The party is over

[Tappin' Bottom]

Originally Posted by gmerz

It'll be interesting to see what happens about the 15th of September. New boat listings for sale coming every day, what will happen when supply exceeds demand...

dynamite point, I'm sure that's never been considered. I bet if it was, they'd call it economics or something. IDK.

[kswalleyer]

ranger is raising their prices , bet all are. i had heard up 15% a few weeks ago from a big dealer...that only increases the used market prices.

[waldowillie]

Originally Posted by kswalleyer

ranger is raising their prices , bet all are. i had heard up 15% a few weeks ago from a big dealer...that only increases the used market prices.

Ever since Bass Pro acquired the Ranger, Triton Boats, and the Stratos Boats brands lots of price increases. Difficult to find a product or service that is not being monopolized today. With record stock dividends comes record withdrawals from your bank account. Tough times for people that have little invested and are borrowing $ for major purchases.

[That Minnesota guy]

Fish will bite from a 16' aluminum boat thats 15 years old as well as a new $100k fiberglass boat. Biggest difference is the size of water you can safely venture onto. Be smart and you can have fun no matter what the boat you are in.

Much like a $70k car isn't for everybody neither are higher end fishing boats. Stay with what you can easily afford and the memories are the same.

[rksolid]

I believe it a good time to buy a used boat if you have a boat to sell as well. I recently upgraded my boat to a used newer bigger boat without having to take a loan out. It cost me about $3500.00 to upgrade, it helped that the one I bought was going through a divorce and that mine was payed off. In todays market i can sell the one I purchased at a profit.

[bubba800]

Prices will more than likely adjust on toys next year when parents are once again hauling the kids to soccer/baseball/basketball/hockey and the payments are still due on something that is just sitting.

I don't think boat prices have changed that much. There has always been some that were way off both up and down. Ranger might as well keep raising prices until people stop buying. People who are willing to work years to pay for a boat might be willing to work twice as many years to pay off that boat.

Originally Posted by That Minnesota guy

Fish will bite from a 16' aluminum boat thats 15 years old as well as a new $100k fiberglass boat. Biggest difference is the size of water you can safely venture onto. Be smart and you can have fun no matter what the boat you are in.

Much like a $70k car isn't for everybody neither are higher end fishing boats. Stay with what you can easily afford and the memories are the same.

^^^ Well put.....

[David Anderson]

Interesting topic. I have been in a discussion about the larger banks and home mortgages. Apparently people were getting approved for a certain amount but then were using their open line of credit to outbid the market creating a bidding frenzy when a house comes up. These banks are not allowing open credit lines for use in mortgage circumstances anymore as the $50K over bid is not what the house is worth rather what someone was willing to pay because of supply. Depending on where you are it's still a sellers market but a lot of people are deciding to get out while the prices are high which is putting more houses on the market. I believe we may have seen the peak of the housing market for a while as well lumber prices come back down helping to create alternatives. The same could hold true for boats. Prices are going up due to the cost of raw materials, is this temporary or are they permanent? Banks got burnt hard in 2008, the key is to figure out whether this inflation is also temporary or permanent. My wife worked for a commercial finance company in the late 80's and early 90's. Boat sales prior to that were booming. In 1990 the market for boats crashed, I was buying repossessed Rangers for less than 50 cents on the dealer dollar, as her company did the floor planning for the dealer inventory and they were happy to get rid of them. If one thinks about it. If a dealer makes 50% of their revenue on new boat sales and the other half on service and you have no boats to sell, even at the manufacturers level, no inventory, no profit. I think we are in a odd time which will result in some shakeouts or permanent higher prices.

[Sportdog]

Originally Posted by That Minnesota guy

Fish will bite from a 16' aluminum boat thats 15 years old as well as a new $100k fiberglass boat. Biggest difference is the size of water you can safely venture onto. Be smart and you can have fun no matter what the boat you are in.

Much like a $70k car isn't for everybody neither are higher end fishing boats. Stay with what you can easily afford and the memories are the same.

Mike Drop!!!

If I was more wealthy I’d have the most high end boat available. But I’m not so my 1997, 24 year old, 16 1/2 foot, 40hp Smokercraft still runs like a top and does everything I ask of it. Obviously I don’t push the wave conditions but have done plenty of fishing on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Just for laughs I included a pic from about 20 years ago with my makeshift salmon set-up. But we caught fish!!!