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Smart Boat Buying · 2026

The No-BS Boat Buyer's Playbook · 2026 Edition

What Every Boat Buyer Wishes They Knew Before Signing the Check.

The average first-time buyer loses $15,000–$50,000 on their first boat. Bad financing, hidden ownership costs, marina markups. Four field guides, one system, written to stop that.

$20$100Save 80%

Complete bundle · all 4 guides · instant download

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Field guides

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Never Pay Full Price at the Marina Again cover

The Unfiltered Boat Buyer's Field Guide cover

I.Choose Your Level

Start small, or get the whole system.

Every edition is an instant PDF download. No shipping, no monthly fees. Two volumes can be bought on their own — the bundle unlocks the marina playbook and a bonus 50-page field guide.

Volume 180% off

What The Dealer Didn't Tell You

Hidden financing, dealer tactics & every advantage they hope you never discover.

$50$10

The financing machine: dealer reserve, rate markup, the 15-year trap
Coverage you're already paying for — extended warranty duplication
Floor plan financing, aged units & demo boats
The repo & write-off market — where deals come from
The buying calendar: when dealers have leverage, when you do
Your purchase contract, decoded line by line
Pre-purchase survey rates by boat size

Secure checkout · Instant access

★ Best Value

Best Value · The Whole System80% off

The Complete Bundle

All 4 ebooks. The dealer playbook, the real cost of ownership, the marina markup guide & the field guide bonus.

$100$20

Volume 1 — What The Dealer Didn't Tell You
Volume 2 — The Real Price of Owning a Boat
Bundle exclusive — Never Pay Full Price at the Marina Again
Bonus — The Unfiltered Boat Buyer's Field Guide (50+ pages)
Total of 100+ pages, every chapter, every checklist
$91 of bonuses included — only in the bundle

Marina playbook is bundle-only — not sold separately.

Secure checkout · Instant access

Volume 280% off

The Real Price of Owning a Boat

Insurance, fuel, depreciation, the three-year trap & every cost nobody warned you about.

$65$13

The six-category true cost of ownership framework
Marine insurance — what actually drives your premium
Fuel: per-hour burn rates by boat category
Depreciation curves & the three-year trap
Year-by-year cost models for 10 years of ownership
Slip vs. trailer break-even analysis
Resale strategy — timing your exit

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II.The Gap You're Up Against

The gap between what you pay and what things cost.

Marine retail and service is a low-regulation, niche market with buyer inexperience built into the margin. These are the recurring numbers — and what knowing them costs.

Dealer rate markup on a 15-yr marine loan

+$14,800$20

Volume 1: dealer reserve, decoded.

First-year fuel + insurance underestimate

$4,000+$20

Volume 2: real burn rates & premiums.

Marina service markup over 10 yrs of ownership

$8K–$25K$20

Bundle-only marina playbook.

Unlike the auto industry, marine retail has no federal price-disclosure law. Dealers, lenders, and marinas are free to construct pricing in ways that maximize total margin across every phase. The bundle costs less than one hour of a marine surveyor's time.

III.The System

Four ebooks. One system. The buy, own, and service lifecycle.

Volume 1·$10 standalone

What The Dealer Didn't Tell You

The financing machine, the contract, and every tactic in the showroom.

The Gap

A $45,000 marine loan at a 2.4% dealer rate markup costs the buyer roughly $14,800 in additional interest — silent, undisclosed, and legal. The dealer keeps it as origination compensation. This volume closes that gap.

How dealer reserve actually works — and how to neutralize it before signing
Marine warranties: what duplicates manufacturer coverage and what to refuse
Floor plan financing, demo boats, aged inventory: the deals dealers need to move
The repo & write-off market — sourcing channels and the red flags
The buying calendar: month-by-month leverage windows
Your purchase contract, line by line: doc fees, prep fees, the F&I games
Pre-purchase surveys: rates by boat size and how to read the report

Volume 2·$13 standalone

The Real Price of Owning a Boat

The cost nobody quotes — insurance, fuel, depreciation, and the three-year trap.

The Gap

A $45,000 entry-level runabout in a moderate-cost market costs $8,000–$14,000 a year to own. An $85,000 cabin cruiser in a coastal market exceeds $20,000 annually. Neither number appears in any dealer's sales process. This volume builds the full model the purchase process doesn't provide.

The six-category true cost of ownership framework — fixed vs. variable
Marine insurance: what actually drives your premium (and what doesn't)
Fuel: real per-hour burn rates by boat category & engine type
Depreciation curves: when value drops, when it stabilizes
The three-year trap — why most boats sell in years 2–4
10-year cost modeling for entry-level, mid-tier, and cabin-cruiser ownership
Slip vs. trailer break-even, registration & tax surprises, boat clubs vs. owning
Resale: maximizing your exit and pricing against sold comps (not asking prices)

Bundle only

Bundle Exclusive·Not sold separately

Never Pay Full Price at the Marina Again

The service department playbook — labor rate inflation, parts markup, and the conversation every owner should know how to have.

The Gap

Marina labor runs $110–$180/hr, comparable to specialty auto shops, on book times most experienced techs complete in 60–70% of the time. Parts carry 30–50% standard markup. Across 10 years of ownership, the gap between informed and uninformed owners is reliably $8,000–$25,000 — only in routine service costs.

How flat-rate billing actually works — and why your invoice never reflects real time
The service interval upsell — what the manufacturer requires vs. what you're sold
Parts markup: dealer wholesale to your invoice — and where to source the same parts
DIY services that require no special skills (impellers, zincs, oil, plugs)
Finding independent marine mechanics: the 5 questions that filter the good ones
Winterization — the most overcharged annual service
The Marina Rate Card: what fair pricing looks like in 2025
The conversation: scripts for pushing back on upsells without burning the relationship

Bonus

Bonus·$30 value · included free

The Unfiltered Boat Buyer's Field Guide

The 50-page pre-purchase walk-through. What dealerships won't tell you, in your back pocket on the lot.

The Gap

The original Open Tides field guide — built from marine mechanics, surveyors, and thousands of real ownership cases. 20 chapters, the 23-point pre-purchase walk-through, hull-type trade-offs, and the warnings most buyers find out too late. Free with the bundle.

The 23-point pre-purchase walk-through surveyors use
Engine & mechanical failures — what mechanics actually see every week
Hull types & the hidden trade-offs by water type
The worst boats to buy, by category
Saltwater vs. freshwater — why a 'good deal' down south is a different math problem
Maintenance failures that destroy engines
Negotiation tactics, scripts, and the exit-plan checklist

Instant download · Pay once · Yours forever

IV.The Math

Here's everything you actually get.

What each piece is worth standalone, what you'd pay for them separately, and what the bundle costs.

Volume 1 — What The Dealer Didn't Tell You$50

Volume 2 — The Real Price of Owning a Boat$65

Never Pay Full Price at the Marina Again (bundle exclusive)$35

The Unfiltered Boat Buyer's Field Guide (bonus)$30

Total value$180

Your price today

The Complete Bundle

$180

$20

Costs less than one hour of a marine surveyor's time.

V.Reader Stories

Trusted by buyers, owners, and the mechanics who fix their mistakes.

4.9 / 5· 37 verified readers

"I was about to put a deposit on a 2017 cuddy. The contract chapter caught the doc-fee stack. Walked away. Best $47 I've ever spent."

Mike R.

First-time buyer · Florida

"Been boating 11 years and still learned things. The marina rate-card chapter alone got me $1,400 off my last service estimate."

Dana P.

Owner, 24' center console · NC

"No fluff. No 'top 10 sunset spots.' Just the stuff dealerships pretend doesn't exist. Read it in one evening and renegotiated $2,800 off the next day."

Jordan K.

Used boat shopper · MI

"I see these mistakes every week in my shop. Whoever wrote this actually talked to people like me. Finally a buyer's guide that isn't written by marketing."

Carlos M.

Marine mechanic · TX

"Wish I had this before my first boat. The ownership-cost chapter is brutal but accurate. Would have changed which boat I bought."

Sarah L.

Second-time owner · Tahoe

"The depreciation curves in volume 2 saved me from a $9k mistake. I was about to buy in the worst part of the curve."

Tom B.

Shopping used · Pacific NW

VI.Who It's For

This system is for you if...

You're shopping your first boat and want to understand the full financial picture
You've been burned before and want to negotiate from the same information as the dealer
You already own a boat and want to stop paying marina markups on routine service
You're 2–5 years from buying and want the system in your back pocket
You want every cost — purchase, ownership, service, resale — on one page before you commit

VII.Common Questions

Straight answers.

Why is the marina ebook only in the bundle?+

It's the most operationally sensitive material in the system — the labor rate ranges, the parts-markup tables, and the conversation scripts. We hold it back as the bundle differentiator. The two standalone volumes work without it; the bundle is the complete system.

I'm still dreaming, not buying yet. Is this useful now?+

Yes — most of the system is written for the person 2–5 years out. The earlier you read Volume 1 and Volume 2, the more you save when you do buy. The marina playbook becomes relevant the day after you sign.

What format are the ebooks and how do I get them?+

Professional-formatted .docx files that open in Word, Google Docs, or any reader. Delivered as an instant download the moment you pay — secure private link in your inbox within 60 seconds.

Is the 80% off real?+

Yes. The standalone full price of Volume 1 is $17 and Volume 2 is $22 — you pay 60% of that ($10 / $13). The bundle's value is $33 across the four ebooks; you pay $20.

What's the refund policy?+

7-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. Email us and the charge is reversed. The ebooks stay yours.

Are the numbers real or theoretical?+

Every dollar figure is sourced from real 2024–2025 market data, real lender disclosures, and real owner-reported costs. Nothing is hypothetical — the cost models, the labor rates, and the loan math all come from documented transactions.

One system. The entire buy–own–service lifecycle. $20.

The market rewards informed buyers. The bundle costs less than one hour of a marine surveyor's time — and prevents the kind of mistake you only make once.

7-day refundSecure checkoutInstant PDF