Boat Sales & Registration statistics by State?

[ds53652]

Anybody know a good source for boat sales and registration statistics on a state by state basis?

Thanks in advance!

[BlastRlxi]

Try www.nmma.org

[ds53652]

Yeah, I did....looks like they lag behind a year or two and in addition they charge big bucks for the reports.

I did find some VERY good data off of http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/. Good resource for boat sales statistics...if you ever had a use for that type of data.

Try www.nmma.org

[Bobby Light]

Anybody know a good source for boat sales and registration statistics on a state by state basis?

Thanks in advance!

For the life of me I can't come up with a reason you'd be researching something like this in preparation for a boat order??

[ds53652]

Seriously? You wouldn't find information like the below good to know before entering into negotiations on a $100,000 luxury item?

Scroll down to the Ski boats section and look at Malibu's statistics for 2nd quarter 2009 and 2009 YTD as of Oct 2009.

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/500524-boat-sales-struggle-in-tough-second-quarter

Or this for your specific state?

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/500020-slower-sales-decline-marks-july-boat-sales

For the life of me I can't come up with a reason you'd be researching something like this in preparation for a boat order??

[Bobby Light]

Seriously? You wouldn't find information like the below good to know before entering into negotiations on a $100,000 luxury item?

Scroll down to the Ski boats section and look at Malibu's statistics for 2nd quarter 2009 and 2009 YTD as of Oct 2009.

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/500524-boat-sales-struggle-in-tough-second-quarter

Or this for your specific state?

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/500020-slower-sales-decline-marks-july-boat-sales

No not really because it has nothing to do with special ordering a boat. What are you going to say? Something like "well malibu I know your sales are down 33% and you've only sold 689 boats this year, if you want to sell another I'll give you $$$".

Is that your plan? Not sure how this is going to help you accomplish anything. The best information on your new boat order is going to be found from people that actually purchased the boats themselves, not from some database spreadsheet.

Let us know how that works out for you, can't wait to hear your pitch to your dealer.

[ds53652]

I hear ya and I've been thinking that out in my head as well. No, I think you still play the game like most people do, but you do it with a little more confidence than most. Part of that confidence comes from the information you have gathered from (like you said) people who have previously bought and from data like this. To my knowledge, most people hear what their friends paid for XYZ but most don't take the time to research the industry or the manufacturer like this. Information and knowledge is king. The more data you have the better.

I believe that in most cases sales people of autos and boats come across as they would like to sell you a car and or boat but absolutely have no need to. They have this confidence partly because in good times they DO hold the cards in the negotiations. They don't have to sell it at a lesser margin than the majority of their sales because they have plenty of buyers who will accept the typical deal. Call it a sellers market. In not so good times (like now) the dealers/manufacturers are hurting and their customer base has shrunk significantly. Call it a buyers market. So armed with this type of information (industry sales stats), when and if it is necessary, you can politely share your knowledge of this information with the sales guy to kind of help level the playing field. More to the level of he/she really wants and to some extent needs to sell you a boat, just about as bad as I want to buy it.

I obviously don't expect them to sell me a boat at a loss. Nor do I want them to. I do want them to stay in business. Some of their sales are of great margin, most at good margins and occasionally at little to no margin. EVERY sale adds positively to their bottom line. I just want the best deal possible (between some and little margin). And I feel a level playing field betters my chances of getting a better deal than most.

Wish me luck!

No not really because it has nothing to do with special ordering a boat. What are you going to say? Something like "well malibu I know your sales are down 33% and you've only sold 689 boats this year, if you want to sell another I'll give you $$$".

Is that your plan? Not sure how this is going to help you accomplish anything. The best information on your new boat order is going to be found from people that actually purchased the boats themselves, not from some database spreadsheet.

Let us know how that works out for you, can't wait to hear your pitch to your dealer.

[Bobby Light]

I hear ya and I've been thinking that out in my head as well. No, I think you still play the game like most people do, but you do it with a little more confidence than most. Part of that confidence comes from the information you have gathered from (like you said) people who have previously bought and from data like this. To my knowledge, most people hear what their friends paid for XYZ but most don't take the time to research the industry or the manufacturer like this. Information and knowledge is king. The more data you have the better.

I believe that in most cases sales people of autos and boats come across as they would like to sell you a car and or boat but absolutely have no need to. They have this confidence partly because in good times they DO hold the cards in the negotiations. They don't have to sell it at a lesser margin than the majority of their sales because they have plenty of buyers who will accept the typical deal. Call it a sellers market. In not so good times (like now) the dealers/manufacturers are hurting and their customer base has shrunk significantly. Call it a buyers market. So armed with this type of information (industry sales stats), when and if it is necessary, you can politely share your knowledge of this information with the sales guy to kind of help level the playing field. More to the level of he/she really wants and to some extent needs to sell you a boat, just about as bad as I want to buy it.

I obviously don't expect them to sell me a boat at a loss. Nor do I want them to. I do want them to stay in business. Some of their sales are of great margin, most at good margins and occasionally at little to no margin. EVERY sale adds positively to their bottom line. I just want the best deal possible (between some and little margin). And I feel a level playing field betters my chances of getting a better deal than most.

Wish me luck!

Like I said before your greatest leverage is going to be on the in stock boats. Don't expect that smoking deal or to even be able to compare what someone paid for a boat that was in stock to what you will if you will be custom ordering. Most dealers want to get rid of their in stock inventory first anyways and might not negotiate much on price of a custom order to hopefully get you into an in stock boat.

I do wish you luck and hope you get exactly what you want, I just don't want you to be dissapointed when you go in there. Boat dealers do have more leverage than car dealers as they have territories that you have to buy within (on new and custom order boats anyways). It's not like you can shop around on price unless it's a used or last years model boat. Good dealerships won't sell new boats outside their territory, shady ones will. Hopefully this dealer you're working with is a good one and you're working on establishing that relationship with them that will pay off in the future.

Edit: The best deal possible is the one where you are happy and your dealer is happy.

Edited December 18, 2009 by 06vlx

[ds53652]

All great points 06vlx. I very much appreciate your input. This helps keep my expectations in check.

Thnx Sir!

Like I said before your greatest leverage is going to be on the in stock boats. Don't expect that smoking deal or to even be able to compare what someone paid for a boat that was in stock to what you will if you will be custom ordering. Most dealers want to get rid of their in stock inventory first anyways and might not negotiate much on price of a custom order to hopefully get you into an in stock boat.

I do wish you luck and hope you get exactly what you want, I just don't want you to be dissapointed when you go in there. Boat dealers do have more leverage than car dealers as they have territories that you have to buy within (on new and custom order boats anyways). It's not like you can shop around on price unless it's a used or last years model boat. Good dealerships won't sell new boats outside their territory, shady ones will. Hopefully this dealer you're working with is a good one and you're working on establishing that relationship with them that will pay off in the future.

Edit: The best deal possible is the one where you are happy and your dealer is happy.

[Candlewood East]

You can get Data Cube by Statistical Surveys

I use this for my reports. I am not sure of the actual costs. It goes off of registered boats in a filtered area of your choice. The only downfall it picks up new and pre-owned. There is no way to filter the year of the manufacturer