How to Sell a Boat Privately: Payment, Paperwork, and the Sea Trial
Boats sell person-to-person more than almost any other big asset, and a brokerage takes 10 percent when they handle it. Selling private keeps that, and puts you in charge of three risks: strangers on your boat, the payment, and the paperwork.
Qualify before the sea trial
Your time is the first thing buyers waste. Before anyone steps aboard:
- Real name, real phone call, and a direct conversation. Serious boat buyers talk boats; scammers rush to logistics and payment.
- For a vessel above roughly $30,000, identity verification and proof of funds before a sea trial is not rude, it is standard. A buyer who cannot show funds exist was never buying.
- The sea trial happens with you (or your captain) operating, your insurance confirmed current, and the buyer's surveyor scheduled separately if they want one. Expect a serious buyer to hire a marine surveyor; it is a good sign, not an insult.
The payment
Boat amounts are wire-and-escrow territory, full stop.
- In person: wire received and confirmed by your bank before the bill of sale is signed, or cash counted at a bank for smaller vessels.
- Remote or shipped: licensed escrow (Escrow.com handles vessels). Buyer funds escrow, you deliver or release the boat, buyer accepts, funds release. Neither side is exposed for the full amount at any moment.
- No PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or personal checks, ever, at these amounts. Payments on consumer apps can be disputed months later; a confirmed wire and released escrow cannot.
The paperwork stack
Boats have more title states than cars, literally:
- Titled states: sign the title over exactly as your state requires.
- Documented vessels (US Coast Guard documentation, common above 26 feet): transfer happens by a bill of sale filed with the National Vessel Documentation Center, and any preferred ship's mortgage must be satisfied first. Buyers should check the USCG abstract of title; sellers should have it ready.
- The trailer is a separate vehicle with its own title. Do not forget it in the bill of sale.
- Bill of sale: hull identification number (HIN), engine serials, included equipment (electronics, tender, safety gear), price, as-is clause, both legal names.
Cancel your insurance and registration only after funds are final and the bill of sale is signed.
The short version
Verify the buyer and their funds before the sea trial, take payment only by confirmed wire or licensed escrow, and paper the vessel, the documentation, and the trailer separately. The 10 percent you saved on brokerage pays you for running a tight process.
Close it properly
PrivateClose is a private transaction desk. Both parties verify government ID, the agreement is drafted for you, funds are held by Escrow.com, the licensed escrow service, and the deal closes into a bound dossier you keep. The fee is one percent, from $1,500, collected only when your deal closes.