Buy & sell · part of the Towpath estate

The Boat Market — buy & sell boats with trust built in

Buy and sell boats with trust built in.

A UK boat marketplace being built around a safe sale. Listing is free and there is no commission on the sale. The protections come next: sellers verified before they can list, BSS certificates checked against the listing, and BoatMarket Protect — a protected payment powered by Stripe Connect, where the money will be held by Stripe, never by us, until handover is confirmed. That part is in development and not yet live. We watched a narrowboat change hands with no buyer protection at all — that's exactly why we're building it.

Launching soonFree to list, no commission · optional Pro listing £99/yr · protected payment 2.9% + £5 when it launchesUK-built
Why The Boat Market

What makes it different

01

Free to list, no commission

Put a boat up for nothing and keep the whole sale price. Pro at £99 a year adds featured placement; brokers get a negotiated platform fee from 0.5%.

02

Sellers will be verified

Sellers will be checked before they can list — photo ID through Stripe Identity and a verified phone number. No anonymous adverts.

03

BSS certificates will be checked

Safety certificates will be verified against the listing, so a buyer knows what they're getting.

04

Protected payment, in development

We're building BoatMarket Protect on Stripe Connect: the money will be held by Stripe — never by us — until you confirm handover, with a timestamped bill of sale generated for both sides. It is not live yet, and we will not pretend otherwise.

Better than the alternative

How it compares

The usual way
  • Apollo Duck / eBay — no verification, no protected payment, no BSS checks
  • Facebook Marketplace — no buyer protection at all on a five-figure purchase
With The Boat Market
  • Free to list with no commission today; verified sellers and checked certificates as the protections land
  • Being built so the money sits with Stripe until handover is confirmed
Illustrative

How it would work

AF
Will be able to buy from a verified seller with a checked BSS certificate, with the money held by Stripe until the keys change hands.
A first-time narrowboat buyer

Be first when The Boat Market opens.

We'll let you know the moment it's live.

Preview The Boat Market → Not sure which tool fits? See the whole estate →