As the title suggests, what's the average percentage difference?

I have just dropped the price of my boat by 30% of my original asking price which already was a reasonable price, and if that is enough to spark any interest, the offer no doubt will be lower again.

Obviously if I sell for less it isn't a real problem if the overall changeover price is the same i.e. I purchase for less (not a lesser valued boat, but the same boat bought at a lower price).

But what percentage drop would you consider too cheeky?

As the old saying goes, it is worth what someone will pay for it. When you see boats on the market for years, with no sale, you can be sure the asking price is too high.
If you have a popular boat with high demand, and your price is in the right ballpark, it should sell within say, less than two to three months. If you need a quicker sale, then your price needs to be attractive, without the bargaining margin. Adding a bargaining margin just drags out the selling time. I see boats on the market with pricing out by a factor of 100%.

The WA market is different to the ES, with a smaller pool of buyers and sellers. From what I can see, this tends to polarise the pricing, exaggerating the price differential between the popular boats and the oddball ones. Similar effect in places like North Queensland.

Then of course, like many things in life, timing is important. You can be lucky and someone comes along who just wants your boat!

I just paid the whole asking price for my small yacht; and even that was high for the class! However I could see that I was getting a boat that was one owner, set up strongly from the first launch, meticulously maintained with a heap of spares, and most of all a veritable encyclopaedia of knowledge and advice. Happy days ahead!

I understand the "its only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it" mentality, and I understand that we also tend to put an 'emotional' value on it. I think in a lot of cases though (especially where powerboats are concerned), when the dollar was at parity a few years ago, the market was flooded with cheap American imports. This IMO dropped the @rse out of the market and we are along way from recovering from that.

saintpeter said..
I just paid the whole asking price for my small yacht; and even that was high for the class! However I could see that I was getting a boat that was one owner, set up strongly from the first launch, meticulously maintained with a heap of spares, and most of all a veritable encyclopaedia of knowledge and advice. Happy days ahead!

I think this depends on the asking price of the boat. 10% off a $10,000 might not be worth the hassle for some people (concede it may well be for others), but 10% off a $500,000 boat I would imagine is sizeable for everyone.

I don't need to sell my current tub to purchase the next. I will just need to re-evaluate a few things. And just one boat is enough. I really don't want two.

Thanks though for the responses.

As my salesman mate explained to me, it doesn't matter what the price is as long as you're getting enquiries. Each week/fortnight I dropped the price by $1000 until they started coming in. Once I reached that trigger price, I got 3 genuine offers and the price went up again,effectively to the highest bidder. Sold it 8% down on my original listing price and for exactly what I paid for it 5 years later on a yacht over $50k.

What does my outcome have to do with sales people Bruski?
I wasnt getting any nibbles so he gave me a strategy to get buyers my way! nothing more. The price went up because I only had time to take them sailing on one day and they all wanted it when we got back in. Two of them are mates and sail together now. The buyer doesn't know what I paid ( and to be truthful neither do I over the years :), but it's simple really, no enquires, no sale! regardless of price Or who suggested it to me. If you know the traits of salespeople why are they an issue for you or do they eventually mentally overpower you? If you're thinking I lowballed them, well you're all mixed up because my price started high and came down until it was a) in the price range of comparable yachts and b) I had silly and emotional money on it and I needed to reflect the economic conditions we now find ourselves in over here in the west.

You're response doesn't make sense and is stupid ..... (Pick any synonym you like :) )

I have been a salesman and had to give it up as I couldn't stand the tactics salespeople are forced to employ by their employers, so I actually wasn't having a go at salespeople, I was merely commenting on why people in general dislike and distrust them, sorry if you got the wrong impression, just because I know how to do something, and can talk the talk, doesn't mean I feel it's the right way to do things, I know many people who are honest in their dealings with sales, however like most things it's the few dishonest salespeople and their employers that give the rest a bad name.
P.S and yes the way I read your post I did think you had low balled them to get the interest then pushed the price back up on the buyers, something that I think even you would have to admit is dirty pool.
Also I absolutely refuse to get into name calling contest I out grew that in primary school.