boat dealers and brokers lend me your ears on

your thoughts on NADA.

i have used this as a general guidline to determine pricing for boats that i buy / sell.

recently ive had a few customers low ball me and skoff at the idea of using nada as a guideline.

NADA does not collect actual sale prices for the boats - it uses a formula. That is why Bayliners and other entry level boats typically sell well under the guide and inboards may sell above the guide price. There is simply not the numbers or reporting loop that automobiles have.

It is useful only to determine what the bank will be looking at.

id like to think that nada on a sport nautique is close to the asking price or going rate.

When looking at trade-ins I use a Nada Guide book to give me a good idea where to start. I then look at the options, hours, and general condition on the boat. I also get online to see what similar models are selling for. I then give my trade-in value based off that information.

I also use the same process when determining what I will sell that trade-in for on the market.

Andy - The only time I ever use NADA is to determine what a bank is going to loan on it. We base all of our appraisals on the current market and we do this by evaluating several different web sites ie; boattrader...onlyinboards...ebay and so on. Just my .02 .

what book do you guys use for determining
value, This season im looking to do alot more business in the brokering of boats and im looking to get a better process for determining value. especially if i bring in additional sales guys. I mainly deal with lower value ski boats and fishing boats. so its easy to guage value on them. but going after some of the bigger stuff sure would be nice to have some guidelines.

.....if you look for a boat long enough and talk to enough people and just generally pay attention to the market.......you will get a sense of what boats are listing for and then finally selling. There have been a few examples on this site recently of what people thought a boat was worth and what it was then consequently purchased for. .....ultimately your boat is worth what someone is willing to pay for it and that is unfortunately less than what we believe.

(Message edited by absoluteboarder on January 21, 2008)

hope to do more volume this year and was curios what you guys that are in the business are using as tools to measure value.

Onlyinboards im real curios to hear what you have to say on this topic.

this down economy im noticing alot more boats on the market today. so its tough to guage things on the high end.

Andy - It's simple. Miichael z put it the best. If you just pay attention you just know or atleast you have a very good idea.

Are dealers more willing to negotiate with used boats than new boats? Or should I say there is more room to negotiate?

..........money always talks if you walk into any dealer or private person....with the money (or a serious notion thereof), even if it is less....at least they know it is coming and they can visualize some money. but if you just go and tire kick and hmmm and ha and start neg. dealers will usually win. ultimately the time is a factor if you see a boat has been up for a year there will be more room for negotiations.....if it just came up less so....regardless if dealer or private.

Brent - It's all about timing, but the bad thing is that the timing is so unpredictable. I think that we are pretty easy to deal with, we try our hardest to make sure that the customer is truly satisfied with the price and service. We take all things in to consideration. We always remember that the customers are the best sales people and they will determine the success of the company....Customers happy we're happy!

my opinion is the same as Team CBK's. I generally would look at what others are selling for. When i bought and sold some boats this year, i looked at the listing price of very similar boats and made sure I could sell mine less and still make a profit.

If you are accepting trade ins, that would be the model I'd follow. Never expect to sell a boat at premium price. In fact, make damn sure that you can sell it EASY at the price you give the buyer for it!

If NADA says your boat is worth 30k but there are 10 listed for sale from 25 - 35k that are all similar in options, then the boat will probably command the price closer to 25k than the 35k.

These are my opinions but in the used boat market, people seem to be fairly willing to travel for the deal. If you looking at 2003 Super Airs and two are priced 4k in difference, which are you going to contact even if one is 500 miles away?

None of this seems to be too revealing I'm sure and I am NOT a dealer so my comments aren't coming from as much experience as some of the dealers on this thread.

(Message edited by wakereviews on January 21, 2008)

(Message edited by wakereviews on January 21, 2008)

thanks for the ref guys.

question stemmed from a low baller coming to look at one of my boats yesterday and then nit picking it to pieces. a low hr nautique with lots of options.

after i knocked 10% off the asking price which i felt was fair, he proceeded to beat me up on price even more. after talking to him for a while it was clear he could not afford the boat to begin with and was trying to get it for nothing. I have it priced to what i consider a fair price considering options hrs and the year of the boat. I have sold quite a few of this particular boat so i have a good idea of what they go for.

and with regard to nada, i too use this as a general guide or starting point. some ive bought for well under nada and sold for well over.

most have been right in the range of nada.

I know that nada is what most banks use for what they are willing to loan on a boat. or i remember the guys at cope showed me this big huge yellow book they had that could quote prices they used from.

i just dont remember the book and was hoping some one could shed some light on the dealer tools.

(Message edited by sanddragon2004 on January 22, 2008)

Your boat is priced fair. And as an aside you might like to know that i sold my boat for the asking price after being low balled (offered $300 for a $2000 boat) by a guy with your same name.

I'm not saying it was you, but if it was it's a little ironic to hear you complain about this practice.

(Message edited by ldr on January 22, 2008)