Selling a boat now

I bought a new boat this year and am trading in my current boat but was wondering if I should try to sell it before hand since my new boat isn’t in yet or is that a shady thing to do to the dealer? I got a good price for my boat I feel and with the tax savings I don’t know how much more I can get out of it. I thought about putting a high number and seeing what happens. Not trying to screw anyone just taking advantage of the hot market. I didn’t want to sell it first then try to find the boat I wanted later with inventory going so fast.

You have a limit to what your bottom line is. If it is worth more to someone else it would be in your benefit to do it. If not is all good for the dealer. Dealer is going to be looking to make money on your trade in.

Not shady at all. I spoke to the dealer when I bought mine and they were pretty straight up that I would get more on the open market. Tell them to give you a price on the trade in value and make a decision. Sometimes the trade in route is easier but the used boat market is bonkers right now. I’d def look at selling on your own.

It’s your boat/money, not shady at all in my opinion. You’ll get far more selling on your own. Just have to decide if listing and dealing with all the flakes and low ballers is worth your time/energy. Far easing just trading it in, but you’ll take a hit money wise.

Only downside is if you sell your boat now and your new boat is delayed and you end up without a boat.

Matt Moen wrote:

Not shady at all. I spoke to the dealer when I bought mine and they were pretty straight up that I would get more on the open market. Tell them to give you a price on the trade in value and make a decision. Sometimes the trade in route is easier but the used boat market is bonkers right now. I’d def look at selling on your own.

I agree 100%. The average boat buyer in the Midwest isn’t someone who is independently wealthy. Any dealer should be able to understand this. When I deal on vehicles or toys with a trade, I get their offer for my current item and list the vehicle, toy, boat etc. if it’s the logical move.

We looked around for a while before my wife had chosen a year old Jeep Grand Cherokee that she liked. We haggled a bit on price and extras before telling them we had a trade we would offer up (potentially if the offer was right). They then made an offer at $19,000 and said it was good for 10 days. That night I posted the Jeep for $21250 and sold it for $21,000 within 3 days. I didn’t feel dishonest whatsoever and someone got a great used Jeep for a better than fair market price. The dealer would have listed that vehicle for $23k+. Even with the markup, by the time dealers pay their shop wages, make small fixes, etc. on used vehicles they are not the big profit margins that many think. They definitely come out ahead further on new vehicles with far less effort. In our specific case, the dealer said “sounds good, we understand” when I told him we weren’t accepting the trade offer but would purchase the new Jeep.

Dutchboy wrote:

Only downside is if you sell your boat now and your new boat is delayed and you end up without a boat.

This too^

Don’t just take a dealer’s “word” that a boat will be in on time. I would personally want to see it or know that it has at least been built before passing off my current boat. The stories of missed deadlines with dealers rigging, shipping, and manufacturers building boats are nothing new on these forums.

I see no issue with selling your current boat on your own. Might be worth trying to sell the old boat to a fellow IDO’er to hopefully get an easier selling experience than going thru Craigslist or Facebook. What year/make/model boat and motor are you possibly trying to sell? This thread might drum up some interest.

Stanley wrote:

I bought a new boat this year and am trading in my current boat but was wondering if I should try to sell it before hand since my new boat isn’t in yet or is that a shady thing to do to the dealer?

Did you already work out a price with the trade? If you’ve already worked out the deal with the trade figured in, I would say it’s a shady to switch up the deal now. If you’ve worked out the price on your new boat independent of the trade, then I’d say you’re golden to sell it on your own.

Dutchboy wrote:

Only downside is if you sell your boat now and your new boat is delayed and you end up without a boat.

I have another boat that I can use if need be but it’s not big enough for the whole family and my kids would fight for who gets to go fishing. I am getting more than I owe on trade and am already pre approved based on those numbers so selling outright would just give me a bigger down payment.
If anyone wants more details about the boat just pm me it’s not really for sale yet just looking into it.

The used market last year was red hot and all indicators are that it will continue to a seller’s market in 2021.

Personally, I would not give away money on a dealer trade-in in this market. If you’re willing to put in a tiny bit of effort, you will get TOP dollar in the spring by selling it yourself. Unless the dealer is giving you a REALLY generous trade-in offer (which I doubt), you could be giving away a LOT of money in the current market.

I watch the used market pretty closely and in CrazyTime (April 1 to June 1), boats disappeared last year seconds after they were posted. Any boat in running condition without major issues noted in the ad would sell within hours or days. I personally sold an outboard and my phone was on fire from 3 minutes after I posted it. Nobody even bothered to try to negotiate with me on price. Make the boat spotlessly clean and fix all those “easy fix” items NOW. Clean + everything works = top dollar.

The way I look at it, it’s my money. Shady/not shady, I don’t see it that way, it’s business.

With that said, I agree with Ralph above. If your purchase agreement with the dealer is based on a trade, I would want to tell them you decided to sell it yourself and make sure that doesn’t go against anything you signed.

Will the dealer sell it on consignment while you wait for the new boat? Depending on what they charge, that can be a good way to go while you wait.

There is no purchase agreement with the dealer just a deposit to get my name on one of the boats they preordered last year. They told the manufacturer they want the preordered boats in March/April so hopefully that happens. Basically I called a couple dealers told them what I wanted and got prices then emailed pics and a description of my boat and got trade in prices. This dealer has the best price on the boat and motor I wanted and were thousands higher on trade than the others. My boat is clean and still under factory warranty (boat and motor) and water ready so selling shouldn’t be an issue just getting the price I need to come out ahead might be tough. I need to get it out of storage a little earlier this year anyway with trading it in so I think I will list it and see what happens.

Do you have a quote on paper? If yes and your boat is listed on it as a trade in and you go sell your boat then the written quote is no longer valid at the dealers discretion.

Has your deposit been cashed by the dealer?

I have a bill of sale so to speak with everything listed and my trade on it but I haven’t signed anything. Yes the deposit has been taken out of my checking account. I will have to call the dealer and confirm about selling if that’s what I choose but the new boat price on the quote is the same I was given on the phone before they even saw my trade or knew I had one.

Make sure you sell it for enough to cover the difference in tax…. most times tax is calculated on the difference (selling price minus trade value) before any rebates are deducted. You have to sell privately for the trade value+ (tax on trade value) to break even…

That’s a great point, martyb. I wouldn’t have remembered that.

martyb wrote:

Make sure you sell it for enough to cover the difference in tax…. most times tax is calculated on the difference (selling price minus trade value) before any rebates are deducted. You have to sell privately for the trade value+ (tax on trade value) to break even…

When pricing at the dealer I asked what they would offer on my trade. I was up front that I had 3 people inquire about my boat. They told me the offer and then told me to make sure I get over a certain price to accommodate the tax difference. I got a couple thousand more than that and the guy (my brother ) thought I gave him a heck of deal.

When I got my trade offer the salesman also gave me the price that I would have to get if I sold it myself to make up for the tax savings.

Stanley wrote:

When I got my trade offer the salesman also gave me the price that I would have to get if I sold it myself to make up for the tax savings.

7.5% of the dealer would give you would be the savings, not to hard to figure out with the calculator app on your phone. About $1500 on a $20k trade in