Boatcha is coming to Chicago
A new marketplace for boats and boat storage. Our first 25 boat hosts and 10 storage hosts pay half our fee for their first year.
Rentals, charters and tours, one boat or a fleet. You set the price and the calendar.
A lot, a yard, a barn or a warehouse. You set the price and approve every request.
You pay one fee, and your guest pays no service fee on top, where the big boat sites charge both of you. We do the setup ourselves: we come to you, take the photos and build your listing with you. And we only list licensed boats, so you are not competing with boats that skip the licenses.
Listing is free. Our fee is 8% of each booking, and we pay the card fees out of it: $40 on a $500 booking. First Wave hosts, our first 25 boat hosts and 10 storage hosts, pay half of that for 12 months from their first booking: 4%, card fees still included, and one spot covers everything you list. Your guest pays your price with no service fee on top, where most sites add one.
Your payout is sent 48 hours after each trip ends, once the window for a damage claim has closed, and usually reaches your bank in 3 to 5 business days. For a yard, it is sent 48 hours after the stay starts. A stay longer than a month is paid a month at a time, 48 hours after each month begins. Payments run through Stripe.
In Chicago, the City taxes boat rentals and charters at 15%. We show it as its own line at checkout, collect it from your guest and pay it to the City, so you do not have to collect it yourself. A tour priced per person on a route you set carries no city tax, and neither does storage on land or a trip that starts outside Chicago.
No. Keep your own website, your direct customers and every other site you list on. For a boat, you can connect the calendar you already use, so dates booked elsewhere are blocked here. There is no exclusivity.
Every guest verifies a government ID before their first booking. You approve each request yourself, or let guests book right away.
You choose your cancellation policy: flexible, moderate or strict. It sets how much you keep when a guest cancels close to the date.
You set the wind and wave limits for your trips. The day before each one we check the marine forecast against them. If it crosses them we tell you both, and your guest can cancel for a full refund. A trip you call off yourself is refunded in full too.
A boat rental can carry a refundable damage hold on the guest's card, released 48 hours after the trip unless you file a claim. Insurance stays yours: we are a marketplace, not an insurer, so check that your policy covers paid trips. In a yard, each boat stays on its owner's policy.
Your ID, and the registration and licenses the law already requires for your boat and your kind of trip. We review each boat listing before guests see it. A yard confirms its insurance and that the land may be used for boat storage. A listing stays hidden until these are in place.
Not yet. We are signing our first hosts and building their listings now, and we open to guests once those are ready. First Wave listings are featured when we do.
Yes, anywhere in Illinois, and the First Wave is open to you too. Chicago is where we start, and boats and yards across the state can list, from Waukegan and the Chain O'Lakes to the Illinois River.
A Chicago startup building a boat marketplace, from winter storage ashore to a day on the lake. We talk to every host ourselves before they list. You can reach us at hosts@boatcha.com.
