HI Guys and Gals,
After paddling rentals for years, finally looking to make the jump and own my own boat - currently looking at a WS Tsunami 14.5 w rudder.
The boat is roughly 8 years old, but in decent shape… is $800 a good deal on such a boat?
I’ve paddled this model before in the past, and i liked it, just woindering if the pricing is fair.
Any thoughts/advice would be extremely helpful! Thanks in advance.
Have you attempted to lift the Tsunami? A nice kayak for a rental fleet, but you can probably find a more user friendly kayak to own. And, $800 seems very pricey for that kayak.
I paddled one a bit years back, not too concerned with the weight when putting it on /taking it off the roof. I’m on the heavier side so I need a roomier kayak which usually means the yak itself being heavier. Also forgot to mention that the 800 is in Canadian funds - how much would you think is a reasonable price for a used Tsunami?
I sold a Tsunami 145 a few years back for $500. It was a 2005 model in good condition with no rudder; I threw in a decent paddle. I’m sure I could’ve gotten more, as I had three people lined up to buy it, and the first one who saw it did. Usually that means it’s underpriced. So I guess I’d say $800 is a bit on the high side but not unreasonable, especially if it’s in great condition. You could always offer a bit lower and see what happens. Also you should take into consideration that getting a great deal often requires a lot of persistence and patience; but, if you want something fast you should be prepared to spend a bit more.
The most important thing is to make sure the boat’s been stored inside (or at least covered,) I was able to vouch for the entire life of the boat, as I’d stored it in the garage, as had its previous owner.
Finally, buying used is a lot about serendipity. So a screaming deal will come along now and then, but it’s not like you’re getting ripped off paying roughly half of what it would cost new.
Edited to add: I didn’t realize the Canadian dollar is currently only worth .71 USD. So that makes your price $568 USD which sounds pretty good. Of course, I only can compare it to what used kayaks sell for around me (US northeast.).
Doggy_Paddler thank you so much for taking the time to reply. You really provided me with what I needed to hear. The seller has someone coming out to take a look at one of the 2 tsunamis on sale, I will know tmrw if I get one or not. Will post an update. Thank you!
Great, glad that was helpful. By the way this seems like a very good all-purpose boat for a larger paddler. It was my first purchase back before I understood what fit me, and since I weigh 135 it was way too big for me. But I also think people seem to buy and then flip boats when they decide they want a different one, and the good news here is that the WS Tsunami is a really popular model that seems to hold its value well. Happy paddling!
I usually use 1/3 to 2/3 of new price for what to expect to pay for used boats, Newer and better shapes boats are more toward the higher end, and older and more used boats toward the lower.
Tsunami 145 has an MSRP of Can$1729. Given this, the price seems like it may be in the range. If it was US$, I would have said this was on the higher end.
UPDATE:
Got it!
Thanks to everyone who took a minute of their time to give me advice, the advice I received on here played a huge factor in my pulling the trigger on this deal.
Now just waiting for the weather to cooperate a bit, we had snow here yesterday 
P.s. yak is not being stored where and how it appears in this photo, it is now on a rack
Congrats! It looks like it’s in great shape, the yellow color is excellent, looks like you also scored a cockpit cover in the deal, and like I mentioned before, if you ever end up deciding you prefer another boat this should be easy to re-sell. Enjoy!
