I think the seller should incur the cost.

what you think may or may not be interesting to you and your family, but what
the industry thinks is how things are done.

The buyer pays, or not as is his/her wish. But no cash, no splash.

I find the question and resulting answers quite interesting. I must say I would
never consider buying a boat that the owners wouldn't make available for a test
ride...and a boat out of the water is not available for a test ride. That may
simply mean I would never be able to buy a boat in your world though

I see it the same as a car. I am not about to pay to have a used car put on
the road so I can test drive it and I am not about to buy a used car if I can't
test drive it. If it is out of gas I would expect the owner to gas it up - I
wouldn't expect him to let me drive it 100 miles though. And before you ask,
yes I have (or actually am in the process of) purchased a used boat and I have
purchased three used jetskis ( as well as a number of used cars & trucks). I
have never paid a dime for the privilege of test driving even one of those
vehicles and have never asked the owner if they had incurred any costs in the
process.

Now an inspection is a different story. If I want a professional to inspect the
boat (or car) I would pay for that.

Dave Hall