I thought boat sales were slow?

This may be a sign that you need to walk away from these dealers. The 280SS may not be as common as a 280DA. . .but there are a fair number of them out there (or at least *were* out there two years ago).

If the dealer is a totally PITA during the purchase phase. . .I can assure you that the relationship won't improve post-purchase.
 
The great thing about boats is that almost all of them are for sale. I found my boat by going to marina's and putting the word out that I was looking to buy someones 280DA. Left my number and got several calls from private owners that did not have their boats listed for sale. I shopped at dealers and brokers from Rhode Island to southern Jersey without much satisfaction. A little leg work and I got the boat I wanted for the right price.

I know that if someone approached me and offered to buy my boat at a fair price, it would be gone tomorrow and i would be shopping for my next one the day after. The key word is FAIR price. Fire sale prices are a whole other thing.
 
Turtle:

Where you having the same problems that this gentleman is having?

I could see dealers being unresponsive to lowball offers. . . but are they equally unresponsive to full price offers?
 
No, dealers are very responsive to full price offers. They will not give you the time of day on low price offers. I knew what the boat was worth, I knew what i wanted to see when i stepped on a boat. The dealers just didn't have any boats that I wanted.

It's a game out there buying a boat. Frank W is a master at the game.

If you know what you want, know what it's worth, put down a fair price offer, you will get that boat. If it's harder than that, walk away.
 
I should say the FrankW taught me a valuable lesson in boat shopping when I was going through boat shopping hell. And it's actually helped me in buying everything since then.

YOU sit in the drivers seat. The moment you give up control, you're toast. If you are nice, but firm, know what you want, know what it's worth, put money in their hands, and have a good poker face. The deal gets done.
 
The deal has stalled for one simple reason.... The broker is lazy. All due respect to Frank and others, that's the truth. When you called him, you gave him a viable lead, and he should follow up. It's not like his phone is ringing off the hook with offers, and he just simply does not have the time to return the call. He is not returning the call because he is waiting for an easier sell. That would be fine if it is his boat. But he took a contract from someone to get paid to make the effort to sell it. He is not making that effort.
 
if the broker takes a deposit on the boat, its off the market. So a low ball offer on a rare boat in the height of the season would not be in their interest. You'd be more successful with that kind of offer at the end of the season.
 
The deal has stalled for one simple reason.... The broker is lazy. All due respect to Frank and others, that's the truth. When you called him, you gave him a viable lead, and he should follow up. It's not like his phone is ringing off the hook with offers, and he just simply does not have the time to return the call. He is not returning the call because he is waiting for an easier sell. That would be fine if it is his boat. But he took a contract from someone to get paid to make the effort to sell it. He is not making that effort.

I guess that is the point that I was trying to make. Both, a salesman at a dealership, and a broker, seemed to care less about the possibility of a sale. If I were in desperate need of a boat, I may have become more persistant. Now, I'll walk away from these boats. My Sundeck is running just fine.

Too bad for them though....I would have been an easy sell.
 
The broker is lazy. Period. If there is a low figure the owner is willing to accept, the broker can handle it in many ways. Ignoring the potential buyer is not one of them.
 
If you are still looking check out Zecco Marine in Wareham, they are affiliated with Hyannis Marina and are authorized Sea Ray Dealer. They have treated me very well with the two boats I have gotten from them.
 
Well, not that I like to defend brokers. . . . . . but you offered 30% below asking price.

That's pretty low. If I was the owner, I would respond with "Why are you wasting my time with this goof ball offer?"

How did the broker respond to this offer? If I was the broker, I would have politely informed you that the listing price was $44K. . and that your offer of $30K was a bit too low to present to the owner. Or perhaps your offer was *so low* that he simply isn't taking you seriously enough to bother haggling. That is my impression.

On the flip side, what is this boat really worth? Is this a truely $44K boat, or is it a $35K boat?

If this is truely a $35K boat, but it is priced at $44K. . .then I personally would walk away. I mean. . .how can you meaningfully negotiate if the boat is that overpriced? All you can do is lob in a lowball $30K offer and hope you end up with a fair price. At which point, the salesman laughs at you.
 
The buyer made an offer that was 32% under the asking price. Ignoring the buyer completely is unprofessional, but calling the salesman lazy isn't an accurate or fair description.......any more than calling the buyer a thief would be.

Be realistic, guys. A verbal offer this far out of the money wouldn't be very high on my priority list for follow up either.

Once again, the way to get the attention of the seller is to insist on a contract and a deposit check. The broker HAS to present your offer if you do it this way. Contracts require the agreement of both parties and just because the broker/salesman says it isn't necessary doesn't mean you can't require it. There is a good bit of due diligence and cost involved for the buyer in purchasing a boat and only the novice who wants to get his a$$ handed to him does it with a verbal offer.
 
yep, that would be me on my first attempt at buying a boat. I ate a few pounds of butt on that one.
 
Realistically, similar boats are in high $30's range. The dealer's boat with a warranty was $39K. My offer to the broker was based on meeting somewhere in the middle. And where he is located 1.5 hours away, I called and offered to give him a deposit, any information, AND asked him if he wanted me to sign anything. All of which he declined.

I'm not complaining about my low offer not being accepted, but rather the lack of 'salesmanship' of the broker and the salesman. I did not think for a second that the offer would be accepted, but I certainly hoped it would initiate some dialog.
 
Charlie,

We brought our boat from Russo, and I might add bought is a technicality because the boat belonged to a friend who traded up to a 320. We offered to buy the boat from our friend after he had made his deal with Russo. We ended up getting the boat for the trade in value plus the additional sales tax he would pay had the boat not been traded. For 5% over trade in value they handled everything professionally, did the documentation and have continued to treat us just like our brandy new 320 buying friend. Wait that's not true, he got two Russo beach towels and we only got one... And while not obligated in any way, they also helped sort out a problem with Taylor and Sea Ray over a significant repair part that did not fit properly.

Ok, I will admit as the world's biggest cynic that this was all done so that someday I would write something like this, or buy a bigger boat, but I don't completely think so.

Over the years I have bought a lot of big ticket items, mostly made in Germany, and in every case sooner , or later, had the feeling 'I just got', well you know the rest. Not so with this boat purchase. Russo is a professional operation, and a family run business, If you think you got poor service, I suggest you contact Larry Russo Sr., either way their true nature will come out.

Henry
 
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I bought my boat with a verbal offer from 800 miles away. It was very well below the asking price which was below book. The deal went through for a number of reasons, but primarily because the broker took me seriously as a buyer. I don't make offers on boats as a hobby, and the broker took a moment to recognize that.

After that point, he made a an aggressive, but polite and professional attempt to raise my offer. I declined. He then went to the owner and expressed it was a tough offer, but the buyer is serious. The owner agreed to take it. Deal was done.

I never made a deposit, or submitted anything in writing prior to the purchase.

I'd do it again the same way. If that can't get it done, I can live with it.
 
I bought my boat with a verbal offer from 800 miles away. It was very well below the asking price which was below book. The deal went through for a number of reasons, but primarily because the broker took me seriously as a buyer. I don't make offers on boats as a hobby, and the broker took a moment to recognize that.

After that point, he made a an aggressive, but polite and professional attempt to raise my offer. I declined. He then went to the owner and expressed it was a tough offer, but the buyer is serious. The owner agreed to take it. Deal was done.

I never made a deposit, or submitted anything in writing prior to the purchase.

I'd do it again the same way. If that can't get it done, I can live with it.

Thank you. I was starting to think I did something wrong.
 
Something I still have yet to frame, but Is something I will never forget. Mine was a verbal offer too, and the PO didn't even want a deposit, but I wasn't dealing with a Broker either.
The Sage advice from FWebster when I was buying my boat
Dude.........don't quit or give up. All that has happened is that you have more answers now than before and its time to get creative with the negotiation.

One fact is for sure.....and you get the benefit of it.........is that once you survey a boat and get a bad result, it completely kills the potential sale of the boat to anyone. The owner knows that, or will soon learn it, so take his pants off and have fun restoring a great boat.

Listen to him and best of luck................
 
This thread is making me want to go boat shopping.
 

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