How It Works

How Online Yacht Auctions Work

Goodbye price reductions, negotiation, holding costs & depreciation. Hello fast-paced live online auctions & quick results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Photo by Billy Black

Here’s how it works

End the back and forth negotiations, operating costs, annual depreciation and disappointment. With a time-sensitive live online auction approach, Boathouse Auctions creates a sense of urgency in an otherwise sluggish traditional yacht market — reducing the sales timespan from months and years to five weeks or less.

Date selection
Sellers and listing brokers decide on the date they want the yacht sold. Boathouse Auctions provides owners the opportunity to sell quickly, yielding the highest possible net return in five weeks or less.
Pricing
Sellers set the price and capitalize on the finite timeline and adrenaline rush of auctions. With Boathouse Auctions, our time-sensitive approach accelerates the process while eliminating costly days on market.
Surveys
Sellers provide surveys completed by well-known, recognized, and accredited surveying specialists. Hull, engines, and mechanicals are surveyed for power vessels while rig inspections are also included for sailboats. Surveys are available to all bidders prior to bidding.
Brokers' role
Brokers’ responsibilities remain unchanged. Literally. Brokers continue to address questions, perform showings, attend sea trials, and manage the closing and financial transactions. Our approach is turnkey and quick, which considerably reduces friction in the sales process by having all buyers determine their own value of the vessel within a timeline set by the seller.
Promotion
Boathouse Auctions shines a light on your vessel to raise it above the noise of the traditional brokerage market. We collaborate with listing brokers to establish a strategy for each individual yacht and our marketing team actively promotes each auction to bidders across the globe.
Online bidding
Boathouse Auctions enables buyers and sellers to participate in live online yacht auctions from their computer or mobile device in real-time from anywhere in the world. Our fully integrated, turnkey, time-sensitive online auction platform aggregates prequalified buyers to compete for your listing. If a prospective buyer makes an acceptable offer, your vessel can be removed from the platform prior to the start of the auction.
Buyer's Premium
Prospective buyers are able to name their price via a straightforward, transparent bidding process. The 8% Buyer’s Premium is Boathouse Auctions’ fee for managing, marketing, promoting, and advertising each auction and is paid by the successful bidder based on their highest final bid price.
Information For Sellers

Don't just take our word for it

We had our nicely maintained 70e Ocean Alexander 2017 listed for almost a year with limited interest and still no offers after a boat show. Once Boathouse Auctions was engaged, we had immediate interest from many qualified buyers throughout the US. As a multiple yacht owner, I was extremely pleased to see the yacht sold on a defined timeline, thereby eliminating carrying costs, at a price I was satisfied to receive.

Jeff E., Seller 70e Ocean Alexander 2017

As a seller, the lack of a pending event plus the extended due diligence a buyer requires creates a buyer-advantaged process. Boathouse Auctions has successfully and politely modified the approach to bring this archaic process into the 21st century. I am thrilled with the result.

Ed L., Seller 75' Molokai Strait 2006

My decision to bring Boathouse Auctions into the traditional yacht marketing program was a great one. In less than 5 weeks, we had over 35 prospects, multiple bidders, and a deadline that created a sense of urgency that helped us quickly close the sale of our yacht at a price we were very pleased with.

Jeff N., Seller 44' Little Harbor Whisperjet 1999

Pacific Provider was on the market for quite some time. We recently reduced the price significantly but still this generated little solid interest. Engaging Boathouse Auctions was a key strategic decision. It shifted leverage from the buyers to the seller as it created a deadline and a sense of urgency. We received multiple pre-auction offers and sold Pacific Provider prior to the auction.

Tom H., Seller 157' Blount Marine 1978

As the carrying costs of larger yachts can be significant, days on market are costly. By offering Altitude Adjustment II through Boathouse Auctions, the finite timeline of the auction process serves as a motivation to prospective buyers and as an asset to owners in terms of time and cost savings.

Craig M., Seller 106' Broward 2006

I praise Boathouse Auctions for leading me to the successful close of the boat I’d never before considered.

Rick G., buyer 58' Vicem 2004

Sell your yacht

Do you have a vessel or listing that seems to be priced about right but just isn’t selling? Have you had multiple people interested – yet there is a lack of urgency? With Boathouse Auctions, our time-certain approach accelerates the process while eliminating costs to provide an optimal net return. Sell your yacht on your terms and timeline in five weeks or less.

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Our Leadership Team

Get in Touch
Photo of Boathouse Auctions Director, Jack Mahoney
Jack Mahoney
Director

Jack has nearly 30 years of entrepreneurial and corporate experience. He was with Russell Investments for 10 years in their Pension Outsourcing practice, and he previously worked at Gartner, Inc., managing one of their largest global clients, Cisco Systems. Boathouse Auctions is the evolution of Jack’s experience in the businesses of investment and technology. By applying technology to yacht sales, he saw the opportunity to use auctions as a choice for high-net-worth sellers who prefer liquidity on their own timeline. Jack is a graduate of Syracuse University.

Photo of Boathouse Auctions Director, Harley Earl
Harley Earl
Director

Harley has 40 years of experience in finance and operations management in a variety of public and private companies. He holds a Master 100 Ton USCG license, is a US Sailing Cruising and CoNav Instructor, and has logged over 100,000 miles on the water. Harley is a two-time circumnavigator, first with his wife in the mid-2000’s aboard their Hans Christian 41, and more recently with his wife and daughter aboard their Deerfoot 63, Kailani. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University and obtained a Masters in Economics from the Colorado School of Mines.

Photo of Boathouse Auctions Director, Peter Amos
Peter Amos
Director

Peter is active in the industry as a yacht broker as well as overseeing operations of a yacht brokerage firm. Peter has held senior management positions in international sales, marketing, and engineering, as well as serving on corporate boards. He has served as a mentor at the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, Yale University, and was appointed to the ‘Green Launching Pad Commission’ by the Governor of New Hampshire. Peter is a graduate of the University of Birmingham with honors in physics and minors in mathematics and chemistry. Peter holds several US and European patents.

Photo of Boathouse Auctions Advisor, Jason Dunbar
Jason Dunbar
Advisor

Jason was introduced to the marine industry while attending college in Ohio. Upon graduation, he moved to South Florida and began working as a yacht broker and captain before accepting a position in 1996 with Luke Brown Yachts. LBY afforded Jason the opportunity to work with a wide range of yachts and clientele throughout the Americas, Caribbean, and Europe, and in 2012 he became a full partner. Jason is a graduate of Heidelberg College where he earned dual bachelor degrees in psychology and political science and he is a member of the American Society of Appraisers.

Photo of Boathouse Auctions Advisor, Chris Tibbe
Chris Tibbe
Advisor

Chris was born into a boating family and became deeply interested in how boats were designed and constructed. Since the late 1980’s, Chris has worked in the marine industry on everything as shipwright, sparbuilder, rigger, foreman, surveyor, and captain. Chris has raced and cruised tens of thousands of miles, he holds a Master 100 Ton USCG license and is the owner of an Alberg-designed Alajuela 38, which he sails out of San Francisco.