Hi Dave,

This sounds nice, but apparently some (informed or disinformed?) guys
have stated in other threads that sometimes brokers don't feed the BUC
or other professional databases the real prices of sales, and tend to
sometimes exagerate the numbers. This might be untrue for most, but it
is arguable that high prices would be in the interest of anyone on a
percentage commission - plus being able to pull high prices out of a
professional database can also possibly help cinch a difficult sale,
convincing a reticent buyer that he is actually paying real market
price.

Brokers in this newsgroup, I am not alleging that this actually occurs.
It is possible that your profession is the most ethical around, and
that the vast majority dutifully respect the trade's deontology. But
I'm not actually aware of the existance of an regulatory body which
sets industry standards for boat broker behavior. Does one indeed
exist?

We know all too well that when you leave a large number of unequally
qualified self-proclaimed professionals around a pot of cash without
strict industry guidelines and accompanying sanctions, things tend to
happen. Is there an official, published, monitored, set of
deontological guidelines for boat brokers? If not, a broker can be the
most honest and circumspect individual in the world, they are left wide
open to the assumption that they are probably crooked dealers motivated
exclusively by greed and self-interest.

Predators can infest any profession left undisciplined. Whether such is
the case for boat brokerage is a matter of opinion and personal
experience. Thus far, the only marginally unethical behavior I have
witnessed from a broker is the refusal to commuicate a verbal offer to
a seller - mind you the offer was NOT accompanied by the usual deposit
check. He didn't inform me that sending a check was customary to an
offer. So maybe his only failing was one of properly communicating,
nobody's perfect. But maybe he was trying to eliminate a potential
purchaser looking to bring the price to a reasonable level (comparable
to other similar boats advertised) in hopes of finding someone more
gullible to influence into paying him more commission?

To resume my response to your statement, that "most brokers do have
access to actual sales prices on the major sites", are the prices in
those databases subject to verification by banking and tax authorities,
or are they strictly a matter between the broker keying them in on his
computer - and his own conscience? In the latter case, we'll just have
to hope that the brokers have a higher level of conscience than in any
other profession.

So I guess that hiring a buyer's broker is just multiplying the problem
by two, all it takes in one weak link in a chain for it to break, and
the more the links, the more the chances of problems.

For my part, I will use only one measure of knowing if a deal is a good
one. It is a technique taught me by an art expert. Discussing a fake
Toulouse Lautrec oil painting (in his shop) and detailing what looked
authentic and what didn't, he said: "I'll let you into a little known
secret, if there is the least nagging detail worrying you about the
painting, it is most likely a fake. Real master paintings don't leave
room for doubt - they ARE plain and simply, and are never 'almost' what
you think they should be."

To me the same will hold true for a boat purchase. If it feels 100%
right, a good boat for a good price, I'll buy without hesitation. If I
need to rationalize the purchase by looking at online professional
databases, that probably means that I am trying to justify making an
expensive mistake: it is either the wrong boat or the wrong price, and
maybe both!

Cheers,

Rich



Dave wrote:
On 20 Mar 2005 23:11:52 -0800, said:

Or should I hire a BUYER'S BROKER to defend my interest... and
possibly

jump into the snake pit?

Most brokers do have access to actual sales prices on the major
sites.
They're not supposed to show them to you, but if you can find a
friendly
broker they've been known to make the information available.