Selling a boat Private or via a broker

[Boathunter]

Hi

I am in the process of selling my Bolero 25 Quarter Ton yacht to move to something a little bigger to sail with the family.

I can't currently decide if I am best placed to advertise on the likes of Apollo Duck, Boats and Outboards, Ebay etc etc and try and sell myself or whether to go down the route of putting the boat in the hands of a Broker.

I would be interested in peoples thoughts.

Additionally, how much should I expect to pay a Broker, what are their typical terms?

I have been quoted 6% Single or 8% open minimum £800 +VAT by one Broker does that seem reasonable?

 

[Tranona]

Standard charges. Your choice as to whether you use a broker depending on your circumstances and how well you think you can reach potential buyers, deal with the enquiries, handle viewings, sort out a serious buyer and turn them into a sale. For lower value boats a broker is an expensive choice relative to the value of the boat. Probably more lower value boats are sold by owners direct than by brokers for obvious reasons.

 

[wombat88]

It seems to me that many brokers just take a few pics and plonk the boat on the internet (Boatshed etc) at as higher price as they can imagine. The boats then sit there for ages.

If it is all about converting the boat into money for the next one I think doing it oneself is better. You can be flexible because you are not trying to cover the agents fees and, with a bit of luck you can make things move more quickly.

The personal touch can also help when converting that one enquiry into a buyer!

My boats are too cheap for brokers anyway. I've used class or owners associations to best effect so far...and sticking a sign on the boat!

 

[salar]

You could try private first then if that doesn't work go through a broker. I sold my boat via Boats and Outboards but beware of the scammers who buy from overseas and want to pay asking price, unseen. You would also do well to use the RYA for guidance on Bill of Sale etc. I think it cost me about £25 to sell my £12,000 boat.

 

[duncan99210]

We sold our mobo via an Ebay classified ad. I did a good deal of research first, looking at similar boats and what they were being advertised for, took a view as to how much ours might realistically fetch and pitched the price at about 5% over that. I had a few calls and then one guy called, said it was just what he wanted and could he see it that weekend?
We met, he looked over the boat on the trailer, listened to the engine running, spent an hour or so crawling over it with his girl friend and then offered me my asking price less 5% (which was what I reckoned the boat would fetch at that time). We shook hands, filled out an MCA model bill of sail, he produced a wad of cash and drove off with the boat on its trailer.
It was as simple as that. A friend in Greece also sold his Bavaria 38 recently by a similar process, selling it within days of putting it up for sale.
Why do I tell the story? I think that the real issue in selling a boat (or anything) is getting the price right. Price it well and it will sell. Listen to the optimistic opinions of a broker (or estate agent) and you will wait for ages for the thing to shift and have to pay significant fees into the bargain.

 

[Resolution]

I wish we could stop perpetuating the myth that overpriced asking prices are due to "optimistic" brokers. Far more often it is due to owners who over-value their treasured possession. Remember that a broker is just the agent for the owner/seller. Although he can advise a lower price, if the owner insists then the only options a broker has are either to accept that and advertise accordingly, or decline to act on the transaction. In most cases a broker is much better served by a quick sale.

 

[Cantata]

You could try private first then if that doesn't work go through a broker. I sold my boat via Boats and Outboards but beware of the scammers who buy from overseas and want to pay asking price, unseen. You would also do well to use the RYA for guidance on Bill of Sale etc. I think it cost me about £25 to sell my £12,000 boat.

Exactly my view. Last one I sold was for £27K at a cost of £25 for the ad. Give it a go, use the RYA Bill of Sale if you're not already an expert, and only resort to a broker if getting desperate to reach a wider audience through brokers' ads etc.

 

[ridgy]

Tried to sell my last privately at similar price to yours and had loads of interest/enquiries but not many real viewers and the ones that did view were not serious.
Put it with broker in the end for fixed fee of 500+Vat and didn't regret it.

Do you live far from the boat? Travelling a distance to meet timewasters a few times will soon make 600 quid look more reasonable.
Plus I felt that some people are more comfortable dealing with a broker. In the end the buyer had just missed out on another boat but the broker suggested he look at mine so I guess it worked.

Boat before that one was at a yard where the yard men could be trusted to show buyers round for the price of a pint or two so sold that privately without having to do any viewings.

 

[Tam Lin]

Sold my cheap boat with a free advert on Apollo Duck a few weeks ago. It went in less than two weeks. I had a number of enquiries and the third person to see it bought it. I took rather less than the asking price but wanted to move it on. It wasn't worth going to a broker as it would have cost a lot to sell but it would probably be worth it for a more expensive boat.

 

[nickf]

Plus I felt that some people are more comfortable dealing with a broker.

This may be true for some but there are many people ( well at least me) who would prefer to deal with the vendor direct.

 

[lw395]

I sold my Impala through the class association website forum years ago.
Enough people know they want some boats to look in such places.
I would think a 1/4tonner might be sold via similar means?

It's not really a boat you buy if you're looking for something else?
You might also try likely places where racing people will see it, e.g. JOG, clubs, Y&Y...
Maybe target owners of boats who might want to trade up?

Other boats, I've used a broker to get a wider exposure to people who didn't realise they wanted a particular model of boat..

 

[Strathglass]

I am going through this process just now with Strathglass which is a home built five year old craft. I am looking to downscale to a smaller bilge keeled yacht as old age has caught up and its effects on us. The agreed insured value is £50k. But do not expect to achieve that price.
I have none of the big brokers near me.
I first tried Boatshed which seemed reasonable at first contact
Someone came the day after I phoned them. He took over 80 photos and they then it went on line reasonably quickly. The photographer seemed to have been having a very busy day and once I had signed the bit of paper agreeing to their % off the top if they manage to sell the boat he was away like a scalded rabbit. I had to phone them with loads of corrections as he had obviously not been listening to what I was telling him when he was on the boat. Apart from summaries of numbers who have looked at the pictures by visiting their site I have had no information from them. I have looked at boatshed sites in other uk areas and they offer all sort of extras to increase coverage but I have just heard nothing from my local franchise. I am not really impressed.
I then visited the Scottish boat show to discuss with brokers about them about taking over the sale of the boat. They seemed to be uninterested unless I brought the boat through to them and berthed it in one of their marinas. The broker was too busy to even speak to me. I was told that she would contact me after the weekend. Yes she did, but that was to ask if I wished to buy one of the boats I had looked at but nothing about selling my boat.
I have now decided to put an advert in Apolloduck and see how I get on.
I also intend to put an advert in the pbo.
It is quite difficult to know the best way to go.

I will be offering to deliver it to anywhere in the uk and refund travelling costs to any viewers if they subsequently buy it.
So to answer the LP's question I have at this time decided to try Private.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

I sold my last but one boat through the owner association. I had several serious enquires and sold it for the asking price -5%, which is what I expected/hoped for.

I also put a 3 month add in PBO, including a photo and the online bit. I didn't get a single reply from the PBO add, which I thought was quite expensive for what it was.

I used the RYA bill of sale and it all worked out OK.

The difference being that I was prepared to give the potential buyer a trial sail, before a deposit was placed and to help him rig the boat after he'd taken possession.

So I guess I was offering a more personalised service than a broker would.

I sold my last boat in Part Exchange, which was a happy coincidence, a kind of mutual up scaling/ down sizing exercise.

 

[Thedreamoneday]

As someone who is looking around at the moment to buy a new boat the contrast between brokers is massive, some brokers are very helpful, they reply quickly, their website is clear with lots of hi res photos which to me is important. The other side of the spectrum is very poor low quality photos, limited detail about the equipment and when you ask for further info you get ignored!! Crazy, especially when my understanding is ey don't get paid til it's sold.

I suppose what I'm saying is not all brokers are the same (same with Estate Agents) do your homework and mystery shop them, then only you can decide if it's worth going down that route.

Good luck

 

[Jim@sea]

Its Location, Location, Location, If your boat is on the South Coast (where all the buyers are) I would suggest putting it up for sale with a broker as they will have people locally who are constantly asking what they have in and prices will be higher. A boat I had up for sale in 2011 was in a northern Marina, advertised it on all 3 Apollo Duck, Boats & Outboards and Ebay, and although I was swamped with enquiries from the South buyers simply dont want to view a £12,000 boat when to view it would involve a 350 mile drive and an overnight stay. eventually I sold it to someone from Southampton and I had to deliver it.
I made a mistake when I sold my last boat I should have taken it to the South, but I thought that moving it 140 miles South to a Brokerage at a Welsh Marina assuming that would make a difference, it didnt, mind you one person who came to see my boat may have been persuaded to buy a boat that belonged to the Brokerage (but thats the risk you run when you deal with a brokerage which is also an agent for new boats as well as a second hand as until they sell the boat they may have taken in px they cant realise the profit)
Anyway the Welsh brokerage could not sell it and I sold it myself from a Boats & Outboards ad for 25% less than what It would have fetched on the South Coast.
So if you are going to use a broker do it in the right place.

 

[bert49uk]

Its Location, Location, Location, If your boat is on the South Coast (where all the buyers are) I would suggest putting it up for sale with a broker as they will have people locally who are constantly asking what they have in and prices will be higher. A boat I had up for sale in 2011 was in a northern Marina, advertised it on all 3 Apollo Duck, Boats & Outboards and Ebay, and although I was swamped with enquiries from the South buyers simply dont want to view a £12,000 boat when to view it would involve a 350 mile drive and an overnight stay. eventually I sold it to someone from Southampton and I had to deliver it.

I made a mistake when I sold my last boat I should have taken it to the South, but I thought that moving it 140 miles South to a Brokerage at a Welsh Marina assuming that would make a difference, it didnt, mind you one person who came to see my boat may have been persuaded to buy a boat that belonged to the Brokerage (but thats the risk you run when you deal with a brokerage which is also an agent for new boats as well as a second hand as until they sell the boat they may have taken in px they cant realise the profit)
Anyway the Welsh brokerage could not sell it and I sold it myself from a Boats & Outboards ad for 25% less than what It would have fetched on the South Coast.
So if you are going to use a broker do it in the right place.

I agree pointless using a broker down here in North Devon have sold my last three boats "privately" and as has been said few people will travel more than 100 miles.
It can be worth the travel thow, didn't use a broker for my perchases ether and have always had a good deal, last boat I traveled to France to view and am very happy with my purchase

 

[Thedreamoneday]

I agree pointless using a broker down here in North Devon have sold my last three boats "privately" and as has been said few people will travel more than 100 miles.
It can be worth the travel thow, didn't use a broker for my perchases ether and have always had a good deal, last boat I traveled to France to view and am very happy with my purchase

I agree, it pays off to travel, the last 2 2nd hand cars I bought I saw 6 of each all round the uk, same model, colour etc and on both occasions I ended up with (I feel) the best my money could buy, which happened to be the farthest away too!

 

[Sybarite]

It seems to me that many brokers just take a few pics and plonk the boat on the internet (Boatshed etc) at as higher price as they can imagine. The boats then sit there for ages.

!

I fail to see any interest for the broker in setting a price which is too high. I would be afraid of the reverse: that he price the boat at the lower end of the range so that he gets a quick sale and hence his commission asap.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Absolutely. Brokers would obviously like their commission sooner rather than later. Having said that my experience of selling through a broker is good including the advice on pricing.

 

[Thedreamoneday]

The brokers I have been speaking to recently are saying they're having problems in getting the seller to reduce to a level which would encourage a buyer, I had one broker tell me an offer was made on the boat earlier in the year which the seller ignored completely and since then there has been no other interest, additional storage costs and clearly it's been sat around for a further 10 months!