Boat show discounts

[japawil]

With the Seattle boat show coming up in a couple weeks and the Pacific sail and power boat show in April, what kind of discount might one reasonably expect (if any) on items in the
1 to 5 boat dollars range on things like electronics, wind vane, refrigeration, water maker, etc?
Since I’m not local to either location, and would require transportation, accommodations and freight/shipping of any purchased items, how likely would discounts defray these expenses?

[Captain Randy]

Well the answer as often I...it depends. I live in So Cal and just went to Annapolis in Oct. Bought a Viking Life Raft and Rain Man Water Maker. The two purchases combined I probably saved $1K due to free shipping, no tax and about 10% off retail. Airfare was a bit over $1K. I suggest that you probably won't necessarily cover the cost of the trip but we go to Oakland and Annapolis for the get away and the event. But....if you want to go to the boat shows anyway it is a good time to save a few bucks. But….no I would not travel far to go to a boat show as a cost saving experience. So….it depends on what you are buying.

[billknny]

For anything where you have a local dealer, negotiate. You both know the boat show is going on. Push them to make a deal. That goes double for a dealer who is actually at the show...

If you need to invent a cousin at the show...

Offer cash instead of plastic and you'll fine money talks...

[japawil]

Thanks for the replies.
I guess a more concise question would be; how much of a discount off normal or advertised retail might one realistically expect? 10%? maybe more?

[valhalla360]

Go to the boat show...because you like to look at boats and associated gear.

If you find a deal, great but I wouldn't count on it. Certainly not enough to justify the trip based on cost savings.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by japawil

With the Seattle boat show coming up in a couple weeks and the Pacific sail and power boat show in April, what kind of discount might one reasonably expect (if any) on items in the
1 to 5 boat dollars range on things like electronics, wind vane, refrigeration, water maker, etc?
Since I’m not local to either location, and would require transportation, accommodations and freight/shipping of any purchased items, how likely would discounts defray these expenses?

When I bought my Monitor windvane a few years ago they had a discount because the Seattle show was on. Unexpected cash in my pocket to spend on other boat stuff

[Lost Horizons]

I will be at the Seattle boat show in two weeks. Can take a look at specific items and take notes. Will be mostly browsing watermakers, solar, dinghies, outboards, satcom, and such. Am not planning to buy anything major yet until September or next January, but also want to understand the pricing landscape.

[Piscis]

Depends on the specific product, the dealer and how much he is willing to cooperate...

I just bought a Sea&Sea flash on the Boot in Dusseldorf. Talked to a couple of vendors, till i negotiated a good price. It was about 12% below his asking price. Final price was well below lowest interenet offer...

My friend bought a torqueedo electric engine for his dinghy. He got a 10% discount and free delivery to his residence.... and a couple of Starnberger beer... lol

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by billknny

For anything where you have a local dealer, negotiate. You both know the boat show is going on. Push them to make a deal. That goes double for a dealer who is actually at the show...

If you need to invent a cousin at the show...

Offer cash instead of plastic and you'll fine money talks...

I think most folks with any volume are paying sub 2% merchant fees on credit cards, heck anyone can set up for 2.9% on Stripe. So between the pita of handling large amounts of cash (if you're buying something expensive) and the already low merchant fees I wouldn't expect much if any cash discount and merchants may actually prefer to be paid by cc.

[sailjumanji]

Cash vs credit card - I suspect none of the vendors care. Certainly not the larger ones.

In 2018, we attended Annapolis boat show and purchased B&G Zeus3 with 4G radar package. There was a B&G rep at the West Marine tent, and they were offering special promotions. For the combo unit we purchased, there was a "buy it at the boat show" rebate of $400 (VISA card), thru B&G. To be eligible, the receipt had to show purchase during the boat show period.

We were able to coming this with the B&G special promotion of a C-Map chip (I think worth around $300) that was going on at the time. It wasn't prompt, but they eventually sent us the Coastal America and Caribbean chip that we needed for Bahamas (which is Explorer based).

The shocker though was that West Marine manager there also knocked $600 off the price of the Zeus3/4G radar combo, which I had never seen discounted anywhere. (B&G are very consistent about maintaining retail pricing, and instead offering rebates.) I'm not sure how or why he did it, but I didn't argue! That said, there was some conference between him and the B&G rep, and review of our account (we did a refit on the previous boat with B&G, as well as new boat being built with B&G instruments).

If you are in the market for a Spectra watermaker, there were great deals at both the Miami and Annapolis boat shows. We met JT Holden ("Tellie") at the Miami show, and the deal he was offering almost got me to upsize from our Ventura 150D! In hindsight, we probably should have jumped on it as sometimes the extra capacity would have been welcome.

We were also shopping for a larger dinghy, but discounts weren't much different than what we could get outside. Some weather gear">foul weather gear was discounted, and we purchased, and then had the challenge of getting in our suitcases for the flight home. As well as the other misc stuff we purchased. The West Marine electronics were shipped to our house.

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by sailjumanji

Cash vs credit card - I suspect none of the vendors care. Certainly not the larger ones.

.....


If you are in the market for a Spectra watermaker, there were great deals at both the Miami and Annapolis boat shows. We met JT Holden ("Tellie") at the Miami show, and the deal he was offering almost got me to upsize from our Ventura 150D! In hindsight, we probably should have jumped on it as sometimes the extra capacity would have been welcome.

Will you share the Spectra numbers, please? In Seattle the “boat show prices” were actually higher than at Defender. Namely, $5700 for Ventura 150D, or $200 more than at Defender at that time.

As for the credit card, I put a deposit on an inflatable and a motor, and was asked to bring a checkbook when picking them up, citing a 3% CC surcharge. It is a relatively small local vendor. The price was the same as at Defender, which was further discounted at that time, less shipping costs.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

Will you share the Spectra numbers, please? In Seattle the “boat show prices” were actually higher than at Defender. Namely, $5700 for Ventura 150D, or $200 more than at Defender at that time.

At the Miami show in Feb 2018, the boat show special for the Cape Horn Extreme 330 was $6500. I didnt price other units as i already owned a Ventura 150. I jotted the prices in the brochure, along with a note there was a 2-3% price increase expected in June.

[Chotu]

Side question. Which days are less busy and easier to get on the boats? The first day during the week day? Or the last day that is also a weekday? I know the weekend would be a madhouse.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Side question. Which days are less busy and easier to get on the boats? The first day during the week day? Or the last day that is also a weekday? I know the weekend would be a madhouse.

We attended Miami and Annapolis sailboat shows in 2018. The first day of each show was the busiest - which was a VIP day on Thursday for Miami, and a Friday for Annapolis. I think Monday at Miami was half day only. I think Sunday was the lightest day at each.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailjumanji

We attended Miami and Annapolis sailboat shows in 2018. The first day of each show was the busiest - which was a VIP day on Thursday for Miami, and a Friday for Annapolis. I think Monday at Miami was half day only. I think Sunday was the lightest day at each.

Wow, did I get that wrong. Ha ha

Thank you.