Thick/dishonest yacht brokers that photo-shop the images...

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Ric

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I'd have thought that by now yacht brokers would have realised that trying to trick customers into buying a yacht at a higher price than advertised elsewhere is a bad business plan. But still I see yachts for sale with images that have been clumsily photo-shopped to disguise the yacht's name, and no details about hull number, engine hours etc. How is this legal in this day and age?
 
For a couple of years after I bought my Hanse 301, another broker was using pictures of it to try and sell a completely different Hanse 301. So skimming other broker's photos in order to sell his stock... top of the class for effort. Getting away with it, of course, because his own client was disinterested enough not to pull him up on it.
 
Ric said:
I see yachts for sale with images that have been clumsily photo-shopped to disguise the yacht's name. How is this legal in this day and age?
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If you were selling as an agent you would protect your income source by making it difficult for potential customers to try and make contact with the owner. I feel sure another forumite, who is an agent, will confirm this.
 
Sadly it seems quite common to use photo’s that are not of the actual boat for sale. Recently I’ve seen pictures where an advertised boat alternates between having teak decks and not. There’s other examples of where copies of a picture have been used on more than one listing selling completely different boats.
Stretching the truth goes further when some of the historical photo’s can be identified from years ago but are now used to advertise a second hand boat.
Boats are usually high value items so any kind of duplicity is an instant warning and turn-off. Which is a shame for the honest sellers who have had their pictures copied.
 
I haven't seen a single brokers site yet with decent detailed photos. All of them including YBW are poor compared to what you might see for other vehicles or items for sale. The descriptions are short and poorly written and details often lacking.

It's frustrating as someone who might well be in the market for one soon. I wouldn't make a 500 mile round journey unless I was sure that what I'm going to view is the actual item in question and more or less as described. Then I'd use the visit to check the details and check for fit etc...
 
Mikedefieslife said:
I haven't seen a single brokers site yet with decent detailed photos. All of them including YBW are poor compared to what you might see for other vehicles or items for sale. The descriptions are short and poorly written and details often lacking.

It's frustrating as someone who might well be in the market for one soon. I wouldn't make a 500 mile round journey unless I was sure that what I'm going to view is the actual item in question and more or less as described. Then I'd use the visit to check the details and check for fit etc...
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Some brokers are very good with photos. Boatshed, for example, generally include loads of photos, and confirm that they have taken them - but it's infuriating that you have to register to view them, this must deter a lot of potential buyers. Higher up the price ladder, John Rodriguez of JR Yachts always has good pics and very detailed specs.
 
My pet hate during our search for bigger boat was brokers using, presumably client supplied or from a much earlier sale, old photos of the boat when it was in much better condition than as presented to market

Not talking about a year or two, in some cases I was able to check the Exif info and discover that some of the photos were a decade or more old!

(Must say that when we came to sell Erbas, Clarke & Carter at Burnham did a nice job of the photos and the blurb by the way)
 
Concerto said:
If you were selling as an agent you would protect your income source by making it difficult for potential customers to try and make contact with the owner. I feel sure another forumite, who is an agent, will confirm this.
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I was reading through a well know brokerage T&Cs - basically as soon as You've signed the agreement they will get a percentage of the selling price, even if you found a buyer that day and sold direct to him ( or her) without them even having listed your boat....
 
It's about time the industry was investigated and proper legislation put in place. There is frequent clear mis-representation by brokers either through sheer laziness or deliberate dishonesty. I always ask for up to date photos and copies of service history before I even travel to view a boat now.
 
wully1 said:
I was reading through a well know brokerage T&Cs - basically as soon as You've signed the agreement they will get a percentage of the selling price, even if you found a buyer that day and sold direct to him ( or her) without them even having listed your boat....
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Enforcing that is a PITA at best and not always effective. Better to avoid the problem. Plus you re forgetting the situation where the vendor doesnt want his pals / ex wife / HMRC to see what he is asking for the boat
 
Ric said:
I'd have thought that by now yacht brokers would have realised that trying to trick customers into buying a yacht at a higher price than advertised elsewhere is a bad business plan. But still I see yachts for sale with images that have been clumsily photo-shopped to disguise the yacht's name, and no details about hull number, engine hours etc. How is this legal in this day and age?
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Given that most boats are AWBs and identical, why would you take more than a passing glance at photos anyway? The decision to buy or not depends on a far more detailed look round than can ever be done by photo. For that matter do you expect the broker to photo problems? Or the owner to be happy for that?

You must have experienced househunting where the house you view and the image you see in the brochure are never the same.
 
I have no problem with brokers blanking out names and stuff, it is a very, very small world out there and they are protecting their income.

Used a broker to buy my first boat and the pictures gave a clear view of the boats that I looked at. I looked at hundreds of website pages before buying my second boat, not only of the same type, but also of the manufacture in general. This gave me a feel for both the fit of the boat i was interested in, but of the style of the manufacture. Having bought the boat I still look at pictures of other boats of the same type, as they are full of good ideas for the future.
 
wully1 said:
I was reading through a well know brokerage T&Cs - basically as soon as You've signed the agreement they will get a percentage of the selling price, even if you found a buyer that day and sold direct to him ( or her) without them even having listed your boat....
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What is the problem with that, you sign an agreement, it comes in to force, if you do not like that you should not sign.
Look at it from the other side, when my last boat was listed I had potential buyers approaching me to see what sort of deal we could do if we cut out the broker. As I understand it, I could have agreed a deal in principle, dismissed the broker then proceeded to complete it, not very honest when the broker has used his resources to attract the customer.
 
Some of the brokers listed are better than others. Still I find that the images are poor quality/low resolution, and many details like the age of certain items like the rigging, sails etc. Descriptions are generally sales brochure stuff as oppose to a proper description including stuff like how many former owners, used as a liveaborad, former charter etc..

On some the large sites with vessels from a variety of brokers, the search options can be lacking.

I can understand this a little from the brokers if they are only making 10% commission on a £20k, but from the owners point of view, you'd think they'd make sure they show everything important in high detail, and give as full a description as possible. If I ran a site it would include a downloadable pack with the history of service (if any), previous survey (if in the last 5 years) and other useful info.
So far the experience seems similar to that of estate agents listing properties online. Though you don't usually have to travel as far to view property ;)
 
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Quandary said:
What is the problem with that, you sign an agreement, it comes in to force, if you do not like that you should not sign.
Look at it from the other side, when my last boat was listed I had potential buyers approaching me to see what sort of deal we could do if we cut out the broker. As I understand it, I could have agreed a deal in principle, dismissed the broker then proceeded to complete it, not very honest when the broker has used his resources to attract the customer.
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Good man. The old adage "Do as you would be done by" comes to mind.
 
Quandary said:
What is the problem with that, you sign an agreement, it comes in to force, if you do not like that you should not sign.
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I didn't......and sold my boat soon after privately....had I and the sale went ahead as it turned out I would have been liable to pay the broker a Lot of money for doing absolutely nothing.

Had a while gone by and the broker had actively listed my boat then I wouldn't have had an issue and referred any potential buyers to the broker. Why have a dog and bark yourself?
 
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