How to Buy the Boat of Your Dreams for Under $10,000

By John Morris

It’s about time we took a fresh approach to some additional boat show buying experiences. Reading expert budget advice won’t get you anywhere. Consider a new approach to see some boats and…yes, buy one!

Let’s say that across Canada 100,000 boaters attend boat shows. That’s probably low but for this exercise accuracy would be an unnecessary burden. The secret is numbers.

The rental price to charter a plane to Miami from most destinations in Canada is, according to some quick internet googling, $50K; that’s $100 K return. A 737-800 holds 189 passengers but let’s call it 200 to make for simpler math and since we care little about facts. That means to fly 100,000 boat show goers we need 500 planes. That should give us some purchasing power (and we’ll pay cash). With some hard negotiation, we can get each plane for $60,000 x 500 planes = $3 million total.

$3 million divided by 100,000 means that for each of those 100,000 show-goers, the cost is $30. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yes, you are—who’s going to say no to a $30 boat show ticket when it includes a February visit to Florida?

But wait, it gets better. If we schedule things cleverly, the boat manufacturers can take advantage of their US affiliates who will have already paid for show space, boat transport, brochures, hanging signs and snacks. That means the Canadian distributor saves a fortune and passes those economies on to the consumer—you. But more on this later.

Extra appreciation should come from the Florida Chamber of Commerce who gets to showcase their state to a hundred thousand active Canadians who would otherwise be spending the first week of February up to their beltline in snow at -20°C. I anticipate that the state tourist board will lay on lunch, chauffeurs, and provide a free signed 8×10 of Gloria Estafan for each VIP show visitor. The fine folks at the Miami Boat Show are now adding 100K tire-kickers, so they’ll be pretty happy and will accommodate these new attendees by providing free airport shuttles, and for those that purchase a new boat, a gift certificate for $25,000 off.

This is a huge win-win-win. Florida wins, Miami wins and you, the guest boater, have a really fun time. Then, when you pick out the boat you want you simply connect with your favorite hometown sales rep right there at the show (they were on the flight too). You don’t pay until you’re back in Canada so there’s no nasty currency surprises, saving 30% on exchange. In the meantime, your dealer has economized on selling costs and gives you a further $25 K discount on that new boat you were going to buy anyway.

As promised, let’s look at the math:

Factory boat price:                     $100,000
Exchange rate savings:                 – 30,000
Gift certificate:                        – 25,000
Selling dealer discount:                – 25,000                      
Equivalent value of trip:               – 10,000
Selling Gloria Estafan pic on Ebay      – 7
Your bottom line:                        $9,993

It’s an offer you can’t refuse.