Factory Direct Pricing vs Dealer Markup: What’s the Real Savings?

Factory Direct Pricing vs Dealer Markup: What’s the Real Savings?

If you’re shopping for a cruising boat, whether it’s a Ranger Tug, Cutwater, or Solara, you’ve probably seen three words tossed around a lot: Factory Direct Pricing. But what does it mean, and how much can it save you?

Let’s break it down.

What is Factory Direct Pricing?
Factory direct means you’re buying from a dealership that works directly with the manufacturer. No middlemen, no markup games, and total pricing transparency.

At Pocket Yacht Company, we advertise the exact same price listed by the factory. Options and base price costs are the same from the factory and the dealership. No guessing. No hidden numbers. That’s not typical in the industry; most dealers aren’t allowed to show pricing publicly. That makes it nearly impossible to comparison-shop or even know what you can afford.

We believe in giving you the real number up front.

What is Dealer Markup?
Traditional dealers buy boats through a distribution chain. Each layer, manufacturer, regional rep, and dealer adds margin.
A manufacturer sets a wholesale price for a boat. The dealership purchases that boat at this price, then adds its own margin, typically 10% to 25% or more, to cover overhead and generate profit. The regional rep gets a portion of the boats sold in their area. This becomes the “retail” or “MSRP” price the buyer sees on the lot.

The result? A boat that started at $180,000 wholesale could easily be priced at $225,000 or more after all the fees and dealer markup.

And in many cases, you won’t find that final price advertised online. Most traditional dealerships are contractually restricted from listing real numbers publicly, which makes it difficult to compare options or understand what you’re paying for.

At Pocket Yacht Company, we eliminate the traditional markup model by offering factory-direct pricing. You see the same price we see from the manufacturer, and we break out the only three extras: freight, taxes, and prep. (Solara includes Freight in the price)

What’s NOT Included?
There are only three cost variables we add to the factory direct price to get you behind the wheel:

Freight – delivery from the Washington state factory to the East Coast

Taxes & Registration Fees – vary by state.

Dealer Prep – unwrapping, complete wash & detailing, fueling, boat name on the transom, final water-readiness, and 2-3 days of Captains Training.

Everything else? Already included. No surprises.

Why It Matters
Most of our buyers are planning serious adventures. Whether you plan to do The Great Loop, weekend family cruising, or snowbird escapes on the ICW. They don’t want surprises or gimmicks.

Factory direct pricing gives you a straight answer on what the boat costs and what’s included. It’s accessible, fair, and trustworthy.

Want to know what you’d pay for your boat?

Book a Transparent Quote Now
We’ll show you everything up front, down to the dollar