Brian Cleverly wrote:

An earlier respondent advised against getting a "Resale Certificate"
because of the hassle involved... That is just pure bad advice... You
*must* arrange to buy at at least wholesale due to the high markups on
anything to do with our business (read "Marine")...

Having been both a wholesale distributor and a mail order retailer,
you're right...BUT--not everything is cheaper wholesale. The discount
retail prices can often be less than dealer price (toilets are just one
example)...so while I agree that getting a sales tax certificate isn't
optional, it essential, it also pays to shop the discount retail prices
instead of blindly buying everything wholesale. With a tax #, you can
buy most things retail without also paying the sales tax...if you have
to pay it, you can deduct it from either the quarterly sales tax owed or
on your business income tax return. Which makes the other thing you
advised--a good inventory based accounting system--absolutely essential.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

Peggie Hall wrote:
Brian Cleverly wrote:


An earlier respondent advised against getting a "Resale Certificate"
because of the hassle involved... That is just pure bad advice...
You *must* arrange to buy at at least wholesale due to the high
markups on anything to do with our business (read "Marine")...


Having been both a wholesale distributor and a mail order retailer,
you're right...BUT--not everything is cheaper wholesale. The discount
retail prices can often be less than dealer price (toilets are just one
example)...so while I agree that getting a sales tax certificate isn't
optional, it essential, it also pays to shop the discount retail prices
instead of blindly buying everything wholesale. With a tax #, you can
buy most things retail without also paying the sales tax...if you have
to pay it, you can deduct it from either the quarterly sales tax owed or
on your business income tax return. Which makes the other thing you
advised--a good inventory based accounting system--absolutely essential.


Absolutely agree on all points Peggy...

I didn't mean to imply wholesale was the only way to go... In fact I've been
known to buy via Ebay on more than one occasion when the high bid was under the
best I could get elsewhere.

Brian C

Roger Derby wrote:
Excuse me. Insurance companies are profit centers. If one has paid cash
then the decision to buy hull insurance depends on one's fortitude.

I dunno, is risking the whole cost of an expensive toy
"fortitude"?

It may be cheaper in the short run, and you may get lucky,
but shipping businesses buy insurance for their vessels, so
it isn't just a rip-off game by insurers.

(Liability insurance is a different matter.)

Yes, in many places it's required.


I haven't looked into the premiums for boats, but on my aircraft I figure
I've saved over $5,000 over the last ten years by self-insuring.

Well, I know a lot of people who have made an informed
choice to not insure their boats... same thing as
"self-insurance" only not as politically correct. Frankly
IMHO the cost of insuring an item is part of the cost of
owning it... if bad luck takes it from you, you couldn't
afford to own it anyway. But it's a very tempting choice
because it's an unrecoverable cost... like renting a slip...



Does your insurance really inspect your boat regularly to make sure you are
caring for it properly?

Some do. One of my jobs is to do insurance surveys on power
plants, and this includes evaluating the skill & knowledge
of the operating crew. Commercial vessels have to go through
the same thing. In general, though, they don't care...
perhaps people who "self-insure" are more intelligent &
motivated? Or maybe they're just tightwads?

From what I've seen, most people who skimp on insurance
skimp on other things too, and don't care enough about their
boats anyway. There certainly are exceptions, and they're
usually obvious.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

This has really been interesting, seeing I don't know a bildge pump
from a macerator pump ...(Well, I really do..LOL!)

but I'm getting a lot of ensight on what this would actually involve.

Some examples are on my website, www.anzam.com .

Brian, that's nothing short of impressive!

I'm glad you posted the work.

ready aboot! wrote:
I've known two full fledged citizens who had "proper" insurance on
expensive boats. Neither of them could get more than $1000 for their
$200k boats, one after being cut in half by a Mexican shrimper run by
a man who reeked of liquor and was too short to see over the wheel
house ledge.

Really? Well I know a guy who was walking his dog one day
and the dog was piddling on a mailbox of a very nice home
when a car pulled up, a rich guy jumped out and said "I'll
buy your house for half a mill!" He handed over a suitcase
full of money and the guy with the dog said "sure" and
signed the papers. Later on he counted the money and found
it was only $485,000 but it wasn't his house so he didn't
complain.

Luck averages out over time. That's why insurance, on the
whole, is a smart gamble.

I'd also suspect that your "full fledged citizen" had some
sort of fault with his insurance.



... If a bank owns your boat and you are in your home country
it might be a different

Yeah, especially if you make sure that your boat is insured
for that region. It makes a big difference.

.... but I don't get that impression, especially
for people who own their boat outright. That kind of thing is
discouraged in america.

Ummm... what kind of thing? Owning a boat outright?

... If the insurance co doesn't pay you're still
liable so what's the point in paying them to charge you money?


???

If you carry liability insurance, which is required in most
states AFAIK, then you don't pay a dime until the max
liability of the policy is exceeded. Since a million bucks
of liability insurance is very cheap (at least for those of
us who rarely have accidents) it's a great bargain. The
insurance company will send a very good lawyer to protect
their million bucks.

DSK

wrote in message
oups.com...
This has really been interesting, seeing I don't know a bildge pump
from a macerator pump ...(Well, I really do..LOL!)

but I'm getting a lot of ensight on what this would actually involve.

I have an idea. I will tell you once and once only because i have had a glas
of whiskey and i may put it into practice myself.

Find cheap shed. Take on restoration and repair work STRICTLY BY THE HOUR
like a garage mechanic, get some skilled kids in from college, pay £10/hr
and charge £40/hr, ONLY ON OTHER PEOPLE'S BOATS, because boat owning is an
emotional business and therefore one in which people will waste money and
you should NEVER SPECULATE on the potential gain because it is more risky
than honest hard graft. Ugly truth? yes.

Tim W