With more than 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water and more than 100,000 lakes in the continental United States, Americans are never very far from water. In fact, 95% of Americans live within an hour’s drive of a navigable body of water.
More than 87 million U.S. adults participate in recreational boating and in 2017, 13.4% of the U.S. population participated in water sports. What’s more, 19.6% of millennials participate in water sports and in 2016, about 2.91 million Americans participated in wakeboarding.
Anyway you slice it, whether you’re using a personal watercraft, a pontoon boat or a wakeboard boat, Americans love the water and they love boating. But what if you’re trying to sell your boat? How can you do it? If you’ve had fun with your current boat and are looking to upgrade or move on to other pastimes, here are five helpful tips to help you sell your boat fast:
- Make it look good: It’s often said that seeing is believing. That also rings true if you’ve got a boat for sale. If a buyer looks at your boat and sees scuff lines, standing water in the bilge and old oil in the engine, they’re likely going to be turned off. But if you take the time to clean the engine, clean the bilge, empty your boat of trash and take time to clean the outside, you’ll make the boat look a lot more visually appealing while also letting the buyer know that you’re a trustworthy seller.
- Get rid of personal items: If you’ve got a boat for sale, that means at some point it’s not going to be yours anymore. Keeping that in mind, it’s important to remove any personal items before you sell the boat. That means you need to get rid of any personal gear, personal photographs, toiletries and any other personal attachments. Ultimately, you want to remove anything that you don’t plan on selling. The last thing you want is to forget to clean out a drawer of fishing gear and watch someone else drive off with it before realizing what’s happened.
- Fix it up: If you’ve got a boat for sale one thing you want to be sure to do is to make sure everything works. If you’re selling it and being honest, you want to do your best to get things in working order. If the engine’s having some problems, do your best to fix them. If your boat battery is on its last legs, change it up. You’re ultimately trying to put your boat in a good light and if everything is in good working order, a potential buyer will be impressed and likely more willing to buy.
- Provide history/documentation: Cleaning and fixing up a boat for sale can go a long way in the selling process. But it also helps to provide a buyer with a history and important documents for your boat. If you can provide a list of upgrades, systems, inventory, maintenance and any other pertinent information, the buyer will know exactly what kind of condition your boat is in and what might need to be monitored in the future.
- Do your homework on pricing: When it comes to selling your boat, there are three prices you want to keep in mind: the price your want, the price the seller wants and what the market sets as a fair price. If you’ve got a boat for sale and you’re wondering what to ask for price-wise, start at market value. It helps to see what similar models are going for. Ultimately, you want to set a fair price that’s going to be agreeable to both you and to the seller.
Whether you’re talking about pontoon boats, power boats, fishing boats or some other type of craft, if you’ve got a used boat for sale, it’s understandable if you’re trying to sell it fast. But more importantly, you should take time to present your boat in the best light possible. Take time to make sure the engines and other systems are in proper working order and take time to do a thorough cleaning of your boat. After you’ve done that, do some research to set a fair price that’s going to leave you and your buyer happy.
