Paying the asking price

  • Thread starter Thread starter tcm
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Re: Opps..

Not alone. After a few months of trying to find what I wanted, I suddenly heard that a boat which had been advertised too high had just dropped it's price. I went to have a look, 4 hours. Someone else had shown interest and was coming back. I just offered the full whack. Hell, I got the boat I wanted. If I had haggled, who knows, I might have saved some money, but I could also still be looking. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I've also sold a boat for the (very realistic) asking price. It was a smallish boat clocking up large storage fees relative to its value, so I set the price at a level that would generate a steady stream of interested viewers.

I didn't advertise that I wouldn't accept offers - that's just unfriendly and obstructive - but I'd have been reluctant to yield to anyone haggling for a anything other than a nominal discount... pointing out that it was already a very realistic price for a well looked after and nicely prepared boat.
 
I've also paid asking price twice. Nothing wrong with that if it seems a good deal. My present boat was found after 2 years of searching, so I wasn't going to let a haggle stop me getting what I'd been looking for.

IMHO you'll loose much more on a new boat, then the last bit of haggling on used.
 
the correct price - what is it?

It seems that every one expects to have to discount his price on the final deal. This means that all prices are inflated above the real or market price.

To add to this - owners are emotional about their boats - leading to an inflated view of their value.

There are real dangers in overpricing, especially in the internet world today.
- The add just doesn't get looked at
- the advert becomes stale
- 1 price reduction often leads to a second as no-one wants to buy a boat that is a "sticker" (as they will have to sell her too one day)

Hense one sees a legion of overpriced boats stuck on the market. I looked at an Ocean Lord the other day which has already had one reduction - the broker suggested that an offer £10K below would be accepted.

The answer in allthings sales is - if the price is write it will sell - given a stable market. So anyone selling a boat should research the market on their type for some time before selling, so as to get an idea of the realistic selling price. This is not easy as you only know that a boat has been sold by the fact that the advert disappears! What you do see it the ones that stick, so you should be able to judge the price from here.

It all of course is a black art - with a lot of luck - however you do have to make your luck to have a chance of having it!
 
Re: the correct price - what is it?

when I first saw our boat in Florida in October 2005, she was for sale for $159,000 = £90,857 @ $1.75/£. She sold in the December and was moved to Missisippi. Thought no more about it. Seven months later she appeared back on the market as the new owner had taken ill and had to give up sailing.
Price? $145,000 = £81460 @ $1.78/£ /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Decided, as he had to sell, to go in low at $125,000 /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Refused, but I said if he came down $10k then I would come up $10. Bingo!!
Now had the boat at $135,000 = £75842 @ $1.78/£ /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Suddenly exchange rate starts going nuts and I go through FX dealer and get $1.88/£. Woohoo, boat is now totalled at £71618. A saving from when I first viewed of £19,239. Bargain /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I would have been happy to have haggled the first guy down to $145,000 @ $1.75/£ and paid £82,857. So more than happy in the end.
 
Re: Opps..

you are not alone!

in my view there is a right price, an advertising (asking) price, a forced sale price, a price somene somewhere will pay, a cash in hand price......and they may all be different - or sometimes they come together!

however a boat that has been on the market for any length of time, especially in this internet wired world, is unlikely to still be there if the right price is the same as the advertised price.

I have paid the asking price twice - both times on the day something was put on the market; both times ahead of a queue that subsequently formed!
 
Re: Opps..

I think, as has been pointed out here, that a well maintained and sensibly priced boat may well get the price.
When we were on the market we decided on the size, weight and keel we wanted, and realised for the pot we would not get anything pristine, but sound and needing tlc! Even then we were amazed at the lack of "sales presentation", you could soon see what had not been anywhere for a while, and most sellers did themselves no favours.
In the end, tongue in cheek, we put an offer in on a boat, it was 20% below the asking, we waited for a haggle, and none was forthcoming! OK we were happy, but wondered what the broker had done for the seller!
 
To sell a boat quickly, one option must be to offer it at well below the market price, at which point it is reasonable to say ´no offers´. Showing the boat may involve the seller in some inconvenience, and its fair to try and cut this down.
If a buyer thinks this is then a point of departure for further negotiations, that is due to either over-optimism or a lack of knowledge of that market value.
However, human nature being what it is, it is easier to overvalue the thing in the first place, and let the buyer feel pleased about knocking the price back down.
The part of the deal that I can never quite understand is the attempt to recover the survey fee by using the surveyors hit list to drive the price down. If you were buying a new boat, this might be expected, but a second hand boat is a fraction of the price of a new one precisely because some of the equipment is worn, and may need replacing some day, and there are signs that the boat has been used here and there. So what is the big surprise in the survey report?
 
Re: Opps..

Surely its not about whether you pay the asking price but wether its a good price.

Everyone likes to feal they got a good deal and knocked a few quid of during negotiation but if asking price is good then buy it.
 
>So what is the big surprise in the survey report?

It shouldn't be a big surprise, but it's definitely part of the process to agree what items will be fixed to make her seaworthy as part of the deal on a dealer's stock boat (or to reduce price to cover fixing costs for a brokerage boat), and which items go on to the "must do someday" list that the purchaser picks up. That "initial offer" is based on apparent condition - i.e. what the untrained buyer can see. The surveyor might pick up serious issues that were not taken into consideration in the initial offer, he might not.

If this part of the negotation process stalls, then the offer falls through. Again, no surprise, just part of the process.

dv.
 
If the boat was a bargain at the asking price why wouldn't you buy it? If the guy has genuinely priced it at the minimum he is prepared to accept surley it possibly saves wasting everyones time.
 
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