Brand new boat build vs refurbish? 50 ft Willard type hull

The idea of building a mold for near cost for a particular job and then using it in the future to make hulls for a good profit is done frequently. The problem is when the builder runs out of money and there are delays, they often go out of business, this leaves everyone involved in a bad place.

The time, cost and logistics of building something like a 50' mold and then a hull for the customer are commonly significantly under estimated unless the builder has experience making something of similar size.

 

The cost of resin is to $1250 a barrel and roll of regular cloth is like $150. Cheap labor is $30 per 8 hours and skilled probably $150. Also I think the business would own the mold and they probably wouldn't build another boat but theoretically I guess they could want to. Not much chance others will be going for a boat like this, so it'd basically just be them.

 

I've spoken to about 5 different fiberglass guys that say it does not add up. I know for a fact the buyer got other quotes for 180k (no engine, most expensive and slow guy around) and the other guy said 200k with an engine at least and that his profit would be meager at that number) The other 3 guys I didn't get a new build quote from but they all said no way on the new build vs refurbish estimate.

 

Also none of the people I talked to have any "skin" in this game.

 

This is another thing, the fiberglass guy is gonna be under contract but this is just one guy without a business and I can't imagine he has any capital to invest if his calculations are off, so then what? The fiberglass guy either cuts corners to get it done or the buyers business pumps more money in.

 

Well, all you can do is get one of those people to give a firm quote on the repair/modifications needed to bring your boat into the configuration desired by the potential customer and present it to him. If this still doesn't convince him to buy your boat you'll still have a boat for sale. After all you can't really force the guy to do the right thing, it's his money and if he gets burned with the fiberglass guy it's his own decision, you tried to warn him so your conscience is clear.

 

Yep looks like it, he's confident it will be fine.

 

The way I read your post, it is a simple matter of the buyer pushing his estimated costs up so he pays you less.

In my world, that is a walkaway from the bad deal.

 

I thought about that and I even offered him a better deal, 100k so he could have "equaled" his deal (even with the inflated 70k estimate) but he's decided to go with the new build which is fine but I just don't believe it's gonna work out and I told him that but that's all I can do.

 

sounds like you fell for it

What amount/type of glasswork costs 70k ..

 

Yes I considered this and I only needed to replace my boat with another which was 90k hence the offer, but he still didn't buy the boat so I just wished him luck.