Hi Jon, Friday, January 21, 2005, 8:24:11 AM, you wrote: > I have not met a single person in Florida who owns a FIBERGLASS > kayak which didn't care what it looked like. They all act as if the > boat is their baby and is irreplaceable, and if my kayak had any > scratches on it that would be the first thing people comment about > when looking to buy it. Any little thing they can use to reduce the > price. > So I have to disagree with you. Any time people can use any > imperfection to lower the price, they will. I won't comment on the "potential damage" bits of your speculations, but I will offer my opinions on scratches as a determining factor in price negotiations for a used boat. New or used, everyone pays what they are able and *willing* to pay according to their very own criteria for what represents "value". As far as I'm concerned, and depending on the original asking price for a used boat (let's assume it's "reasonable", whatever that means to any particular individual), anyone who worries too much about a few - or even many - *superficial* scratches/gouges in the gel coat is being a bit silly (but that's just my personal opinion). That sort of "blemish" can always be "repaired" if a person really wants to get silly about it. That said, a few scratches - or even many scratches and some bigger "gouges" - in the gel coat of a fiberglass kayak certainly shouldn't be such a major consideration when other things are much more important; like the overall structural integrity of the boat, any possible UV degradation/weakening, etc. Personally speaking, scratches and other superficial signs of normal "wear and tear" only indicates to me that a boat has been used, and a used boat is a happy boat! :-) When I think of the aesthetic "looks" of a boat, I'm much more interested in its lines than in whether or not it has a few scratches. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea if even new boats came with a big old scratch on the deck. At least the proud new owner might then not be so worried about getting that dreaded "first scratch", and would just go paddle the thing. Any boat worth putting in the water is a boat worth scratching! :-) -- Melissa *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jan 21 2005 - 19:21:18 PST
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