Want To Buy: 40-50 Foot Cat - Somewhat Unorthodox Approach

[engele]

God I hate it when people take the time to be rude to others for no reason other than having a different opinion. Give the man a break, he has offered a potential seller a pain free way to maybe close a deal on a boat sale and not fight back and forth. I've done essentially the same thing dozens of times in business when a deal is big enough that it is in everyone's best interest to close. In the interest of cutting out the back and forth, salesmen, and general sugar coating and dancing back and forth, sometimes you need to get to the point. Bravo OP.

[Therapy]

Before I sold my boat someone called and asked about it.

He did essentially the same thing. Asking to save us both time and trouble. Mostly his of course as he was out of state.

I thought it rather unorthodox but what the heck. I told him my bottom number and he declined. Should I have made him "go first"? I'll never know.

[Craig Dingwall]

Check out our 1993 Catana 40S in Cruisers Forum Clasifieds. Aasking $169,000.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by teneicm

Yes and no. On one hand I am asking a seller to show me something different than they have already shown (the existing price on yachtworld), but in return I have put in front of them a ready, willing and able buyer (me). If they are in the mindset of really wanting to sell (instead of just putting out an unrealistic number and hoping that a Saudi prince will take a fancy to their boat), this gives the seller an opportunity to put out their best price to see if it matches with how I would value the boat. If the prices match, great- we have a deal. If not, no harm no foul, as I will keep their price info confidential and then they are in no worse position then when they started.

This model typically arises when suppliers/sellers outnumber buyers (which is the current situation in the boat market). In fact, in the business world, it's becoming more common to move away from competitive RFPs/RFQs and to create a reverse auction. In this scenario, suppliers (sellers) are invited to an auction to provide goods/services/whatever to the purchaser, and the auction starts at a given price and then the suppliers bid LOWER and LOWER until the lowest bid is reached and that is the supplier selected to provide the goods/services/whatever. THAT would be interesting when applied to boat sales as well.....

And thanks to folks for the recommendations of using a buyer's broker. We are in fact also working with a buyer's broker and going through the "standard" process of identifying and investigating boats. I thought I would also try this approach as even the best broker can't be aware of all boats and all situations that may be workable for us.

Your next to last para basically describes what in the Constrction Buyers world is called a whores market. However no 2 whores are alike.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by georgetheleo

Your next to last para basically describes what in the Constrction Buyers world is called a whores market. However no 2 whores are alike.

Went on a Diving trip to the Philippines with a mate many years ago (me in the UK, him in NZ - the PI was halfway!).......ended up in a knocking shop / strip bar - he left without "pulling", despite intending to . He gets reminded about that now and again .

What went wrong? same as buying a boat - too nice / too hesitant (seems that in the PI the gals ain't used to that approach ) and not knowing what the MO was in the PI.

A willing seller, a willing buyer - it's then only a question of how much. Boats and Whores. and in both cases renting is less aggro, with owning Whores it's like herding cats . (that last comment has probably black balled me from the SSSSM!).

[teneicm]

It's been about 6 weeks since I first posted and I thought I'd provide an update for those curious about how our approach is working.

In a nutshell, results have been poor. We've been alerted to only about 4 boats, none of which included offers better than was already advertised. It's hard to know if the lack of response is due to resistance towards a "new approach" or if there have only been a handful of sellers that have come across the post. Either way, we'll continue to solicit suggestions, but are also preparing some offers with our buyers broker in the conventional manner.

[geoleo]

Your problema is that sellers think your a 'chiseler'

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by teneicm

It's hard to know if the lack of response is due to resistance towards a "new approach" or if there have only been a handful of sellers that have come across the post.

Probably a lot of both.

And possibly your target market not being very bright .

[captainKJ]

the OP wants something for nothing. He wants a seller to say "I need to sell this boat"" put an offer in, IMHO he is a "I want this for free" buyer

[captainKJ]

Originally Posted by georgetheleo

Your problema is that sellers think your a 'chiseler'

not just the sellers, but some CF members also,,,,he is

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by captainKJ

the OP wants something for nothing. He wants a seller to say "I need to sell this boat"" put an offer in, IMHO he is a "I want this for free" buyer

Yes

But you say that as if it is a bad thing.........but if "you" need to sell this boat ASAP then the chance of snaffling someone wandering around with cash in pocket willing and able to deal quickly could be very welcome.

Price being a secondary matter to acheiving a sale in quick order. or at all - sometimes a couple of hundred K in the bank account ASAP (rather than $300k of "asset") can be very useful in plugging a financial hole - or at least buying time.

Most won't be in that position - but OP only needs one..........and can probably live with being called names . Hell, for a hundred K you can call me WTF you like .

.I am firmly in the camp of "don't ask - don't get".

[Factor]

Originally Posted by mcerdos

Why a cat? No way I want to be upsidedown in the middle of the ocean!

I agree - with his attitude he would be much better off in the world of monos.

What a weird thread, everyone (OP INCLUDED) telling everyone what the "right" and "wrong" way to sell/buy a boat is.

The right way is whatever works for you. I was thinking of a new work vehicle the other day, the 12 year old Jackaroo (Isuzu Trooper for the yanks) is in very good nick but there is little tax advantage to be gained from it. Tried to sell it, the offers were so low (I wasn't offended by a low offer certainly wasn't upset) that it made no sense to sell it the value of the registration and tyres alone was more than the offers, so I kept it. And bought the new one anyway.

The only thing that offended me was buyers wanting to argue with me. They make an offer , I say no, then they want to tell me how thats all its worth, and they can buy a better one down the road for less money blah blah blah.

My response is usually, that I am happy to give them a ride to the one down the road. BY all means make what ever offers you want, just don't be insulting about it.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Factor

What a weird thread, everyone (OP INCLUDED) telling everyone what the "right" and "wrong" way to sell/buy a boat is.

The right way is whatever works for you. I was thinking of a new work vehicle the other day, the 12 year old Jackaroo (Isuzu Trooper for the yanks) is in very good nick but there is little tax advantage to be gained from it. Tried to sell it, the offers were so low (I wasn't offended by a low offer certainly wasn't upset) that it made no sense to sell it the value of the registration and tyres alone was more than the offers, so I kept it. And bought the new one anyway.

The only thing that offended me was buyers wanting to argue with me. They make an offer , I say no, then they want to tell me how thats all its worth, and they can buy a better one down the road for less money blah blah blah.

My response is usually, that I am happy to give them a ride to the one down the road. BY all means make what ever offers you want, just don't be insulting about it.

Hear him! Hear him! ...and good luck to the OP...

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Factor

My response is usually, that I am happy to give them a ride to the one down the road. BY all means make what ever offers you want, just don't be insulting about it.

Right.

I have been in a position in the past to have to sell some things for whatever I could get for them. Low ball was what I took for some as it was a timing thing.

Maybe someone will be willing to "get rid of the boat" or maybe not.

Someone approached me with that plan when I listed my Gemini. He said he was familiar with Gemini's, had seen several and from the pics could tell he might want mine. But he was a "long way" from me and wanted to know how low I was willing to go to save us both a bunch of time/trouble. Fine. Our numbers did not come close enough. Fine. No Problem. Have a nice day. He was not insulting. Just hoping to get a super deal. No problem. Hope he found a boat at a price that worked for both seller and himself.

[christopherv]

How is this even a debate? I get that people would like to believe that there is a sense of decorum shared between buyer and seller but this is no different than any other major purchase. In most real estate markets where there is a surplus of homes on the market the buyer comes in with an offer that is below the sellers asking price.

People can get as offended as they please, but at the end of the day there will be plenty of motivated sellers (admittedly not all) and if they need to move a big ticket item in an economy that does not favor big ticket transactions, then compromises must be made.

While I would not go around asking what a seller's minimum price is, I would think it outright foolish to assume you would pay asking price. There is room for negotiation in purchases of this scale.