Useful tips for selling your boat fast

1. Marketing of a boat is crucial.

Advertise strongly. Place ads in the local boating press, in the big daily newspaper, and if it’s a large boat or limited availability that buyers may be traveling outside the country to view, place ads in top regional and national locations. Adverts with images and detailed information attract more traffic. You can easily print out the Exposé of your boat advert on Boatopoly and send or hand in to potential buyers.

2. Boat should be in good condition when shown to customer.

The technical and visual condition of the boat should be at its best, when customer is viewing the vessel. Firstly, make sure, that engine or engines are running smoothly. To assist that start the engine and warm it up an hour before potential buyer comes to see the boat. Smooth start of the boat can increase your boats selling process tremendously, but if your boat won´t start up straight away, you could just as well stop selling it.

3. Clean and polish your boat before displaying.

Even though some people the looks of the boat as secondary factor, it is definitely not true when talking about selling your boat. Your boat is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it and the better it looks, the higher asking price you can set and more people would be keen on owning your boat. Use professional cleaning supplies and services, if possible, or do it yourself as best as you can! Clean the storage tank, center consoles, carpets and upholstery and wipe the cabinets and all other storage areas to make them look nice and inviting.

4. Declutter your boat.

To accent the space of your boat, make sure that remove all the unnecessary and excessive items from your boat, such us some food and drink reserves, private items and objects that were not in the boat, when you purchased the boat the first time.

5. Buff and polish the boat or give it a fresh coat of paint if necessary.

It is much easier to sell a boat which is completely ready for the new user. If it is not totally ready for the new user, that will definitely influence the time required to seal the deal and the amount of cash that you will receive from the transaction will inevitably smaller. Repaint the boat if it is faded or scratched. Make small improvements or even add a brand new coat. No matter what attracts the buyer’s attention. Paint the bottom (if painted) and glue with the base colors of the boat hull, such as white or dark blue. The buyer can easily be turned off if the boat is painted in a surprisingly funky color.

If necessary, give your boat a good layer of wax. When photographing a boat for the advertisement or the viewing, the boat should shine and look like new. Sprayable furniture wax will give you a temporary shine, but the special wax developed for boats will last longer and look even better.

6. Take really good pictures.

You can get the inspiration for the types and angles of the pictures from professional boating magazines or sites. The photos there represent how professionals see and want the boat to be seen. I would not suggest to always look at the other advertisements on the market as an inspiration, because not all the sellers have the right, effective approach. If you are ready to invest more to sell your boat, hiring a professional photographer will definitely pay off in more inquiries. Capture your boats best angles by taking various and different shots from which you can choose the best ones to represent your boat in the best light. Definitely get a picture of a boat cruising. It will be very appropriate to display the dimensions of your boat with the help of images. Do not forget to capture the boat´s finest details with close ups.

7. Organize the paperwork.

Even though it seems to be obvious, sometimes the owners are not aware of the fact, that some paperwork is not in order or simply missing. Check that you have the prove of ownership and also go one step ahead and prepare the paperwork for transferring the ownership. To avoid uncomfortable situations and demonstrate your professionalism, make sure that all the paperwork is in order. In this case organized paperwork can decrease the time of boat sale significantly.