Maybe I have blundered and offended the sellers of two boats i have tried to buy?

LloydB

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Jan 15, 2006
806
Macgregor 22 Silverton
"I like your boat and will buy it" sounds like an offer that can be easily refused simply by not replying to it. Kinda like a wolf whistle at a pretty girl walking down the street. On the other hand if you get down on one knee and present a shiny rock and she simply turns and walks away without a word at least you can check your knees for dirt and your bank account on the Internet.
 
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Jan 19, 2010
1,169
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
I had listed my previous boat on several platforms. After is sold I dutifully took down ( or thought I had) all of the listings. Some were easy, others not so much. Fast forward 2 years.. Out of the blue I get contacted about the boat. Rather than ignore the person I responded. The aggravation from the person looking was over the top. The old saying that things live forever on the internet is true. Even though I'd taken down, cancelled and marked SOLD, the original offering was still able to be found...OYE !
 
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Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
I can't tell from your post how much of an on-line conversation you've had with the sellers, if any. It could be that they sold the boats already and simply have not bothered yet to take down the ads. I've had a few requests for a boat I sold over a year ago because somewhere out there in the ether, there is an ad for my old boat that wasn't removed.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
"I like your boat and want to buy it" does sound scam-ish. I've sold a number of boats and rarely with a broker. My scam radar would pick that up. It's more normal for someone to ask some questions about the boat before saying they like it. Buyers tend to not want the seller to think they're too hot on the boat. Buyers are hoping for a lower price. So sellers expect a poker face. When someone gushes about the boat, It seems off.
 

jmczzz

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Mar 31, 2013
515
O'Day 26 CB New Orleans
"I like your boat and want to buy it" does sound scam-ish. I've sold a number of boats and rarely with a broker. My scam radar would pick that up. It's more normal for someone to ask some questions about the boat before saying they like it. Buyers tend to not want the seller to think they're too hot on the boat. Buyers are hoping for a lower price. So sellers expect a poker face. When someone gushes about the boat, It seems off.
"gushes"? i guess I am just too enthusiastic I really want that model and have been looking a while. it is a good one, priced right, and I want it and will buy it if the seller and I can get past the Client Eastwood stuff. Me I have outgrown it at 78. yikes. and I was being truthful. But I get what you are saying. I will practice my dirty harry mindset. i admit what I have done hasn't worked. and I want a bigger boat. so I will try to play it differently. but to just stop communicating over gushiness seems a bit of overreacting to me. Does this really have to be this hard?
but hear you, and will heed your advice, thank you, James
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
"gushes"? i guess I am just too enthusiastic I really want that model and have been looking a while. it is a good one, priced right, and I want it and will buy it if the seller and I can get past the Client Eastwood stuff. Me I have outgrown it at 78. yikes. and I was being truthful. But I get what you are saying. I will practice my dirty harry mindset. i admit what I have done hasn't worked. and I want a bigger boat. so I will try to play it differently. but to just stop communicating over gushiness seems a bit of overreacting to me. Does this really have to be this hard?
but hear you, and will heed your advice, thank you, James
If I was a seller and received a "gushy" I want to buy your boat, I would either think this is a scam or I'll be less flexible on the price. Neither response works well for the buyer.
 
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jmczzz

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Mar 31, 2013
515
O'Day 26 CB New Orleans
If I was a seller and received a "gushy" I want to buy your boat, I would either think this is a scam or I'll be less flexible on the price. Neither response works well for the buyer.
yea I get it, I am too much gush. i will try to get more testos in my messages.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
I'd like to play poker with you.
Not really, I'm really bad at it.
And I'm sorry about the word "Gush." I just meant too interested.
If you really want a boat, offer a price at or above the asking price and send a deposit. Money talks ...
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Money talks ...
Another NYer.

"Money Talks, Nobody Walks!" I remember the tag line but can't remember the business, thinking it was an appliance store or a car dealer in NYC metro area.
 
Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
How serious would you take an email from someone that is 1500 miles away, never set eyes on or inspected the boat, puts up no cash, and proposed no method or who would pay for shipping?
 
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Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
. Another NYer. "Money Talks, Nobody Walks!" I remember the tag line but can't remember the business, thinking it was an appliance store or a car dealer in NYC metro area.
Most famously in Spinal Tap. But the expression has been around since before me.
 

jmczzz

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Mar 31, 2013
515
O'Day 26 CB New Orleans
I'd like to play poker with you.
Not really, I'm really bad at it.
And I'm sorry about the word "Gush." I just meant too interested.
If you really want a boat, offer a price at or above the asking price and send a deposit. Money talks ...
I'd like to play poker with you.
Not really, I'm really bad at it.
And I'm sorry about the word "Gush." I just meant too interested.
If you really want a boat, offer a price at or above the asking price and send a deposit. Money talks ...
I was not offended by your word choice. i do tend to be a charge right in and get it done type. and I am a vet that lost my hearing from being a heavy weapons tech staying on the firing lines all the time. so I don't do much social talk. guess I do come across strange. but I have a contract on selling some property and was trying to line up the type boat I wanted and would put up a deposit if I had not scared off the seller. so now I will know better. if I get another chance. so far the seller has not re-contacted me so i guess that one is a dead end. thanks, jim
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Thank you for your service and I'm sorry you had to give your hearing. I know another guy who did the same and it is a problem in his life. My best to you.
 

jmczzz

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Mar 31, 2013
515
O'Day 26 CB New Orleans
How serious would you take an email from someone that is 1500 miles away, never set eyes on or inspected the boat, puts up no cash, and proposed no method or who would pay for shipping?
I get what you are saying this was my attempt to find out how, when, where, the seller wanted to let me look at the boat. he said it was on the hard for the winter. and It could not be gotten out until April. I was asking him how could I look at the boat and make a deposit. he just never replied. none of your suppositional statements was the case. we never got that far. maybe he was the scammer. but i get your point and will apply some vaseline when i / if get the next chance. i appreciate all the advice and well-thought conversation from all you guys. oh, i was trying to tell him i would get the boat launched and sail it south not hire a transporter. thanks jim
 

jmczzz

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Mar 31, 2013
515
O'Day 26 CB New Orleans
it is the invisible handicap, i thought using email and other written comm methods would level the field but i seem to have lost more than just hearing. not being in tune with the ever-evolving pop culture attitudes and hot buttons. but you guys are being very patient and i am a quick learner. that is why i put this out there. i thank you all for your service to me. but i don't bring it up when communicating with sellers. asking for special treatment from sellers would sound like a scammer to me. jim
 

jmczzz

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Mar 31, 2013
515
O'Day 26 CB New Orleans
here are a couple of boats listed on this site, i inquired about: the first one no response? Used sailboats, sailboats for sale
the second one I told him I would buy it and he never replied again? Used sailboats, sailboats for sale
I do not understand what I said wrong to either one of these?
I simply said I saw your ad on SBO, am interested in your boat. the guy with the 26 took s week to respond. i told him I would buy it when I closed the sale of my property and wanted to give him a deposit. He said the boat was in storage on the hard and I would have to hire a transporter, I told him I want to sail it away and asked how I could get the boat launched and he never replied. ??? Jim
 
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Jan 19, 2010
1,169
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
Up here in Maine, a state that joined the union under the Missouri compromise we tend to share a quality of the Show Me State. In God we trust, but all others pay cash.... that's as good of a description of mind set as you can get...
A year ago a Clubmate suffered the same malaise as Maine Sail.. I undertook the posting for sale of his boat. Fielded inquiries from far and wide. Then it came... I want that boat and I'll be send a boat hauler up from Georgia.. No problem... as soon as your certified bank check clears your hauler can back underneath'er.....never to be heard from again...
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Jim, I have very little experience buying boats, I've bought two used and one new over the years and they were simple straight forward and easy. I've never sold a boat. By the time I'm done with them, no one would buy them.

I suspect, you are just having a run of bad luck. Scammers abound, on both sides of the equation. But also, people are busy, distracted and sometimes lost in outside social and financial commitments that make it hard to concentrate on the secondary business of selling their boat.

I've called people about jobs from putting a new roof on my house to installing bathroom tile and doing custom art for me and had them never return my calls. I'm sorry to say, I've done it myself to others calling or emailing me about my work. Sometimes it just takes persistence. 90 percent of the time I get stressed about why this guy didn't call me back or that guy didn't return my emails, I eventually learn it had nothing to do with me and the guy was just as stressed and concerned about it as I was.

Good luck. I know you'll end up with the boat that is just perfect for you. Fate sometimes intervenes and it's usually for the best.

-Will
 
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Tater

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Oct 26, 2021
198
Hunter 170 Lake Logan Martin AL
Coming in late on this, sorry. I recently bought a Hunter 170. I bought the boat two days after it was listed. In that time the seller was hit with multiple offers to buy unseen and with a "cashiers check". Arrangements would be made for a local person to P/U the boat and pay. As explained, the check would likely be counterfeit.
 
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Likes: jssailem
Aug 2, 2009
637
Catalina 315 Muskegon
"I like your boat and I want to buy it" would sound sound scammy to me as a seller. But, I'd reply. I'd simply say "okay", and leave it to the potential buyer to hopefully make a little more sense with their follow-up.

I recently sold my Catalina 28, and despite my being experienced in such matters, I was amazed at the loonies that came came out of the ether to confound me. Having endured this experience recently, it wouldn't surprise me that some sellers would ignore your email.
 
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