Certificates for Boats won at Tournaments???

[Mud-Dabber]

Boat Certificates??

About this time of the year or perhaps during the summer months, I start to see several boat certificates being offered for sale on various forums. Many times these are for a specific boat, but normally a message is applied that states they can be applied to a larger boat or a boat of a persons choice.

Does anyone have any experience with even trying to purchase one of these certificates. I would appreciate any input anyone could provide.

Say a Ranger or Triton or Skeeter boat certifcate was won for MSRP of 30,000 and the winner was asking 25,000 dollars, what in your opinion would be a serious, fair offer for the above scenario or any that you might be aware of.

I am not looking at any, but would be interested in your thoughts about the process and if they can be applied to a boat of your choosing rather than what was supposedly won.????????

Thanks,
Mud-Dabber

[Mud-Dabber]

I had a response by email from a forum in Texas.

I thought this was interesting and provides some insight on the boat certificates, of course I do not know how factual it is or is not.

QUOTE

"You can get a good deal on a certificate. However, most dealers will only give the price paid by the tournament trail towards an upgrade on a new boat. This has stung several people who bought certificates and thought they could just pay the retail difference toward a larger boat.

I know one guy in Austin that won a 519 Commanche. The 518 had a price of $36,000 at that time. He wanted the 521 Commanche. The 521 was priced at $44,000. He was expecting to pay the $8,000 difference. However, the dealer would only apply $19,000 toward the Ranger since that is the price the tournament circuit paid for the certificate from Ranger. The guy ended up paying $25,000 for a 521. That still wan't a bad price, but it wasn't the way it was supposed to have happened.

So make sure you have all agreements with the dealer in writing before you buy a certificate and then take it to a dealer to upgrade."

Anyone else have any knowledge on boat certificates???

Thanks,
Mud-Dabber