Notes on Prices and Pricing

This being the first year of the site's operation it is difficult to know what to expect either in terms of number of sales or prices.

All  of the Summer holiday weeks ( late July to the end of August ) sold well,  with prices for six berth boats up too £930 (£850 being typical ) and 8 berth boats going at about £950.

May to July sales were slower, but there were many enquiries for weeks we did not have. ( Sales prices were broadly in line with suggested prices below )

Prior to that interest was limited, this might have been partly because the website was only just getting off the ground,

it did take until about May to ensure good search engine rankings, so I would generally anticipate a better performance at beginning of the  next year.

For any weeks other than the peak summer weeks I  would be tempted to take any offer seriously, as if left unsold you still have to pay the maintenance costs and make an effective loss of  £340 or whatever it is at the time.

There were a constant stream of requests for weekend or short break holidays, from Easter onwards.

I would suggest a fair price for these would be 60% of the week price, but contact Shakespeare Classic first to check they can cope with they change of routine which they are normally happy to do if they can. In all cases I suggested they try making offers to appropriate week owners.

This year's statistics so far  ( 4/9/05 )

    Narrowboat weeks

                       Houseboat weeks - only started  Aug 2005, advertised free until  31/12/05 to help establish new enterprise

Typical rental prices with notes on holiday dates (Hampshire schools - 2005)

Please note these prices are loosely set at 15 to 20% below typical rental rates, this is no guarantee that they are obtainable.

Particularly for off-season weeks,  you are strongly advised to use your own judgement, research markets and  adjust prices as necessary.

The market is difficult in this area and results can be frustratingly elusive. 

Price guide 2005