Had my offer rejected today . . .

gjgm said:
Slight problem with that approach is that he doesnt end up with a boat, which, ultimately is his aim.
So, how many first offers, are final offers?
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depends if you are buying a deal or buying a boat..


I have a friend who has now been looking to buy a boat for a while, he spends a lot of his time whining on the phone to me that people never seem to know when they have received a good offer and in 10 months is still boatless. Personally I have seen a couple of the boats he has looked at and would have jumped at them, they seemed fairly priced, quite unique as one had low hours was 1 owner and really high spec, the other also had great spec and was younger than he had been looking at but still he has been hung up about not offering close to the asking price... Both boats found homes pretty quickly, but alas not with him.
 
Firefly625 said:
depends if you are buying a deal or buying a boat..


I have a friend who has now been looking to buy a boat for a while, he spends a lot of his time whining on the phone to me that people never seem to know when they have received a good offer and in 10 months is still boatless. Personally I have seen a couple of the boats he has looked at and would have jumped at them, they seemed fairly priced, quite unique as one had low hours was 1 owner and really high spec, the other also had great spec and was younger than he had been looking at but still he has been hung up about not offering close to the asking price... Both boats found homes pretty quickly, but alas not with him.
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The thrill of the chase...!
 
longjohnsilver said:
So what was the boat?
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yea ....spill the beans,was it some unstable and wobbly tent boat soap dish usable only 3 days a year and no doubt with two lumps of underengineered aluminium just waiting for the chance to fill with water OR something proper :)
 
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An interesting thread and a relevant one as I think I'm about to have a go at selling the P42 in order to move up to a larger flybridge within the Princess line up.

Given that I sell things for a living it isn't an alien subject. I think the trick is to try and view the whole transaction at arms length. The boat you are selling has to be presented just as you would hope the boat you're buying will be. If it's a bit tired then either sort things out or be prepared to take a low bid. Be realistic about how desirable both boats are, how well optioned they are and see what's out there in the market place.

Buyers will always work from the bottom up but to be fair once people have seen a few of the cheapest ones they often look at something a little more expensive just to get a handle on what a supposed good example (given the increased price) gets you. If there are significant gains then they might dig a little deeper but if there are no advantages then the expensive boat will sit there for ever.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that The vast majority of people selling their boats don't put anything like enough effort in. The boats aren't really for sale. When I browse I want to be excited. I want to keep going back to look at the photos. I don't want to see a shakey picture of someone's underpants drying over the toilet.

As for cheeky bids, well I take the point that any bid with the money to back it up isn't cheeky but I do feel people are unrealistic some times. They think they are the only person buying in the world and are amazed that you don't take an offer 25% under the lowest price you've ever seen a similar craft advertised for. What I would say is if you're making an offer keep it civilised and try to justify you offer. Also don't bull**** people. If you are only casually looking say so. Don't have everyone run around for you and feel you have to say its just what you want and you'll have it only to then vanish off the face of the earth.

Often brokers don't help themselves by suggesting low ball offers are the order of the day. Only on over priced stock, and they have to suggest high prices to get the listing in the first place. It's like estate agents - they don't own the boats and get their margin come what may no matter what the price.

Of the boats I'm looking to trade up to I've done my homework. I know what options are sought after and I know what the general pricing trends are. There are some boats nearly £200k too expensive. I don't know why they are even advertised. There are some boats which need a bit of spend to bring their spec up to minimum levels, others where you're getting a few toys effectively thrown in for free.

But it all comes down to that arms length thing. Don't get emotional. I still remember writing the cheque out for my boat new, but it doesn't make it work any more money sadly!

Henry :)
 
We ended up paying asking price for our S37 after an offer of 2% below was rejected. Having said that she had just been reduced substantially and we felt represented very good value given the spec/year etc.
 
I may be wrong but to lose a boat of that value for the sake of £1500 suggest that maybe you did not "really" want to buy it.
 
We've just bought and sold, this is my experience of the market.

The Prestige 34 we've bought had just been reduced by 10% and was very realistically priced, and it was that which enticed me to make the 200 miles round trip to view. Presentation was iniitally offputting as quite a bit of junk lying around the boat, including out of date food in the fridge :eek: However, it had low hours and was well specced except for the odd but relatively easy to rectify ommission of heating. I spent quite some time poking around the boat and through the dustm and it became apparent that the only real problem was that of neglect - it was bought as a weekend toy but rarely used - but that neglect looked to superficial. The mechanics were well maintained. We pitched in 6% below the recduced asking and made some conditons to include replacing some damaged leather and correct some gel coat crazing and impact damage. All accepted, though the vendor took some convincing apprently, and the broker paid for the repairs. Top marks to Morgan Marine.

To contrast, we looked at another Prestige 34 of the same year and engines that could have just come out of the factory - it really was all but perfect, but was asking £20k more (with twice the hours). Broker knew and admitted it was a high price, but it 'was the best on the market'. We talked prices, but owner wasn't up for much negotiation. Whilst a great boat, it wasn't worth the extra.

With regard to selling, I had our Seawings for sale for three months in 2010 at a highish price and had not one single viewing. So having bought well and now owning two boats I priced her competitively (15% less than before) and in the knowledge I'd probably be knocked down 10%. Sold her at Swanwick used boat show (21 viewings!) within weeks of being listed, and with an offer of 90% asking. The ultimate sale price was on the low side, and the new owners have got a good deal, but I'm happy as the cost to change was well within the budget (by >£10k) we'd set ourselved, and the total time elapsed from our initial offer on the Jeanneau to receiving the sale proceeds from Ancasta was only about 12 weeks, which I think is good in the current environment.

Gravygraham - re your offer, if you like the boat do you really want to walk away for £1k or so? Spring is now not that far away and vendors may be less likely to take low offers..??
 
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