3.3× The typical boat dealer or marine service for sale in the US asks 3.3 times its yearly cash flow.
We read 85 boat dealers and marine services listed for sale on a major online marketplace and compared each asking price with the cash flow its seller reported.
The findings in eight sentences.
- The middle half of boat dealers and marine services ask between 2.6 and 4.3 times their yearly cash flow.
- Boat dealers and marine services ask more than the typical business for sale, which asks 2.6 times.
- The typical asking price for a boat dealer or marine service is $580,000.
- Measured against revenue, the typical boat dealer or marine service asks 0.8 times its yearly sales.
- 24% of boat dealers and marine services for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
- 59% of owners who say why they're selling are retiring.
- 11% of boat dealers and marine services for sale show no revenue, cash flow or EBITDA, against 18% overall.
- 38% of the boat dealers and marine services for sale are listed in Florida, 5% in Washington and 5% in California.
Of the auto and transport industries, boat dealers and marine services ask more than most.
Car washes ask the most, 5.0 times their yearly cash flow, and gas stations the least, 2.4 times.
- Car washes: median 5.0×, middle half from 3.3× to 6.7×
- Boat dealers and marine services: median 3.3×, middle half from 2.6× to 4.3×
- Limo and passenger transportation companies: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.4× to 3.8×
- Trucking companies: median 3.0×, middle half from 2.4× to 3.5×
- Moving companies and shipping stores: median 2.8×, middle half from 1.8× to 3.6×
- Car dealerships: median 2.7×, middle half from 1.9× to 4.2×
- Auto repair shops: median 2.7×, middle half from 2.0× to 3.4×
- Gas stations: median 2.4×, middle half from 1.7× to 3.1×
fulkersonadvisors.com
49% of boat dealers and marine services ask between two and four times their yearly cash flow.
31% ask more than four, and 20% less than two.
fulkersonadvisors.com
What a boat dealer or marine service like yours would ask.
The middle half of similar listings ask
$548,000 to $901,000
The typical one asks $702,000, 3.3× its yearly cash flow.
Based on boat dealers and marine services of every size. Too few this size are listed. These are asking prices, not sale prices or appraisals.
After the close.
We write the software a newly bought business runs on, one process at a time, such as quoting, scheduling or billing, and the new owner keeps the code. How we work with buyers and operating partners.
The data.
We read the listings on September 24, 2026, and their full details from September 25 to 30, 2026.
Questions
What multiple of cash flow do boat dealers and marine services sell for?
Boat dealers and marine services listed for sale in the US ask a median 3.3 times their yearly cash flow (seller's discretionary earnings), and the middle half ask between 2.6 and 4.3 times. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How much does it cost to buy a boat dealer or marine service?
The typical boat dealer or marine service for sale asks $580,000, and the middle half ask between $348,000 and $1,350,000. Sale prices usually come in lower.
How many boat dealers and marine services for sale offer seller financing?
24% of boat dealers and marine services for sale offer seller financing, against 22% overall.
What multiple of revenue do boat dealers and marine services ask?
The typical boat dealer or marine service for sale asks 0.8 times its yearly sales, and the middle half ask between 0.4 and 1.4 times.
Why are boat dealers and marine services for sale?
59% of owners who give a reason are retiring. 17% are moving on to other businesses or interests, and 8% are relocating.
How we did it
We read every listing on a major US online marketplace for businesses for sale on September 24, 2026, and went back to each one from September 25 to 30, 2026 for its full details. This page covers the 85 established boat dealers and marine services among them. 58 show both an asking price and a cash flow, and 51 of those are left after the exclusions below.
Older listings use a flat list of named categories, and newer ones a two-level list whose subcategories have no names. A listing without its own photo shows its category's default photo. Each default photo almost always shows up in a single newer subcategory, so each named category joins the subcategory where its photo appears.
A multiple is the asking price divided by the seller's discretionary earnings the listing reports. We left out multiples below 0.3 or above 20, and listings whose price includes the property. Prices and cash flows on this page come from the listings with a multiple. These are asking prices, and a business usually sells for less than it asks. The full method.
Cite this page
Fulkerson Advisors (2026). What boat dealers and marine services for sale ask. From What Small Businesses for Sale Ask: 39,587 US Listings, September 2026. https://www.fulkersonadvisors.com/research/small-business-multiples/boat-dealers-marine
Use any of these numbers or charts. Credit Fulkerson Advisors and link to this page. The data is under a CC BY 4.0 license.