Boats.co.uk (EBY) European boat buying service

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There's an article in this month's MBY about Boats.co.uk's new Euro boat buying service. More on their website here http://www.boats.co.uk/euro-boat-buying/

Great idea I thought until I got to reading about the cost of the service. £1000 + 10% of the boat price seems a hell of a lot to pay for the service and will eat up a big chunk of any saving the buyer hopes to make from depressed prices in the Eurozone and the recent deterioration of the Euro. It's not even as if Boats.co.uk are taking title to the boat and selling it on to the buyer which at least would give the buyer a degree of comfort in terms of buying from an established dealer; they're just acting as brokers. Also how exactly do they check that there are no outstanding local debts on the boat?

Anyone think this is a good deal?
 
No not really, it's a 1k retainer thats good for two enquiries. Rather than derisking the process it just adds another layer of angst....
And then the 10 point fee, IMHO, is way too high.

Doubt that they will get many takers, I guess time will tell.

If they had the bank roll and cajoonas, they might take a look at bringing some of the bargains back to the UK and making a killing...post FL I can't see their stock growing, (especially their average transaction value), without some new dynamic.

Not sure what the mid to long term view is on the Euro but I doubt this kind of enterprise is sustainable even if it does get subscription.
 
Funnily enough I was thinking of starting just this thread when I read the article yesterday.

A fee for having a look round the boat, doing a limited survey and checking paperwork is fine. Like having an inspection done on a car. But what exactly do I get for my £40,000 on a £400k boat? I think they've got their clients a bit mixed up. Either they buy the boat then sell it on having checked, prepped, transported, financed and guaranteed the thing or they sell boats on brokerage.

Whoever heard of buyers paying a (higher) fee than the seller. For £40k I can do a lot of flying around looking at boats and you're still going to have to do that with this scheme. Would you hand over £400k without setting foot on a boat?

Yes, I know some of the auction houses charge a buyers premium but not in the used boat world. Like a discussion we had the other day on here regarding brokers I also struggle with a percentage based fee. Think about it, the more they can get you to pay for a boat the more they earn !!!!!

Nice work if you can get it but not one for me I'm afraid.

Henry :)
 
I have bought several boats in Europe but often using a UK broker to manage the deal and that UK broker has carried out much of the due diligence that Boats.co.uk say they will do. I have never been asked for an additional fee by them and have assumed that they share the selling fee with the selling broker. In fact I know they have done that
 
henryf said:
Funnily enough I was thinking of starting just this thread when I read the article yesterday.
Click to expand...

Me too. I was lying awake last night thinking about this (seriously) and that 2% would be more than enough. A local contact wouldn't fly across Europe so their costs wouldn't be too great. If their contacts are good enough they would know a fair bit about the newer boats in their area (people like JFM seems to know stuff about boats in his marina). How about 10% of any saving they negotiate for you. Win,win?
 
Going the same way as estate agents that deal with lettings.

They charge the home owner a fee for finding a tennant and then charge the Tennant a fee for finding the property.

Like most things time will tell but personally I would sooner spend the £1000 on flights and hotels while looking at boats.

Anyone on this forum has access to a range of people who can make things happen I. e engineers and surveyors so not really sure who they are aiming at and don't suspect anyone from boats.Co. uk to sell us the idea.
 
Jurgen said:
Going the same way as estate agents that deal with lettings.

They charge the home owner a fee for finding a tennant and then charge the Tennant a fee for finding the property.

Like most things time will tell but personally I would sooner spend the £1000 on flights and hotels while looking at boats.

Anyone on this forum has access to a range of people who can make things happen I. e engineers and surveyors so not really sure who they are aiming at and don't suspect anyone from boats.Co. uk to sell us the idea.
Click to expand...

Not just lettings...just had Savillis around a property of mine and they would 'love to market our delightful home' 2% (so 16k), 'and we would also recomend our brochure service at the cost of £500' OMG!

As it happens we are driving to from Spain to Naples next week, taking the coastal route so if anyone wants me to look at any boats I'll have a camera, large g & t and a packet of nuts should cover it. :)
 
henryf said:
.................Whoever heard of buyers paying a (higher) fee than the seller. For £40k I can do a lot of flying around looking at boats and you're still going to have to do that with this scheme. Would you hand over £400k without setting foot on a boat?.......................................................................Nice work if you can get it but not one for me I'm afraid. Henry :)
Click to expand...

+1. I didn't get it either. Was it reported correctly d'ya think? They are a polished and slick operation, surprised if they have got it this wrong.
 
I remember seeing this online a month or so ago, it was announced about a day after the FL split was. They way it was explained was it's a £1,000 fee. For that they will ask Johnny Foreigner broker to take some photos and a video and email it to them, they will in turn send those to the prospective purchaser. Surely this is something Johnny Foreigner broker would do anyway if you emailed him/her. FOC! Basically if you then buy it you pay another 10% to EBY.

If James was to personally fly to the boat, inspect, sea trial and report back I could understand the £1,000 maybe a smidge more. But a further 10%???? This is just a rip off.

As for checking title in a foreign language is laughable. They know their way around the Italian leasing schemes? Greek documentation, Turkish VAT etc? Really?

Do they honestly believe they can get away with such a rip off? Perhaps some of this arrogance was/will be their undoing eventually. Be very interested to hear the full FL story!
 
I saw the piece in the mag too and agree with all said above .
A Grand fine all in to find it etc ,but the 10% of BoS AS WELL - is crazy !

Gatwick Naples you can day trip it .I have done it twice - and broker picks up / drops off airport ,
Dep 7 am somthing Gatwick -return Naples -dep 7 pm all EasyJet dirt cheap £150 rtn. all year .
Also with smart phone ask the broker to photo loads more specific pic before you dicide to travel ?.I did and it worked .
Same with paper work - its called e -mail :D.
It's fun too chasing down boats in the EU -do it you self
 
I didn't read the article, but based on what you guys are reporting, I fully agree that the idea sounds like wishful thinking.

Aside from agreeing with Portofino that I would never waste one quid to leave the fun of the search to someone else, I would go one step further.
Since some boaters are mad busy with other stuff for most of their time, they could consider the search as a waste of their time (hence money).
Therefore, maybe those Essex folks are right in thinking that there is a market for that type of service. Trouble is, how much is it worth?

I don't know, but here's my take: I'd gladly do the same job for anyone interested, at ONE TENTH of what they would charge.
And without pretending to have an experience anywhere near EBY, I'm pretty sure to be able to make a very comparable job, at least for IT boats - which btw is at the moment possibly one of the most interesting target markets.

Apologizing in advance if it might take me a while to process the hundreds of requests that I will surely receive soon. :cool:
I'll follow a strict FIFO logic, promise! :D
 
Let's not forget the VAT on their fee too, £400K boat £44K inc VAT fee, minus the £1K deposit. Could take a couple of months off work and travel Europe for 43K!
 
Think I would go for it if they could get the boat cheaper than I could, which they may or may not be able to do ? Perhaps just need to tweak the % to make it pay for itself ??
Just had a proper read, needs a few other tweaks too.
 
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I would be surprised if there is much of an uptake. There are several UK brokers with Med listings some of which are stock boats so would be available with a warranty. They should be able to offer similar reassurance without a buyers fee.
 
Many people do not know that BCU (EBY) have discreetly offered this service to certain customers for many years. In fact I know that customers actually contact BCU regularly and ask them to buy boats for them in the UK because they are more comfortable dealing with them than a random broker or private seller. I suppose having BCU deal with everything gives a boat a seal of approval and a sense of security that they would not otherwise get. What price do you put on this ? Some of you maybe nothing but we are all different and maybe they are aiming it at other parts of the market .


Lastly I know BCU will take your boat in part exchange against one of these Euro boats- I know because I asked . I think they should make a bigger play on that ! Now that adds priceless value - not having to own 2 boats at once being one of them.

Let alone the deals they can get for shipping the boat back to the UK!


I also applaud their quick thinking on this - what other dealer is offering to help make it easier to buy boats abroad and save money? The Barke Brothers are a creative lot and I am sure they will make this work.

-Andrew
 
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