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Offshore Pitfalls

Don't Get Caught Out

Yachtfinders Global has consistently been asked to assist in an hour of need when things have come unstuck for an offshore purchaser going it alone. Our MD was asked as a crown witness to provide specialist knowledge as to the pitfalls and dangers the innocent and unaware purchaser is subjected to.

A lot of buyers think they save money by not using Yachtfinders Global when making their purchase – it costs them nothing for our protection. The commission is split. Pure and simple.

Offshore Boat Markets

Is it any wonder we are inundated with enquiry for new and offshore used boats. There has never been a better time to buy a boat, or for that matter an excavator or a bottling plant, to import into New Zealand. New boats are now competing with some used boats on the New Zealand market, simply because the price of buying new is not far away from what some used boats are asking.

The offshore market is very lively for New Zealand and Australian buyers, especially in light of the American and European used boat market being on average 20% - 25% less than the local markets. Add to that the current exchange rate and people have figured out that some boats can be purchased offshore, shipped to New Zealand, imported and GST paid for less than they can buy the same boat for already in New Zealand.

As an example;

In 2006 a USD$300,000 boat would cost NZD$500,000.
Today the same valued boat is NZD$345,000.
That’s a whopping $155,000 off the price.

How Unsuspecting Internet Shoppers Do it Wrong

But beware, all is not as it seems. Many buyers are being caught in a very simple, albeit innocent trap. The internet is deluged with used boats for sale, tens of thousands of them. But the moment someone makes an enquiry through the internet their details are logged into a database and without knowing it, the person making the enquiry becomes the ‘client’ of the target of the enquiry. This is all good a well so long as your broker on the other side of the world genuinely puts your interests first and foremost.

We’d like to bring this dilemma to the attention of the wider boating community because when things go wrong, and they do, it can be very difficult if not impossible for a local broker to get involved and ensure all is as it was portrayed.

We have a client who unwittingly made direct enquiries for over a dozen yachts and is now listed with as many brokers in Europe and the USA as their ‘client’, making it very difficult for us to represent him for any of the yachts he has looked at. Although he made enquiry through us, he also made direct enquiry, so that when we tender a co-op agreement the listing broker advises; “that person is already a client of ours”.

This is one of the pitfalls of internet boat shopping. It’s a trap that many buyers fall into and often leaves them no choice but to trust the first point of contact, in a foreign country, often not even speaking the same language, to do the right thing and protect their interests. It can get very messy.

Why use the qualified Yachtfinders Global team?

We encourage people to let us do the shopping, or at least let us make the first contact for a particular boat they have seen.
By all means do your internet browsing but let us make contact for a boat that appeals to you.
By doing it that way you are registered as our client.
You automatically have local representation that is bound under the laws and commerce of New Zealand and there is no added cost to you.
It is simply a co-op agreement between international brokers who split the commission.
The commission on a boat gets paid regardless of who handles the contract, so why would you choose not to have local representation?

You can choose to go it alone, but if something goes wrong your avenues of recourse are limited.

We are here to help, but coming to the rescue after the ship has sailed is the difficult way to go.

The Australian marine industry is reported at being up in arms over the influx into Australia of what is commonly known as ‘grey boats’.
Having to often ‘pick up the pieces’ for many clients who purchase their own boats off shore, brokers are asked to remedy such problems as clear titles not established, monies still owed on boats bought, hidden costs, non-compliance with regulations and lapsed/unclear warranty cover. Sometimes help is at hand; other times the damage is already done. The Australian authorities are talking of legislating against the practice and at this stage are intent on making buyers aware of the pitfalls of going it alone.