Houseboats! I have no clue where to start!

[Leicesterdave]

Right here goes.

My brother in law lives in Poland and his father in law owns a furniture factory. He has made a wonderful job of building a houseboat.
He has asked me if I could sell those in the UK and France. I'm half British/French so language is no issue.
I have literally no idea where to start! Brexit implications, who to target, marketing etc.... These clearly need targeting to a particular audience- not something I can just sell on ebay- not initially at least.

He's indicated that transport is fine and not to worry about that side of things.

Can anyone on here give me any pointers, ideas etc?

Link to the product:

https://youtu.be/BxwxAPTo_o8

[andyb28]

It looks like something more suited to American lakes, rather than tidal / choppy areas we mostly have.

I have a boat, but don't really know much about your target market. Sorry.

[Akiraprise]

They look pretty interesting, what sort of price are they marketed at?

[Leicesterdave]

Akiraprise said:

They look pretty interesting, what sort of price are they marketed at?

About £65,000

[Slackline]

If I had a lake, I'd buy one of those!



Unless it floods, the chances of me having a lake anytime soon are pretty slim

[Simpo Two]

I might talk to someone established here like Tingdene. They will want a slice of course.

If it was static it could appeal to lakeside chalet/caravan parks.

[BoRED S2upid]

Direct selling to established holiday businesses who might have lakeside chalets that could expand onto the lake. We’ve stayed at a few across the U.K. I’ve not seen one make use of the lakes for anything other than water sports. Definitely an opportunity.

[Dunk130TC]

I’ve seen something similar on the Thames

https://www.campiboats.co.uk

[The Moose]

What do they draw?

[anonymous-user]

Just followed the link and the factory is only about 40 mins from us. (Some nice looking solid wood furniture on their website too)

We have been looking to do a similar thing with hot tubs as a friend produces them and wants to sell to the Uk.

Regarding your boats what certification do they have? Is that £65k including VAT (VAT is 23% in Poland so you would need to have them supplied to you vat zero in order to make any profit) £65k seems quite reasonable too.

I would go down the route of getting one landed in the Uk and then promoting the hell out of it on social media. English language website. Have something that potential customers can take a look at before placing an order etc.

Motorhomes and caravans seem to be selling incredibly quickly at the moment so you may be able to tap into that market. Targeted marketing on Facebook groups around the Lake District etc.

How is he proposing to ship them? They do look quite wide to go by road.

[aparna]

That kind of boat seems mostly a London liveaboard thing. You don't see many used recreationally elsewhere.

So I would take to a London houseboat or narrow boat broker. It's a bit like selling a log cabin however, the mooring needs to be permanent and is perhaps the bigger obstacle?

[StevieBee]

I'd go and speak to Hoseasons and similar. Looks like the sort of thing that they may be interested in.

[Simpo Two]

aparna said:

That kind of boat seems mostly a London liveaboard thing. You don't see many used recreationally elsewhere.

So I would take to a London houseboat or narrow boat broker. It's a bit like selling a log cabin however, the mooring needs to be permanent and is perhaps the bigger obstacle?

Offering a 'no-engine' option would broaden its appeal - and reduce cost.

[sgrimshaw]

CDB1983 said:

Is that £65k including VAT (VAT is 23% in Poland so you would need to have them supplied to you vat zero in order to make any profit) £65k seems quite reasonable too.

VAT would not be charged by the Polish seller as they are exporting to a non-EU country, but UK VAT would be due on import to the UK ... unless there are special rules for boats of course.

[Leicesterdave]

I'v contacted a boat seller in the UK who assure me no VAT is payable for houseboats!

[Leicesterdave]

Simpo Two said:

Offering a 'no-engine' option would broaden its appeal - and reduce cost.

This is something we're really looking into- much more profitable.

I have done a lot of research and there is a lot of good and very little bad. Key is that I need to sell them through a boat seller who has far more experience.

[Tony427]

They look interesting and unusual although the concept is really glamping on water.

Personally I would approach anywhere in the leisure industry that has lakes or expanses of water already and offers either a Chalet, Yurt or Glamping holiday as this would be an ideal extension to their product offering.

£65k seems a little high for me, you would need some hefty peak rental figures to make that work. However if its being used as a holiday and accomodation unit theres no need for it to be mobile in that scenario so the deletion of a engine does, as you say, bring that cost down.

One thing to check up is if the pod/ boat needs planning permission if its on the water? Perhaps somewhere a holiday park with currently unused but available water moorings are at their planning maximum unit capacity and will be turning potential customers away or limiting demand by discretionary pricing.

Utilising the water to increase overall customer capacity without creating planning issues may well be attractive to the operator in that quandry.

Does Center Parcs have lakes at their facilities?

Sound like a very interesting proposition.

[Simpo Two]

Leicesterdave said:

I'v contacted a boat seller in the UK who assure me no VAT is payable for houseboats!

But define 'houseboat' - to be VAT-exempt it may mean it can't be self-propelled. If so then engineless ones would be even cheaper to buy. I think you really have two products here with different markets.

[sgrimshaw]

Simpo Two said:

Leicesterdave said:

I'v contacted a boat seller in the UK who assure me no VAT is payable for houseboats!

But define 'houseboat' - to be VAT-exempt it may mean it can't be self-propelled. If so then engineless ones would be even cheaper to buy. I think you really have two products here with different markets.

From the VAT notice:




I suspect these rather nice boats will fail one if not both tests:

•which is designed or adapted for use solely as a place of permanent habitation, and
•which does not have the means of, and which is not capable of being readily adapted for, self-propulsion

[Simpo Two]

sgrimshaw said:

•which is designed or adapted for use solely as a place of permanent habitation, and
•which does not have the means of, and which is not capable of being readily adapted for, self-propulsion

Yep.

How about selling it as a kit?