I get a lot of inquiries on new Formulas from Boat Trader. Many times a phone # is not included,and the inquiry is something like" What is your best price?" I always reply that I need to know where you are due to territory restrictions,and that I don't e-mail pricing but will gladly give my best price by phone if you call me. Too many times in the past they would print my email and show it to another dealer as a bargaining tool.Never had a problem with my new policy,,the serious prospects call and we try to work a deal by phone. The ones that don't call,I assume were not buyers anyway. Today I got a nasty e-mail saying if I woudn't e-mail my price,he would take his business elsewhere. My question is if you inquired about a new Formula, did not include your#,and I asked you to call for pricing,would you be offended? Would not a serious buyer for a 200K boat not mind picking up the phone?

I've called a few times on the "Call for pricing" (not you by the way) and find that usually the reason is they are asking way above what the boat is worth. Without an asking price I always pass it by. Even this spring I called on one, starting price was $60K over what comparable boats were being listed for, and reinforced why I shouldn't be wasting my time.

In fact of the 6 of the 7 boats I have bought since 1997 all of them had an asking price and the 7th was a new build and I had an e-mail price before I ever talked to the builder by phone.

Let me ask this, when you go to a boat show do you put an "ask the sales person" sign on the boat instead of a boat show special price? If not why is this any different?

I've tried several times the "call" and never bought one, never even close. Also the next generation of buyers would rather text than call so ways to communicate are changing and we all have to adapt.

15 years ago, boats listed on the web was a new thing...

Let him walk. If he is a serious buyer, then he is going to contact you and whoever else has the boat he is looking for, and is going to negotiate the best price accordingly. People willing to drop $200-large in this economy is doing so because they are a savvy buyer and know that there are deals to be had. He isn't going to write off one dealer (you) simply because you asked for a contact number. Surely this guy knows that the best number is going to be contingent on many a variable. A realtor wouldn't negotiate their best price on a $200K house without at least some sort of verbal interview with the potential buyer, and he knows that, so why should it be any different for a $200K boat?

I wouldn't bother dealing with you if you couldn't provide me with a price. An email takes a few seconds and a phone call will always take longer and may even cost me a toll fee.
With an ever present selection on the web of boats, emailing helps knock your list of possibilities down faster then calling and speaking to someone or playing voicemail tag.

I too have had the same bad experiance of contacting someone without a price only to find it's out of line. I no longer bother if your ad doesn't list a price, at least a starting price to deal on.

As stated previously email and text are the preferred way to communicate now a days. Just the harsh facts.

Von B,good question.At a boat show,I always post my best cash price on each boat.Never use that insulting"As Low As $---",it is my best price on that particular boat. But with Formula on the internet, there are differences.They will only allow me to post internet pricing of 15% off on current boats and 20% off on non currents. Since that is considerably higher than my pricing,I would lose sales calls due to the higher pricing if I posted it. And the guy that got mad,how do I know he is not in LOTO and about to buy a boat from my buddy Selpel,and just wants a hook to beat him up with.And how do I know if he wants the Formula financing,or cash rebate? Both of those scenarios affect the price. I always price my used boats,but I am talking new boats her. It is a tough call,and I am trying to figure out the best way to handle it,but I am between a rock and a hard place. The internet can be both a blessing and a curse,and you make a good point.

if one is buying local, customer service/mechanical service would enter into the equation. If your not buying local, price is the major consideration. Anytime you turn on the tv or radio, Crazy Al is screaming at you that he will beat anyones price or it's free!!!! You are already assuming this guy is going to shop your price out. Email him a price, a little high and include in the email that you think your price is good, but feel free to shop around. Once he has price shopped, if your not the best price, bring the best pice to you and go from there. In this economy, people know the deals are out there on big ticket items, and they are going to look for them. It's a buyers market might now, there's no way around following the buyes lead.

IM4A2Z, I notice you have a Sunny 288 w/ a 525. A guy I know has one, that's a helluva nice boat. I bet when you were shopping for it and finally found it you fell for it instantly. Good thing it wasn't in an ad with no price, or else you wouldn't be so fortunate to own it. And I'd be willing to bet that at that time you found it there weren't multiple copies sitting on dealer lots lined up like Chevy Impalas.

Point here is, people shopping for high end boats know what they want and have a tendency to be particular in their selection. Additionally, people shopping for high ticket items are also fairly business savvy when it comes to spending their money, unless we're talking a lotto winner of someone who just got handed a large inheritance check.

Furthermore, if the Formula boat Magicfloat has is exactly the boat this guy wants; right color, right power, right options, etc......and this guy inquiring about it is really and truly interested to the point that he is scared he may lose it, then what is so wrong about asking for a contact number? If the guy isn't in love enough to give his phone number, then something tells me he's not ready to write a check for $200K.

Magic, you posted your reply as I was typing, If that is the case, tell the customer that. "the best price I can give you via email is $XXX, thats due to contractual obligations on price posting by the MFG. If I were to actually talk to you things may be a bit different" This way your starting your exchange with the cuswtomer on an upfront honest level. That goes a long way with some people. case in point.. several months ago I was looking for a cheap laptop, got a bestbuy mailer with a decent deal, went down there, asked the sales KID about it, got the usual " oh we are out of those" I asked if he had anything else comparable and was told the next one is $150 more. I looked around andfound 2 differnt models on the shelf for less than the sale one, worked out a deal (with memory upgrade) then all of sudden "if you want the restore and software discs it will be $20 more and with this computer, it will need 2 memory sticks not one..yada yada yada" I looked at the kid, grabbed my card out of his hand, told him this is NOT how I do buisness and walked out. So be honest and upfront. let the customer know upfront you want to make adeal not that your wheeling and dealing. withholding information makes on think the latter.

I rarely call those "call for pricing" because typically they are OVER priced. I understand your concerns though and can't tell you how to respond. Could you list something close to the lowest allowed advertised price then put something in the ad suggesting further discounts are available to qualified buyers? (on the phone, the definition of "qualified" could be a heartbeat and a W-2 ) Maybe call them "regional" discounts so you can firgure out where they are.....or flat out tell them the price is too low to be advertised.

I've never seen a "call for price" sign on a house. Even the million dollar ones.

The call thing now a days strikes me as "we don't want to tell you because we might leave $1000 on the table"

Again it's just me talking, some people thrive on making the deal, I thrive on going boating and get tired of negotiating.