How to Find the Best Deals on Boat Lifts
A boat may sound like a luxury but if you do choose to get one, getting a boat lift is a necessity. You need to get your boat out of the water for routine inspection, cleaning, scraping barnacles, repairs, and much more. You also want to get it out of the water to store it during periods that you won’t use it, mostly in order to avoid water damage (especially if it’s salty water).
Still, a good boat lift, regardless of the fact that it’s something that you only buy once, might not be cheap. So, in order to ensure that you get the best possible deal, there are a few things you have to do first.
1. Figure out the type of boat lift you need
This part is incredibly important. Unscrupulous salesmen may try to sell you lifts that are far larger or more powerful than you need. In the end, you’ll pay more for a platform that you won’t even use.
It’s like wanting to buy a car with a bit bigger trunk and actually being sold a truck (as a trunk capacity as its biggest selling point).
So, before you set out to actually buy a boat lift, you need to know exactly what you need. This means that you should start with the size, weight, and type of your boat. Next, you need to figure out what type of lift would be best for your type of boat.
The mechanism matters, as well.
Hydraulic lifts are the best choice for people who have heavier boats that they lower and get out of water regularly. However, even a manual lift can be good enough for many people, and they’re just a fraction of the price.
Keep in mind that a lot of people selling you these boats are profit-oriented, and they’re aware of the fact that this is a one-time purchase. So, they’ll try to maximize the value of the offer and always sell you a more expensive option.
2. Get a reference point
You can be sold anything at any price if you don’t have a reference point. Just imagine hearing about a piece of tech for the very first time and being told that it costs X amount of dollars. If they tell you it’s $500 or $5,000 (or even $50), you might believe it simply because you have no idea what the prices are supposed to be like.
This is why you have to shop around and ask for some quotes.
Just remember, boat lifts are incredibly diverse, and what you’re looking for is the price range for the specific lift that you’re looking to buy. Once again, with the comparison. Saying that a price lift should cost X amount is like saying that a car should cost $8,000. Sure… which car? New or used? What model?
This is why you have to dedicate a fair amount of time to research. You shouldn’t buy from the first vendor you reach out to. Of course, it’s possible that the first offer you receive is the best one and, in that case, you should return to it. No one would hold it against you if you asked around a bit first.
3. Negotiate
There may be no way for you to reduce the price of a boat lift, no matter what you say. The seller may be dead-set on selling it at that price. Maybe that’s the lowest they can go and still make a profit. Selling it for anything under that particular figure will make them trade at a loss. Or… it could be none of these scenarios, and they could reduce the cost significantly.
You never know unless you try.
There are just a couple of things you need to keep in mind.
First, these lifts are high-value goods, which means that the profit margin is usually significant. In other words, there’s usually a bit of room for negotiation. At the same time, they acknowledge the fact that they can negotiate out of their own goodwill. They’re not obliged to, so if they outright refuse, you shouldn’t feel like you were wronged. You wouldn’t try to haggle for your groceries at the supermarket, would you?
Second, it’s worth mentioning that no one is going to get mad about you asking for a bit of a discount. They’re only going to do so if you do it in a rude way or if you go with a preposterously low price. Sure, guides suggest you go for a bit lower cost and haggling from there as a better starting point, but you don’t want to push it too far.
4. Look for various financing options
The last thing you need to keep in mind is the importance of looking for different financing options. Some sellers may offer you to spread the cost over a longer period of time, which could make the lift significantly more affordable. This is an important upgrade that you want to spend a good money on but you should still try to get the best deal available.
Look at it this way: this is a one-time purchase, which is why you want to ensure that it’s the right one. You don’t want to buy an inadequate lift because you can’t afford the one you actually need; however, sometimes, the cost will be too substantial of a roadblock.
So, you’ll have a few options.
You can postpone the purchase by the time you can actually afford it.
You can borrow money from somewhere in order to buy it.
You can buy a sub-optimal lift for your boat.
Each of the three is problematic in its own right, and if you can get a better financing option, you could go with your original plan instead.
Wrap up
Being a boat owner goes beyond just buying a boat. It’s very important that you get the additional equipment, as well. Out of this equipment, a lift is both one of the biggest investments and one of the most relevant acquisitions to your overall boating experience. Therefore, it should be picked carefully.
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