SamBoat fees for charter companies, explained (2026)

The short answer

• SamBoat charges you a commission of 20% on each rental. You receive 80% of the price you set in your listing.
• Extras that are mandatory, or that you choose to have paid online, carry a 10% commission. Optional extras paid on site carry none.
• The renter also pays a Renter Protection Fee at checkout. SamBoat doesn't publish its rate. It doesn't come out of what you receive.
• SamBoat pays you by bank transfer 24 hours after the first day of the rental, on working days.
• As a professional, you can set your own cancellation terms. If the renter cancels, SamBoat still keeps its service fees.
• SamBoat's terms ask you to keep your SamBoat price at or below your public price elsewhere, and forbid taking its renters off the platform.
• Many charter companies keep their listing for the customers it brings, and take direct bookings on their own booking page as well.

How SamBoat charges

Your side: the commission

SamBoat's help center puts it simply: "SamBoat receives a commission of 20% per rental (excluding extras)." It adds: "You will receive 80% of the price you set in your listing."

The terms say the same. SamBoat calls its share the Service Fee, and "A commission of 20% (twenty percent) is payable by the Owner to cover the Service Fee." The commission sits inside your price: the price renters see on SamBoat already includes it.

The terms also let SamBoat "adapt the amount of the Service Fees and commissions according to the categories of Booking, commercial partnerships, promotional offers or changes to the service". So two practical steps:

• Ask SamBoat to confirm your rate in writing before you list.
• Check it on your invoices. SamBoat issues commission invoices, which you find in your account with your payments.

Older press gives a lower figure: in February 2018, FrenchWeb reported a 15% commission on each rental. Plan with the 20% in SamBoat's current terms.

Extras

SamBoat's commission on extras is lower:

• Extras paid online: if you choose to have your extras paid online, "SamBoat will charge a 10% commission on these options."
• Mandatory extras: "Mandatory extras (paid online or on-site) are also subject to this 10% commission (except for skipper)."
• Optional extras paid on site: no commission.

The help center doesn't say what applies to a mandatory skipper fee. If your charters always come with a skipper, ask SamBoat which commission applies to it.

The renter's side: the Renter Protection Fee

The renter pays a Renter Protection Fee on each booking. SamBoat's terms describe it as payment security, assistance, customer support and booking management. Its help center says the fee is charged with the payment, applies to every booking except those made on quote, and can't be refunded. The rate isn't published: the renter sees the amount before paying. The fee doesn't change what you receive.

When you get paid

SamBoat's help center says: "Payment is sent 24 hours after the first day of the rental (working days)." Transfers don't go out at weekends or on public holidays. The delay leaves the renter time to report a boat that doesn't match its listing.

Quote-only listings from partner fleets work differently: the renter may pay a deposit first, and SamBoat pays the fleet once the booking is confirmed.

When a booking is cancelled

If the renter cancels, your listing's cancellation terms apply. SamBoat offers Flexible, Zen (the default), Moderate and Strict terms, and a Personalised option "Accessible only to Professional Owners. On the Owner's own terms." Professionals must keep their terms clear and not abusive.

Whatever the terms, "Cancellations cannot affect the payment of the Service Fees due to SamBoat." When SamBoat does refund its fees to a renter, it's as a credit note on SamBoat, not in cash.

If you cancel without a legitimate reason, such as force majeure or a boat damaged and unfit to sail, you owe SamBoat a penalty of 50% of the rental amount, with a minimum of €200. It can withhold it from your future rental income.

Weather counts as force majeure only in exceptional, dangerous cases, such as a ban on navigation, and only if it affects the whole rental. Ordinary wind or rain doesn't.

The price rule

The terms say: "The Owner undertakes that the Price displayed on the Rental Advertisement is at most equal to the Public Price displayed on any other platforms or publications."

In practice, you can't add the 20% on top of your SamBoat price to make up for it. Plan your prices with the commission inside them.

A worked example

A full-day charter with a skipper, listed at €1,000 on SamBoat, with the rates in SamBoat's help center. The second column adds €100 of extras paid online, such as paddleboards and snorkelling gear.

The Renter Protection Fee is the renter's, on top of your price. It doesn't change what you receive.

The same charter, booked on your own booking page with Noliser:

Stripe's card processing fees depend on the card and the country. They apply to every card payment you take with Stripe.

The two aren't the same service. SamBoat brings you customers who search its site. Noliser doesn't: it takes bookings and payments from customers who already come to you.

What you get for the commission

SamBoat's pages and the press point to what the commission pays for:

• Customers you wouldn't reach alone. In September 2026, SamBoat listed more than 36,400 boats across 75 countries, according to its parent group. In January 2023, TourMaG reported that more than one million people had sailed with SamBoat since 2014.
• Ranking you don't pay for. SamBoat's help center says listings are ranked by relevance, using criteria such as response time and reviews, and that "No capital or remuneration link has any impact on the ranking of the advertisements."
• Payments. Renters pay on SamBoat by card or bank transfer. The money is held in escrow until SamBoat transfers it to you.
• Support and protection for renters. The Renter Protection Fee covers payment security, assistance and customer support. SamBoat also offers renters insurance options, such as cancellation and security deposit cover.
• Tools for fleets. In February 2023, Yacht reported that SamBoat's booking engine brings together charter booking systems such as MMK, Nausys and Sedna.

SamBoat opened to professional charter companies at the end of 2017. Dream Yacht Charter bought it in November 2018, and in January 2023 SamBoat took over the German agency Argos Yacht Charter. In September 2026, an investor group led by Romain Motteau agreed in principle to buy Dream Yacht Charter, Navigare Yachting and SamBoat from PPF Group, a deal that could close before the end of 2026.

When a listing is worth it, and when direct bookings make more sense

A listing is worth it when:

• you need customers you can't reach yet, such as visitors from other countries;
• your boats have empty days you can't fill yourself;
• you don't have your own booking and payment setup.

Direct bookings make more sense when:

• customers already find you: on Google, Instagram, in your harbour, or through hotels;
• returning customers book you again each season;
• you want to set your own payment and cancellation terms in one place;
• you want to keep the commission on the bookings you could have taken yourself.

Many charter companies do both.

Using both: your listing and your own booking page

You can keep your SamBoat listing and take direct bookings on your own booking page with Noliser.

• One price to know. Noliser charges 5% per online booking, which guests can pay. Stripe's card processing fees apply. See Pricing.
• Your money, your account. Guests pay into your own Stripe account.
• Your Noliser bookings on SamBoat. SamBoat can import an external calendar for each boat, from its link. Its help center shows this with Google Calendar and iCloud, which share their calendars as iCal links, as Noliser does. Add a SamBoat connection to the boat in Noliser and paste its export link into the boat's calendar on SamBoat, under "Synchronisation".
• Your SamBoat bookings in Noliser. SamBoat's help center doesn't describe a calendar link for its own bookings: its sync runs "ONLY towards Google/ iCloud Calendar to SamBoat". When a SamBoat booking comes in, block that time on your Noliser calendar with Block time.

Know SamBoat's limits before you rely on it. Its help center says imported calendars update once an hour, and any event on a day, "even one hour" long, makes the whole day unavailable on SamBoat. So a two-hour charter booked on Noliser closes that boat's day on SamBoat. And block each SamBoat booking in Noliser as soon as it comes in: until then, your booking page can still sell that time.

Questions

What commission does SamBoat charge?

20% per rental, so you receive 80% of the price in your listing. Extras that are mandatory or paid online carry 10%. SamBoat can adapt its rates, so ask for yours in writing.

Who pays the Renter Protection Fee?

The renter, at checkout. SamBoat doesn't publish the rate; the renter sees the amount before paying. It doesn't come out of what you receive.

Does SamBoat refund its fees if the renter cancels?

Its terms say cancellations can't affect the Service Fees due to SamBoat. When it does refund them to a renter, it's as a credit note on SamBoat.

Can I charge more on SamBoat to cover the commission?

Not above your public price. SamBoat's terms ask owners to keep their SamBoat price at most equal to the public price on other platforms or publications.

Can I invite SamBoat customers to book with me directly next time?

No. SamBoat forbids sharing contact details and taking payments off the platform. Keep those customers on SamBoat.

Does Noliser sync with SamBoat?

One way. Noliser's calendar link can be imported into SamBoat, so a Noliser booking closes the day there. SamBoat doesn't describe a calendar link for its own bookings, so you block those in Noliser with Block time.

Does Noliser replace SamBoat?

No. Noliser is your own booking page, booking links and booking management. It doesn't bring you customers the way a marketplace does. It works next to your listings.

What does Noliser cost?

5% per online booking, which guests can pay. Stripe's card processing fees apply. Bookings you enter yourself carry no fee.