Name The Price
Published June 23, 2010 | 
So.. What’s a used fiberglass kayak worth? I have no idea these days. I know that wholesale new kayaks still run over two grand. On the floor they’re mostly between $3,000 & $4,000. A fiberglass kayak in really good shape might get around $1500-$2000 trade in. But what about totally trashed but still sea worthy craft? It’s easy to find ads for kayaks that are “mint condition” or “hardly paddled”.. but what about “paddled constantly” and “beat but loved”?
Sadly after 3 years, a few flights, and a few crashes my Rockpool is just not up to being a teaching boat any longer. Prudence says it’s time to sell off a few older sea kayaks toward my new teaching boat kitty, even if they are not worth a lot. Thing is, I have no idea what old beat boats are worth. Take this Romany for instance. It’s a little old…. It’s label still mentions Nigel, Aled & Mike Webb.. (Interesting!) It’s beat, but sea worthy. The patches are gray and don’t match the hull and it’s heavy. We call it the Appaloosa. It’s built like a tank, and looks like it’s been through a war. It’s got a valley foam seat, no back band, and no skeg or rudder. It has actually held a special place for me as my river runner. It goes whenever I’m concerned I might hit something. Funny thing, I never have. Romany’s are great boats and dead easy to control. But the thing is, I never actually bought this one by choice and now it rarely get’s paddled. I held off selling it simply because I thought to myself, that it might just not be worth selling… But it’s hard to justify hanging on to. I know some of you guys have to have a better idea of the value of beat and beautiful kayaks.. so if you don’t mind sharing your expertise.. What’s it worth?
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15 Responses to Name The Price
Hmmmm.. Maybe 300 bucks, it still floats, it does not leak and for a learning boat or for someone who just does not have the extra cash for something more but is looking for a solid boat.. just a guess.. ask the boys at Rutabaga what they would give you for it on trade.
More. It is a famous (Ben Lawry says cult) boat. It is worth what ever someone will pay you for it. or……donate it.
I would suggest that you could get $400 -$500, but if you want to sell it fast,go for the $300 price. If Rutabaga would give you anything in trade, I can’t imagine it being more than $100. But they don’t offer you what they think they can sell it for.
Is is an old Romany explorer? they are hard to find these days, nobody will sell if it even floats. Good friend Bill Newman has a Romany full of patches, duct tape. He’s paddled it across Lake Superior .. more than once! I don’t believe he’d sell it for anything.
$300-$400 eh? I was sort of thinking that. Which brings me back to the “why bother” question.
Ron, it’s a Romany. 16 ft. Don’t think I could let go of my explorer.
I looked at the pictures again .. it is a Romany Explorer. Its worth more than money.
I stand corrected. Oh well ..
From a coach/outfitter’s point of view, it’s worth a lot more than that. New, high performance plastic would cost more than $1,000 pro deal, and what would you rather have? If it’s an NDK, it floats (no leaks) and the patches are clean, it’s worth a grand. Give me a fleet of old Romanys and Explorers to teach with for students at any level. Ten years from now they’ll still be solid.
On the other hand…
1) coach and outfitters that could buy it will be cheap (not exactly a business where money just flows – like banking?), so would they really pay 1000+ when:
2) it is easy to find old second hand glass boats in very nice conditions around the 1000-1200 mark – looks like this one is in quite poorer shape, although pictures tend to “dramatize”
3) When did Aled stop working with NDK? That’s when his name disappeared from the labels. So this boat could be 10-15 year old.
4) What is the “antiquity” value of an old Romany? Probably quite less than the one of an old Nordkapp in the UK – maybe 20% for a true aficionado?
Derrick, looks like that if you get 1000 for it it would be excellent; at 300 I would buy it right now then think how to tell my wife and pick it up (it’s a firm bid!); looks like 500-700 could be a fair price for both parties – a bargain for the buyer, but not too much of a loss for you.
Now all this has to make sense for you…
I’ve been thinking about this question for a few days…..I came to about the same conclusion as Dominique. Worth $500 to $700. Lots of work to get this kayak back to a level of viewable:) but it does float…so there is a good hull, and it should be worth fixing.
(for $300, I too would buy this kayak to fix and maybe help someone realize a wet dream)
Best Wishes
Roy
Thanks guys for all your thoughts on it. I hear what you all are saying. At first glance it’s easy to write off an old beat kayak or at least under value it. But then, if you are trying to sell a boat you have to realize that the buyers are naturally going to under-value whatever boat you have anyway. That’s sort of why I wondered if I should even bother. I figured I could get $300-$400 as is, but at the same time I feel like it’s worth more.
Reading everyone’s thoughts, AND taking into account the comments on the Valley Nordkapp post about modern hull strength, I’m starting to think it would be stupid to sell an old NDK with a rock solid hull to buy a new kayak with a crap hull (sorry not meant to be a commentary on ALL new kayaks!). Maybe I’d be wiser to just start sanding, patching and gel-coating away until I get the old Romany looking proud again.
Something to think about..
Whats to lose? or take the deck off, remove the bulkheads, split the kayak down the keel, take out an inch …maybe an inch and a half…..put that part back together…then cut the top of the hull down by about 1 to 2 inches…narrow the deck and fit it back to the hull….and have a true low volume Romany….spray the bottom with gel…add a keel strip
that could represent a fun time:) when kayaks get to this stage…the people that have the skill to fix them, generally don’t NEED another kayak….but when you are done with all your projects is times to die…..bring on more projects:)
Best Wishes
Roy
Roy, I wish I had the skill to drop it an inch or so.. I know you can do that stuff.. but it’s a bit beyond my current skill level. I’ve only recently graduated to basic gel-coat repairs. I also don’t have a decent shop area to work indoors. I do think I can get rid of the gray, fill some deeper spider cracks and make the seam repairs prettier. From there, who knows!?
Roy would have the skills to make it a 12-part kayak that you can fit in a small airline regulation bag together with his amazing 5-part carbon Greenland paddles… Now that Nigel has bought Lendal maybe Nigel will offer connectors for kayaks that would provide him with just what he needs to complete the project… Right, Roy?
Thanks Dominique
thought about it some….that kayak could be turned into a sectional too…
what a fun project it could be:)
Best Wishes
Roy