Negotiation when buying a used boat.

[kind_cir]

Looking at buying another boat latley, and there seems to be a lot of boats on the market that are priced a little high, given their age and the good deals available new at the moment. How much sucess have you had negotiating a better price when buying used? Would it be unreasonable to knock a $1000 of the price when talking about the lower end of the market, say under 5k ? Or should I be looking at a few hundred off instead ?

[Todddo]

Mate like anything, knock them down. The worst they can do is laugh at you.
Just pick out the flaws on the boat, needs a service, needs this needs that. Point out the flaws then throw the offer at them.
Like anything, if your in sales or getting sold too, you point out the flaw (or objection) then move on.
So, the boat does need a service which will cost $..... also needs etc etc which will cost this much.
Oh the joys of being in sales lol.

[Tangles]

Like anything, its what your happy to pay for it and also you might really like the boat and pay the price, also if you have you have done your homework you should know what roughly its worth in the range...

i personally dont take a lot of joy in negotiating or haggling, if someone starts/wants to run down what im selling just to screw you and get a bargain i sort of ask why do they want to buy it in the first place, think about other things and hope they leave soon, if someone makes a reasonable offer then they can have it

ps i would also point out the flaws to a buyer first as well.

[feral cat]

Mate i must say i love haggling and doing it face to face not over email or phone like how most people seem to be doing it.I put out there different scenario's to the seller,for example 2 stroke vs 4 stroke and fuel cost or trailer repairs etc...Then i offer a ridiculious price and walk.Remember you have what they want.I have been called many names but at the end of day i get what i want and i pay what price i want to pay.

[finga]

You can judge how desperate the seller is by
a) how long has the boat been on the market
b) how often the boat has been used in the last 12 months
c) general condition of the boat
d) any rusty hooks, mullet gut, sqid chunks etc lying about (not looked after well at all)
e) location has a lot to play
f) owner's attitude
g) owner's body language
h) ask how many people have looked at it (if there's a huge number then it's not worth it or they would have brought it and if it's not many then it's not worth looking at)
i) when you ask what will you take and they say make an offer offend them and that's your starting point.
j) if they refuse your offer and call for you to come back when your walking out then it's game on
k) if the owner has upgraded and there is a new boat sitting there then there is more room to haggle.


When we brought our big boat it was in the middle of Whoop Whoop. It was on the market for 4 months (we hadn't looked at it earlier as it was in the midddle of Whoop Whoop) and we were the second people to look at it. We asked the bloke what he does....he retired from Telstra but working for them again as a contractor and was flat maggots with them. No time to scratch his itchy @rse let alone go and have a fish I think the words were.
We asked what needed doing to the boat as it had been sitting for about 10 months and he told us. He seemed very honest in this regard. We mentioned a few other things and he said bugger.....didn't notice that.
We couldn't start it as the battery was flat. The owner was genuinely embarrassed about that.
I had learnt from previous experiences and took a spare so we were good to go. (it amases me how many boats have dodgy batteries and if they have to take the charger off to start it then run. If they cannot buy a good battery then what's the rest of the boat like??)
I asked what would he take. I said we're interested but not at that price. He said make an offer we need it gone.
We need it gone was like waving a sign saying free plasma's in Logan central on a Saturday morning.
I offered ridiculous money (about 1/3 it was advertised for. It was worth about 2/3rds of advertised price) and he said goodo so I wrote a cheque and we dragged it home.
Whole venture took about 1/2 hour.
Pushing it around Victoria Point sand flats the first time we launched it took about 6 hours (ah, the memories)

But he was a genuine seller and we were genuine buyers. That makes a huge difference as many, many, many many boats on the second hand market in the under $10,000 bracket are just plain crap and not worth bubkus.

But there are some beauties about if your patient. I think we looked for about 3 months and looked at 2,006,751 boats (it seemed). It's easier to buy a house I reckon.

In the end I got very rude at people not describing their boats accurately over the phone. "Is there any rot in the floor" "Na, mate. All good" and under his breathe he's saying "except for the holes" and we drive for an hour to have a look and the first thing you see is a hole in the bloody floor.
We actually saw one with a new floor put in. Goodo you think?? It was chipboard. Fair dinkum....someone put a chipboard floor in their boat and glassed over the top but you could still see it was chipboard through the 20 thou of an inch of glass over the top. The same bloke said the trailer was fine for a road worthy but the hydraulic brake lines were rusted through. I went off at him.

Now Mike....Would you let me know when your boat is on the market??
I could not talk you down on Bec-n-call though. It's a one in a million boat she is. :)

[Spaniard_King]

Also, If I was selling a boat and you make an offer and walk away... you better not come back as my price will be a whole lot harder to negotiate on :)

[WalrusLike]

I think it's mostly a matter of preparing mentally. Before you get there you think it through.... 'if good condition I would pay X if great condition Y. If poor condition I will walk away.'

If you stick to that then you can offer 2/3 to 3/4 of your price... If they negotiate it upwards don't go over your plan. If its about to hit your planned amount let them know you hit the max and will have to leave it. They can then sell it or not.... In any case you didn't get suckered into paying more than you planned.

The mental figure can be low or high... Low if your determined to get a super bargain or high if you just want a good boat soon. In any case if you keep doing that you will get a deal your happy with (eventually). Good luck.... It ain't easy.... :)

[WalrusLike]

Of course... Nearly all my planned purchases have gone off the rails in a different direction than I expected.... :)

My boat I bought was nearly brand new.. My plan was to get a good value older one..... But the missus saw it and said get that one! :)

[Andy56]

If a boat is hard to sell, its usually because a/ the asking price is too high or b/ it's a shit heap.
When I sold my quinine, it was pristine, I did the research on what others wanted and discounted that price by 10-20 percent. That was then my bargaining area. When it came to negotiation, I was offered a bit less and took the money. Simply, it sold within two weeks.
There was no discussion about " it needs this or that" , just money.
That would be my approach. If its a shit heap, tell them and walk. No point discussing anything. If its reasonable boat, you need to do your sums as to what can go wrong ie, if the motor is long on the tooth, will a new motor over capitalism the rig. You need to keep this info to yourself, antagonizing the seller by putting his pride and joy down will only harden him up.
Just make what you think is close to a reasonable offer. A genuine seller will be accommodating.

[fisho8]

The philosphy I have when buying or sellling some this is that it is only worth what someone wants to pay for it I have bought my boats from dealers who are there to move their stock. I negociated $6500 off the price when I bought my first boat and $7000 off my second one I never thought I could negiciate something down that much but I had did my research on the boats I wanted and just hit the dealer with the price I wanted to pay. It did take a little while to get the deals done as they kept coming back to me with counter offers but I stuck to my guns and got what I wanted. Good Luck mate you get it for what you want to pay for it or you just move on to the next one.:)

[Andy56]

I hear what you say fisho8, but I find your approach a winners and losers game. It all depends on finding a sucker. Most people arent as keen as you to screw some one down and most people who sell aren't after top dollar. I find it a very narcistic approach, and most people have too much empathy to follow you down that road. Being reasonable makes it a win win and not a " sucker, got you" ending. After all, it's about a boat And both partys feeling good about the deal, not bragging rights. Not putting you down mate, just not something Most people feel comfortable doing.
The psychology of buying and selling fills many shelves in the library ha ha ha

[Noelm]

I guess it is no different to buying a car or house or anything else, if the item is good, and the price is right, it will sell, if you are after top dollar for a pile of shit, then you will need to be a pretty good BS artist to get your money, if someone tells me that it needs this, or has a scratch here, I simply say, yeah, it's not new, it's second hand, that's what happens to things when they are used, but then I guess if i was trying to cover something major up, I would be a bit different (maybe)

[rooboy98]

...Then i offer a ridiculious price and walk.Remember you have what they want.I have been called many names but at the end of day i get what i want and i pay what price i want to pay.

Best off just letting these sort of people walk when selling something IMO. Stay polite but really, why waste any more of your time mucking around with someone who is making a "ridiculous" offer? (As long you have priced the boat fairly compared to the current market.)

If they are a genuine buyer they will quickly realise you are not going to cave and re-adjust their offer. If they are genuine.......

Sorry but I've got no time for blokes who want to waste my spare time by turning up to look at stuff, then make a ridiculous offer and walk.

Cheers,
Roo.

[NAGG]

I think people inflate the price knowing that someone will try to haggle the price down . I've seen people miss out on a really good buy because they have acted like a tosser trying to knock the price down beyond reason .......
Personally - If I see something that is a good buy & I'm satisfied ..... I pay the price ....... but I know well & truly what the price should be before I have a look .

Chris

[finga]

I know well & truly what the price should be before I have a look .

Chris
And here is where research matters and the time taken to do the research is more important then your ability to haggle as there is no point in haggling about something that will sink.
And most sellers are not stupid.

[fisho8]

I hear what you say fisho8, but I find your approach a winners and losers game. It all depends on finding a sucker. Most people arent as keen as you to screw some one down and most people who sell aren't after top dollar. I find it a very narcistic approach, and most people have too much empathy to follow you down that road. Being reasonable makes it a win win and not a " sucker, got you" ending. After all, it's about a boat And both partys feeling good about the deal, not bragging rights. Not putting you down mate, just not something Most people feel comfortable doing.
The psychology of buying and selling fills many shelves in the library ha ha ha

That is a fair call Andy no dramas mate bear in mind I was negociating with a dealer and most on here know that dealer put profit margins on their products so in me saving that money on those 2 boats goes to show what margins they had to play with. Saving 7k on my second boat and them still walking away with $3500 clear profit is still not a bad deal for an hours negociation. I don't brag about things mate I will just give people the facts if I get judged on it so be it. I got a boat that was clearly over priced to start with. I guess I am just a bit more assertive when it comes to doing business as I do busniess with people every day in my job. I will never treat anyone like a sucker like buying a car or a house you need to start somewhere and go from there it is one big guessing game buying and selling stuff that is for sure. If I was buying private it would be a differant story as I would put myself in the sellers shoes. I would never prey on anothers misfortune that in my book in not the way to do business with someone my approach would be somewhat different as I do have empathy for people and I know how quickly people's circumstances can change.:)

[thelump]

http://youtu.be/u75XQdTxZRc

This is how its done

[theoldlegend]

Like anything, its what your happy to pay for it and also you might really like the boat and pay the price, also if you have you have done your homework you should know what roughly its worth in the range...

i personally dont take a lot of joy in negotiating or haggling, if someone starts/wants to run down what im selling just to screw you and get a bargain i sort of ask why do they want to buy it in the first place, think about other things and hope they leave soon, if someone makes a reasonable offer then they can have it

ps i would also point out the flaws to a buyer first as well.


Would you be interested in selling your Dremel for $25?

TOL

[finga]

Would you be interested in selling your Dremel for $25?

TOL
How about a dribble for $25? Or even $2.50??? Pongo has plenty to spare.


Gees I must be a hard b@st@rd as I don't care what people's circumstances are when I'm buying something. Especially if the chances are I'll never see them again.
All I care about is they have something I want and it's for sale and the only thing that stops it coming into my possession is the amount of money that has to change hands.
Who's to say my circumstances are not worse then theirs?

[Tangles]

TOL, its never going to be for sale!!!

[Apollo]

The lazy man's haggling technique:

Do the research beforehand so you know what to look for and what it should be worth, then go to look.

When you get there, tell them you are a geniune buyer with funds available to buy the boat/car/tractor/etc today. BEFORE you have a look at it , as them the questions you need to know (like servicing history, accident/repairs history, ownership history, usage, hrs, what has been replaced and what needs to, etc) and then tell them that you hate haggling and you want them to nominate the very lowest price that they are willing to accept to have it sold today without any hassle or BS. It is then important to tell them that you will then have a look at the boat and if you think the boat is worth what their minimum price is, then you WILL buy it, otherwise you will just walk away without any negotiation or haggling. I have been surprised at some of the 'discounts' that hae been offered to me by sellers wanting a no haggle sale today. Some have been in the order of 40-50% and others 0%. The seller has the option of trying to bump his bottom price up a bit, but risking a geniune sale with no negotiation or comeback. No issues, I then can have a look at the boat and weigh up the value with any work that needs to be done against the lowest price offered by the seller.

Certainly makes the buying process less stressfull and both parties walk away feeling ok with the deal.