Fitting out a new boat

[coopec43]

Matt

The big items are easy to source since you shop around for the cheapest price/reliable supplier and you know what they are.

But it is impossible to plan ahead in detail. You are going to need a whole lot of "consumable" - drills, abrasives, thinners, brushes, adhesives, sealants, cutting discs and so on.

When we buy nuts/bolt/washers it is much better to buy X10 bolts costing $8 than X7 bolts costing $7. You will need plastic compartment boxes to manage your stock of SS fasteners.

You will only be able to buy conduit, cable, tubing when you have the major components in place and you can work out the lengths required.

Your purchases will be on going. I find it so much easier to buy online as I need items. (Sadly I find most less costly/smaller items (eg switches, lights, instrumentation) much cheaper from Asia than Australia.

Have fun.....

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by MJH

However, most would agree that their prices are higher to begin with but I have been able to get some good deals during their bigger sales...that takes some patience and effort. Contact them for their current program details.

Overall, I have found that many retailers have a good buy once in a while but no retailer has the best price on everything you need.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

West Marine has a price match guarantee, or at least they did as of less than a year ago.


Are there any consignment shops near you? In Rhode Island, there are two very good ones. The first is The Ships Store and the other is Newport Nautical. I believe the first one is ShipstoreRI.com and the other is NewportNautical.com. There are some very good deals at these but it is like a physical version of the Internet; you never know what you will find. Good luck with your search.

[alansmith]

Buying is so much fun, ya? A bolt is a bolt, right? Nope! Depends on metallurgy and many ways of cutting costs. Have I ever seen YouTube articles where a guy breaks a bolt by just giving it a good whack. And it shatters or deforms. Yet the other bolt just twangs and nothing happens to it. There really is a lot of research required in buying and price points and usage importance.

A strategy that can also be used.
1. Go to your county seat and open up a business. Make it Matt’s yacht chandlery. Pay the small fee. You are applying for a wholesale license. Take an add out in the local business declaring you are going to do business as a boat chandler. Get a cheap box of business cards. Go to a place or several places you want to do business with an introduce yourself. Hand them a copy of your wholesale license and business card. Fill out their application to be a business buying product from them. Negotiate a deal with them. I’ve done it and been successful getting 20-40 percent off. Different items have different costs to them. It is worth the half day of your running around to set up the account.

Wish you luck and good health as you fit her out.

[JPA Cate]

Try Fisheries Supply in Seattle. Closer to you than Defender and West Marine, possibly lower shipping costs. Known locally for being both friendly and helpful. They are much smaller than Defender and WM, and sorry, but don't know whether they can compete against the big guys, discount wise.

Ann, no connection with them.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by joelhemington

Check out NTE. It's a French company that makes high end electronics and they have a complete cruising package that includes the NK2 trunk for about 7 grand. Not cheap I know but they're expected to be the next B&G in the boating industry in terms of quality and at least you'd know that everything was compatible. B&G was recently bought out and there's some concern that the new owners might ride the name and reduce the quality in pursuit of higher profits. We probably won't know for sure until a couple of years have passed but it is a concern.

That's NKE... and be sitting when you get the quote on equipment from them. Awesome stuff, but very pricey.

B&G's parent, Navico, has been around for more than a decade and the fund that owned them was bought out by Goldman Sachs in 2016. What you see know is what you'll be getting with them in the future.

Regarding discounts on supplies- I don't know where you are based, but in the US you can easily get a business license that will help to encourage discounts from suppliers and stores. We looked into this when building out our boat, but at the time I could find lower prices if I shopped around online and dug through the discount bin, than I could from the companies directly. But, that takes a lot of time and effort....we were time rich and cash poor so it was worth it. If you are short on either of those, being able to get a "good" price from one store without having to shop around may be a better solution.

A few US websites I purchased a lot from beside ebay and Amazon:

fisheriessupply.com/ (Good general prices if you get an account)
boatstoreusa.com/ (discount online retailer with no inventory)
discountmarinesupplies.com/ (shield and trident hoses)
waytekwire.com/ (electrical supplies)
go2Marine.com/ (radom good deals)
hodgesmarine.com/ (electronics)
defender.com (especially good spring sale prices and doorbusters)

Warning- These were all used in 2015-2016, so I don't know how they have been lately.


Matt

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by alansmith

A strategy that can also be used.
1. Go to your county seat and open up a business. Make it Matt’s yacht chandlery. Pay the small fee. You are applying for a wholesale license. Take an add out in the local business declaring you are going to do business as a boat chandler. Get a cheap box of business cards. Go to a place or several places you want to do business with an introduce yourself. Hand them a copy of your wholesale license and business card. Fill out their application to be a business buying product from them. Negotiate a deal with them.
.

In Australia you'd have to register the company name and have a registered address.(That would incur an annual cost) If you are going to "con" the suppliers you would need stationery - purchase orders, business cards(?) , bank account, telephone?

I can get "trade prices" anywhere I go and they jump at the chance to do business. My SS fastener supplier sends all my orders by priority mail so that I get my order within 2 days of ordering. All you need to mention is that you are building a boat and they will automatically offer a worthwhile % off.

I buy just about everything online so it is delivered to my post box - no traveling time and no car running costs.