[VIEXILE]

Ask them WHY they're not on Yachtworld.

 

[Minnewaska]

I am from Australia and I have actually bought 6 boats through Popyachts over the past 7 years and the service has been nothing short of excellent.

You're going to have to establish some amount of credibility, before anyone is going to accept this tale.

I've never used Pop Yachts and have read some satisfied clients. Far more seem to find them distasteful. The Better Business Bureau records 23 complaints in the last 3 years and 10 in the last 12 months for their operating company (Pop Sells, LLC).

The best I'm able to conclude is they do little to govern the individual salesperson and you take your chances. I've dealt with several brokerage firms over the years and the one's that take their reputation seriously, always stand head and shoulders above the rest. That doesn't avoid all conflict, but it settles them best.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

A first time poster shows up to make a glowing recommendation for vendor? How fortuitous.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

The reason why its a first time post is the fact that this is the first time in over 12 months that I have been on line to look at boats, I noticed these reviews and I thought I would share my experiences with everyone. My story is legitimate and actually happened as I explained it.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

You're going to have to establish some amount of credibility, before anyone is going to accept this tale.

I've never used Pop Yachts and have read some satisfied clients. Far more seem to find them distasteful. The Better Business Bureau records 23 complaints in the last 3 years and 10 in the last 12 months for their operating company (Pop Sells, LLC).

The best I'm able to conclude is they do little to govern the individual salesperson and you take your chances. I've dealt with several brokerage firms over the years and the one's that take their reputation seriously, always stand head and shoulders above the rest. That doesn't avoid all conflict, but it settles them best.

I'm from Australia and I had never heard of Popyachts and my first contact was when I saw a boat that was advertised by Joey champagne and I was reluctant to put down a deposit as I had heard some serious internet scam stories, he worked with me and didn't try to push me to put down a deposit, he explained the processes and I said that I was not going to pay out money to someone I didn't know, so I flew over to Florida to meet with him and I suppose to make me feel better he surprised me because he had organised a meeting with one of the directors to make me comfortable and show me that they were a legitimate organisation. After my first purchase experience, I was interested in at least 8 other boats but when I received my inspection reports I opted out as certain things didn't seem right. I never actually viewed any of the boats that I purchased until they arrived in Australia and everything was as advertised except when when the items were missing and Popyachts made that right.
I believe when anyone is purchasing anything they should do their own homework and speak up when necessary. I simply relayed my actual experiences as they happened.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

Ask them WHY they're not on Yachtworld.

Back then it was my first time making a large purchase outside of Australia and I did check all the sights including yachtworld and at that time the boat that I was interested in was listed on Popyachts and when I contacted the broker he wasn't pushy he made me feel comfortable and the experience was great and I opted to move ahead with them, and it was the right decision for me even though the first boat that I had chosen wasn't the first boat that I purchased. Three months after I received my first boat in Australia I had cleaned it and made some modifications someone offered me a lot of money for the boat so I sold it and did it again five more times and every time my experience with Popyachts was great, even when I went through the other brokers on their site. Granted I have only dealt with 2 of their brokers and one of the directors and the back office team.
In saying all that everyone should always do their homework when making any purchases regardless. I did and I spoke up when I needed to. I have only relayed my experiences as they happened no more no less. The reason that I stopped purchasing boats out of the US is because our dollar dropped drastically over the past 2 and a half years and that made it hard to sell and make any money. When the Aussie dollar recovers I will definitely be purchasing again and I will go back to Popyachts because they made my experiences worth it and saved me a great deal of money and simplified the process.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

Yeah. I'm calling shenanigans on that one. Classic.

No shenanigans mate, the facts are actually facts as I explained them.

 

[paulk]

So... you flew from Australia to Florida to meet with a guy about buying a boat, which you bought without having seen it. You had them ship it to Australia, where you fixed it up and sold it for a profit. You then bought five more boats from these same guys without having seen any of the boats beforehand, and had them all shipped to Australia. When they got there you sold them all at a profit too. Then the AUD dropped drastically over the past 2 and a half years. This site : Australian - US Dollar Exchange Rate (AUD USD) - Historical Chart does show that the AUD went down in November 2018. It returned to its earlier levels as of November 2020. Might be difficult for PopYachts to stay in business with just one customer, in Australia, however.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

So... you flew from Australia to Florida to meet with a guy about buying a boat, which you bought without having seen it. You had them ship it to Australia, where you fixed it up and sold it for a profit. You then bought five more boats from these same guys without having seen any of the boats beforehand, and had them all shipped to Australia. When they got there you sold them all at a profit too. Then the AUD dropped drastically over the past 2 and a half years. This site : Australian - US Dollar Exchange Rate (AUD USD) - Historical Chart does show that the AUD went down in November 2018. It returned to its earlier levels as of November 2020. Might be difficult for PopYachts to stay in business with just one customer, in Australia, however.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

M

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

Mate you don't need to be sarcastic considering that I have pretty much only stated facts about MY experiences.
Yes in fact I actually stated that I didn't end up buying the first boat that I initially found on line even though I had travelled to the US to buy it. But because I had met with the initial broker and one of the directors and they took me for a tour of their actual facilities in Sarasota Florida and showed me their operations. I was made to feel comfortable enough to actually use them for my purchases without having to fly back and forth. Also, when I received the first boat that I did purchase it was missing almost all the advertised accessories and I simply complained and within 3 weeks they had sent me out brand new items to replace all the missing ones. That made me feel even more comfortable in dealing with the company. All 6 transactions that I made were basically flawless, the staff at Popyachts were excellent to deal with and made it as easy as possible and they tried to accommodate all my needs within reason of course. Popyachts had no idea that I was going to purchase more than 1 boat because I didn't even know that myself until after I had sold the first one that I had bought.
But as I have stated before I did much homework when I purchased each boat and I probably negotiated on over 27 boats and had 15 or 16 boats inspected before I purchased the 6 boats that I bought. Everyone must understand that everything that I have stated is strictly based on my experiences with Popyachts and staff and it is as I have stated, I'm very grateful for everything that they all did for me considering that I am on the other side of the world, and my experiences were based on trust.

 

[Stress Reel-ief]

I have to say that I don't need to be wasting my time doing this but I believe in doing what's right and what's fair. Popyachts did the right thing by me every time during every transaction and I believe in telling the truth about my experiences because I believe it's the right thing to do. I'm simply repaying the favour because they truly were very good with me.

 

[VIEXILE]

Yeah. I got nothing further to say about this but . . . beware.

 

[Minnewaska]

my first contact was when I saw a boat that was advertised by Joey champagne

he had organised a meeting with one of the directors to make me comfortable and show me that they were a legitimate organisation

I simply relayed my actual experiences as they happened.

At most, it seems your experience was with a specific individual, not the entire organization. I'm curious how you would have even known this additional person was truly a Director of Pop Yachts itself.

Buying and flipping 5 boats, at a profit, is nearly unheard of here, so doing after shipping costs around the world is hard for most to imagine. I'm not saying your story is fabricated, but you'll have to stick around long enough to establish credibility, before most will accept it at face value.

Would you list the make/model/year of the 5 boats out of interest?

 

[sailingfool]

The reason why its a first time post is the fact that this is the first time in over 12 months that I have been on line to look at boats, I noticed these reviews and I thought I would share my experiences with everyone. My story is legitimate and actually happened as I explained it.

Well I mean no offense.

Its just that the cycle of this thread is something that longtime Sailnet participants have seen again and again. It goes like this:
Some vendor gets a string of negative comments, usually from Sailnet members who over some years have participated in various other discussions, so their commentary in the vendor thread is not surprising. Then as the negatives pile up, someone who has newly signed up, provides surprisingly positive commentary to rescue the image of the vendor. That done, the new member disappears from Sailnet and is generally never heard from again. One could suspect these positive comments have been made by a fake user at the request of the vendor, or by the vendor directly.

So that's the syndrome, how does your participation fit?.

 

[Minnewaska]

There is an entire industry created around it now, called "influencers". Some are more or less transparent about it. There are also paid services that go around trying to clean up bad press that an individual or company can't defend themselves, without making it worse and appearing defensive.

No way to know if our newest member fits. Hope they stick around and prove to be a value participant. We'll see.

I'd still love to hear exact what boats were flipped at a profit, after international shipping costs. If we're not given those anonymous details, I think the story falls apart.

 

[oldlaxer1]

I've had two experiences with Pop Yachts. One was a PITA and they wouldn't leave me alone after I looked at one boat. The other experience I had was very good. Purchased a 53' Hatteras. Local broker was OK, but the listing broker was in New Jersey and she was incredibly thorough, knowledgeable, and helpful. Process went pretty smoothly all in all. YMMV

 

[Minnewaska]

Local broker was OK, but the listing broker was in New Jersey and she was incredibly thorough, knowledgeable, and helpful.

By local broker, do you mean the buyer's broker and the listing broker is the seller's broker? Which was PopYachts?

You did make me recall when the seller's broker was far more knowledgeable than my buy side broker. All was fine, but I stopped asking my own guy for some technical information. Deal was already done, it was some detail I needed to move forward. I was even in contact with the other broker, after the deal was done.

 

[oldlaxer1]

By local broker, do you mean the buyer's broker and the listing broker is the seller's broker? Which was PopYachts?

You did make me recall when the seller's broker was far more knowledgeable than my buy side broker. All was fine, but I stopped asking my own guy for some technical information. Deal was already done, it was some detail I needed to move forward. I was even in contact with the other broker, after the deal was done.

Both brokers worked for Pop Yachts. The local guy took care of showing the boat and the sea trial. Not terribly knowledgeable but a nice enough guy. The NJ broker handled pretty much everything else. I didn't use a buyers broker.

 

[cdy]

I am calling BS on the Australia thing -first buying trailerable boats in US and shipping to Australia to sell and make a profit - hardly believable - plus POP Yachts has a facility? In Sarasota - what's the address? - they are an online broker - the boats are in various slips or yards at marinas - not their facilities - quite a tall tale however and give the poster credit for creativity

 

[Minnewaska]

Like I've already said, the poster who claims to have flipped 5 boats overseas hasn't established any credibility yet. Can't tell if it's true. I asked what boats and it's gone quiet. Not a good sign, but they may have only swooped in to do their job and flew off. It's suspicious at least.

For what it's worth, the sales rep referred to, in the flip story, is not listed on their website, but may have left since. POP Yachts staff members

To be fair, Pop Yachts (whose actual corporate name is PopSells, LLC) does list it's Corporate HQ in Sarasota, at the bottom of their website. They make it clear there is no inventory there, but there could be plenty in the vicinity.

They claim to get good reviews from many. I'm not digging to see if it's all true, but here's their link.

Pop Yachts

Search 2,700+ boats for sale to find the best match for your family. Photos, videos, specs and detailed descriptions. Updated daily.

www.popyachts.com