Selling a Rustler

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WalshamUK

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A close friend is selling his Rustler yacht (sadly the sale is due to ill health). The boat is in S.Brittany. Does anyone have any recommendations as to the best place to advertise it for sale? French brokers have proved useless (perhaps because it's a British boat).

Thanks

Keith J.
 
Georgio said:
RedEnsign in Falmouth are known to be a good used Rustler broker.

it may be easier to sell in the UK because they are better known here.
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Many thanks for that. For reasons I don't want to go into (I mentioned ill health), moving the boat back to the UK is not a possibility, and brokers in the UK do not seem to be particularly interested in boats a long distance away. However I will pass the RedEnsign tip along to my friend.

Keith J.
 
+1 for David at Red Ensign. Brittany will be no problem and if someone is looking for a Rustler, they will be looking at Red Ensign.
No connection, but bought a yacht through them.
 
WalshamUK said:
Many thanks for that. For reasons I don't want to go into (I mentioned ill health), moving the boat back to the UK is not a possibility, and brokers in the UK do not seem to be particularly interested in boats a long distance away. However I will pass the RedEnsign tip along to my friend.

Keith J.
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The owner has to recognise that is is avery thin market - lots of people like the idea of the boat but very few buy them. Travel to view can be a significant barrier, so best to pay a crew to bring it nearer the potential market.
 
I had my house in Brittany up for sale with four French Estate Agents for nearly three years, it was only when I put it on UK Ebay that things started to move. Had over 120 enquiries.
The trouble is that to get Brit buyers to cross the channel things have to be cheap.
There is a French boat magazine "Announces" (or something like that) I would put the boat in that magazine. There are loads of Brit boat owners in France who dont get PBO and buy this magazine.
And people do travel, I had a speedboat for sale (in the Lake District) and someone came 1000 miles to buy it.
 
Friend living in France advertised his boat IIRC a UK brokerage and again IIRC it was Red Ensign.

Sold OK to a Dutch purchaser. I think at a profit but obviously money had been spent on maintenance , new sails etc

Purchaser viewed boat in France, bought it and sailed it back to home.

Obviously important that boat is in condition ready to sail away and is well prepared with actual photos ( not those from the manufacturers catalogue!)

A few years ago now so hope my memory is correct
 
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I and my friends used to think nothing of travelling hundreds of miles just to look at vaguely potential boats to buy; not any more !

We have got older, and relative car fuel costs much dearer; so my suggestions are;

A, Get the boat to SW UK prime market, ie probably Falmouth/ Fowey.

B, Put ad's on notice boards at relative clubs, but not before speaking to members who may well know of people quietly interested - so the boat never goes near brokers - this is common especially with boats like this.

C, One way or another put a good ad' on the net, brokers or self.
 
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You don't say which Rustler - smart well-equipped R42 or manky old vintage R31.
In my experience the sort of folk who'd buy a Rustler wouldn't mind travelling a few miles to see a decent one. I sold my Nic35 when she was on the Villaine River in S Britanny. The French brokers I approached weren't really interested and undervalued her by nearly 50%! I put her on B&O and Apollo Duck in the UK and she sold within weeks for my asking price. The only boring bit is travelling out there for a viewing - I was lucky and sold to the second viewer. You could try to arrange an 'open day' for interested parties to save travel etc.
Saying that, I second the vote for Red Ensign - they are well known and trustworthy for used Rustler sales.
Duncan
 
The costs of paying someone to bring the boat back to the UK will be money well spent. the £ has risen 20 against the Euro this year and you need to take advantage of that. I am sure a good broker would arrange to re-patriate the boat for your friend.
 
Bringing her back to the UK would definitely be sensible. We deliver lots of yachts to the UK to be sold, in fact we have an Oyster 435 due to come back over from South Brittany very soon for exactly the same reason.

A yacht in the UK will certainly attract more interest and should also secure a higher price.

Pete
 
My brother bought a similar boat that had been brought back by road from France that the owner was too ill to bring home. My brother would not have entertained going to look at her in France. Tell the owner to get it back to the UK, either by sea or by road, as he will will sell quicker and get a higher selling price.
 
It so happens that a couple of years ago I was looking at Rustler 36s. There were several for sale in France/Spam/Portugal. I was not tempted to go and look at them, as there were several in the UK. I eventually bought one near Plymouth.

Pay somebody to get in back here.
 
Always a fair few on the market in the UK . Price range is huge for this marque and appears to be biased towards year of build rather than condition and presentation. Perhaps the fact that they are still built for the price of a pretty nice house in Scotland makes a difference.
If I had a few more shekels to spend I would definately risk a trip to Germany for a look at this one currently on with Red Ensign. http://www.red-ensign.com/rustler-362#.VQnTkIbfWrU
 
Homer Simpson's Lovechild said:
Always a fair few on the market in the UK . Price range is huge for this marque and appears to be biased towards year of build rather than condition and presentation. Perhaps the fact that they are still built for the price of a pretty nice house in Scotland makes a difference.
If I had a few more shekels to spend I would definately risk a trip to Germany for a look at this one currently on with Red Ensign. http://www.red-ensign.com/rustler-362#.VQnTkIbfWrU
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Fairly certain that the one my friend sold through Red Ensign from his home port in France. His was Black Hull, had new tan sails made in France and had a bow thruster after a few years of problems when going astern was necessary! Cannot be many Rustlers with that spec!

Evidently the IIRC it was a Dutchman was in fact a German!!

While many advise bringing it back to UK I would list it with Red Ensign and be advised by them. Few boats sell fast unless they are underpriced and if it didn't sell quickly you could deduct the cost of moving it to UK and paying UK Marina prices and still be in pocket!!

Broker is probably in best position to advise knowing the likely market but with € exchange rate there will not be much interest in seconhand UK boats from the continent now!! Complete reversal of the situation a few years ago!
 
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