The economy and "weird" boat sales.

[oops!]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

i run into this all the time

nuthin wrong with a seller asking what he feels its worth....however a good dose of reality is uasually whats in order for them.

a lot of people advertise in our local newspaper.......its $10 for three days advertising......the item advertised is going to sell at $150....thy advertise at $300....the people go on to the next add and it sits......for 45 days....still being advertised !

it just is weird.....down right stupid !........you must investigate the market first and find out how much the item is worth before you advertise and price fairly.....no one will ever complain about fair !

man....i could go on and rant about this forever......

 

[mthieme]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

Can't figure that out either. I figured projection TV prices would tank as plasma prices dropped, but they haven't.
Wanted to get a 46" projection, but they are still at 2005 price levels.
What the h***???

My replacement is a 67" Samsung LED RPTV .... $2K.
The shock for me was that TV prices have an additional '0' in there these days.

 

[AguaSki]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

Here in Phoenix I am seeing deals on CL for older boats, but the newer boats are way out of line. I think with a lot of the newer boats the owner still has an outstanding loan balance and they are wanting to recover what they owe. Once the balance is paid down a bit the price might become more reasonable, but then the boat will be an older boat. The cycle continues.

 

[dingbat]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

The economy is forecast to bottom out and start to rebound later this year. Unless someone has to sell due to loss of job or something along that line why would anyone sell anything right now at the prices some are expecting?

 

[Shizzy]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Many folks get on ebay and bid somewhat disillusioned.
They think that their winning bid is like winning the price is right.

Sorry, off topic.

thats the reason I have been out bid 99% of the time on ebay and I dont even call on 99% of stuff I see listed online. I check on fair price before I invest any time in to it.

 

[cdnfthree2]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

People on ebay are often VERY foolish with their competitiv bids. Take old fishing lures for example. I've seen lures sell on ebay for twice current book value. meaning, you could buy the exact lure at a show in possibly better condition for half the price , over and over again. It's all in the trickery and salesmanship. "RARE, RARE, RARE" they claim, and people cough cash like it's going out of syle. There is often an inverse relationship to how hard the seller is trying to unload the item and it's actual value. not that any antique has any REAL value.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

I think ALLOT of it has to do with how/when they bought it.
i.e many people have been buying boats with little $ down and then taking 10 year notes on them. ( Common dealership trick to talk you into a brand new boat that's over your head. Kinda like the real estate game on a smaller scale!) Now , with the bad economy, many are trying to reduce their monthly bills and financed boats are one of the first to go. OF course, many of these people are finding out that the market is glutted and that they still owe 10K on a 6 year old $15 boat. i.e they are "upsidedown" in thier boat loan. If you look, you'll see the same thing happening in cars, RV's , motorcycles etc.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

the ebay thing is common in any category. I see car parts go for sily prices as well.

I was flipping through my new Cabela's catalog the other day and stopped on the boats page. the Lowe angler 1467 caught my eye. I said to my self, wow, basically what I have for $4399 and I only paid $750. then I saw "payments as low as $88.37 a month*" Price and monthly payment were listed with an asterix next to it. I looked at the bottom of the page and guess what it said??

"monthly payments based on 10.5% APR for 144 months with 10% down. does not include tax title or license.....

OMFG!!!!

that $4399 boat is now $12725.28!!!

its a 14 foot tinny!!

there was a spiffy bass boat. 250HP evinrude and all. $49,995. doing the same math that boat is now $72,034.

my 41 year old tinny with a 45 year old Johnny looks pretty sweet to me.

 

[dave11]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

That is so true. I saw a boat I wanted last fall listed at 6000.00 They had repowered and the boat was in great shape. Had recipts for $10,000 worth of work. Boat was an 88 and in this market was not worth that and I only had 4000. Needless to say I now own the boat for 4000.00. Took till january for the price to be right.

Congrats on your new boat. Sounds like you got a reasonable deal. Now go out and enjoy.

 

[RWilson2526]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

I'll add something weird to the whole electronics thing. I placed an old faded/discolored Humminbird Wide Portrait b/W fishfinder (Head unit only)on ebay a few weeks ago. I mean no transducer, no mounting bracket, no wres, nothing. I wanted to realize about ten bucks for it. People went nuts! there were over 20 bids and it sold for $80. Plus Shipping. I didn't understand it at all. Must have been a really good unit at one time. I didn't want it.

Thats actually easy to explain....I bought a replacement Garmin unit on Ebay the exact same way. Somebody stole my unit out of my boat....now I have the transducer, paddle wheel and mounting bracket nicely installed already, wires run...I'm not going to go buy a new unit and mount new transducers and such...pick up the head only on ebay for $65 and I'm good to go.

 

[cdnfthree2]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

I'll add something weird to the whole electronics thing. I placed an old faded/discolored Humminbird Wide Portrait b/W fishfinder (Head unit only)on ebay a few weeks ago. I mean no transducer, no mounting bracket, no wres, nothing. I wanted to realize about ten bucks for it. People went nuts! there were over 20 bids and it sold for $80. Plus Shipping. I didn't understand it at all. Must have been a really good unit at one time. I didn't want it.

Thats actually easy to explain....I bought a replacement Garmin unit on Ebay the exact same way. Somebody stole my unit out of my boat....now I have the transducer, paddle wheel and mounting bracket nicely installed already, wires run...I'm not going to go buy a new unit and mount new transducers and such...pick up the head only on ebay for $65 and I'm good to go.

Really sorry to hear that! The one I sold came off my CC the day I bought it. I cut all the wires to remove the clutter and get the "basics" working again.
Pluggedit in to my new Humminbird harness months later and it actually worked. You gotta hate thieves.

 

[dave11]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

Personally, everything I see in the market place says that is wishful thinking at best. I know, I know, Congress and the Pres are convinced we can borrow our way out of debt. I don't know about anyone else but everytime I have seen anyone try that all they get is deeper in debt and in the end it falls apart like a house of cards.

I think you have it right, Bubba. And we are the ones who will have to pay. I wish they would give me a bailout and a big fat golden parachute so I can concentrate on fishing.

 

[Lucky Penny]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

What we are seeing here are Marina auction's. People are just walking away from their boats. Remove with they want, turn off the power and just walk away. The greatest majority are older gents with small pension and Social Security (don't even get me started on that one) They can no longer afford to refuel nor pay a mech to do what needs to be done, that at one time they could do themselves. These are gents that really enjoy boating and the people involved in boating, but when it comes down to shelter and food, the boat looses.

You can call them project boats if you want, but believe me, they really don't need too much more than a good bath and wax.

The last auction I attended a an older 29 foot Chris Craft fully equipped, galley, head and salon twin inboards not a screw missing or out of place, sold for $500.00 A Bertrim 34 went for $1200.00

Maybe things will recover, I hope so. But as much as I enjoy boating, and the pleasure my grandchildren get from helping "gramps" when it comes down to it, they come first. so in a way I understand why the market is so soft.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

i run into this all the time

nuthin wrong with a seller asking what he feels its worth....however a good dose of reality is uasually whats in order for them.

a lot of people advertise in our local newspaper.......its $10 for three days advertising......the item advertised is going to sell at $150....thy advertise at $300....the people go on to the next add and it sits......for 45 days....still being advertised !

it just is weird.....down right stupid !........you must investigate the market first and find out how much the item is worth before you advertise and price fairly.....no one will ever complain about fair !

man....i could go on and rant about this forever......

It the same as when some seller lists the same $10 item that's worth nothing for 6 months straight on eBay, you know they spend more in listing fees than it's worth, even if it does eventually sell. They would have been better off just throwing it away.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

I called about a boat yesterday that was on CL, the guy wanted $500 for a boat and trailer, said the boat had new floors and transom. After talking to the guy, I had to see it, he said he had the floors professionally done, by a buddy that does hardwood flooring.
The boat had fresh green grass carpet, and the new transom was attached externally, they took a piece of 5/8" veneer plywood and sandwiched it over 5/4" deck boards on the outside of the transom. There was no motor, so I have no idea how they intended to clamp on a motor over the now 4" thick or so transom. It got better, (should have taken a camera), the inside floor felt unusually solid, come to find out they used masonry type floor leveler to fill in the bad spots in the floor and to create a perfectly flat surface. Basically they poured cement inside the boat. He swore it was the best riding boat ever but I didn't see any sign of it ever having a motor attached since the custom transom job was done. To top it all off, it was sitting on what amounted to a trailer built for a jon boat, with 8" wheels, and lots of rust and added angle iron.

I fully expected it to be a sight to see, I went solely for the entertainment value. I knew by his description on the phone it had to be a good one. The ad is gone this morning, so I take it someone thought it looked good.
With a 12x6' patch of that floor leveler and whatever amount migrated down into the bilge, I'm sure that thing had plenty of ballast if nothing else. If someone didn't realize what he had done, or know what that stuff is, the boat would have probably looked just fine. The varnished transom 'panel' looked good but didn't do much for the boat functionally, especially since the real transom was most likely rotted away inside. The boat being only 15', would most likely be running a clamp on motor, so that extra thickness will be a problem, not to mention all that weight.

 

[cwhite6]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

If you really want to see the sky high price problems, take a look at Harley Davidson prices. There is a huge glut in the market. Dealers have '08s left they cannot sell. I was looking to get another HD a little while ago and the prices people are wanting for used are nuts. A 3 year old Electra Glide Standard people are wanting $17,000 for. I can buy a brand new one for less than that. I bought a new one in '06 for $15,000. Some people think we are still in the times of a year waiting list for a bike and you payed $5,000 over MSRP for the privilage of owning one. Not anymore.

 

[aqua_spud]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

Great thread, and timely.
I'm looking for a large aluminum cuddy and recently saw two different Starcraft Islanders (22'ers-1994, 1995 vintage) advertised locally and these guys wanted $16K and $17.5K respectively.

I checked NADA and realized that each of these boats is overpriced by close to $10,000!
There is something to be said for well-equipped and clean, but the bottom line is that it had better be fairly close to that book value or it's overpriced, especially in this economy.

 

[H8tank]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

it had better be fairly close to that book value

Books don't buy boats.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

There are some really great values out there..In fact I am kicking myself now.
I was looking at this CC Scorpion (Like Gary's beautiful boat in NC).
Was going to go check it out today as I just got back from my sales trip to Houston last night. Shoulda went the first day the ad ran..Called this morning and the guy let it go for 200 bucks.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=291672

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: The economy and "weird" boat sales.

Books don't buy boats.

lol..