How do I select a yacht broker to sell my yacht? How do I get the best yacht broker to sell my boat? These are questions that you as a vessel owner may ask when it is time to sell your boat. In my transactions with sellers, I find that most, if not all of them had no plan when deciding on the brokerage to represent them. Their option was made arbitrarily it would seem. When you are prepared, you need to find a good yacht brokerage that you can trust. Some of the things that you should take into account are honesty, value and expertise.
A yacht is a huge expenditure and lots of people prefer to buy one from a yacht brokerage. A brokerage sells boats to interested parties for a commission. Clearly, before you consider which one to go with when selling, you will need to know the commission amount that they charge; it is a customary 10% in the business.
Of course, you want to look for honesty in a yacht broker. Nobody desires to do business with a dishonest person in any way, but a few people are extremely dishonest without appearing to be. Investigate the reputation of the brokerage before making a commitment, and be sure that there are no complaints filed against them. The brokerage should be competent when it comes to knowing how to price your yacht. Your yacht brokerage should have a good feel of the market and how much to value your yacht.
Always look for knowledge in a yacht brokerage. They should have been in the business for some time. The longer, the better, obviously, as this shows they’re able to stay in business. They will not only find a way to sell your yacht at a respectable cost, but also manage to get the perfect yacht if you are looking to acquire another one from a broker.
In order to locate the right yacht brokerage, you will have to shop around. Talk to some people until you get comfortable with one. Ask for and call references. Never deal with a brokerage that is aggressive or insists that you sign a contract that you do not comprehend. These legal documents are binding. If you do not grasp the listing contract, you should discuss with an attorney. In addition, remember that purchasing a yacht is similar to buying a house. You will want to investigate the company as you would a home brokerage organization.
Here are some questions to ask while looking for the top yacht brokerage. Utilize this list to ascertain what Broker is best for you. I have also indicated our response to each question.
Do you co-broke with other Brokers who might have a buyer that could buy my yacht? Am I able to get it in writing? We have it in our listing agreement; we continually co-broke with other Brokers. If you cannot get it in writing the broker is more worried about his commission; you could potentially lose out on a sale.
How accessible are you going to be to me, buyers and other Brokers?
We make calls frequently to other Brokers and wait for days to hear back from them. My Blackberry and PC are constantly on; you can make contact with me if you need to; so can buyers!
Do you and your staff work at selling vessels full time or is brokerage just a passion? Scores of Brokers do it in their free time like a hobby. If your Broker will not work for you full-time, seven days a week, and holidays if necessary, you’ll want to select another company.
What is the duration of your listing agreement? Can I cancel if I desire to?
Our listing agreement is for an initial six months. Our rule is that if you are not content with our services, we will release you at any point in time at your request subsequent to that initial period. Many brokerage listing agreements have a notification clause in small print that claims you are obligated to give them a 90-120 day written notification before you will be released.
How do you market my yacht? Marketing and advertising boats is all about exposure. It’s a well-known truth that today’s boat buyers shop the Internet almost exclusively for their yachts. You are here! Actually statistics show that about ninety-eight percent of all vessel sales take place as a result of Web exposure. Ask about the internet websites the brokerage uses to promote boats and yachts. Having your yacht on 10 little known websites nobody can locate is of no use.
Ask how the brokerage has done search engine optimization and what percentage of site visitors come to their internet sites monthly by way of search engines. Approximately sixty-three percent of our visitors contact us by way of a search engine. It has been indexed by all of the major search engines including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Dogpile, and others.
Ask what terminology the website is rated for; our website can be Googled and found on page 1 for “used trawlers”, “used motor yachts”, “used cruisers”, and scores of other search terms. Perhaps that is how you found us?
Can your chosen brokerage ensure that your yacht will be seen on Google page 1? At our brokerage, we will guarantee it with each yacht listed.
How many guests come to your internet site searching for vessels? We often experience over 18,000 visits to our website monthly, many more than the Yachtworld web site.
Inquire if the brokerage utilizes the Yachtworld internet website, the worldwide multiple listing service internet website. This internet website is the multiple listing website where we share listings with other Brokers. And yes, every one of our yachts is on there.
Global advertising and marketing is a big issue to us; it creates purchasers. Do you know that we have had site visitors from as many as 78 countries in 2010 from countries such as Australia, Norway, Canada, France, Finland, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, and Germany on this site, just to mention a couple? We sold about 6 boats to foreign clients in 2010. Ask to see how a brokerage markets worldwide.
Does the brokerage use direct email advertising and marketing? We maintain an email marketing listing of several thousand boaters, many of whom are purchasers. On a bi-monthly basis we email these prospects with a publication about new vessels on the market, price modifications, boating headlines and other topics of marine relevance. Your yacht will be advertised here. It sends potential customers to the site.
Does the brokerage sustain a blog? We maintain a blog to help educate new customers to the boating community; your yacht will be posted there also. It is also indexed by Google every day and produces hundreds of site visitors each day. We write on the blog two times per week.
We also keep a Paradise Yachts existence on Face Book, the social media web site where we network with other boaters; many of our fans are boat purchasers searching to locate the right yacht.
We are one of a few brokerages that use You Tube to advertise your boat via narrated videos recounting her features. Your boat will be featured here also.
Additionally, we also participate in 61 other social bookmarking sites with the sole intention of bringing the buying traffic to your vessel.
How will you keep me informed of the progress of your internet marketing?
At Paradise Yachts we often are told how other Brokers get a listing and never let customers know how things are progressing. You will hear from us on a regular basis; about every 6 weeks. I like writing you an email outlining how I understand the broad market, how many boats like yours have sold and at what price, what the values are with boats like yours on the market, if any yachts similar to yours have entered the market and what if any recommendations I have to enhance our marketing.
How many yachts do you keep in stock? I like to maintain from 25-35 yachts in my selling inventory. With this amount, I can follow each boat’s monthly progress, examine the traffic each vessel receives, study what other boats like yours are selling for and keep you informed on her progress. More boats and you would become just another number.
What do you really understand about vessels; have you ever owned one?
I have sold in excess of one yacht because the purchaser completed his research and found me because he recognized I personally own a trawler. The buyer found me due to my yacht ownership and know-how. I could talk the talk with him.
And lastly, ask your broker for a record of yachts that have sold in the last year. Has he sold any yachts like to yours?
In summary, don’t just pick the Broker that happens to be down at the local docks. He may spend more time on the golf course than you do. Do some Internet research and ask various questions to recognize you are getting the Broker that has your best interests in mind.