Buying Direct
There are two huge advantages to buying your next boat directly from us. One, you'll be dealing with the people who are the most knowledgeable about Great Harbour Trawlers and who can give you the straight answers to all your questions. There is nothing more frustrating to potential buyers than to realize they know more than the "salesman" at the local dealer or that they are being told whatever the salesman thinks they want to hear.
Second, you'll be paying a "factory direct" price, which is based solely on what it actually costs to build your boat plus a small profit for our factory. (Boatbuilders don't get rich, but they love what they're doing.) There are no dealer markups, dealer commissions or dealer advertising costs to pay. And remember that even companies who say they don't have dealers often have their own retail operations, which require the same system of markups and commissions that dealerships have.
Eric Kraft
Your day-to-day contact at Mirage will be Eric Kraft, our fulltime, dedicated sales manager. Eric is a lifelong boater who decided to retire from the auto business to follow his passion and pursue a new career in the boating world. It all started when he and his family chartered a Great Harbour N37. Eric became hooked on the Great Harbour concept, and he has been selling our Great Harbour's ever since.
When you start comparing boats and prices, you need to beware of those Far East builders (Taiwan, China and Malaysia) who say they can build a boat for less because of their "cheap" labor. For one thing, you should know that while their labor might be "cheap," it typically takes many more Far East workers to build a boat than Americans. We've seen boatbuilders that build 15 boats a year in Taiwan employing 150 workers, and in China the number can be 4 or 5 times that. We typically employ 25 highly skilled and efficient workers, and while we pay a fair and reasonable wage to our valued employees, the builders in Asia have to employ many more laborers. When you do the math, they offer little or no price advantage!
Also consider that all boatbuilders pay roughly the same for the materials that go into their boats. Engines, generators, resin, coatings, fiberglass fabrics, galley appliances and more are often shipped from the U.S. to the Far East, so once again, there is little, if any, price advantage to having your boat built halfway around the world.
Also consider that Asian boatbuilders sell either to dealers or "branding" companies that run their own operation in the States. First, you'll be paying the factory to build your boat - and obviously at a profit to the factory. Then, you'll be right back to paying not only the factory, but all the overhead and payroll costs for these separate sales and marketing operations.
When you buy your boat from us, you pay the factory to build your boat, period. Compare our boats with similarly equipped boats from any domestic or foreign builder, and you'll see how much more boat you'll get for your dollar. In many cases, our customers have been able to afford a brand new Great Harbour Trawler for the same price as a used Asian-built boat!
And one last thing. All other things being equal, wouldn't you feel better buying American?
