Boat Rentals

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Who knows. It's my understanding of this BS broker routine that the owner can't sell it directly anyways without at minimum still paying the broker, and I've read about being penalized in some cases.

It’s staggering how little effort the brokers will put it . I called about a boat last week . “ it’s been shrinkwrapped and the owner didn’t want slushy boots onboard so they don’t leave an access zipper” “ call back in April” . Um ok . No .


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I guess if they have a policy where the broker gets a cut of the sale regardless how its sold, they don't put much effort into it.

I wonder how long their "contract" is for?
Either way, I think its laziness on the brokers part and stupidity on the owners part for not putting much effort into getting a boat sold.

Onto a thread derail.
@PrivatePilot do we congratulate you or feel sorry for you on your "promotion"?

 

[PrivatePilot]

Either way, I think its laziness on the brokers part and stupidity on the owners part for not putting much effort into getting a boat sold.

Lazyness indeed. Honestly, I'm surprised at the percentage of owners who are farming this out to brokers and taking the financial hit instead of putting forth the effort to sell directly. I'm a little detached from the big-fancy-marina / yacht club thing, but perhaps those in the know could fill me in - is it some sort of requirement that any boat at the marina/on the property/with a slip in the past year/whatever be sold through one of their brokers? Are owners physically prevented from selling their own boat if it's on marina property or something?

Or are a lot of owners really this lazy?

Either way, I think some owners who are using brokers are probably clueless about how poorly said brokers are managing the sale of their boats. Like I said earlier, you'd think that they'd be jumping at the mere prospect of making a huge commission on a sale of a boat (of all things) this time of year, just before Christmas.

<shrug>

Onto a thread derail.
@PrivatePilot do we congratulate you or feel sorry for you on your "promotion"?

I'm being respectful, so secret squirrel for the time being until Cutekill chimes in.

 

[crankcall]

If your at a marina or YC you are under zero obligation to use their or any broker , it’s an open market . Many selling just don’t want the hassle of showing thier own boat . The number of tire kickers is equal to selling a motorcycle or any toy . When you get to big number boats , to 2-300k boats you just don’t need or want the bologna of talking to multiple people that can’t begin to afford a boat , they like to look. You use a broker to hopefully vet the clients, even then some dopes get through. I’d gladly take the 10-12% hit to avoid the hassle . Boats under 30k get a flat fee of 6k to broker . I’m good friends with a couple brokers , I’ll use one to smooth the import process if I’m buying a US boat ( only once so far) , but yes they are inherently lazy and if your a broker like say the big guy in Missisauga and you get a listing in Port Severn , you’re giving up a day to show a boat , you don’t want a client that “ just want to take a look” you want a guy that knows the xxx 48blc and wants that boat .


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[PrivatePilot]

you don’t want a client that “ just want to take a look” you want a guy that knows the xxx 48blc and wants that boat

In a perfect sellers world every buyer would rush into every deal with a fist full of cash and no interest in even looking at the boat/car/motorcycle/whatever before signing on the dotted line and done deal, but there needs to be a happy medium.

It seems some brokers only want the “fist fulls of cash” people and don’t want to be bothered with anyone who dares asks any questions or is tentative? It’s ironic as my sister and BIL very much have the fistfuls of cash thing lol, but they’re sure as he** gonna do due diligence first and not rush in.

 

[crankcall]

I see both sides , it’s a commission based business and you can blow your brains out with “ I won’t know till I sit in it” and that’s fair . I’d let them sit in someone else’s boat unless they were pretty sure what they were looking for .
I’ve been commissioned sales for years so do lean that way . But yes brokers are inherently lazy and they are not excited about 50k boats . I followed the purchase of my friends catamaran, it was a 480k US boat , broker was a good guy but the deal was still awkward and left some doubt as to who’s side he was on . And the friend can be a dick .


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[PrivatePilot]

Are these guys typically covering massive geographical areas where showing a boat constitutes a full days worth of time between the drive and such? I guess that’d contribute towards things, but still…..it’s what you’ve been hired to do.

 

[crankcall]

Not always massive distance between a listing and the office , but it happens a lot . Somebody has a boat in Penetaguisine , but they live in Mississauaga and for some reason they list the boat with a broker in Port Credit. It happens . My former partner listed a boat sitting in Hamilton with a Mississauga broker because he thought they had a better internet presence and would hit a bigger audience. Even getting the guy from Port Credit to Hamilton was a PITA .
One of the benefits however was some guy from Port Elgin wrote a 10K deposit cheque on the boat unseen and mailed it in. Cheque bounced since his kids had taken out a POA on his accounts ( dementia) and he had no funds . It tied things up for a couple weeks , but at least it was the brokers problem .
like any comissionable business , you can spend time showing 1 350K boat or 5 50K boats , guess where the attention is given ? I know where I would be .

 

[nobbie48]

I see both sides , it’s a commission based business and you can blow your brains out with “ I won’t know till I sit in it” and that’s fair . I’d let them sit in someone else’s boat unless they were pretty sure what they were looking for .
I’ve been commissioned sales for years so do lean that way . But yes brokers are inherently lazy and they are not excited about 50k boats . I followed the purchase of my friends catamaran, it was a 480k US boat , broker was a good guy but the deal was still awkward and left some doubt as to who’s side he was on . And the friend can be a dick .


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I've worked under two sales systems.

System "A" is qualifying the buyer. Do they have the money and the power to spend it? The duty of the salesman is to get as much of that money for the seller. It isn't the job of the salesperson to get the person into the right boat, one that might be less expensive.

System "B" is to not be held back by knowing the buyers situation. Get a signature and let accounting deal with any problems.

I was told that sales reps at a M/C dealer in London didn't ride. It's a good business decision. They were hired to sell bikes, not chat about nice rides with people that drop in. They're still in business.

P.S. I saw a guy at a boat show take a half hour of the reps time to discuss countless details of $300K sailboat. Then it turned out the prospective buyer owned a surfboard with a lateen rig. For the non sailers, that a bedsheet on a broomstick.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I was told that sales reps at a M/C dealer in London didn't ride

I tend to ask enough and the type of questions during any sales pitch like this to expose people who have no idea about what they’re trying to sell except “commission good, make big sale”.

Reference my car buying experiences in the EV thread a number of years ago.

Personally, that incredibly irks me and would in many cases cause me to either go elsewhere, or switch to another salesperson who actually had a clue.

 

[nobbie48]

I tend to ask enough and the type of questions during any sales pitch like this to expose people who have no idea about what they’re trying to sell except “commission good, make big sale”.

Reference my car buying experiences in the EV thread a number of years ago.

Personally, that incredibly irks me and would in many cases cause me to either go elsewhere, or switch to another salesperson who actually had a clue.

Your concept is better for the rider. However from a business plan you want the reps selling bikes, not hanging around the water cooler talking about rides. You don't want reps tying up customer time on riding discussions. Go for the close.

The riding community would be better off if the bike reps were salaried and used their knowledge to put the buyers into the bike that best suits their present needs instead of the one that feeds their egos.

 

[crankcall]

You’ve outlined why so many get into and out of sales . They don’t know the product / market / customer needs . And many can’t let go of the need to close any deal , not just the right deal. It’s often not thier fault , it can be top down dumbness, but if your in an industry where there may be repeat business or referrals , the bigger picture is where the real money is . Selling a boat , then to the cousin, then to the business partner beats selling one boat . So many muppets could benefit from actual sales training , not just reading me the brochure.


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[PrivatePilot]

An appt has been made for tomorrow at 3:30 for my sister to see the boat. Not sure if I'll be able to make it myself or not, will depend on work, but odds are decent since it's only 10 minutes from my workplace.

She will do the "do I like the layout" inspection and if I make it I'll do the "is it mechanically fit and not a complete and total nightmare to work on" inspection. The mechanically fit part is kind of hard to do much of however with it sitting on the hard of course, but I guess any offer to purchase at this point would be subject to a sea trial come spring as I see no other option honestly.

 

[nobbie48]

You’ve outlined why so many get into and out of sales . They don’t know the product / market / customer needs . And many can’t let go of the need to close any deal , not just the right deal. It’s often not thier fault , it can be top down dumbness, but if your in an industry where there may be repeat business or referrals , the bigger picture is where the real money is . Selling a boat , then to the cousin, then to the business partner beats selling one boat . So many muppets could benefit from actual sales training , not just reading me the brochure.


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If you're talking mega corporations they look three months ahead, if that. Some are analysed weekly.

What is your sales forecast for Q-1? Not good enough, you're fired.

At the end of the month Jimmy Patteson was reported to have fired the sales rep with the fewest number of cars sold. Even if it was above average for the trade. Pattison is worth nine billion dollars. It worked for him.

He's given away millions to worthy causes so he's not all bad.

Hull kickers make the job hard, catering to the masses with little potential of a sale. Boat shows are entertainment for most attendees.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Hull kickers make the job hard

It’s the assumption that everyone who inquires about a boat but isn’t rushing out with a bank draft in hand is a hull kicker that is the issue for me.

But I guess it’s all about the money anymore.

My dad never operated this way in business and I guess his way of being decent to everyone and trying to give the benefit of the doubt regardless of preconceived notions rubbed off on me.

 

[nobbie48]

It’s the assumption that everyone who inquires about a boat but isn’t rushing out with a bank draft in hand is a hull kicker that is the issue for me.

But I guess it’s all about the money anymore.

My dad never operated this way in business and I guess his way of being decent to everyone and trying to give the benefit of the doubt regardless of preconceived notions rubbed off on me.

A lot depends on the business. If a person is in the green veggie business there won't be a lot of people wanting to discuss broccoli for long. Toys are different. People tend to chat when its boats, bikes, performance items etc.

A dealer in Keswick said he could judge the purchase potential of an American buyer far better than a Canadian one by their attire.

I fixed cottage heated water lines and all I needed to know was the basics. I didn't need to know the history of the place over the years. Some thought differently but when I was paying the long distance tab I cut it short.

 

[PrivatePilot]

They saw the boat. Unfortunately once again the photos in the ad didn’t seem to match the actual boat being sold - upholstery issues, swim platform damage, other things.

I didn’t even bother going to vet anything else at that point.

Back to square one.

 

[nobbie48]

They saw the boat. Unfortunately once again the photos in the ad didn’t seem to match the actual boat being sold - upholstery issues, swim platform damage, other things.

I didn’t even bother going to vet anything else at that point.

Back to square one.

Why do people do that (Missrepresent)? Cars in "mint condition" that are rust buckets but priced mint. Bikes with plastic missing (Picture shows the good side). Worse still when the item is out of town.

 

[GreyGhost]

Why do people do that (Missrepresent)? Cars in "mint condition" that are rust buckets but priced mint. Bikes with plastic missing (Picture shows the good side). Worse still when the item is out of town.

Maybe they are hoping to find a naive buyer who was not yet burned to sign a contract that sticks them with the rust bucket. You only need to find one sucker.

 

[PrivatePilot]

This one was only 10 minutes from their place in the end, so no massive time lost in the end. But they were a bit frustrated I think.

And the broker? Probably chocked up to “Just another hull kicker”? A great example of the other side of that situation.

 

[crankcall]

My buying parameters if I don’t “know the boat “ are can I see the latest survey ( which are usually sketchy , but a start) and if they say they don’t have one , well Oky , why? Then is I’m serious and it’s over 2 hours away I call someone closer ( bonus to Yacht Clubs. Somebody always knows something, even if it’s a marina boat , guys know boats , and owners ) , then I’ll talk to the broker and ask lots of questions , they may be upfront and say they know nothing ( which is often the case) but it’s a start . It’s been years but I’ve used a broker to find me a boat , here’s my shortlist and gotta haves and let them work on it . Saves me kicking hulls .


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