At a glance
| What's sold | Used pleasure boats, mostly 5–15 m, plus trailers, hulls and abandoned municipal boats |
| Lots located in | Netherlands (69%), Belgium (14%), Germany (7%), France (3%), Italy (3%) |
| Who can bid | Any adult with full legal capacity, private or business, from any country |
| Buyer's premium | 18%, 12% or 8%, depending on the lot's starting price |
| VAT on premium | 21% Dutch VAT on every lot |
| Payment deadline | 4 days from invoice under the terms; paying within 2 days is safer |
| Pickup deadline | 14 days after award; municipal lots have fixed dates |
| Verdict | Genuine site with escrow, but hidden reserves and all logistics are yours |
What's sold
Used motor and sailing yachts, sloops, speedboats, RIBs, workboats, houseboats, bare hulls (casco), outboards and trailers. Boatauction does not own the boats, and most sellers are private individuals. It also sells abandoned boats from municipalities (weesboten) and foreclosure lots (executieveilingen).
Who can bid
- Private buyers: You must be an adult with full legal capacity. Any country is allowed. Signing up is free, with no ID check and no deposit.
- Businesses: The same conditions apply. It is not confirmed whether a VAT number removes VAT on the premium or the hammer price, so ask before you bid.
Registration
- Open a free account in Dutch, English, German or French.
- Activate it from the email; if none arrives, check spam or write to info@boatauction.com.
- Sign up for the viewing day (kijkdag) on the lot page.
- To bid in person in Naarden, email sales@boatauction.com at least 3 working days before closing.
- Use "Bekijk bod" (view bid) to see your total before you press "Plaats bod" (place bid).
Fees and real total cost
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer's premium (opgeld) | 18% / 12% / 8% | Set by starting price: under EUR 25,000; EUR 25,000–100,000; EUR 100,000 and up |
| VAT on premium | 21% | Charged on every lot, foreign buyers included |
| VAT on hammer | 0% or 21% | 21% only on boats sold by businesses with VAT ("btw boten") |
| Handling, admin or payment fees | None stated | Bank transfer in euros only |
| Late payment | Not confirmed | Terms say it "may incur extra costs" |
| Crane, transport, mooring, storage | Not confirmed | All at your cost; mooring is yours from the moment you own the boat |
| Not paying | Premium plus VAT | Still owed as a cancellation fee |
Worked example, private-seller lot in the 18% tier:
| Step | EUR |
|---|---|
| Hammer price | 1,000.00 |
| Premium 18% | 180.00 |
| VAT 21% on premium | 37.80 |
| Crane, transport, mooring | not confirmed |
| Total paid (excludes pickup costs) | 1,217.80 |
On a "btw boot", add EUR 210.00 VAT on the hammer, for EUR 1,427.80.
How bidding works
- Bid in whole euros, either by hand or with an automatic (proxy) bid that rises by the smallest step up to your maximum.
- Increments are not published. Each lot shows the "minimum volgend bod" (minimum next bid); steps seen range from EUR 25 to EUR 2,000.
- A bid in the final 5 minutes adds 5 minutes. Lots close about 1 minute apart on Monday evenings.
- Every sale needs seller approval (onder voorbehoud van gunning). The seller may have a secret minimum and has 72 hours to decide.
- Your bid is binding. You cannot withdraw, change or undo it, and it holds through those 72 hours.
- Cancelling a proxy bid stops further automatic bids, but your last bid still stands.
- Boatauction can void bids after irregularities or technical faults.
Watch out
- The premium tier depends on the starting price, so a low-start lot bid past EUR 25,000 still costs 18%.
- Seller descriptions and photos can be old; buyers report wrong engines and worse condition than shown.
- There is one viewing slot, Saturday 10:00–12:00 before closing, often abroad, with no survey or haul-out.
- Nobody checks papers, mortgages or VAT-paid status; buyers report failing to register boats abroad.
- Book transport before closing: beams over 2.55 m need oversize transport, and one buyer never managed to collect.
Verdict: Escrow protects your money until handover. View the boat, check its papers and line up transport before you bid, and expect low bids to be rejected.