Boat Value Determination For Beginners

Appraising a boat's value may look like a daunting task in the beginning, but it is possible to do it yourself. You just should be aware of the risks and of the things that could possibly go wrong if you fail to do your research and then also do not consult a professional.

This is especially so if it is the first time that you have looked into evaluating a boat for the purposes of selling. Lack of experience could lead you to make one of several mistakes that can be done while trading ones craft, and so it is important to make sure that the necessary research to establish one's boats' value is not neglected.

Even when buying a vessel, it is not enough to just look at available listings on the Internet or at your local boat club and go for the one that seems best value for money. By knowing what to look for when evaluating a boat, your ability to negotiate will be increased and you may be able to reduce the original selling price by a quarter or more.

In fact studying boat evaluation has the great added advantage that it will make the kinds of features that you really need for the way that you are going to use the boat much clearer to your mind. By educating yourself about the options and their prices, you will end up with the vessel that suits you best.

There are several ways in which the potential value of a boat can be researched with a modicum of accuracy. The most important of course is reading about it. Several magazines and periodicals are in print and they all give information on the latest in boating trends.

Besides general trade magazines, there are also lots dedicated to specific kinds of boats, such as catamaran only, or houseboat, or open-topped motorboat only. These are especially useful for boat evaluation as you will find a ton of specific classifieds that you can use for first approximate price comparisons.

Thousands of boats are bought and sold through the trades and online listing sites, and so by reading through the appropriate listings and comparing the features to your own vessel you will get a fairly accurate idea of the price that you can ask. For leisure craft there are also in-depth pricing guides - most notably BUC and NADA - that give average prices per model and build year.

These guides give average prices, but they are more solid than listings. By combining the two, you will get a good idea of the value of features versus the basic price of a boat. BUC cover all kinds of pleasure boats, including sailing boats, while NADA is mainly concerned with motorboats and outboard motors.

However, while DIY evaluation is perfectly OK for small boats, if the ship or vessel that you are going to trade is expected to fetch more fifty thousand dollars, a professional appraisal will very probably be able to help you fetch you the best prices for your vessel, and the additional expense will well be worth it.