Pet Peeve with Sailboat Adds

Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

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May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
A hobby of mine is looking at other boats. I love looking through adds of boats and seeing what people have done with them etc.

A huge pet peeve of mine is when someone does a boat add and does it half ass. I am talking about the blurry pictures, the messy cabins, etc. Take some time and pride in the boat add. Clean the boat up for the pictures. It doesn't matter if it is winter, a messy boat could mean messy upkeep etc. Take good pictures and balance the light. Take a lot of pics and discard the bad ones. Are you trying to sell the boat of show how crappy it has been kept?

What are your pet peeves?
 
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Brian S

Brian S

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Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
How about pictures of you sailing the boat? I don't care what that person looks like sitting at the tiller.

Or a pic from the boat looking out at an anchorage? Yeah, water, I've seen that before. Show me the darn boat!

Or a pic of the closed companionway? How 'bout you show me some pics on the inside, because I won't think about your boat for a second if I think there's a world of hurt below decks!

You're maybe allowed to have one marketing picture from the brochure. But If you can get a decent profile shot of your own boat, you're not allowed to have any marketing pics. "My boat looks just like this one." No, it doesn't. Maybe yours is shot to hell...
 
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31seahorse

31seahorse

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Aug 2, 2005
1,155
Pearson 33-2 & Typhoon 18 Seneca Lake
"Lovingly maintained by a knowledgeable owner." "Professionally maintained." "Bristol condition." "19 foot sailboat for sail"
"contact me thru CL for pictures" "I'll post pictures soon."
I agree that our boats listed for sale should be shown at their best. Clean, neatly organized, a list of improvements & recent maintenance, and maybe even staged a bit with charts, navigation instruments, or perhaps wine glasses on an appropriate flat surface below.
 
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rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,925
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Or the ads in Sail that imply that if you owned this boat, you would sail away with these TWO babes and ... (use your imagination). Take for instance this past months sail magazine. I opened the page and want "Uhg". As if.
 
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Kermit

Kermit

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Jul 31, 2010
5,722
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
My First Mate and I talk about this a bunch. Even brokers don't seem to take the time to clean up the boats they're trying to sell and make a profit on. The problem seems to be the owners/brokers don't want to take the time or spend the money on truly good photography.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
I look at this as a handy thing.

I find that the quality and SUBJECT of the pictures is a direct reflection of the smarts of the owner and what is important to them. Crappy pix of dumb parts of the boat? No thanks. Next listing.
 
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shemandr

shemandr

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Jan 1, 2006
7,984
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Brokers generally ask for 10%. That would make a real estate broker blush. And for that they can't be bothered with telling the boat owner that if he/she wants to sell the boat, SHOW IT CLEAN. And if the boat is under $15,000 they act like they are put out to bother showing it. Well 10 % of $15000 is $1500 and I've done lots of jobs for much less. Sometimes a tenth or more less. That's the job. So pleeeaase! I was once shown a boat that had an overflowed head and stank to high heaven. It was disgusting. Do you think my wife was going to give the nod on that boat? Aaaaaarrrrk!
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

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May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
When I sold my Catalina 30 I had to pay the broker 10% or, at the minimum $3000. I sold for less than $30000 but I still had to pay $3000. It seemed like selling my boat was a charity case. He was just selling it as a favor to me. There was always a problem with the boat.

I will not deal with this broker again. Annapolis Yacht Sales South. Johnathan Hutchings.

The ad, at least, was professional and I tried to keep the boat clean.

I am glad that with my Compac I won't need a broker to sell her.

Either way, I agree with others. Take the time and make things look nice. You don't need a picture of yourself sailing the boat to sale it. Show me the interior and exterior. Tell me the engine hours also. Don't try to hide areas where the boat needs repairs, be honest about them and be upfront because an experienced buyer and sailor WILL find them.
 
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Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,336
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Jackdaw said:
I look at this as a handy thing.

I find that the quality and SUBJECT of the pictures is a direct reflection of the smarts of the owner and what is important to them. Crappy pix of dumb parts of the boat? No thanks. Next listing.
Click to expand

You're exactly right. Saves a LOT of time!!! :):):)

BTW, AD is short for ADvertisement. Not ADD, unless you're buying TWO boats! :)
 
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Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
If only brokers posted images like one finds on Car Max, I am sure they would sell more boats. There is a listing on YW and the images are all washed out. Looks like cell phone camera that has bad settings. I fixed the images and offered them to the broker. They never replied. Yeah, I basically insulted them with their inability to take simple pictures. I do know this... if that was my boat that was listed with horrible images, I would be all over that broker to retake the photos.

Pictures sell, and if the pictures are excellent and well done, they sell faster.
 
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kimelmore

kimelmore

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Dec 28, 2010
462
Catalina 380 san pedro
I agree with all of the above. I was glad that the boat I was looking at had many photos showing most of the important items. My disagreement would be that the owner did not take the time before putting the boat up for sale to take care of the dirty bilge and smelly macerator compartment. Really?...I am putting my boat up for sale at the end of the month. My partner and I have had a couple of discussions about prepping the boat for sale such as making sure the carpet and bedding is cleaned, Remove all un necessary items from the interior, prep for photos and organize the documents and manuals. Also included will be a through going over of all mechanical and electrical systems to make sure there are no surprises such as the ones we had while attempting to survey the new boat. I have begun to negotiate with a boat cleaning firm to have the hull waxed and buffed as well. Most of all I will accompany the broker when he takes the photos and will make sure that they are done properly and give a visual inventory of the entire boat. In addition I have put together an extensive list of boat equipment and modifications and dates to the best of my knowledge. And no...we won't be posing for any cheesecake images although the photo of the boat on the mooring over at Catalina is pretty good. *wink..yes the one I use here.
 
centerline

centerline

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Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
Bad Obsession said:
A hobby of mine is looking at other boats. I love looking through adds of boats and seeing what people have done with them etc.

A huge pet peeve of mine is when someone does a boat add and does it half ass....
Click to expand
pride is a good thing to have, but being humble isn't too bad either...

when someone chops up and defaces a perfectly good boat in an attempt to do a modification, and are so proud of their shoddy workmanship that they have to take pictures and show the world before they ever put it to use and see how miserably it fails to perform...

another peeve is...
when someone who doesn't know what they are talking about starts giving advice about something, because that is what he heard from some other ignorant person... and others chime in and agree with him that it is a fact, because they heard the same rumor.....
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
There are good modifications and bad ones.

All I am saying is take the time to make the boat present well.
 
sail_MN

sail_MN

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Jan 30, 2012
105
Catalina 36 Bayfield, WI
Also keep the pets out of the pic. It's a real turn off to see a 90 lb. Black dog laying on the cushions.
 
shemandr

shemandr

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Jan 1, 2006
7,984
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
sail_MN said:
Also keep the pets out of the pic. It's a real turn off to see a 90 lb. Black dog laying on the cushions.
Click to expand
Yeah, I looked at a boat that had dog hair all over it. It was the kind you couldn't easily remove. NEXT!
 
RussC

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,732
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
My pet peeves are when people present themselves as the authority on how other people should write their own sales adds, modify their own boats, and point out their grammar and spelling errors even though they have no interest in the subject matter.

:rolleyes:
 
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Brian S

Brian S

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Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
Brian D said:
There is a listing on YW and the images are all washed out. Looks like cell phone camera that has bad settings.
Click to expand
You know how many houses I passed on because the pictures in MLS listings (from Zillow) looked like they were taken with the crappiest cell phone from 15 years ago? This was only a year ago!

In the end, I bought a house my realtor found. Not one I found on Zillow. Then again, intimate knowledge of Zillow taught me the market, so when I saw my house, I knew it was the right one.
 
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