k for the boat in awful condition it shouldn't be hard to find the equivalent boat in the Caribbean and see what they're asking for it. I bet it will be less than $400k.

[ozskipper]

Factor has pretty much hit the nail on the head. But the generally agreed outcome with the current dollar is that you get a year or so bobbing around the pacific with Free Rent so to speak with the worst case scenario being you break even on the deal. FWIW, QLD seems the be the place for cats.

One big thing to remember is that American built yachts do not attract the duty. Only GST on entry. But check your own facts with customs before you commit of course.

[allergic2cities]

Thanks to all for the input on my query. Does anyone have further suggestions regarding the potentially most desirable type or size of cruising cat that might prove to be the most likely to sell there? We're not really seeking to make this into a for-profit career, just hoping to have it work out so that my trip and cruising costs might be close to covered with the eventual sale.
Capt. Rick

[dirkdig]

38 to 45 ft range would sell well

[Boracay]

If you plug the 38 - 45' range into the two Australian sites that I'm most familiar with you'll come up with several hundred catamarans with very diverse designs and construction. Many of them will be well built boats designed by prominent designers. Some will be amateur built boats but many of those will have a high standard of construction. Most will be in good or better condition and many will not have been chartered.

BoatPoint
YachtHub

As a comparison have a look at the Moorings brokerage site. A quick look found most catamarans there to be over the $200k mark and increasing that price by amounts indicated in this and other discussions puts selling into direct competition with Australian boats.

While catamarans are highly valued in Australia, particularly in Queensland it would be wise to consult with Australian Brokers and other professionals before making a decision.

[Gerrycooper56]

I think the key here is the size of the market and therefore the actual price paid and not the advertised price. When searching the Moorings for boats in Oz there is only one area - Oz. Looking for boats in the Caribbean and there are more Moorings boats for sale in Saint Martin than there are in Oz. The Caribbean is awash with charter boats and private boats - for various reasons.
We paid 25% under the asking price which had already been reduced ( and wasn't a really inflated price)
I think if you rock up with cash you would be surprised what price you could get for a 40-45 cat in the Caribbean.(if your lucky they even have 220 volt)