Looking at new boats

loosescrew said:

The way I see it is if a seller is asking 1,500 he's really looking for $750. If he wants $1,500, he best ask $3k and let the seller bargain the price down. I was taught to NEVER pay anyone's asking price no matter how cheap it is.
I offered him $500 for the boat and he flipped out and said he'll crush it before he'll sell it for less than its worth.
It was a nice boat and likely the best price out there for a rock solid boat but if there's no room to bargain there's no deal. If he had put FIRM in his ad maybe I'd have offered him a bit more.

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Yep, that drives people like me that try to price items fairly, crazy! As I have slowly sold my old Mercruiser stuff off on FB marketplace, been holding to just a little adder to make buyer "feel" good. To my surprise, many didn't try to low ball, and paid full price. A couple guys that tried to lowball, quickly realized that their gas and time wasn't worth going home with nothing.

loosescrew said:

The way I see it is if a seller is asking 1,500 he's really looking for $750. If he wants $1,500, he best ask $3k and let the seller bargain the price down. I was taught to NEVER pay anyone's asking price no matter how cheap it is.
I offered him $500 for the boat and he flipped out and said he'll crush it before he'll sell it for less than its worth.
It was a nice boat and likely the best price out there for a rock solid boat but if there's no room to bargain there's no deal. If he had put FIRM in his ad maybe I'd have offered him a bit more.

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Loose screw,
So do you expect to have the Supermarket knock 50% off the items in your cart @ checkout? That's basically what you're saying. When I offer any item for sale I determine what I would feel comfortable paying for it as a buyer. If the person is sincere & respectful I may drop the price 3-5 % but no way in hell am I knocking off 50%. Sounds like you would be one of the type that I would physically remove from my property after advising you that the negotiations are over. Just saying....

Price your crap fairly and state it is firm.

Reduces the tire-kicker traffic.

loosescrew said:

The way I see it is if a seller is asking 1,500 he's really looking for $750. If he wants $1,500, he best ask $3k and let the seller bargain the price down. I was taught to NEVER pay anyone's asking price no matter how cheap it is.
I offered him $500 for the boat and he flipped out and said he'll crush it before he'll sell it for less than its worth.
It was a nice boat and likely the best price out there for a rock solid boat but if there's no room to bargain there's no deal. If he had put FIRM in his ad maybe I'd have offered him a bit more.

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You must have some relatives in Georgia. We usually show them the door. LOL

OldSailor85 said:

Price your crap fairly and state it is firm.

Reduces the tire-kicker traffic.

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Amen to that OldSailor85 !!

I have always priced my stuff fairly and make sure things are running and in good condition or I tell them otherwise upfront ! Usually sell to first buyer once they see I am being honest. Low ballers that make ridiculous offers get my usual comback...I will gladly take more, but not less. The other thing is regular sellers...people learn quickly who constantly has things for sale just to turn over a few bucks and tend to stay away from those folks.

airshot said:

I have always priced my stuff fairly and make sure things are running and in good condition or I tell them otherwise upfront ! Usually sell to first buyer once they see I am being honest. Low ballers that make ridiculous offers get my usual comback...I will gladly take more, but not less. The other thing is regular sellers...people learn quickly who constantly has things for sale just to turn over a few bucks and tend to stay away from those folks.

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Pricing things for the actual price doesn't work here. Adding 'Firm' to your ad just guarantees no one will respond here. I've bought nearly all of my boats and motors from regular sellers, if it wasn't for a few of them many of my best finds would have never seen the light of day to be resold.

As someone who has been in and around the boating and fishing tackle business to some degree for most of my life I've watched the market change and its changed over the last 10 years more than ever. For the most part we've lost the type of buyer who buys a boat, a motor, and a trailer and puts together a boat they always wanted. For a bit it was a shift to those with no ability to build or fix anything and they simply bought new boats ready to run. Those owners tend to be short time owners or they realize the expense of owning a boat is not for them. Those boats either got abandoned or parked in some garage until someone stumbles on it and by that time the original owner has lost all interest and sells it cheap. There are thousands of such boat sitting in garages out there and anyone with a job or a life simply will never find them as many don't surface until the estate sale.

The next generation saw their parents loose interest in those boats and either would never own one or can't afford one at any price these days.
That leaves the next generation who has had no boating influence or mechanical experience. That's what we're seeing now. Its a mix of older folks who have a bit of money but no ability to build or fix anything and a generation that wants instant gratification and doesn't mine five digit credit card balances. Neither of those will buy a 'good used boat' they either buy a new boat, gamble on a turn key boat because its cheap enough to hide it from the wife, of they never get past simply the thought alone and go buy a video game instead.

OldSailor85 said:

Price your crap fairly and state it is firm.

Reduces the tire-kicker traffic.

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All that gets you here is no replies.

The old timers who have the money to spend seem to want to bargain.

It reminds me of this scene:

outboard said:

Pricing things for the actual price doesn't work here. Adding 'Firm' to your ad just guarantees no one will respond here. I've bought nearly all of my boats and motors from regular sellers, if it wasn't for a few of them many of my best finds would have never seen the light of day to be resold.

As someone who has been in and around the boating and fishing tackle business to some degree for most of my life I've watched the market change and its changed over the last 10 years more than ever. For the most part we've lost the type of buyer who buys a boat, a motor, and a trailer and puts together a boat they always wanted. For a bit it was a shift to those with no ability to build or fix anything and they simply bought new boats ready to run. Those owners tend to be short time owners or they realize the expense of owning a boat is not for them. Those boats either got abandoned or parked in some garage until someone stumbles on it and by that time the original owner has lost all interest and sells it cheap. There are thousands of such boat sitting in garages out there and anyone with a job or a life simply will never find them as many don't surface until the estate sale.

The next generation saw their parents loose interest in those boats and either would never own one or can't afford one at any price these days.
That leaves the next generation who has had no boating influence or mechanical experience. That's what we're seeing now. Its a mix of older folks who have a bit of money but no ability to build or fix anything and a generation that wants instant gratification and doesn't mine five digit credit card balances. Neither of those will buy a 'good used boat' they either buy a new boat, gamble on a turn key boat because its cheap enough to hide it from the wife, of they never get past simply the thought alone and go buy a video game instead.

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Painting with a pretty broad brush.

Where is your "here"? I'm in NE Ohio.

There ARE younger people with mechanical skill. Most of them are working 60-70 hours a week. With a family, that doesn't leave much time for fishing.

I have never had trouble selling a boat, car, or truck. They all go fast.

outboard said:

Pricing things for the actual price doesn't work here. Adding 'Firm' to your ad just guarantees no one will respond here. I've bought nearly all of my boats and motors from regular sellers, if it wasn't for a few of them many of my best finds would have never seen the light of day to be resold.

As someone who has been in and around the boating and fishing tackle business to some degree for most of my life I've watched the market change and its changed over the last 10 years more than ever. For the most part we've lost the type of buyer who buys a boat, a motor, and a trailer and puts together a boat they always wanted. For a bit it was a shift to those with no ability to build or fix anything and they simply bought new boats ready to run. Those owners tend to be short time owners or they realize the expense of owning a boat is not for them. Those boats either got abandoned or parked in some garage until someone stumbles on it and by that time the original owner has lost all interest and sells it cheap. There are thousands of such boat sitting in garages out there and anyone with a job or a life simply will never find them as many don't surface until the estate sale.

The next generation saw their parents loose interest in those boats and either would never own one or can't afford one at any price these days.
That leaves the next generation who has had no boating influence or mechanical experience. That's what we're seeing now. Its a mix of older folks who have a bit of money but no ability to build or fix anything and a generation that wants instant gratification and doesn't mine five digit credit card balances. Neither of those will buy a 'good used boat' they either buy a new boat, gamble on a turn key boat because its cheap enough to hide it from the wife, of they never get past simply the thought alone and go buy a video game instead.

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Your lucky, in my area most boats sit out in someone's back yard until the cover risen I grates and goes away. The hull fills with leaves and water the sits thru a cold winter. After a few years of not using the boat, they decide to sell it. Power wash and a good clean and buff her shinny then add a for sale sign that says low hours, barely used, like new !! I have at least a dozen like that within one mile and I live in the country where properties care spread out ! Worse case is many have a pole barn, but the boat sits out in the weather !! ???

Nothing sell fast here.
Although they won't let a hit counter remain up for very long on CL I've been able to get one to last almost a week and the number of hits and the number of those online or logged in browsing is next to nothing and has been for over five years now. FB has lots of people browsing but the stats show most are not local.
The FB system is screwed up. If I go on there and search simply 'boat' and set the max dstance at say a 50 mile radius I'll get five or six somewhat local listings then the rest are hundreds of miles away. If I see one that I want to go back to I have to email myself the link because it will never turn up again in a future search,

I gave up on FB because out of over 500 items I've listed there not a one has sold and none have ever produced a legit contact. Nothing but offshore scammers, data miners, and $20 offers on $4k items.
The revelation that FB somehow restricts what buyers can see somehow came when a guy at work said he listed a few surf carts he had inherited from his father-in-law but had no takers He was asking $40 each and they looked brand new. What got me is that I should have seen them as he lives less than a block away from me. With him on the phone one night I was trying to find his ads to see what they looked like. Not only couldn't I find his ads I couldn't fine his profile period. After he emailed me a direct link to one of his ads I could then see his profile and items listed for sale.

Even after looking over all his ads and his profile, when I backed out and tried to search even the exact title it refused to show me anything he had listed. It kept telling me he was 'Far from my location' and it stated that he was 'outside of the search parameter selected'.

I went back and checked to see that my zip code was right and then where his was listed and both were correct.
I then changed my zip code to one 300 miles away and then it showed his items in a search, I realized that if I changed my zip code to one 300 to 500 miles away I saw more 'local' items than if I used my own. It also varied by the IP address I was using. I can't say why or how it works but it seems to be why when I search on my laptop I get completely different results then I get on my phone, or on my desktop at home despite being signed in on the same account.
The screwed up search makes no sense, its not as if they're making any money of people not finding things and those who list on FB or CL are not likely to list their items anywhere else. I for one would never pay for an ad no more than I'd pay full price for anything used or listed for sale. It would be just as wrong as going to a car dealer and paying the sticker price. When I bought my last new truck the window sticker said $59k. I left there having written a check for $42k and left them a trade in worth maybe $4K in the real world but they marked up the trade value to $12k despite it having 187k on the odometer and four nearly bald tires. and more than a dozen birthdays in its past.
Then on top of that I opted for a cash rebate option of $2,500 . Where would I have been if I walked in that day and just said 'I'll take that one" and pad the sticker price.
A week later a local used car lot had my old truck on their lot for $8,999 with big LOW MILES sign on the windshield. I saw it for sale on CL a few months later for $2k from another used car lot. I bought it back, for $400 after nearly a year on CL. (with four new Chinese tires on it).
I resold it two years later to a farmer in VA for $4k who saw the CL ad being talked about on a motorcycle web forum.
I had only traded it in because it needed so much work and it didn't have ac. After i got it back it had gotten new brakes and new tires and someone even fixed the rust over the rear wheels and put a new bed liner in it.
When I decided to sell it again I swapped out the newer tires for an well worn set off my Bronco and sold the bed liner on CL. I not only got two more years out of that truck bit in a way is made the original deal on the new truck that much cheaper. The last I saw that truck it was listed as registered as part of an estate sale about two years ago and the VIN never showed up as being registered since. The odometer had flipped again by the time I resold it last but 300ci six cylinder can run half a million miles if properly maintained.

There's no telling how many times that truck had been haggled over in its life. I'm now 20 years into the 'new' truck which now has almost 15,000 mi. on it now so chances are this one will out last me and I doubt there's much out there new I"ll ever feel compelled to write a check for so long as the ac blow cold in my current truck.