online brokerage

[kimhollamby]

Damn! They turned me off again. Must have something to do with the focus of my boat shots that do, I admit, emphasise the characteristics of my boat's figurehead /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[kimhollamby]

Or in other words...

...we have an issue with an old classified ad booking back-end system not talking to our online back-end systems at the moment.

It's on the list of priorities to resolve - the classified system is currently being considered for upgrade right now and we are involved in the discussions both regarding online booking and display of ads.

Meantime we have revamped what we do with classifieds here. You can indeed book your ad online here and as soon as you are called for payment you can opt to make it live straightaway, with a pic.

If you don't go that route and book your listing via the magazines it will appear here as a text listing online for free, but only after the on sale date. We also have to eat humble pie here and say that our repro house are still dropping some listings at the moment, the subject for ongoing 'negotiations' and the cause of substantial follicle carpet overlay in our office. So if you have a boat for sale ad running at the moment and cannot find it online, please let us know as we have the tools available to do something about it.

Lastly you are right, we develop these things and don't tell you about it.

All points noted, I can promise you.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[jonjo]

Re: Or in other words...

It is good to hear that you are starting to sidestep the print time lag issue with your online service.

The other high priority feature required is an answer to the age-old problem of classified adverts i.e. space. I think a self-service approach, using web forms, where advertisers can augment their original ad text into a structured web page, is the only economic solution.

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: Or in other words...

Yes, understand that comment also. I'll make sure we include that thought in the deliberations.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[david_e]

Alan, I sold my boat (First 211) privately recently and have just bought through a broker. Originally put a small classified ad with a photo in May YM for 2 months. This brought about 8 callers, immediatley 1 was up to buy but soon dropped out. Things went quiet and then one caller turned up at the boat in July to view. (He eventually came back to buy in September but by then it was sold so he bought the same model but new) About July time it went in the YM on line directory and this brought about 7 enquiries with a couple more from the Benny owners site. The buyer came from the YM site, he was after a cheaper boat and was seeking private ads to do it 'cause he knew how high broker prices are. I achieved more than I was offered in p/ex, and have made huge savings on my new purchase. The broker would have done free brokerage with a p/ex but still feels my net price achieved in YM was as much as he could get bearing in mind the price of a new one. There is alot of interest on the net, which is worth doing yourself. As a buyer I tended to drift towards the broker sites and, as you have a Benny to sell, eyb-boats.com to get markers on prices across Europe. Most will do your boat price for about 5-6% if you ask nicely, all depends on how quick you want to do it. Have you got a firm choice for your next boat yet, 'cause that is something you need to consider?

 

[incognito]

Re: Or in other words...

Make the new online your primary system, including the booking in of new ads, then dump the ads via XML to your old backend system, with an XSLT stage to put it the way the old backend likes it. That means most of your spend goes into your new system but preserves the old. Just a humble suggestion cos I like using the buzzwords but haven't got a clue what they mean.

 

[ghostwriter]

but<font color=red>why</font color=red> is it that html is not anymore enabled (but it is ).... ain't misbehavin' guv , onestly !

 

[kimhollamby]

HTML

HTML has never been enabled; mark-up has been.

See <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/faq/2.22.html>http://www.ybw.com/faq/2.22.html</A>

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: Or in other words...

In essence sounds great. To add to the fun though the classified system looks after over 100 mags and only about 15 of those have active websites with classified requirements so there's a bit of fun over here regarding who wants to sit in the head of the horse and who gets the tail. The old back-end is getting changed anyway, if you know what I mean. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[Joe_Cole]

Out of interest does anyone know of any good on line brokers?

When we were looking for our boat 3 years ago the on line brokers were useless. Out of date/poor and inadequate information etc. In fairness though I suppose that some may say that this describes brokers whether on or off line. In the end I gave up: we ended up buying from a private ad in PBO.

It may have changed now.

 

[Toutvabien]

http://botenbank.nl/boatbank/index.html
Is the best that I have come across. It is a Dutch website, I do not know who runs it, but I don't think it is a brokerage firm. It has fairly comprehensive listings of boats for sale in Netherlands and Belgium, links to brokers, a list of actual prices achieved for boats in recent years (listed by model and year of build), and it works in english.

Can you copy this functionality Kim?

Paul.

 

[alanhanson]

thanks everyone for the advice

i think i will try to sell private via ths mags first

do i wait until feb /march or start now ?

 

[ghostwriter]

Re: HTML

sorry guv , slip of the tongue , was referring to the fact that in the "Reply to" page , the clickable "markup is enabled" line , the one that triggered a subscreen with the instructions , is now replaced by a non-clickable "HTML is disabled" , but for this little whiner it's no problemo

 

[robp]

Issues on the street/doorstep, Jan, Feb, March. (Feb, March, April issues).

 

[kimhollamby]

Try <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw-boats.com>http://www.ybw-boats.com</A> for our brokerage boats search tools. Click on advanced search if you want to drill down to more detail. You can search across quite a few countries in Europe now from that page.

For private classifieds we currently simply allow a keyword search. Reasons for this are that private classified advertisers are allowed free text and so it is hard to plan for a more detailed database. As we make new developments that may be something to consider but it will rely on people filling in their forms correctly.

kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[Forbsie]

What a great search engine, Kim. 36m De Foe Cruisemaster for $40,000!! Now gone to auction due to huge response. No surprise there then.

It'll keep my dreams going for ages. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/forbsie>My Project Pics</A>

 

[MartinGPerry]

I run the Westerly Owners Association web site, www.westerly-owners.co.uk we have a very successful sales and wants section and in the last three years to my certain knowledge have introduced buyers to sellers and vice versa for at least 20 sales or purchases - there may have been many more.

Currently there are 58 craft for sale and quite a few ads from people looking for Westerly's

Its quite simple, craft that are priced correctly and are in good condition sell quickly, overpriced or poor condition craft are always difficult to sell.

Ads are free to members, a nominal charge for non members

We shall soon be placing ads advertising our web presence in the yachting press

Martin Perry