Why is it the norm for dealers to advertise 'Call for Price' ?

[ian ashton]

I understand that you can't sell something to someone you can't talk to, and I can see if its a boat that isn't in stock and you are trying to get a buyer on the hook to place an order, but it makes me mental looking through BoatTrader or OnlyInBoards at hundreds of boats without prices.

[sandm]

second that, but it's no different than some of the import car dealers that will only list lease prices on ads in the paper and not cash prices.

if it was my business, I would not want to list a price as if I put "x" boat out at msrp of 79k and list it at 73k, then another dealer will list same boat 2 days later at 71k and so begins the game. dealers and manuf. will tell you they have protected territories, but that is only as strong as your dealer in the area. I can speak from experience when I was looking at mb's that an out of state dealer offered me a boat at a cheaper price than our local dealer but I needed to have a "relative's" address within that state(for the record, I wasn't shopping dealers but rather asked a few questions from a guy on ww that I thought was just a dude that owned and pimped that brand of boat, but found out 15minutes into the conver. that he was actually a dealer).
lots of moving parts to buying/selling boats...

[wolfeman131]

I think the manufacturers control that on the new boats.

[ian ashton]

Its even on used boats. If I was a dealer with 2012 (or even 2011 in some cases) stock on my lot I'd be listing pricing and pushing that isshhhhh out the door before the '13s are out!

Fortunately for me (and my bank account, and marriage) I haven't found anything I want and I think I'll end up ordering or keeping what I have. Still, annnoooyyyyyed.

[lewisb13]

I called a few dealers yesterday pretending like I was looking for a 13 LSV just to see what everyone else was charging. These little "territories" they have set up are ridiculous. All I was doing was price checking and 3 of the 4 dealers wanted me to call my local dealer and have my local dealer give them a call. That basically means your local dealer has a monopoly on the price. How am I supposed to do my due dilligence as a consumer if I cannot legitimately check around on prices and get some friendly competition going? So I had to check on google and find some random cities that were near the dealerships I was calling and "lie" about where I live just to get pricing.

[sandm]

not to come off, but if you signed the papers and are happy with the boat, what does it matter what others are charging/paying for their boat? if you feel you got a good deal, leave it at that, and if you find out that there's a dealership that could have saved you 5k, not much you can do now.

I'm not in sales, but it would annoy me if I had to field calls like that.

I just bought a new boat 4 weeks ago or so and I know that there are some out there that paid less, and some that paid more. at the end of the day, I think I got a GREAT deal and that's all that matters


if a consumer has done their due dilligence on boat pricing, you should have a ballpark price and then it's working toward that. if a consumer hasn't and ends up paying msrp or close, then it's an expensive lesson, but again, at the end of the day if they feel happy with the deal, it's a win for everyone.
there's another factor that goes into this as well and that's the trade. not everyone has one, but in cases with one, that trade value factors in the price paid for the boat. granted you need to step back and look at the whole deal, not just the price of the new boat. dealer could advertise "x" price, but if you have a trade you are upside down on, then the price is "y" and some people don't get that concept..

[E4NASH]

I think it's ridiculous that you have to prove you live in a certain place to be able to purchase something from someone...aren't we supposed to be a free market economy? I should be able to buy what I want where I want. If they are offering a better price somewhere else then either match or beat it or I'm going to go elsewhere. Bottom dollar is the bottom line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kaneboats]

LOL! You can rent a PO Box in any city you want for a month for $20.

[sandm]

it's not hard to do that, but then think of your gas/time/troubles to go buy it and where do you think you will rank when the boat needs service??

you-I need some warranty work done
service manager-6 weeks out. do you want the appt??

[NateHaskovec]

I called a few dealers yesterday pretending like I was looking for a 13 LSV just to see what everyone else was charging. These little "territories" they have set up are ridiculous. All I was doing was price checking and 3 of the 4 dealers wanted me to call my local dealer and have my local dealer give them a call. That basically means your local dealer has a monopoly on the price. How am I supposed to do my due dilligence as a consumer if I cannot legitimately check around on prices and get some friendly competition going? So I had to check on google and find some random cities that were near the dealerships I was calling and "lie" about where I live just to get pricing.

Two years ago, I nearly left the Moomba brand. I was in Virginia stuck with a s#$tty dealer who then closed shop. He "repaired" my boat about 4 times (never actually fixing anything).

My job moved me to Alabama and I was able to find a good dealer who took care of me even though the boat was out of warranty. He helped me sell it, and gave me dibs on the first 13 LSV.

I don't want to have another dealer compete with him, because I know I would never buy from anyone else, and he deserves my business as long as I am buying Moomba boats.

I think the key is a good dealer first, if you don't have a good dealer local, then look elsewhere. The trusting relationship with a good dealer is worth the few hundred you may save elsewhere.