New boat: how much it really costs from base price to final price

Why does getting to determine the final price of a boat to buy new always seem so difficult? A grand conspiracy of shipyards and dealers shuffling the deck between price lists, packages and discounts? Or is the cause the cluelessness of potential owners, obnubilated at the time of purchase by passion, by the desire to have the coveted object of desire at all costs?

New boat: how much does it really cost

It is actually not that difficult to figure out, even quickly, what the price of the boat you want to buy will be. Maybe it helps to have some experience in the industry, but still, in the end, the rules (and formulas) for understanding it are not that many. The big misconception is to consider boats as mere objects and liken them, for example, to automobiles; or to think of them as houses, those on land. Of the former they have that they move, of the latter they have that they are places to be inhabited. In reality they are something quite different, and even the rules and customs for buying them are completely different.

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The “naked” price

As example to understand them we took the case of a standard twelve/thirteen-meter long express cruiser. Why this choice? First of all, we opted for a model made in large numbers because delving into the world of small semi-custom builders (and the related price thicket) would have been impossible. In addition, this is a type of boat that is easy to manage and extremely versatile: sporty in nature, but also perfect for pure cruising.
Price lists in hand, we have to start from the zero point, from the price of the “bare” boat, in this specific case the figure is 410,000 euros (excluding VAT, as well as all the values we will discuss later) an average price that we have derived from the average of standard hulls of this size and type. Obviously, the boat at this figure is not offered completely bare, it rather has all the bare minimum to sail, just the minimum… what is missing?

Tell me how you navigate and …

First of all what we can imagine that each individual boat owner will want to customize according to his or her budget, but also from the perspective of his or her specific way of going to sea. Indeed, each boat owner has his or her own vision of cruising his or her own sailing habits. Example: air conditioning.

On this size of boat it is already beginning to be popular (a choice that also involves having the generator) many owners, however, beyond the greater economic commitment, do not want it a priori because at sea they want to enjoy the pleasure of natural air and do not want the “artificial” one. Similarly, the basic price often also does not include what, with an oxymoron, we might call “necessary optional extras,” basic accessories such as an anchor, because each owner often trusts and wants only “his” model (e.g., “Deltians” versus “Danforthians”) or even fenders (cylindrical, flat or inflatable?).

In short, shipowners are demanding characters, and you have to try to please them, while staying within the economies of scale of the big brands.
We still tried to imagine four configurations: “Minimal,” “Medium,” and “Luxury.”

Facilities and propulsion

Almost always on boats of this size a choice is offered between more or less power in the engine room, specifically here we are talking about having 2 x 300 or 2 x 380 hp EFB diesel. Linked to the choice of engine is the option of having or not having a maneuvering joystick. Basically, one can start from a minimum of 410,000 Euro and go up to a maximum of 445,000 as the starting price today.The other big starting choice is whether or not to have air conditioning (inside: 10,000 Euro, and in the cockpit: 6,500), which also involves the need to install a generator (24,00 Euro).

Then there are the bow thruster what has become the most typical of the “optional necessities” (4,700 euros) and the inverter, to also have the 220 always available on board (3,900 euros). The increasingly popular sinking aft dashboard, useful for fun when swimming but especially for hauling and launching the tender requires an investment of about 12,000 Euro). For trim correctors, they range from 1,500 Euro for classic electric flaps to 3,700 for the more sophisticated intruders. In the kitchen: glass-ceramic hob, microwave, outdoor grill and even the ice-making machine require 7,000 Euro. It is clear that this, overall, is the most important item in determining the final price.

The basic packs

More and more manufacturers are offering at the time of purchase basic accessory packs (for interiors, deck and systems) where there are all those optional extras that the vast majority of owners cannot do without. In the end, the price of the pack is lower than that of the individual elements if chosen individually: for the owner it is easier to decide and more convenient, to the manufacturer it allows to better manage the economy of scale of his production (less inventory, less complexity in orders and returns and so on). Typical example, on a boat of this size, Pack Comfort: multifunction screen in the bridge, cockpit refrigerator, full stereo system, electric toilets, extra battery: 13,000 euros. The same goes for electronics, here the complete package (VHF, AIS, autopilot, wi-fi connection and wireless charging) costs about 5,000 Euro. Plus if you consider the radar necessary you have to add as much (5,000 Euro). Still in terms of the basic kit, the one for anchoring and mooring costs about 3,500 Euro.

Design and aesthetics

This is obviously an area where there is a lot of owner discretion. The basic configurations in terms of fabrics, materials and finishes at this level are already quite rich, but it is clear that owners almost always have the inclination to make the boat “theirs” in all respects by characterizing it as much as possible according to their own tastes. It starts with custom cutlery (800 euros), but you can also choose the color of the hull (13,000 euros). There is a “top” version available for the (3,000 Euro), curtains and blinds on all windows and portholes (3,900 Euro) and exterior cushions (5,000 Euro). In the cockpit and on the aft bridge, it is possible to have solid teak (9,000 Euro), and there are, finally, additional deck and submerged lights (2,800 Euro).

Bottom line.

All these words (the summary of the analytical reading of the price lists) can be told much more easily in numbers. As we said in the beginning, the idea was to create four profiles.
Let’s start with the cheapest one, we called it “Minimal,” being very budget-conscious but not missing anything necessary. Overall it comes to 487,000 euros, which is 77,000 euros more than the base price. Let’s move on to our “Medium” trim, so rich, but without overdoing it: with this configuration it comes to 515,000 euros (105,000 euros more than the bare price). On the other hand, for those who do not want to miss anything, here is the configuration we have called “Luxury.” In this case it goes up to 580,000 euros (170,000 euros more than the starting price).

The 20-40 rule

In a nutshell then, it starts from a plus 19 percent for the Minimal trim, compared to what was the basic list price, to a plus 42 percent for the Luxury trim. And these numbers (plus VAT, of course) are the ones to have in mind to add to the starting value: maximum luxury about 40 percent more, maximum practicality and convenience about 20 percent more. All of this, of course, should be considered as a rough guideline; some shipyards as a commercial policy tend to have price lists already full of optional extras included in the price, while others push instead to stay as “low” as possible.
Certainly, it is that having, from the outset, reference “stakes” can help to have a few less headaches at the moment, as beautiful as it is intense, when one decides to become a shipowner.