Brokers, My surprise

[Laundryman]

There have been some posts recently about selling,buying, brokers good and bad. I myself had hoped to find the right boat at Sibs and secure a deal that would allow part exchange and had posted asking for advice from those who had done just that previously. In the event, we didn't find the boat that set us on fire in our price range so didn't proceed. 4 weeks ago we found a boat that met our needs and gave us a buzz, at a price we were prepared to pay. The stumbling block was that we already had a boat to sell. The value of our boat was approx one third of the boat we were interested in and I approached the broker and offered my boat plus cash. This was accepted. Yesterday I collected our 'new' boat without the hassle of having to sell our old one. I feel that I was realistic in my valuation of my old boat, she was in good order and that my offer was firm and reasonable and the deal went through. I had thought throughout the transaction that the vendor had accepted my boat in part ex but I was wrong. The broker had decided to by my boat, presumably because it was priced with a possible profit opportunity and to facilitate the deal. Whatever the motivation, I am a happy buyer and I can only assume that the vendor is happy too. Now I'm not saying this is the normal scenario but as long as your expectations are realistic, allowing everyone to benefit, not just you, a deal is possible. So there you are, a story with a happy ending showing that if there's something in it for all parties, it can work. Thanks Alan

 

[derekgillard]

This is all in line with my experience. This year I sold via a broker and bought via a broker. Indeed one broker did offer to take my old boat in part exchange for a boat he had on his books it was a low price but hey he needs to make money, in the end I choose to hold on and found a buyer at the price I felt was fair.
I was in general happy with the service I got both buying and selling. I would like to have spoken to the owner of the boat I was buying but he choose to have all communication via the broker and I guess that was his choice.
What did you buy?

 

[Laundryman]

I sold a 1995 Beneteau Oceanis 321 and bought a 2006 Bavaria 39 Cruiser. Very happy so far. Thanks

 

[longjohnsilver]

Come on then, tell us who the broker is.

 

[steveeasy]

There have been some posts recently about selling,buying, brokers good and bad. I myself had hoped to find the right boat at Sibs and secure a deal that would allow part exchange and had posted asking for advice from those who had done just that previously. In the event, we didn't find the boat that set us on fire in our price range so didn't proceed. 4 weeks ago we found a boat that met our needs and gave us a buzz, at a price we were prepared to pay. The stumbling block was that we already had a boat to sell. The value of our boat was approx one third of the boat we were interested in and I approached the broker and offered my boat plus cash. This was accepted. Yesterday I collected our 'new' boat without the hassle of having to sell our old one. I feel that I was realistic in my valuation of my old boat, she was in good order and that my offer was firm and reasonable and the deal went through. I had thought throughout the transaction that the vendor had accepted my boat in part ex but I was wrong. The broker had decided to by my boat, presumably because it was priced with a possible profit opportunity and to facilitate the deal. Whatever the motivation, I am a happy buyer and I can only assume that the vendor is happy too. Now I'm not saying this is the normal scenario but as long as your expectations are realistic, allowing everyone to benefit, not just you, a deal is possible. So there you are, a story with a happy ending showing that if there's something in it for all parties, it can work. Thanks Alan

Hi Alan,
That sounds really great, I am genuinely pleased for you, when things work out, its such a good experience.

Steveeasy

 

[wizard]

I sold a 1995 Beneteau Oceanis 321 and bought a 2006 Bavaria 39 Cruiser. Very happy so far. Thanks

Was that with Clipper by any chance?

 

[Laundryman]

Come on then, tell us who the broker is.

Clipper Marine. I can only speak as I find but would have no hesitation to recommend. Thanks. Alan

 

[Tranona]

Clipper Marine. I can only speak as I find but would have no hesitation to recommend. Thanks. Alan

Did they own the boat you bought? They do a lot of P/Ex so own many of the secondhand boats they list, sometimes for sale with a formal warranty.

 

[Laundryman]

Did they own the boat you bought? They do a lot of P/Ex so own many of the secondhand boats they list, sometimes for sale with a formal warranty.

No, the owner is local and has bought another boat and it's not new. No idea how the deal was brokered but that's the business they're in. I'm happy

 

[Tranona]

No, the owner is local and has bought another boat and it's not new. No idea how the deal was brokered but that's the business they're in. I'm happy

Guess they think they can turn your old boat around quickly.

 

[jwilson]

Guess they think they can turn your old boat around quickly.

I suspect they sold you a boat they already owned as a trade-in against a new one, and were happy to reduce their inventory value by taking in a cheaper boat. Given that the average brokerage sale takes 300+ days (according to Yachtworld.com) you would need an awful lot of capital to operate on a used-car-lot basis, owning lots of boat.

Not even the brokers who are new boat agents and hence virtually have to offer trade-ins at times actually WANT used boats in stock tieing up capital. I don't know of any brokerage that is not a new boat dealer that normally takes trade-ins. It may just happen very very occasionally if they know someone looking for exactly that model, or if they can buy it in at a price that they are confident it will quickly sell and turn a profit, but that is a dangerous game.

 

[steveeasy]

Hi,
It does have the potential though to rejuvenate the used boat market, as long as the prices are right to work. hence the Trade in must be a lot lower than a realistic market value( price) to sell. Just imagine all the owners who want to upgrade but cant due to their money tied up in their existing boats. Lots of business have large capital tied up in stock to cope with market demand. I genuinely think its the way to go.

Steveeasy

 

[Tranona]

I suspect they sold you a boat they already owned as a trade-in against a new one, and were happy to reduce their inventory value by taking in a cheaper boat.

See post#9. The OP said he bought a brokerage boat and Clipper bought his boat.

I had no difficulty with a P/Ex with the same company, but against a new boat - not a stock boat but built for me. The allowance I got made the deal very attractive and I simply would never have been able to buy the boat without it, given the difficulty of selling the old boat first.

 

[Tranona]

Hi,
It does have the potential though to rejuvenate the used boat market, as long as the prices are right to work. hence the Trade in must be a lot lower than a realistic market value( price) to sell. Just imagine all the owners who want to upgrade but cant due to their money tied up in their existing boats. Lots of business have large capital tied up in stock to cope with market demand. I genuinely think its the way to go.

Steveeasy

Not as easy as it sounds, and particularly when not only are boats selling slowly but prices are falling.

However, the main barrier is that when a dealer sells a used boat the sale is covered by consumer protection laws which expose the seller to potentially high remedial costs if the boat proves to be faulty. this is very different from a brokerage boat which is a private sale and the buyer has no comeback against either the seller or the broker.

 

[Ripster]

I did something similar about 4 years ago when buying the current boat. Went to Broker, said I was interested in a demo boat (new) they had, but wanted to sell mine first. Broker said he would either be happy to take mine in P/ex. We negotiated the changeover deal (took about a week) and spec of the new boat and the only real condition from him was that he was allowed to market my old boat immediately and sell it immediately not have to wait until our new one was completed and handed over (we had lots of mods and extras to be added to the new one). My old boat sold in 3 days and was handed over to new owners in 3 weeks. The resultant value was converted into a proportion of shares in the new boat (so many 64ths) and put in my name. When the new boat was all done, about 6 weeks later, the balance was paid and I tested and accepted the boat. Very easy and quick change using a factory incentive for a demo boat to discount the deal. We got a "new" boat (in fact it was launched about 8 months before and had done about 60 sailing hours) with full factory warranties starting the day we took ownership. On reflection, I probably could have saved some money by selling first (maybe) then going in with cash, but the speed, ease and certainty of the deal made it an attractive way to changeover.

 

[Mrnotming]

My broker took our boat in p/exch as it represented less than 25% of the value of the new vessel.
It all worked out well, our trade in sold in 2 days.
We got more by about 10% than would have resulted from dealing privately with wheel kickers (of which there were too many).
If this can be done with secondhand boats as the OP's have said, it speaks of a recovering market.
A nice thought after years in the Doldrums.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Guess they think they can turn your old boat around quickly.

Bow thruster fitted?

 

[Blue Sunray]

Bow thruster fitted?