Deposit and contract

[thomas]

Here is the scoop.
We have a signed contract and deposit on a Sea Ray (which we think) is a reputable broker. The owner of the boat now has it on ebay for about 10K more that he signed the contract for.
After a few questions to the seller about the boat, he stated to contact his broker. No, I did not tell him that we were the buyer of his boat with the contract.

WTF

 

[JediJD]

A contract gives you the right to enforce your purchase on the terms and conditions provided, which should be some protection, but in this market, until money is "hard" and a deal done, it is hard to fault someone for continuing to advertise availability. One of the brokers online might chime in, but I have heard that more than half of the deals on boats right now are getting kicked back.

It was encouraging that the Seller didn't try to work with you behind the back of the broker.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I can't speak too much into the legal side (not my department!) - certainly not as much as the Judge, above. But, I can tell you how we have our contracts set-up.

In a nut shell, when someone signs a contract with us, it is for the sale of the boat. It does not matter how the boat sells or were the buyer comes from. We advertise multiple places - places we know that get traffic and work well for us. If a customer decides to advertise on his own, that's fine, but even if he brings the buyer in, our commission is still due to us. However, I can't think of even a single time when a customer did some advertising on his own.

It sounds like the guy just wanted to maximize his exposure. He can advertise it, on his own, for whatever he wants. Although, advertising it for more than what the broker is advertising it for can only cause confusion.

Since, like mentioned above, he told you to contact the broker, it also sounds like (from the limited info here, anyways) everything is on the up and up.

 

[Scottzzzy]

Sounds a little like the way our boat was done. I saw our 340 listed in 2 or 3 places I think all for different prices. The owner had a broker he was working with and was paying the broker more as a consultant than a broker to help him advertise the boat. It worked great for us since we got a good deal I think, and because of the ability of dealing with the owner paid no sales tax.

Of course I paid lower than the lowest advertised price too! You got to haggle a little bit! lol