Inflation and Com-Pacs

[Cats Paw]

Up for discussion:

With monetary inflation hitting our economy in these times where might we see the price market of previous owned Com-Pacs head to? Prices rising with the tide? Good place to park cash in a sailing vessel? What do you think.

[crazycarl]

I don't think "investing" in boats would ever pay dividends.  There are many boaters out there that put large amounts of cash into their boats, only to sell them at a huge loss.

If you want to make money selling used boats, keep the accessories to a bare minimum.  Adding GPSs, radios, sinks, paint, and new rigging may help sell the boat, but you'll never get what you put into it.

Many years ago I made extra cash buying and selling boats.  I would buy john boats, shallow Vs, and deep Vs.  None had trailers and had been sitting in yards or fields for years.  I had a source for trailers and used outboards.  I would put together packages of a boat, trailer, and o/b and then resell them.  It worked becasue I never sold them for more than $1,000, and none of the o/bs were over 9.9hp.  But, it worked because we had a 320 acre lake that didn't allow boats with more than a 9.9hp on them.  Also, aluminum boats are easy to clean up. 

Last year used canoes, boats, campers, and kayaks were selling like crazy.  Not so much this year.  Craigslist and local papers are filled with for sale ads for canoes and kayaks.

I look at used boats daily and what I've seen, the prices are coming down.  Yes, new boats are in demand and on back order, but so far I haven't seen it effect the used boat market.

It may be different in other areas.

[Seachelle]

I watch the ads like a hawk - on Craigslist (for mostly the Midwest, heartland area, northern/southern Midwestern and mid-Atlantic states), sailboatlistings dot com, sailing Texas dot com, and yachtworld dot com, and of course, here on the CYPOA forum. I check 1-2 times a day on each site - yeah, I am a bit nutty with that, I admit! ;-D

From my both my humble and amateur observations, I feel that certain makes/brands of pre-owned sailboats are still able to fetch an asking price that might be more than other brands of boats that I would say are in comparable boat condition (at least based upon what I can see onscreen).

I do also think that the prices on pre-owned boats are coming down, but I am surmising that is due to the sailing season being on hold for many of us due to cold weather, winter approaching, etc. We have a powerboat that we are going to sell, most likely, but we will withhold listing her until probably March or April, when people 'round these parts, where I live, are looking to get back out on the water.

As far as new boat prices on Com-pacs: From what I've been told by one of the dealers with whom I had recently spoken with, Com-pac has had to adjust their price sheets from 2020. Per below, you can see, with the Eclipse, what that price change has been:

Base price for the Eclipse (price sheet dated from Nov. 16th, 2020) at $33,255.00

Base price for the Eclipse (price sheet dated from Oct. 12th, 2021) at $39,178.00

[Jim in TC]

I watch our regional Craig's List pretty closely, not to buy but just out of interest. Up until last year, it seemed there were some genuine bargains, especially for sailboats and especially if you were willing to take on a project of more or less intensity. More recently, not so much. I am sure there is money to be made if you find your niche (like Carl describes) but to paraphrase a sentiment I have heard connected to folk music and farming: how do you get to $1 million in (fill in the blank)? Start with $2 million.