Why Boat yacht brokers

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Halcytwo

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21 Oct 2012
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Hi
Does any one know anthing about these people,
They advertise a flat fee brokerage of £295 +Vat, Up front fee, or work on a commision basis.
Any comments at all please.
I realise the pit falls of up front fees, hence why I am asking here before making decisions.
Thanks
 
Seems too cheap for them to do anything useful for you. I guess most brokers would consider themselves lucky to sell more than a handful of boats per month, so these guys may be making less than £1k per month - not a living wage.

Ah, just noticed - it's an up front fee - and presumably non returnable - that could explain it.
 
When I sold, I think my broker did more than £295 worth of work.
If you are going to use a broker, you need to be clear what service you are getting.
Will the broker show the boat to clients, or does he just phone you so you show them around etc?
Will they handle the deposit etc?
If they are just doing the minimum from a distance, you possibly might as well advertise it yourself?
If their office is close to the boat it might work, if they don't sell any boats they won't build a good reputation.
 
Halcytwo said:
Hi
Does any one know anthing about these people,
They advertise a flat fee brokerage of £295 +Vat, Up front fee, or work on a commision basis.
Any comments at all please.
I realise the pit falls of up front fees, hence why I am asking here before making decisions.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Look carefully. They have a tiered scale of charges and that level is just to list your boat for a period of time and pass on enquiries. Don't do anything to actually sell your boat and manage the transfer. All that available at extra charge for boats local to them.

OK if that is all you want and arguably better than organising your own individual advertisements. Suits some people, but if you want a full brokerage service not necessarily any cheaper (or better, or worse) than any other broker.
 
If you look at their list of charges then you see that the £295 + VAT (and as most clients will not be able to claim back the VAT the price is £354) gets advertising and little else - conveyancing will set you back another £1074 for example. If they do the viewings (and sell your boat) you'll pay close to 3 grand.

Not bad if you're selling anything over £60k.

Not so good if you're not.

As to whether the advertising and appointment booking is worth the £354..it's difficult to get on yachtworld without a broker, so that might be worth it, but a featured ad on apolloduck is £25
 
Halcytwo said:
Hi
Does any one know anthing about these people,
They advertise a flat fee brokerage of £295 +Vat, Up front fee, or work on a commision basis.
Any comments at all please.
I realise the pit falls of up front fees, hence why I am asking here before making decisions.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I sold my boat with them and would recommend them.
It's the cheapest way of getting exposure on Yachtworld with a pro broker.
The £295 is no frills, but you can pay extra for a full service, which they are very capable of, if you wish.
Ian who runs it is a sailor, and knows boats.
 
Go for it!

Yes. I sold my boat through them and I was very happy with their service. My boat was advertised with Ancasta and Boatshed. Ancasta was being useless, the worst of the three and Why boat the best by a long shot. It was a Harmony 38, not known in the UK and therefore hard to sell. Whyboat was more interested in selling it than the other two who didn't seem to care that much!! Whyboat is a small business and if they want to survive, they have to work hard and they do work hard!
Just a happy customer... :)
 
Halcytwo said:
They advertise a flat fee brokerage of £295 +Vat,
Thanks
Click to expand...

According to their website its £295 inc. VAT.

As has happened with Rightmove, companies will start to provide a barebones service just to give access to Yachtworld, which, IMHO, is one of the very few advantages which selling through a broker offers.
 
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