Had an offer on the boat . . .

gravygraham

gravygraham

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 May 2007
Messages
2,286
Location
The wilds of Kent
Visit site
. . . yesterday. So I slept on it. And turned it down today.

And with the thought of 'one bird in the hand etc' ringing in my ears I've set my broker loose on the negotiation path. Hopefully I'll have something positive to blag about shortly, and something positive to add to the broker bashing threads of late. We'll see eh.
 
gravygraham said:
. . . yesterday. So I slept on it. And turned it down today.

And with the thought of 'one bird in the hand etc' ringing in my ears I've set my broker loose on the negotiation path. Hopefully I'll have something positive to blag about shortly, and something positive to add to the broker bashing threads of late. We'll see eh.
Click to expand...

The issues will probably start arising after the survey throws up "negotiating points" to drive the accepted offer back down to the originally refused one. :rolleyes:
 
gravygraham said:
The offer was 82% of the asking price. Reckon I done wrong Bart?
Click to expand...

no idea,
i would say: this depends on how much your boat is wanted
and how desperate you are to sell her quickly.

I 'm just wondering how much I should offer when I have found a potential new boat...
 
Always a tricky one this is Bart. Perhaps there is a rule of thumb, if there is it's not known to me however. I'd say it's more a measure of the following three -

1) how much you want to get your sticky little fingers on the boat to the exclusion of all other boat shoppers,
2) your purchasing power, (ok, a bit obvious),
3) your nerve, ie what's the lowest offer you think you can get away with whilst still coming across as a serious buyer.

Forgive me if this is grannies and eggs.
 
beejay190 said:
I offered 94% of the asking price last year. Offer rejected. Glad it was - found a better boat elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Good on you. Don't suppose you know if that boat is still unsold? Notwithstanding the make/model/condition/rarity of the one you passed by I'd say refusing a 94% offer a bit questionable in the current market unless it was very very competitively priced to begin with.
 
gravygraham said:
The offer was 82% of the asking price. Reckon I done wrong Bart?
Click to expand...

Unless you're seriously overpriced, 'no' has to be the answer. We're moving into peak buying season, so unless you're seriously overpriced I'd hang on and look for something more like 90% of asking.
 
I did the markets years ago & struck up a friendship with an Indian guy who we called Gogi bear, can't remember why, the girls that worked for me named him. I met him a few years later, he had gone into the property business, & was trying to sell a problem property. He explained how he put it up for sale & got an offer, but turned it down, prices then dropped generally & he repeated the process, when I spoke to him he had just put it up again at considerably less than the first offer, & was fully expecting another silly offer which this time he was definitely going to accept. The way he said it in his Indian accent had me rolling on the floor outside waitrose much to the confusion of all the oap's who shop there. Just a thought.
 
what I dont understand is if you're more than happy to accept, say, 90% of asking and don't hold out much/any hope of getting full asking price.. why don't you drum up the interest and knock 10% off now for a few months and see what happens making sure you explain what you've done to prospective buyers i.e. no further discounts apply, it is what it is.

When buying the boat last year the seller had it keenly priced so I bought it close to asking price, my old boat sold for over asking price as I had a dozen or more buyers vying for the purchase using a classified ad on Ebay... those that tried to haggle lost out, the purchaser knew they had a good deal so offered more to secure the purchase.
 
I once met an elderly Car Dealer who gave me the following advice on selling, it went something like this. " If you have something for sale and you refuse an offer for it, you have bought it for that price" But I did not listen. And on odd occasions when I have had offers for something and I refuse the offer the buyer walks away and I have ended selling it for less. But sometimes if the buyer "is on the hook" as I call it, you can sometimes perhaps squeeze the broker (Estate Agent or whoever) by asking if they will work for a slightly less commission at the same time as the buyer to go up a fraction, and you are their. But dont let your buyer go. Even if you have to take whats offered. Interest rates are going up and cash in the Bank is king.
PS. When I bought my present boat it was up for sale at Euros 25000. I offered Euros 16000. Which was rejected outright anyway we settled at Euros 19000. Was it Gracie Fields who said "Theirs nownt like cheek"
Mind you I spent 25 years bidding on cars and perhaps have bought and sold over 1000 so why should boats be any different.
PPS. I am on my 9th boat.
 
Last edited:
AdeOlly said:
Unless you're seriously overpriced, 'no' has to be the answer. We're moving into peak buying season, so unless you're seriously overpriced I'd hang on and look for something more like 90% of asking.
Click to expand...

Think it also depends on price bracket of boat.90% of £15K boat is a fair ball park amount of money,90% of 500k boat is a serious wedge fro seller to lose.
It will also depend if you have something in your sights for the sort of money you want to pay,would not want to lose a bargain just because of rigid "must get this" for old boat mentality.A few quid here or there soon gets forgotten when you cast off that new boat for the first time.
 
In the process of hopefully changing boat.

The only one the same as mine I can find is up for 60k, mine is petrol but even the diesel derivatives are all priced at 60-75k, in my opinion all about 30k overpriced.

I recon that the true value of mine is 30-35k and am happy to sell at that, the boats I am looking at I have been reliably informed have a true market value of 55-65k yet they are priced between 85 and 100k, all offers so far declined.

Do people have such over inflated ideas of what their own stuff is worth or is this an attempt by brokers to push up the market? Looking at prices they seem to be universally advertised, at least the models I am looking at, for more than last year.
 
I think there's a lot of psychology to this.

As a buyer, I want to feel I got a bargian, therefore I will rarely offer fullprice for anything be it cars, boats, bikes etc...

If a boat or car is priced very very competitively, my first question is whats wrong with it or I think their desperate to sell (rubbing hands together!!) I know thats wrong of me but its true so bargian pricing is not always the best way as no matter what the price, a buyer will try to knock you down anyway.

I fully expect my first offer to be rejected as its usually too low and will see what the counter offer is. If the seller came back and said no way, not taking less than asking price, off I go as I would never feel I got a good deal.

I think ego cuts in and says, "well anyone can buy it at that price so let them. I am a deal finding god!!!"

Its all a game really but I see nothing wrong with rejecting an offer as long as your buyer knows you are willing to negotiate.
 
ian38_39 said:
In the process of hopefully changing boat.

Do people have such over inflated ideas of what their own stuff is worth or is this an attempt by brokers to push up the market? Looking at prices they seem to be universally advertised, at least the models I am looking at, for more than last year.
Click to expand...

Lets face it, we all want to keep values as high as possible to protect our investments. Can't see why anyone should sell for less than it's value unless they have extenuating circumstances although I do understand that something is only worth what another person will pay for it.
 
gravygraham said:
I'd say refusing a 94% offer a bit questionable in the current market
Click to expand...

It's a very strange market at the moment, but it has never been so bouyant for good used boats.


Slightly different to Beejays boat, but I sold a four year old Merry Fisher 625 yesterday for just £1,500 less than it was new. And even at such tiny depreciation, the buyers still got a good deal.

People believe that because we are in tough financial times that boat sales are tough and every one of them that are on the market are desparation sales. It's not the case. GOOD used boats are selling like hot cakes. They don't need to be cheap, they simply need to be the best on the market for their make and model.
 
Good to hear but why are non of the boats I am watching selling?

All of the boats that I know are priced correctly, popular models with effectively a set price for a good one have sold over the same period.

The Sealine 310 Statesmans currently on the market (same as mine) are not selling at the silly prices they are up for. Does that suddenly make mine worth lots more as other like models are advertised higher?

A look at the prices being asked for Sealine F33's shows up the problem. same model with only 3 years separating them and prices from £75k - £140K. It must be the brokers job to advise value and refuse to list a silly priced vessel? it can't be good for their name if they are carrying boats at unrealistic prices that subsequantly sit for a couple of years and end up finally being sold at a drastically reduced price.
 
Nautibusiness said:
It's a very strange market at the moment, but it has never been so bouyant for good used boats.


Slightly different to Beejays boat, but I sold a four year old Merry Fisher 625 yesterday for just £1,500 less than it was new. And even at such tiny depreciation, the buyers still got a good deal.

People believe that because we are in tough financial times that boat sales are tough and every one of them that are on the market are desparation sales. It's not the case. GOOD used boats are selling like hot cakes. They don't need to be cheap, they simply need to be the best on the market for their make and model.
Click to expand...

I think I'll get you to sell my Princess
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top