"Denis Marier" wrote:

First I wish you'd ditch that vcf thing you've got at the end of your
post. It is irritating.

I am on the market for another sailboat.
I have noticed that brokers and private owners are showing their price as
follows"

Meaning of this is

1. price is firm
The price is firm except that if the boat has been on the market a
long time and he likes you, he may be willing to dicker a bit unless
he has a loan for the amount of the price because he's not going to
take a loss even if he goes bankrupt with dockage charges.

2. must sell
I've bought another boat and I need the money from this one to pay for
that one. I'll probably be willing to accept a lower offer than the
asking price.

3. negotiable
Not negotiable except upward from a reasonable price.

4. asking
Hoping to get this but not confident that he will.

5. make an offer
Like 2

6. suggested
Like 5

7. and others
I wonder what is the exact meaning of the above mentioned wording.
Some retired brokers are saying that used boats usually go for 5 to 10 %
below the listed price.
What should the initial offer be and how should one de-code the listed
price.
Making a low ball offer may insult the seller. The situation is how should
an offer and counter offer be made without insulting anyone and getting a
fair deal.

The first requirement for knowing what to offer is to know how much
you can spend. Don't offer more than 3/4ths of that amount because
there's always something that has to be done and you want some reserve
for those things.

The second requirement is to know what you require to have in a boat.
There are some non-negotiable's here. If you want a fin keel cutter
with a skeg rudder, don't look at trawlers or full keel boats with
spade rudders.

Make a wish list for equipment. If the boat does not meet one of your
requirements for equipment that you consider essential (VHF radio,
diesel engine, reliable anchor rode and windlass), you also need to
know how much it will cost to buy that piece of equipment. Deduct
that from the price in #1 above.

The third thing you must know is what the actual market is like at the
place where the boat is for the kind of boat that it is considering
the condition it is in and the use it has had. Look at a lot of boats
before you get to the place where you want to make an offer.

Do not worry about insulting the seller unless you have put yourself
in a situation where you absolutely MUST have that particular boat.
In that case, make no offer at all - it's time to go cool off.

If the price of the boat is within the ball park of your first
requirement minus what you have deducted for #2 and that is a
reasonable price for that type of boat, make an offer that is slightly
below the asking price. Our boat was on the market for $110K and we
offered $90K and the owner counter offered $95K.

If the price of the boat is greatly inflated above the three criteria
above, it does no harm to make an offer just slightly below what you
think it is really worth AND worth to **you** (which is #1 minus #2).
If the owner is still too in love with his boat to consider your
offer, the worst he can do is say no. And you would not be getting a
fair deal if you paid his price.

If the price of the boat is way below what you think the boat should
be worth, look at it again - there must be something wrong with it
that you didn't see the first time.

Make all offers subject to survey and sea trial.


grandma Rosalie