How do I sell my boat quickly!

Mainy

Mainy

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We are faced with the opportunity of buying a slightly larger boat than the one we have at a price which is difficult to turn down. In an ideal world we would like to sell our boat asap but are aware of the financial market place at the moment. We have put together a small website which we hope will direct interest from the large boat buying sites where we are choosing to advertise for free, to see our beloved Sealine. Our site is simply www.sealinef34.com. If anyone has any thoughts or guidance we would love to hear them.
 
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The short answer to 'how do I sell my boat quickly' is 'price it under the market'. In your specific case, you could also try a pm to forumite Whitelighter, who (a) is looking at F34's, and (b) has a clear view on market pricing. Good luck!
 
You've obviously put a lot of time and effort into a very comprehensive ad Mainy so hopefully, she'll sell quickly. She's certainly a lovely looking and well kept boat. I've been through it twice now and can't see a manufacture year mentioned anywhere? The other, tiny thing that bugged me slightly was under 'Seasoned F34 owners'...'We spent some time looking for another boat which would give us more, mainly with the flybridge. 'more' what?
Other than that...you've certainly sold the Algarve to me :)
L
:)
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
The short answer to 'how do I sell my boat quickly' is 'price it under the market'. In your specific case, Good luck!
Click to expand...

Which you have not done ! -tip change the £ sign to €
longer answer ----
I,am talking from experiance here having offloaded an older SS Portofino 35 last Sept from 3wks to Funds in the bank
By putting mine under the rest ( there were 13 for sale -most still are ) Like yours mega spec + SS maintained .
Yours is at the wrong end of the pack price wise and wrong end of Europe re potential buyers
http://www.theyachtmarket.com/boats/power-boats/sealine/f34/
 
You've bought your new boat at a price it is difficult to turn down so if you want to sell your old boat quickly, you need to sell it at a price it is difficult for someone to turn down...
 
Thanks lisilou, I never realised I had not mentioned the boat year. I shall ammend the site in the morning. As for the flybridge comment, our first boat was a first generation F34 which only had rather unsociable seating on the flybridge, the second generation version has the dining table option and a swivel front seat back rest, so all in all the flybridge is much more sociable and user friendly.
 
Thanks l'escargot, I take your point but with the price we have to start somewhere. Our aim is that by using the free advertising on the bigger sites to direct viewers to ours, we will be able to greatly reduce the asking price without giving the boat away because we will not be incurring broker fees.
 
You've done a fatastic job with the advert putting most broker websites to shame. However I've found that the only way to sell a boat quickly is to price it accordingly but NOT too cheap. either that or be prepared to take a low offer on your asking price.
Wish you louck, it's abeautiful boat.:encouragement:
 
Hi Phil. Put your USP right at the top - free mooring for a year or help with transport costs should not be on the last page.
 
Sorry Mainy. Thought perhaps you'd missed a word out after 'More' and hadn't realised. Was just the way I read it.
Good luck with the sale and new acquisition. Please keep us updated.
L
:)
 
Mainy said:
Thanks l'escargot, I take your point but with the price we have to start somewhere. Our aim is that by using the free advertising on the bigger sites to direct viewers to ours, we will be able to greatly reduce the asking price without giving the boat away because we will not be incurring broker fees.
Click to expand...

You don't have to give a boat away but I think sometimes you just have to accept that you have to pass on some elements of your bargain when you end up with 2 boats - we've done it twice but still came out up on each occasion. We bought our current boat at about 20k below the selling price of similar boats. Consequently we sold our previous boat, albeit a lower priced boat, at about 9k below the selling price of similar boats to get a quick sale. We still ended up with a bigger/newer boat at a good price - sticking out for a higher price on an old boat very quickly eats into the bargain price of a new boat and you can very easily find yourself out of pocket...
 
Hola,

I see Ive been name dropped already ;)

I had actually found your site by googling for F34 information. Jimmy is right, I am in the market and the F34 is on the list along with a couple of alternatives.
I will be candid as to why I havent contacted you, not to be rude but just to give you a point of view.

You put great store in the fact that your boat was the highest specification F34 ever made (you mention it a number of times) and I presume this also means it was the most expensive. Thing is, most people buying this size of boat are not expecting big generators, aircon in each cabin and other (expensive - very expensive reletive to hull cost) optional extras. While there is definitly someone who wants a mega spec small boat, one issue is that may be you, and you own it already.

At £125k there is a lot of competition in the market place - often from larger boats which naturally come with a similar spec. As it happens I dont want a bigger boat because of increased fees etc so I doubt I am alone here but its something to consider. A lot of people (rightly or wrongly) think smaller boat = smaller price.
I dont know what year your boat is but im guessing a 2008/2009?

The other issue is location. Sealine is a very UK centric brand so its natural market is back here. I do note you say you'll put the berth cost towards transport but how much is that? If you want to open up the market to UK buyers (Which I think is your best bet) then why ot just bite the bullet, do the research on shipiing costs and offer the price delivered to the UK. It makes it simpler for a buyer as they dont have to do any work. It doesnt bother me, Ive bought boats all over europe but the complexity will put a lot of people off.

The other issue you have right now is doing battle with other euro priced boats. I suspect you are probably aware of this as perhaps your bargain new boat is due to a euro purchase? If I told you I was speaking to a broker about a 2008 Sealine F34 with a more standard spec (but as I said its a hard sell to convince people of the beneifts of aircon nin the home market nevermind recover the cost) which is being offered for under €100k inc vat. Its in a more awkward place than yours for shipping but even if i pay £7-8k to get it back it still stands in at around £80k.

No doubt you will have seen boats in the UK for similar money to yours - there is one in cowes. I know most of them for sale and they have been on the market for a while. Also the UK market has yet to adjust to take into consideration the euro - its a big free market out there and in someways the UK has been overpriced in local terms while tstirling was weak and a lot of used boats went abroad so the market still needs to adjust.

Bottom line is if you want to sell it quickly then its going to come down to price sure, but also making it easy for UK buyers. Find a transport cost and offer an all in deal. Im still looking, if you want to PM me with your bottom line price then please do.
 
How long has she been for sale? How many enquiries have you had? How much traffic has the website had? There's a few things I don't like about the site - scrolling (way too much), navigation (it's a bit odd having main menu items linking to part way down a page), too much personal info which isn't really relevant to a prospective buyer, the site is almost more of a blog than a selling site. However I don't think any of that is going to make an appreciable difference to when/whether you sell the boat. I would, though, at least change the main picture for one that has the boat's current name on. Couldn't find it on Apollo Duck, I'd certainly put an ad on there. And if you really do want to sell I'd have an ad on Yachtworld via a broker as well...
 
I like the site.

Yes, the blurb is a bit long winded and repetitive but it put me at ease. I felt I knew the seller by the time I'd finished. Not a massive fan of being told that this, that or the other is the more desirable etc but hey ho :)

You told me (twice) that it was the highest spec S34 ever built but it was only when I'd read through the spec that I saw it had AC fitted. Mention that in the blurb and take out the repeat of the fact it's the highest spec.

I agree that you should quantify mooring costs / contribution to transport costs.

You seem to have legs with aluminium props but pictures of bronze props off the boat. What's that all about ?

A couple of pictures of your missus were borderline odd for an advert, particularly the shot of her lying on her back on the front deck. I understand you are selling Portugal - which you did very well. I could see myself thinking we'd give it a season out there to see what it was like. I also liked the thought of you still being there to help the buyer settle in.

The thorny issue of price. One thing I wasn't sure of was when the photos were taken. They all had a different name on them which you did eventually explain but how representative are they of the boat. Is the picture of the boat ashore current? But then what's the crack with the different props?

I don't think you necessarily have to assume a massive price reduction once negotiations begin so I'd sooner see it priced at what you actually want and be firmer on the negotiations. Don't be aggressive in the advert (price non negational so don't even think about it etc.) just price it realistically. I think the AC and presumably some sort of genny - again it wasn't mentioned in all the shpeel does have a value, particularly if someone was thinking about keeping it in Portugal but make sure it's priced at a point where I'm a little bit aroused ;)

All in all a good site and clear photos for a non professional photographer. Well done.

Hope it finds a home in the not too distant future.

Henry :)
 
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