If you’re ready to start earning income from your boat—be it a sailing boat, yacht, RIB, or catamaran—this step-by-step guide will walk you through how to list your boat on Boat.Rent and start accepting bookings in under 30 minutes.
Whether you’re managing a single vessel or building a full charter fleet, this guide covers the five essential onboarding steps to take your listing from draft to live—and get you ready for bookings.
5 Steps to List Your Boat and Start Tracking Bookings
Step 1: Create Your Free Vendor Account
Begin by visiting our vendor sign-up page. Here, you can explore all the benefits of hosting on Boat.Rent and create a free account in seconds.
Once inside your Vendor Dashboard, you’ll find clear prompts guiding you through the next steps—but this blog provides detailed insights to help you hit the ground running.
Step 2: Add Your Pricing and Availability
Before your boat can be booked, you’ll need to set up a Pricing and Availability profile. This is where you define how much your boat costs to rent—whether it’s by the hour, per day, or for longer periods.
We’ve designed the system to be as flexible as possible, allowing you to tailor it exactly to your offering. There are two main pricing structures to choose from:
1. Flexible Pricing (Recommended)
Flexible Pricing lets you adjust your rates based on duration—with daily, hourly, or hybrid options.
You can:
- Set daily rates and apply automatic discounts for longer bookings
- Example: 1–3 days at $1,000/day, 4–6 days at $900/day, 7+ days at $800/day
- Add hourly rates for shorter bookings
- Choose between:
- Flat hourly pricing (e.g., $175/hour)
- Hourly range pricing, which lowers the per-hour rate as duration increases
- e.g., 1–3 hours = $200/hour, 4–6 hours = $175/hour, 7+ hours = $150/hour
- Choose between:
- Combine daily and hourly pricing
- If someone books 1 day + 3 extra hours, the system will automatically calculate both
💡 Ideal for day trips, skippered charters, and longer-term bookings—this is the most popular and flexible option for vendors.
2. Weekday-Based Pricing (Alternative Option)
If your prices vary depending on the day of the week—such as higher rates on weekends—this model is for you.
Example setup:
- Monday–Thursday: $750/day
- Friday: $850/day
- Saturday/Sunday: $1,000/day
This is useful for boats in high-demand weekend locations or where weekday business is slower.
Block Off Unavailable Dates
At the bottom of the Pricing & Availability page, you’ll find the Booking Blocker tool.
If you already have private bookings or planned downtime, here’s how to block those dates:
- Choose the start and end date
- Repeat as needed to block additional periods
This ensures renters only see the dates you’re genuinely available, helping prevent frustration and cancellations.
💡 Pro Tip: Create one pricing profile per boat and name it clearly (e.g., “Sea Ray 340 Pricing”). This makes it much easier to pair with your boat listing in Step 4.
Step 3: Create Your Boat Listing
This is what renters see—your public-facing profile. Think of it like your online storefront. What to include when you list your boat?
Here’s what to include:
- Photos: Use high-quality, well-lit images. Wide-angle shots are best. Clean the boat beforehand! For tips on capturing stunning boat photos, refer to Digital Photography School’s guide.
- Walkthrough Video: Paste a YouTube or Vimeo link for even more engagement
- Title: Include the boat type and location (e.g., “30ft Beneteau in Miami Beach”). For a comprehensive list of boat types, see Wikipedia’s list of boat types.
- Description: Give renters a clear, honest idea of what to expect
- Amenities & Features: Tick all that apply—they’re searchable filters
- Reviews: Users can come back and add reviews of your trip
For more information and tips on how to create a great listing, check out our blog.
Step 4: Link Pricing to Your Listing
Once your listing is built, go back into the same Boat Listing page.
- Scroll to the “Pricing and Availability” section
- Select the pricing record you created in Step 2 (this is why naming it clearly helps)
- Save your changes
This links your public listing with your booking system—and makes your boat bookable.
Step 5: You’re Live – Start Sharing!
That’s it—you’re ready to go.
As soon as your listing is complete and linked to pricing, it goes live on Boat.Rent instantly. No approval process, no delays. You’ll receive a confirmation email and can now:
- View your listing live
- Share the link on your social media
- Add it to your personal website
- Start replying to inquiries and managing bookings
Best Practices for a Top-Performing Listing
Here are a few things we see top vendors are doing:
- Use location-based titles
- Good: “65ft Lagoon Catamaran in Ft Lauderdale”
- Weak: “Dream Boat”
- Experiment with different listing titles to see what drives more views
- Avoid blurry photos—renters will skip right past you. For guidance on improving your boat photography, check out Digital Photography School’s tips.
- Keep your availability updated—no one likes to inquire for a date that’s not actually open
Remember: renters are comparing listings. Small things like naming, layout, and presentation can double your bookings.
When Should You Upgrade to a Paid Plan?
Once you start receiving inquiries, you might want to upgrade to a commission-free plan. It’s completely optional—you can stay on the free tier and just pay 15% commission per booking.
But if you’re earning even modest charter income, our flat-rate plans are often 10x cheaper than commission fees. For more information on tax considerations for charter income, refer to the IRS’s Tax Guide for Small Business.
Ready to List Your Boat?
Create your account and list your boat for free today.
It takes less than 30 minutes to go live—and you could be receiving your first inquiry by tomorrow.
If you need further assistance or have questions about optimizing your listing, feel free to reach out to our support team or explore our FAQs.
