How to sell a boat

G

geronimo

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What is the best way to sell a sailing boat (Najad)?

Magazine advertisments (which magazine), brokers (specialised or general), page on web, word of mouth, advert on a marina notice board, or something else?
 
1= Magazine Advert. Depends on value of boat though. Highest value YW next YM then PBO probably ST last.
1= Get it on the internet. Lots of places. boatsandoutboards.co.uk already mentioned.

2 Brokers (expect to lose 6%+ in commission charges though)
3 Word of mouth and Owners Association
4 I don't think a Marina would allow a posting on their notice board if they have a link up with a local Broker.
5 Mention it enough times on here........ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Donald
 
Bought mine thro' www.boatsandoutboards. Had confidence since it was Part 1 registered - which helps whatever media you select. For a fine yacht like a Najad I'd try YM and Owners Association as priorities and turn to a broker as a last resort.
 
nigh on impossible to sell them najad's, BUT luckily i am a nice guy and i will take off yer hands for a quid.
Do we have a deal
 
Hi Geronimo.

A combination of some or all the above is the best approach. You need coverage for your boat and trust from your prospective buyer.

Its also worth remembering that a good broker (should) do the work of the two solicitors as in a house transaction. i.e check title, arrange registration, check no outstanding motrgages or debts on the boat, check and prove RCD and VAT, re-negotiate after survey, hold and distribute monies in escrow, check funds are legitimate and pay outstanding yard bills aside from advertising and face to face selling. Your broker should also ideally be an ABYA member.

Have sent you a PM /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
1. Lots of internet advertising. Boatsandoutboards did not really generate much reaction for our boat. Advertised here: http://www.myboatdetails.com/ - good response, and sold her through there as well.

2. A classified in YM also generated lots of response, but at a price - not cheap.

3. Stay away from brokers - a good boat will sell - always. And you'll be 6-7% better off.
Also, first thing a broker will want to do is park you on the hard in his yard. We kept ours afloat and still used her every possible opportunity. Whenever we had a viewing the boat looked at her best: ready to go. Because she was.
 
Just wish I could afford a Najad . . .

If my lottery numbers come up, expect a PM.

Bought Rowana through Boatsandoutboards

J
 
have sold previously through brokers and through private ads and bought same ways- right brokers do give a useful service but finding the right one is the challenge!
wrong ones bring nothing to the process at best!

private ads - have had good response but have also had all the frustrations of none shows and time wasters,

last boat we bought abroad and we paid a trusted UK broker to handle all the paperwork for us for an agreed % and believe it was money well spent
 
Myboatdetails site is a bit cranky.
I put in maximum price £2000 and it came up with a boat trailer. I put in £4000 and it came up with This , which seems to be £2000. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Still, if it's bringing punters you can't complain.
 
I gave my last boat to a broker to sell and got 1 enquiry, I advertised it free on apollo duck and sold it for the same asking price within a few weeks.

If the boat is in good order and nicely presented it will probably sell itself.

Nothing stopping you giving it to a broker and advertising it yourself. Provided the final buyer did not come to you through the broker you have no need to pay him a fee,( double check this with the broker before doing anything.)

best of luck.
tony.
 
Best way? Easiest way is to put it with a national broker who will place it on the ybw internet site and wait until someone wants one like yours, then the broker will do all the selling paperwork and charge 7%+vat for sole agency, just sold my last boat after 18 months wait. Good luck.
 
I\'d go for a website...

I'd suggest going for a website as your primary advertising tool, then putting brief ads in YM, Boats & Outboards, etc, with the URL listed for "full details". Ideally, buy a relevant and concise URL, eg "www.najad370.info", this will only cost about £50, but will make a big difference to response.

Make sure the boat is scrupulously clean and tidy, inside and out, then take loads of photos. Try to organise your website so that people can navigate it easily - don't have 50 photos on one page, split them up into various separate pages on different aspects. Include photos of essential documents, and list the full specification.

If you're not confident about doing a website from scratch, consider buying a ready-made website template - AllWebCo have some slick ones for about £40-50. They are very easy to use, and the finished result is good. Presentation is everything; I used an AllWebCo template to sell my wife's used SLK about 18 months ago, sold it in a couple of weeks and even the dealer supplying her new car was amazed at the price I got! You can make the website look even better by adding stock photography, try stock.xchng for great free photos. You can usually host your own website on free space provided by your ISP. If not, I've found WebMania great for reliable low-cost hosting.

Good luck!
 
[ QUOTE ]
1. Lots of internet advertising. Boatsandoutboards did not really generate much reaction for our boat. Advertised here: http://www.myboatdetails.com/ - good response, and sold her through there as well.

2. A classified in YM also generated lots of response, but at a price - not cheap.

3. Stay away from brokers - a good boat will sell - always. And you'll be 6-7% better off.
Also, first thing a broker will want to do is park you on the hard in his yard. We kept ours afloat and still used her every possible opportunity. Whenever we had a viewing the boat looked at her best: ready to go. Because she was.

[/ QUOTE ]

The first thing a broker will want to do is park you on his hard? Eh? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Brokers exist because some people do not want to handle large financial transactions themselves, or do not want to buy from members of the general public who they have never heard of without some safeguards. Some people want to know the RCD, VAT and registration docs are correct and do not want to get involved in the legal side or draw up and follow through contracts without having indemnity insurance. Some people absolutely do not want anything to do with face to face negotiation. Some people just want help and advice. Saying the first thing a broker wants to do is put the boat on the hard is like me saying all private buyers/sellers are trying to shift dodgy boats, have fraudulant documents or are going to pass dud cheques. (I was in a office today where an £80,000 cheque proved to be made of rubber, but the boat and docs were safe, and we are regularly having the overpayment fraud attempted.)
Private or through a Broker, each method works depending on your own needs. I'm getting saddened by this broker bashing that crops up on here. By all means if someone gives poor service fine, and I am well aware some do give very poor service, but some of us work extremely hard on behalf of buyer and seller. I became a broker after 4yrs of liveaboard cruising because I love sailing and the people involved. I prefer my clients boats in the water. So lets have a bit of balance please.
 
The paperwork really isn't that hard though.....

Awful lot of money for a broker doing what you can do quite easily yourself..... I know they have yards and staff to maintain etc etc, but I think that a substantial percentage of buyers nowadays do their research on the internet first, and see the ads there..... and you can put that ad there yourself, just as easily as a broker can....

Mine sold in 2 weeks (in September this year) via boatsandoutboards..

In response to Jonics points above. I wouldn't knock brokers, I am sure there are some very good ones out there.... I however think that the huge disparity of rates between them and for example estate agents, is going to have to change.... buyers are more sophisticated, using the net more intelligently, if nothing else for price comparisons, and therefore sellers will demand a lot more for the high percentages, or frankly will refuse to use them... the really bad few brokers will destroy the market for the good ones, and even without that, the rates are going to have to drop to 3 or 4% max to remain a viable business model in the future IMHO

Got to be worth a go for a few weeks before approaching a broker surely?
 
Give EBay a try, plus the other advice above. EBay has the advantage of cost. Its about $12 for ten days. The real advantage though is the amount of text and photos you can use. Where else can you have about a foolscap page of text and photos for so little. With a counter you get some idea of the lookers and at the end of the period you get the number of watchers, those people that saved your info. Don't expect to necessarily sell your boat on EBay but you will be surprised with the feed back you get. Encourage people to ask questions. Of course make sure you leave your mobile number in the ad in case someone wants to inspect. They may call well after the ad finishes.
EBay is ideal for "tyre kickers", I, along with many others, browse the boating section weekly.
 
There is of course a wide spectrum in terms of the service brokers offer and the way they deliver the service. Whilst I agree that the paperwork is not difficult the one thing a broker will do is handle potentially large sums of money and remove the challenges and risks associated with handling deposits etc in a private transaction.

Although not your point I also have to take issue with the poster that thinks the first thing a broker wants to do is park the boat in their yard. Brokerage services have moved forward and there is choice now which allows owners to leave their boats where they are, continue to use them and at the same time be safe in the knowledge that brokers are personally accompanying customers on board for viewings and in most cases filtering out the tyre kickers.

I do believe however a broker that does not give maximum exposure on the main boating portals as an inherent part of their service is not fulfilling their obligations - which are to find a buyer and then instigate a smooth transaction

At the end of the day using a broker is a lifestyle choice as is owning a boat.

Will
 
[ QUOTE ]
The paperwork really isn't that hard though.....

Awful lot of money for a broker doing what you can do quite easily yourself..... I know they have yards and staff to maintain etc etc, but I think that a substantial percentage of buyers nowadays do their research on the internet first, and see the ads there..... and you can put that ad there yourself, just as easily as a broker can....

Mine sold in 2 weeks (in September this year) via boatsandoutboards..

In response to Jonics points above. I wouldn't knock brokers, I am sure there are some very good ones out there.... I however think that the huge disparity of rates between them and for example estate agents, is going to have to change.... buyers are more sophisticated, using the net more intelligently, if nothing else for price comparisons, and therefore sellers will demand a lot more for the high percentages, or frankly will refuse to use them... the really bad few brokers will destroy the market for the good ones, and even without that, the rates are going to have to drop to 3 or 4% max to remain a viable business model in the future IMHO

Got to be worth a go for a few weeks before approaching a broker surely?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for not knocking brokers. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

There is a disparity in percentage rates between a broker and an estate agent for two reasons. Firstly most yachts cost a lot less than a house. For example an estate agent sells a £400,000 pound house for 1.5 percent, and is paid £6000. A broker sells a yacht for £60,000 at 6 percent and is paid £3600 but crucially and secondly in a house transaction the estate agent only does the advertising and negotiation. Both parties then employ two seperate solicitors for the conveyencing and money transfer.

In a full brokerage transaction the broker also does the work of the estate agent and then both solicitors.

i.e.
Advertising and negotiation
Contracts
Deposit taking and holding in ecsrow
re-negotiation after survey
Title check
Outstanding Mortgage/Fnance search
Registration
Disbursements and payment of outstanding finance
Completion


The paper work is sometimes not that difficult, untill you get it wrong, or there are missing or out of date documents in the paper trail. New EU legislation regarding RCD, VAT and money laundering now carry severe penalties. For example if we receive an offer in cash over a certain amount (and it is a lot less than you may think) we MUST report it to HM customs and then receive permission to continue the transaction. If we fail to notify or are suspicious in any way and again fail to notify, the penalty is up to five years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

Here is a section on the RCD taken from the Hants advice to brokers.

"For an offence under the RCD, the person responsible for first placing the craft on the market or
taking it into service, the maximum penalty for breaching the RCD is 3 months imprisonment or a
£5000 fine. This applies equally to private individuals and those in business. Although a
prosecution must be brought with one year from the date of the offence, there are other processes
which can be invoked on the discovery of a non-compliant or falsely CE marked craft."

So broking is not just putting an ad on the internet. It has been a revalation that buyers can now research on the internet as it has helped cut done the time wasters. The ABYA figure was recently that only 1% of enquiries result in a sale.
The time wasting has to be seen to be believed. Failed appointments, dreamers, people who really can't actually afford the boat and want the vendor to sub the difference, fender kickers who spend half an hour telling you what's wrong with the boat and "definite" offers that don't happen are part of a brokers day."

But I have some great clients, who have become firm friends, and I enjoy seeing happy people at the end of a deal.


Most brokerage agreements allow for the vendor to sell privately whilst the boat is being marketed by the broker, and for some people a private sale works just fine.
 
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