[Public-list] Dear Sellers (was Alberg 30 for Sale)

[Rachel]

On Sep 19, 2005, at 6:04 AM, Just Dave wrote:

> Hi all boat sellers,
>
> As a potential buyer, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get 
> owners to part with information on their boats...

> ...You would not believe how many sellers price their boats in 
> MULTIPLES of the actual selling price.  I think they ultimately get 
> less than they would have originally because a lot of potential buyers 
> bypass an overpriced (asking price) boat without even looking at it.

Dave,

I've also been seriously boat shopping for awhile, and I'm in complete 
agreement with what you've said.  Excellent post.

Like you, in my travels and research, I've seen so many boats that were 
overpriced to start with and met with a sad end.  Just for example, 
Boat X is priced at $10,000.  I drive a thousand miles or so to see it, 
and, because I've done a lot of research and looking, I know that the 
boat is worth $5000, and would happily pay that, subsequently giving 
the boat a good and loving home.  But of course if I *say* that to the 
seller, it looks so self-serving that they most likely wouldn't believe 
me.

So I shop on, and many times (months and months later), I either 
see/hear that the boat sold for..... $5000, OR the seller was not able 
to keep it properly covered or stored, and I see it going for a much 
smaller price (say $1500), only now even I don't want it.  I want my 
nice "$5000" boat that I looked at when it was first on the market :-)

And if I could say one more thing, it is "Sellers, please, please list 
your asking price!"   In the end I've adopted a policy of not even 
calling on, or looking at, "unpriced boats."  I've found that they are 
generally wildly overpriced, but more than that, from a buyer's 
perspective it just feels slightly manipulative and I wonder what 
*else* the seller isn't telling me....   I mean, to me it feels like 
saying  "Boat for sale, 30', $5000"   Only in that case it's another 
vital piece of information that's missing (type of boat).  To me the 
type of boat, model, and price are basic facts that need to be put 
right out there, because we both know that the seller wants money for 
the boat (and why shouldn't they, after all, that's completely 
reasonable!).

I'm fairly understanding when people selling boats are not 
technologically capable of taking or posting photos, but oh how nice it 
is to get an e-mail (or go to a website) with complete info, including 
detailed photos.

So, thanks Dave for posting this thread, and thanks sellers for 
listening.  I hope this didn't sound like a rant, but if it did I'm 
sorry, and I know that there are many wonderful boat sellers out there 
:-)

--- Rachel

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