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Considering selling my 2018 G23. Anyone have experience selling without a trailer? Should I just bite the bullet and purchase one? I will price it well considering the plunging market.
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I don't have experience selling without a trailer but I do have experience buying without one.
Aside from large boats that would typically be moored or docked, buying without a trailer is risky at best and ill advised most times as sooner or later, as you're now finding out, you'll have to sell it to someone who most likely will want/need a trailer. Is it possible to sell without one? Sure, but unless you find someone in the same situation which drove you down this path, someone is going to end up buying a trailer. I've heard the arguments against buying a trailer at the time of purchase but I've never seen any of those pan out for those that buy into that argument. Unless you trade for a new boat from the dealer you bought it from most times you'll take it in the shorts either buying a trailer for it or in the sale price which will include a sizable deduction for the purchase of a new trailer. The other thing you'll face as an obstacle if you don't buy a trailer before selling is the logistics of actually getting a trailer for the boat to be removed after the sale. Trailers are typically custom ordered and not going to be in stock somewhere. In other words, it's not like you're going to be able to go to Home Depot and pick up a new trailer for your boat. You may get lucky and find a used one somewhere or a left over but I personally have not been that lucky.
The other thing a dealer selling a boat without a trailer won't tell you is that everything goes up in price. The trailer that you may have been able to buy for say, $7K in 2018 is now $9K 6 seasons later. This leaves you competing in the market with other boats that come with a matching trailer that was purchased for 2 grand less. Will a potential buyer prefer the new trailer over say a 6YO one? Sure, but they're probably not going to be willing to pay a premium for it.
So, after all the above, back to your question.... If it were me, I would be scouring the inter web looking for a used trailer. IMO, your market will be much larger and you'll be able to negotiate on level footing as without one you're going to be looking for that special someone that wants the boat without a trailer and that's probably not going to happen.
As to my experience buying without a trailer..... The boat I have now sat for an entire season at a dealer with no takers even after several large price drops that put it well under market value. The dealer I bought the boat from basically sold me the trailer at cost which still left the boat a good 7K - 8K under market value when I left the dealer with the boat. In the end it was a good deal for both of us. I got a smoking deal on great boat that needed a lot of detailing and he unloaded a boat that buy the time I bought it had been on his lot a good 18 months. So, after all this do I think the dealer took the hit? Heck no, I'm sure he got the boat for a song based on the condition I first saw it in and the boat having no trailer.
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