- Oct 12, 2006
- 1,974
- Boat Info
- "On Vacation"
2006 40 Sundancer
Raymarine E125 & HD Radar + Garmin 5208
- Engines
- QSB5.9 380 Cummins
Well, since I am on a quest for Red Balls today. . . .
. . .I think pictures can serve two primary purposes:
1) Confirm that the boat is not grossly neglected (i.e.; floating in the slip as opposed to sitting in mud at the bottom of a slip)
2) Confirm major options on the boat. When I shopped, I found that the descriptions could be less than informative, but if you have a PICTURE of the options. . then you know what the boat has. Examples includes a engine pic to confirm the type of engines, pic of the seating to verify which seating arrangement the boat has.
Not sure a picture could confirm details on boat condition.. . .unless it was REALLY bad.
I looked at a boat whose YachtWorld ad said it had cockpit AC but one of the 4 pics showed the vents missing. I asked about this discrepancy. The ad was wrong.
Another boat...I emailed asking for the list of options on the boat as hardly any were showing on the yachworld ad and they were so abbreviated as I couldn't figure out what it meant. The listed broker copied and pasted from the crappy yachtworld ad text and send that back to me. (Another broker sent me the build slip from the manufacturer - the right response to the inquiry..)
But the worst is the complete lack of response to email and voicemail including, I'm sad to say, to some of the brokers who participate on the board here at CSR. Just nuts...:huh:
I think most people selling boats today are stuck with a 70's mentality. It not just the pictures... It's the whole game... Buying a car 20 years ago was similar but that industry changed since then as the foreign cars ate into the business. I was shopping for cars a while back and was very impressed with the sales techniques and processes now employed, including the use of technology and better than expected communication, sales training, attention to detail, product knowledge, etc. I don't agree with the view that the broker is only trying to qualify you as a buyer, hence all the games upfront. That's a sorry excuse for a sales strategy. No offense to the brokers on the board but there is great room for improvement here...