In article ,
4-Boat wrote:
and have room, I'll generally let you come along with no obligation or
verification - why not? It doesn't cost me anything in that case.

Where it stops is when you want me to pay you to inspect the boat.


I've bought a few boats, 2 airplanes, a bunch of cars, and a dozen houses
and rentals. I've never had anyone bellyache about picking up the cost of
the inspect IF I bought. Let's all assume a reasonable man standard here.
A home inspect is around 25 cents/foot, a car inspect at autoclub is under
$100. My last boat checkout on a 25 Searay was $250. Big deal in the
scheme of $20K for the seller.

There is no broker in the world who will accept this, nor any larger boat
seller, and no sane small one either.

You'll always pay, whether he simply adds the $250 to the asking price (and
won't negotiate lower) or otherwise.

You will ALWAYS keep your deals cleaner if you simply pay for those expenses
out of pocket. You're going to pay anyway, and you can expect that anyone
who agrees to such a thing will mark up the actual cost in their "best and
final" offer price.

Thus, it always costs you more to have the seller pick it up. You want me
to pick it up if you buy it? Cool; I'll do that. My "lowest acceptable
price" on the boat just went up $500 (unknown to you), which means I made
100% profit on your demand, and you have no way to even know that this
happened to you.

You think you're getting the seller to "eat" the cost, when in fact not only
is he not eating the cost, he's making a tidy profit on your demand besides.

First rule of negotiating purchases is not to muddy the water by building in
fees and costs that can affect the seller's price.

If you spring this "you pick it up if I buy it" thing AFTER we negotiate a
price, your deal will immediately collapse with any honest and reputable
seller, because he will (correctly) perceive this as your attempt to
renegotiate the price after you've come to an agreement.

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Karl Denninger ) Internet Consultant & Kids Rights Activist
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