Price difference - asking price to accepted offer

[Stewartld]

Good morning all, we're looking to buy a vessel in the €125,000 to €175,000 price range, 40 to 45 ft production monohull and interested in people's thoughts and experiences of where the price ends up compared to the asking price.

I last owned a boat in 2010 and certainly at that time it was definitely a buyers market and I gave the buyer a hefty discount on the asking price, is this still typical?

If it makes a difference, the yachts I'm considering are generally the harder to find owner's versions with fewer cabins than all the ex charter boats. I've also noticed that some boats that I looked at 4 years ago are now selling at higher prices than they were then (Lavezzi 40), even though the boats are four years older!

Thank you in advance.

[Chotu]

There is no quantitative way to ascertain this.

It depends on all the people involved, it depends on the initial price as compared to the price of the other ones selling, it depends on the moods of everyone, it depends on the survey.

Each case is an individual

[Rumrace]

Used vehicles have the best margins. If you price out new vs near new, new is winning.
The day we buy a used boat my wife orders replacement mattresses. No argument if you hear me.
“Comes with dinghy and Chinese outboard lines towels, dishes….” Do you want other peoples lawn sale items”. That a weak sales pitch.
So yes when they try to sell you other peoples used stuff tell them to keep it and take it off My boat came with a dinghy and Chinese outboat which we discarded at the yard, annoyed we somewhat paid for them. Both had 5 years wear which looked like 20.
Not much has changed in 10 years. The laminates are getting better but they still don’t edge bind plywood like real men. 175 the base on 38-41 ‘ production boats new with another potential 150k in options.
Here we’ve had a price drop with Free Trade with Europe and a change in luxury tax which we are appealing because it’s a breach of free trade.
Recent well maintained boats are rare around here. Dealer with inventory to view is a web site with arriving this fall ! If you dare buy one they will steal it for the boat show lol. The lack of dealer investment in recession is pretty consistent but many dealers are feeling the margin pinch. Marlow Hunters last days was a scrap between dealers and factory for cash flow. Take a look at Viko. The 35 would fit you. They just had an investor step up and a 40-50 group are under way. It’s a Polish hull and considering the brands like XYachts hull coming from Poland they have become a major player. Scarab Wellcraft 4 Winns moved the production there when Europe added the back at ya tax.

[ItDepends]

I know it seems like there must be magic insider knowledge, and nobody wants to feel like they overpaid, but this is an unanswerable question, albeit one that gets asked about once a week here. You have to decide what the boat is worth TO YOU, and not pay more than that.

You have to educate yourself by looking at prices and conditions. If you are looking at "production boats" this should be easier, there are a lot of them out there.

If you find exactly the boat you want in exactly the condition you want, and the owner has priced to to sell, you pay the asking price before someone else jumps in front of you. If you find exactly the boat, at an inflated asking price, you offer what you think the boat is worth. You either reach a deal, or you keep looking.

Some people have an emotional need to pay less than asking price, no matter what the asking price is. It's true there are a lot of overpriced boats out there, but there are a lot of fair priced ones too. There is not a "magic number discount." Don't be like one of the Trumps of the world who think the only good deal for you is one where you ripoff the other guy.

When we bought our current boat it was JUST listed for sale at a good price. It passed my detailed inspection, and we put in a full price bid the next day, and immediately signed a contract. Two days later someone showed up offering a 20% premium. If we had dickered over a 5% or 10% discount, we'd have lost the boat and had to wait a long time for another of similar value. That worked for us.

[krid2000]

Ask the broker involved in the sale for "soldboats.com" data of recent similar sold boats. You will then know how other people value those boats.

That's what they sell for. Asking price has nothing to do with it.

HTH,
Dirk

[DEAN2140]

I remember an experiment in B School that proved the best way to get a low price is to make a low offer. If you want to know how low the seller will go, make a low offer. You can always raise it if he declines.

[goboatingnow]

Right now many people are getting , around here, more then asking prices as typically multiple bidders are involved. Unusual situation , but it happened to me when I was selling my last boat in 2020. Lack of choice, no new model availability has pushed up 2nd pricing and made people frantic to buy.

It all depends.

[mako]

With today's economy it seems common sense that prices are going downhill, or will shortly. If you're willing to wait until the turn of the year you should be in a better position, marketwise.

IMO the sales price is ONLY dependent on how motivated the seller is. So if you want to find the highly motivated seller then you'll need to be patient, be willing to walk away from any deal, leave emotion out of negotiations, and find many boats to bid on. One will be a hardship sale on a boat in good condition, or perhaps an estate sale.

Like my brother used to tell me, make a 1/2 price offer on 10 "whatevers" and one will take it.

If I were you I'd be looking at boats in the 250-300 range and start there. Don't worry about being fair and reasonable, or hurting anyone's feelings. If they accept your offer then that was their decision.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

The day we buy a used boat my wife orders replacement mattresses. No argument if you hear me.
“Comes with dinghy and Chinese outboard lines towels, dishes….” Do you want other peoples lawn sale items”. That a weak sales pitch.
So yes when they try to sell you other peoples used stuff tell them to keep it and take it off My boat came with a dinghy and Chinese outboat which we discarded at the yard, annoyed we somewhat paid for them. Both had 5 years wear which looked like 20.

Thread drift. We obviously come at this from different angles. We were delighted the previous owners who were retiring left everything on board. Cutlery, pans, spares, tools you name it. We did give him his binos back as we had 3 pairs already and suggested he keep them in the car for when they are at the seaside.

We still have some of the engine spares on board and the rest, well it gave us a chance to use the yacht straight away and replace items bit by bit. Yes the cutlery went to the yacht clubs kitchen area and replaced with expensive stainless steel items that are nice to handle and eat with.

Back to the thread, prices in the UK seem to have held up well this summer due to lack of second hand yachts coming on to the market. That might change for smaller yachts this winter as electric and gas prices are 4x last year and this is across Europe. Larger more expensive yachts you are looking at will have owners who will weather the increases, so can't see much changing in Europe were Stewart is presumably looking.

Pete

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Thread drift. We obviously come at this from different angles. We were delighted the previous owners who were retiring left everything on board. Cutlery, pans, spares, tools you name it. We did give him his binos back as we had 3 pairs already and suggested he keep them in the car for when they are at the seaside.

We still have some of the engine spares on board and the rest, well it gave us a chance to use the yacht straight away and replace items bit by bit. Yes the cutlery went to the yacht clubs kitchen area and replaced with expensive stainless steel items that are nice to handle and eat with.

Back to the thread, prices in the UK seem to have held up well this summer due to lack of second hand yachts coming on to the market. That might change for smaller yachts this winter as electric and gas prices are 4x last year and this is across Europe. Larger more expensive yachts you are looking at will have owners who will weather the increases, so can't see much changing in Europe were Stewart is presumably looking.

Pete

Actually what I see here in Greece is the middle market 40k to 150k is holding well , sellers are getting asking price plus and lack of 2nd hand choice is holding pricing often above asking.

The higher market ( post 250k) based on three recent sales I personally know seems to getting a little soft. Buyers are scare and more cautious

The U.K. market is completely screwed due to Brexit

So if buying in Europe I would not delay. Buyers of 100k yachts typically don’t worry about their gas or electricity bill

[ThaidUp]

I can only speak from my own experience. The asking price was 175 US. The boat had been on the hard for a couple of years and had some keel damage. I did not want to splash the boat until the damage had been repaired so I waived the sea trial. In exchange, I asked for a very steep discount (still well over 100k). For the seller, this took a lot of risk out of it. If the diesel was seized, it was on me. If the thru-hulls leaked, on me. and so on. Fortunately, most everything worked well and my approach paid off. So it's not so much about a set formula, it's about how much risk you want to take and how badly you want the boat. The older the boat, the more difficult to find one just like it, so sometimes as a buyer you may need to pay closer to asking price. As with all negotiations, determine your walk-away price and if you can't get to it, walk away. Plenty of great boats out there.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by DEAN2140

I remember an experiment in B School that proved the best way to get a low price is to make a low offer. If you want to know how low the seller will go, make a low offer. You can always raise it if he declines.

Or you get ghosted and that ends that

[ThaidUp]

I agree with that in general. However, boaters can be very emotional about their boats. Unlike real estate, sellers can pick and choose who buys their boat and many will say take a hike if they find an offer offensive. The key is to provide sufficient context to justify the very low offer, i.e. survey findings, similar boats with lower asking prices, paying cash, etc.