A very odd boat sale

[JonL]

I sold my boat last Friday a very basic 23ft river cruiser.

 

The first strange thing to me was the amount of interest I had - in a space of two weeks I had 8 calls from an Ebay and Apollo Duck adverts. I thought in these tough financial times it would be an uphill battle.

 

The first guy who came to see it travelled for over 2 hours from Hampshire, he had just bought a house with a 40ft mooring on the Basingstoke canal. Why travel 2 hours to view a 35 year old boat for £3,250 surely there must be dozens and dozens of boats closer to him for sale than mine? Anyway the guy liked it and gave me £100 deposit to not show anyone else round for three days while he got transport quotes. He rang me up the next day and said transport would cost too much, however keep the £100 for “my trouble”. So now I’m £100 up !

 

Another guy came to see and after looking round decided that his 6’4” son would not fit in the bunks!

 

Then the most odd thing happened, I had three viewings lined up for the Saturday before last plus what I thought was the usual time wasting Ebay nutter trying to arrange a viewing at completely stupid times. Anyway I told him that Saturday was the viewing day. This guy then e-mails on the Thursday and says that he has fallen in love with my boat and is worried I will sell it at the weekend so offers me the full asking price and said he will pay half the money that afternoon by bank transfer. He does this, so I still have the boat plus £1,625 ! Never even seen the boat.

 

So the guy turns up last Friday at the Marina, I show him over the boat and he gives me the balance in cash! Got to say the bloke was bonkers (young guy based on the usual boating demographic), he’d never owned a boat before, had not a clue about licence costs or insurance. Seemed completely disinterested when I run through the engine start sequence all he wanted to know really was how the bed folded out! He then asked me where the brakes were – I kid you not! I took him for a quick trip down the River Stort and he was totally shocked when we came to the first lock, he had no idea what they did ! So as he had paid me the full asking price I took him into the lock shut the gates emptied it and re-filled it, just to show him how it works.

 

So I thought I was going to have a battle and ended up selling the boat for the full asking price to a complete novice who had never even viewed it. Either more money than sense or bonkers.

 

Anyone else had any odd things happen when selling boats ?

[carlt]

When my boat sale finally goes through I think I'll write a book.

[alan_fincher]

Anyone else had any odd things happen when selling boats ?

Not that odd, but I hope your man is ready for a serious upgrade when I'm next ready to sell one!

 

Many moons ago, in the 1970s, I advertised my part rebuilt BCN boat conversion for sale. We are talking much lower values then, of course, I think it was advertised for £2,400.

 

I accepted in principle an offer from one chap, but hadn't yet taken a deposit. (He was amongst those involved in construction of, I think, the M11, and was going to crane it, and take it to his worker's caravan park where he was living, to carry on work).

 

In the meantime I got further interest, so allowed others to come and look. Convinced the hull was basically sound, I loaned a visitor a chipping hammer to knock at any rust they were unhappy with. "They usually go about here".... said my man, and stuck a blow that resulted in a small waterspout pouring in. He made his apologies and left very quickly.

 

I was desperately worried about telling my initial prospective purchaser, but he seemed completely undaunted. When he did complete the sale, he handed me £100 more than we had agreed. I said "this isn't right!", but he said "on reflection, I considered I had beaten you down too much, and it's worth more!...".

 

I wish there were more such buyers out thee, when I'm wanting to sell something!

[Hairy-Neil]

Have never owned a boat to sell, but have similar experiences of selling classic cars. Twice I've had a phone call from 400+ miles away with the, "consider it sold", comment. On both occasions, contracted transport turned up to collect them within a couple of days, the first taking it away with no more than a friendly chat over a cup of tea. The purchaser phoned the next day saying he was delighted and that it was better than I'd described it.

 

The second driver tried to knock the agreed price down, told him to take it or leave it (he didn't get a cuppa... ) Eventually loaded it up and took it away at the full agreed price. The buyer rang the following day, again delighted with his purchace, and apologising for his over zealous driver, again describing the car as better than new.

[Caprifool]

I'm just smiling Could have been me. If I like something, I go for it and trust my gut feeling. If there's a problem afterwords. I fix it my self and don't bother the seller. If the buyer is happy and the seller is happy. All is well, right?

 

Or...I'm just odd too...

[nigel carton]

When my boat sale finally goes through I think I'll write a book.

 

I could add a few pages to your book!

[JonL]

If there's a problem afterwords. I fix it my self and don't bother the seller.

 

Not many people think that way - got to admit I got the guy to sign a Agreement of Sale with a "sold as seen" clause and put in a "without recourse" for good measure

[Caprifool]

Not many people think that way - got to admit I got the guy to sign a Agreement of Sale with a "sold as seen" clause and put in a "without recourse" for good measure

 

My first and yet only boat deal was performed in a similar manor as the OP's. I had NO clue! I only knew I wanted a boat. It was a 7,25 x 2,25 meter pine clinker hulled classic built in 1923 with a kerrocine/petrol Albin 23 engine. The seller took me for a short spinn, let me steer a little, and when we reached the moring I payed in cash. I had to get the manual out to start her the first times though. But I learned and we had years of great fun together in the baltic and mälaren.

 

I know that even if everything is just fine today, they can break tomorrow. I check what is important to me.

 

The OP's buyer might broke up with a girlfriend and just been tired of sleeping at his friends houses and needed a tiny home of his own. He might have been happy with a butty and that would explain his small interest of the engine.

 

Every man has his own reasons I wouldn't call anyone odd because they are different to mine.

[Dominic M]

Not many people think that way - got to admit I got the guy to sign a Agreement of Sale with a "sold as seen" clause and put in a "without recourse" for good measure

I'm afraid "without recourse" doesn't stand up even in a private sale. If there were serious faults that the buyer can demonstrate the vendor must have been aware of but failed to reveal, s/he may have a case for compensation.

 

I would prefer, "without racecourse," whereby the vendor gets the boat but clearly not Kempton Park as well.

[RLWP]

Without remorse is what I aim for

 

Richard

[Proper Job]

Boat goes on Apollo Duck 8pm Sunday evening.

 

Within 30 minutes I get a phone call. I email extra photo's/details to person. 10 minutes later a phone call, "it looks just like what I'm looking for. When can I see it?".

 

"I'm working all week", says I. "How about next Saturday".

 

"oh", says the chap, "I was hoping to look at it before then. What about after work tomorrow?"

 

Anyway..... We agree to meet at 6pm the next day.

 

Next day at the said time he turns up. Much like the OP, he wasn't really interested in how things worked etc (I even had to insist that I ran the engine!).

 

30 minutes later, He offered me a £10,000 deposit - yes.... £10,000. Despite me saying that a £100 would be fine, he wrote out a cheque for £10,000. He's call me when he had the remainder of the money.

 

I went home a bit shell shocked. Thinking it was a wind up, money launderer, the cheque 'll bounce, etc etc.

 

Banked the cheque and it cleared!

 

2 weeks later, after the remained had been electronically transferred and cleared to my account, I met him at the boat to hand the keys over.

 

He arrived with two 'friends'. None of them had ever steered a boat in their lives. The boat was moored on the river just off the canal. They asked if I would take them off the river and to take them through the first lock, which I agreed to.

 

Well.......... between the 3 of them they couldn't handle a rowing boat! Despite my best efforts to show them what to do, they couldn't get the hang of anything. I ended taking them several miles up the canal to where they said they had a mooring (which wasn't really - it was just a bit of towpath), they paid for a taxi to take me back to my old mooring (car) and I left them to it.

 

I know the boat didn't move for a long time after that and I heard about 12 months after that it had been sold to AN Other.

 

There's nowt as queer as folk

[alan_fincher]

Without remorse is what I aim for

 

Richard

Remorse ?

 

Is that where you have to fit a new single lever control ?

[carlt]

 

Is that where you have to fit a new single lever control ?

I thought it was a broker working from Oxford.

[Proper Job]

I thought it was a broker working from Oxford.

I think they sold up a few years back to some bloke called Lewis

[Robbo]

I'm just smiling Could have been me. If I like something, I go for it and trust my gut feeling. If there's a problem afterwords. I fix it my self and don't bother the seller. If the buyer is happy and the seller is happy. All is well, right?

 

Or...I'm just odd too...

 

Ditto, bought a '56 Pontiac I saw on eBay, I knew it was going to be mine before I even saw it.. I bought it as soon as I saw it... That was 4 years ago, and still needs work doing to it to make it roadworthy - my excuse is that I found and bought my barge about 7 months later....

 

Also happened with a Midas Bronze over Internet as well..

 

Must stop surfing for stuff..

[wrigglefingers]

I sold Surprise, a sixteen year old Delph Marine 58', for the full asking price of 38k over a vodka tonic to SoulGirl before she'd seen her. She then refitted Surprise to her taste for a further 30k odd or so.

[Minos]

Thinking it was a wind up, money launderer...

 

...I know the boat didn't move for a long time after that and I heard about 12 months after that it had been sold to AN Other.

 

Hmmm...

[Caprifool]

Must stop surfing for stuff..

 

Not posable.

[Hairy-Neil]

Not many people think that way - got to admit I got the guy to sign a Agreement of Sale with a "sold as seen" clause and put in a "without recourse" for good measure

 

That would be for the courts to decide.

 

A friend sold a Horsebox lorry, it's 25 years old, looks like a shagger and was the cheapest by far in the adverts. She advertsed it described as needing work and sold as seen. My friend had bought the vehicle a couple of years ago, is not a mechanic and knew nothing of its poor condition, beyond it's outside appearance, which was rough. The young lady who bought it, loaded up her horse the next day and it fell through the floor, fortunately before she drove it up the road. It transpired the floor was rotten. The buyer got a report from a horsebox specialist who condemned the lorry for a heap of items, valuing it at 1/3 of the buying price. The court decided the vehicle was unfit for purpose and ordered my friend to pay the cost of the repairs, which was more than she got for the vehicle.