Dubious brokerage photographs

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ryanroberts

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So I have been looking at an awful lot of pictures of boats for sale recently. Mostly things are good - the Boatshed lot seem particularly modern in presenting images of an actually clean boat & video with commentary. Some of them stand out for all the wrong reasons, like SV Artful Bodger here. Why would anyone who wants to sell a boat think "they really need to see the deathtrap caravan water heater install and possible 240V wiring hooked up in the shower".

3 CO alarms on the inventory and it's pretty clear why.


Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 14.27.10.jpg
 
I think some brokers do a really good job with their photography, notably John Rodriguez (JR Yachts) and also Yachtsnet (who also have a very useful archive on their site). Boatshed take loads of photos & you often get a short outside & an inside video but the quality is often lacking, as are the quality & quantity on some other brokers sites. We can't blame the brokers for the poor state of tidiness/cleanliness of some of the boats they list though, that's the owners responsibility...
 
V1701 said:
I think some brokers do a really good job with their photography, notably John Rodriguez (JR Yachts) and also Yachtsnet (who also have a very useful archive on their site). Boatshed take loads of photos & you often get a short outside & an inside video but the quality is often lacking, as are the quality & quantity on some other brokers sites. We can't blame the brokers for the poor state of tidiness/cleanliness of some of the boats they list though, that's the owners responsibility...
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Thankyou! We put a lot of effort into the photography. It's time consuming and the interior of a yacht is hard to shoot on a dark gloomy day without resorting to flash, but we find it's worth taking time over. We have also invested in new video kit for the forthcoming season.
 
Not related to the OP here, but when cameras that are capable of acceptable photos are included on every new phone, it is dazzling how inept their users often are.

It ought to be laughable, but when you actually want to see the whole cabin clearly from one end or one corner, it is infuriating if the owner/seller has aimed the lens at half of the same doorway/sink unit/locker/cooker/hatch, three or four times from various absurd, inhuman angles, without including one single clear shot of the wider space around it.

Shadow and light, too - vast expanses of pale GRP glaring in sunlight, while the bottom half of the picture is deep in shade. And blurred shots - as if they'd paid for a roll of film with 12 exposures and no more, so that's all you get, good or bad.

There's no excuse for bad photography in 2020. Screens mean the picture can be seen before the photo is taken. When the pictures are poor, I look at a different boat, because something's either been deliberately obscured, or this person doesn't care.
 
jonic said:
Thankyou! We put a lot of effort into the photography. It's time consuming and the interior of a yacht is hard to shoot on a dark gloomy day without resorting to flash, but we find it's worth taking time over. We have also invested in new video kit for the forthcoming season.
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The quality of your boats deserve the effort, can certainly see it in this one
89360604.jpg
 
While I accept that it doesn't do much to sell the yacht I would prefer a broker to show that photograph than not, it tells a lot about how the vessel has been kept. I would know then not to wast any more time on it. Although someone might be looking for a doer upper or a liveaboard with no intention of going anywhere in it. Gas safety is another question entirely, they used to fit this kind of thing to Nauticat 33's.
 
If you're travelling some distance to look at a boat, what would you rather have, a set of professionally taken pictures which show the boat in the best possible light or a set of honest photographs which show the boat "warts n all"?
 
Aardee said:
If you're travelling some distance to look at a boat, what would you rather have, a set of professionally taken pictures which show the boat in the best possible light or a set of honest photographs which show the boat "warts n all"?
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If you're traveling some distance to view a boat we ( Yachts for sale at Yachtsnet - UK sailing yacht brokerage and boat sales ) will tell you if we know of anything wrong with a boat before you come, as well as telling you what's good about it. I hope our photos show the boat honestly, but I'm not a fan of lots of "tiny details" pictures - we basically aim to let you see what is where in the boat, usually starting with the whole saloon - eg https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/boats/s95819/images/saloon-wa-ss.jpg
 
jwilson said:
If you're traveling some distance to view a boat we ( Yachts for sale at Yachtsnet - UK sailing yacht brokerage and boat sales ) will tell you if we know of anything wrong with a boat before you come, as well as telling you what's good about it. I hope our photos show the boat honestly, but I'm not a fan of lots of "tiny details" pictures - we basically aim to let you see what is where in the boat, usually starting with the whole saloon - eg https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/boats/s95819/images/saloon-wa-ss.jpg
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Totally agree & which is what dancrane was saying above as well...
 
Brokerage photos are one thing..... this is the headline snap (most of the rest are worse!) for a 7.5 grand boat currently on Ebay:


s-l225.webp



:giggle:


.
 
jonic said:
Thankyou! We put a lot of effort into the photography. It's time consuming and the interior of a yacht is hard to shoot on a dark gloomy day without resorting to flash, but we find it's worth taking time over. We have also invested in new video kit for the forthcoming season.
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Can you also invest in some brasso, the state of some of the brass 'instruments' you have shown, is quite shamefull.;)
 
I keep a small data bank of all Colvic Watsons for sale and time and time again I see photos I know were taken years ago even by some well known brokers

So prospective buyers will be in for a shock when they see the boat for real and sadly by sometimes as already said by a buyer who has spent both travelling time and money to make a viewing

At the same time I see people selling yachts for thousands with one photo in their advert and wonder why they don't sell, what many sellers forget these days with computer technology
any photo can be blown up to see details.

At the same time many sellers being polite tell fibs in the specifications only to be found out by a buyer 'who knows what he's looking at', then of course there is the sellers advert
for sometimes a boat in the £30k plus bracket with about two lines as specification

I tell all buyers supply plenty of good quality recent photos with a good honest specification :)
 
doug748 said:
Brokerage photos are one thing..... this is the headline snap (most of the rest are worse!) for a 7.5 grand boat currently on Ebay:


s-l225.webp



:giggle:


.
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I have left the covers on as the windows and deck fittings all leak like a sieve, but you get the idea it is a boat you are buying! It is called Surprise, so you will be suprised when you take the covers off. :unsure:
 
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