On Aug 28, 9:04?pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
I'm looking at small/mid sized ski boats and am wondering how I
determine if a seller is asking a price that is within the ball park
of what the boat is worth (I know very little about boats). Is there a
Kelly Blue Book type thing for boats?

There is not really any meaningful blue book for boats.

The volume is too small, the markets are too regional. A price that
would be considered a rip off in one region of the country where a
particular boat isn't very popular may be a bargain somewhere else.

Best approach is to shop, a lot, in your local market before you buy
anything. Used boats sell very slowly most of the time, unless they
are offered at give-away prices and you won't know what a give-away is
in your area until you've followed the market a while.

You can always check the ads. That's a great place to learn what boats
*aren't* worth, because they are still for sale. Check the ad codes on
some of the ads in weekly shoppers, it isn't hard sometimes to figure
out that an ad labeled 4307XXXX may have been running since April of
May of this year (as an example), and then you can tell who the hungry
sellers are likely to be- those ready to get realistic about pricing.

Always offer less. You can always come up if the seller tells you to
take a hike, but it's tougher to back out gracefully if you make an
offer and the seller immediately leaps three feet into the air, clicks
his heels together, and shouts "Hallelujah!" while pumping his fist
into space.

No offense intended, but until you have done a lot of local homework
there really isn't a reliable shortcut to help you establish the
regional value of a used boat.