Private or Broker?

[clivew05]

I am seriously thinking about selling IBIS (seawings 355) and am wondering whether it would be best to try to sell privately - would i need solicitors etc? or go through a brokerage?

What do you guys think?

 

[Nautorius]

The Seawings is a very specific type of craft and there will be someone who wants one. You are unlikely (though possible) to get crossover from someone wanting an S34 or T34. Given that I would Advertise on Boats and outboards and set up a marine solicitor to give comfort to potential buyers.

Are you trading up or getting out for a while? I only ask as this will affect your pricing no doubt. If you have no interest after 2/3 weeks then stick her with a mainstream Broker.

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[clivew05]

Yep Im getting out for a while Im afraid - although I plan to get back in sometime in the future and I have an idea of what I want to get as well

 

[gjgm]

I think 2-3 weeks is wildly optimistic. You need two things-exposure and access. There is a reasonable chance you can create the exposure yourself, but do it seriously.. think about a web page for the boat with plenty of detail and photos. You ve got to entice someone to move to the next step.. viewing. If you are just round the corner, thats easy. If you are 100 miles away, just how many times do you want to drop everything and show round someone. What is unlikely to work is just putting and ad on B+O and sitting back expecting the phone to ring.
Have a good long hard think about price.People always think there is a queue forming of prospective buyers. Have a look at similar boats and prices. Ok, those boats are still for sale, which tells you something.People arent going to buy the boat without seeing it, and they are more likely to see it if its attractively priced. And I dont mean £1000 off. Think of what you save selling it now instead of a possible drop in price and costs in 6-9 months time, plus any below price offer you may get anyway.Gives you something to mull over, anyway.
But you should decide how quickly you want to sell.. 6 weeks, or 6 months..
And bear in mind, the broker wants your boat with him or he has no chance of a fee. Doesnt matter to him if it starts off overpriced.....

 

[Magnum]

Why not try Google Adwords? Worked for me.

 

[AdeOlly]

Agree 100% with gjgm. When I sold my S24 privately last year I created a website with about 25 good images and put up a full, and I mean full, spec including pdfs of prior surveys. I also listed the minor things that needed doing - which I think sets a good impression that you're being open and honest. Price it sensibly. I placed ads on B&O, Apollo duck, ybw.com, boatshop etc etc. I sold the boat in 5 weeks to the first person to view for 95% of asking price, with several people looking at the web site beforehand and deciding not to view; i.e. eliminating the time wasters.
Seawings aren't generally the fastest of sellers, appealing to enlightened buyers who can see past the fact it's not a FairPrinSeaSqueeker and that hardtops are soooo sensible for our climate /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Mine had been up for six months, there's a 355 for sale at Port Solent that's been there since last Summer (at least) and the 314 at Eastbourne's been there a long time too.

Good luck whichever way you go.

BTW - Why are you getting out of boating, esp when you have such a fab boat?