Boats and Outboards

What Boats and Outboards does

Boats and Outboards is an online marine marketplace operating primarily in the United Kingdom that connects individual buyers and sellers of new and used boats, boat engines, and marine accessories. The platform is a subsidiary of Boats Group and operates as part of the boats.com brand network, aggregating inventory from both private sellers and professional marine dealers and brokers. Its product surface spans four primary categories — Motor Boats (with sub-classes including cruisers, motor yachts, RIBs, fishing boats, speed boats, and narrow boats), Sailing Boats (cruising yachts, racing yachts, catamarans, daysailers, and dinghies), Small Boats (inflatables, jetskis, kayaks, canoes), and Boat Engines (outboard, inboard, sterndrive, jet). The platform supports 20,218+ active listings and offers search and filter functionality across type, make, location, condition, length, price, year, fuel, and hull type, with listings sourced from at least 10 countries across Europe, Turkey, and the United States.

The underlying technology is a standard classifieds-style marketplace platform with self-service listing management, dealer tools, and an ad-serving stack integrated with Boats Group infrastructure (servedby.boatsgroup.com). Supporting services include a "Sell Your Boat" self-listing flow, a Dealer Search tool with membership managed through Boats Group subscriptions, and a Resources hub providing educational content on buying, selling, and operating boats. The company has no disclosed mobile application, API, or AI-driven features.

The business model is a two-sided marketplace monetized through (1) listing fees and dealer subscriptions paid by professional marine dealers and brokers to advertise inventory, supplemented by private-seller listing fees, and (2) banner and display advertising on the platform, including featured listings and sponsored content placements. The primary customer segments are individual boat buyers and sellers in the UK and broader European boating community, and professional marine dealerships and yacht brokers seeking distribution. Marketing is driven primarily by organic search and content marketing, with social media presence on Facebook and Instagram as supporting channels.

Name

Boats and Outboards

Legal name

Boats Group

Website

https://boatsandoutboards.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Boats and Outboards is a UK-based online marine marketplace, part of Boats Group's boats.com brand network, that connects individual boat buyers and professional dealers across the UK and Europe through a listing-based platform monetized via dealer subscriptions, listing fees, and display advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Marine Marketplace

NAICS

Boat Dealers (441222)

SIC

Retail-Mobile Home Dealers (5271)

akta.pro primary industry

Boat & Personal Watercraft (PWC) Retail (CRAMAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sailing & Rigging Retail (Sailboats, Sails, Hardware) (CRAMAIAG), Marine Parts, Accessories & Maintenance Supplies Retail (CRAMAIAB)

Keywords

• Online boat marketplace
• Used boat sales
• Marine listings
• Boat engine sales
• Marine dealer advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Listing Fees and Dealer Subscriptions: Revenue generated from dealers and brokers subscribing to advertise boats on the platform, as well as private seller listing fees for selling boats and boat engines.
2. Advertising Revenue: Banner and display advertising on the platform, including featured listings and sponsored content placements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Boats and Outboards operates an online marine marketplace where individual buyers, private sellers, and professional marine dealers list and search for new and used motor boats, sailing boats, small boats, and boat engines. The platform supports self-service listing creation, search and filter functionality by type, make, location, condition, length, price, year, fuel, and hull type, and provides a dealer search and advertising subscription model under the Boats Group umbrella.

Product overview

Boats and Outboards operates as a unified marine marketplace platform — the number 1 marine marketplace in the UK — providing a comprehensive digital platform for buying and selling new and used boats. The platform encompasses multiple product categories including Motor Boats (with sub-categories like cruisers, motor yachts, RIBs, fishing boats, speed boats, narrow boats), Sailing Boats (cruising yachts, racing yachts, catamarans, daysailers), Small Boats (inflatable boats, kayaks, rowing boats, jetskis), and Boat Engines (outboard, inboard, sterndrive). Supporting services include the Sell Your Boat advertising service, Dealer Search tool, and a Resources hub with educational content. The platform connects both professional brokers and private individuals to buyers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Boats and Outboards Marketplace Core online marine marketplace connecting individual boat buyers with private sellers and professional dealers across the UK and internationally, featuring listings of new and used motor boats, sailing boats, small boats, and boat engines.
• Sell Your Boat Service Self-service listing service that enables individual owners and dealers to advertise boats and boat engines for sale on the Boats and Outboards marketplace.
• Dealer Search Search tool that helps users find marine dealers and brokers, with membership subscriptions offered through Boats Group for dealers wanting enhanced visibility.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20,218+ boat listings available
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Boats GroupcoreOthersParent company that owns and operates Boats and Outboards as part of the boats.com brand network. Provides platform infrastructure and brand support.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• YachtWorld: World's largest yacht marketplace, also under the Boats Group portfolio. Directly comparable business model (dealer listings, broker subscriptions, advertising) with a heavier emphasis on yachts and luxury segments, overlapping with Boats and Outboards' motor yacht and cruiser categories.
• Rightboat: Global boat listings marketplace aggregating new and used boats from dealers and private sellers across multiple countries. Directly competes with Boats and Outboards for cross-border boat search traffic and dealer listing budgets.
• Boatshop24: European multilingual boat listings marketplace. Overlaps with Boats and Outboards in motor boats, sailboats, and small boats categories, particularly in the UK, German, French, Italian, and Spanish markets.
• YATCO (Yacht Access Television Co.): Marine MLS platform aggregating yacht broker listings globally. Comparable business model with dealer/broker subscriptions and a marketplace focused on centralizing yacht inventory — closely comparable to the broker side of Boats and Outboards.
• Boat24: European online boat marketplace operating across multiple languages and countries. Competes head-to-head with Boats and Outboards in key European boating markets (Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Netherlands) for both listings and buyer traffic.
• Apollo Duck: Long-standing UK and European boat classifieds platform for new and used boats, yachts, and marine equipment. Closest UK-focused peer with overlapping categories of motor boats, sailing yachts, small craft, and engines listed by dealers and private sellers.
• boats.com: Global marine marketplace and the brand network under which Boats and Outboards operates. Both platforms serve boat buyers/sellers with new and used listings, dealer directories, and editorial content; boats.com is the broader parent brand while Boats and Outboards is the UK-focused storefront.
• Boat Trader: Leading US-focused boat marketplace, also part of Boats Group. Directly comparable marketplace offering new/used boat listings across motor boats, sailboats, and PWC categories with dealer subscriptions and advertising — essentially the US analogue of Boats and Outboards.

Broad incumbents

• eBay UK Motors: Major generalist classifieds platform where boats, engines, and marine accessories are also bought and sold. A broad incumbent that competes indirectly for boat listings and buyers with significant scale, though lacking marine vertical specialization.
• Auto Trader UK: UK's largest vehicle classifieds platform run by Auto Trader Group. Comparable horizontal classifieds/marketplace business model (subscription + advertising), with boat listings as a small vertical — useful benchmark for marketplace unit economics in the UK.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Boatsandoutboards
• Instagraminstagram.com/boatsandoutboards
• Xx.com/BAOB_US

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boats and Outboards