BoatBanter.com - Help on Broker

On Mar 18, 4:03 pm, "Chuck Gould" wrote:
On Mar 17, 11:30?am, "dene" wrote:

On Mar 16, 12:44 pm, "druid" wrote:

Hi,

This one's mainly for Chuck, because he's kinda local and in the
business, but feel free to leap in...

I don't like the broker currently selling my boat. He took over a
month to get the ad online, and another 2 weeks to get "full specs"
posted. Now I look at it, and half the specs are wrong, and he still
doesn't mention a bunch of things (like the sails, microwave, bbq,
GPS...) AND he still hasn't posted any pics of the interior. I made up
a website with full (correct!) specs and lots of interior and exterior
pics (with a link to him), but he's not using any of the info or pics
on the Yachtworld site.

I signed up with him on Feb 10 (kinda Long Story on why I signed with
him in the first place...) for I guess 90 days. Can I switch to
another broker after 90 days? Can I switch earlier? Or am I stuck with
him?

druidhttp://www.bcboatnet.org

A year ago, I had a broker like that. ?He had the boat 90 days and did
nothing with it. ?I waited for the contract to expire, then posted it
on Craig's List. ?Sold it in a week. ?Sold another boat, a Maxum 2400,
last fall in 3 days on Craig's List. ?Finally, two weeks ago, sold our
final 25' express cruiser, a Regal 2465, for full price, in two
days...on Craig's List.

Point is....you may not need a broker. ?Just post a full description
with pictures, a fair/firm price, and see what happens. ?Be ready to e-
mail more pictures when asked. ?Finally, screen the inquiries. ?I
didn't show the boat unless I was certain the party was sincere. ?Ask
blunt questions. ?It's your time they are potentially wasting.

-Greg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sometimes there are a couple of sides to the "broker couldn't sell my
boat" story. In some cases, the seller sets a price that is somewhere
between moderately and wildly overpriced when the boat is listed with
a broker and wonders why the offers aren't rolling in.

I can remember cases where people would pull a listing from me, give
it to somebody else priced 20-25% less, and then start singing the
praises of the
second broker because he or she was so much more effective. I also had
the same scenario play out in reverse.

Sometimes the most expensive thing you can do is to sell your boat
yourself.
If you sold a medium size boat for full price in two days it could
(not to say that it did) have as much to do with seriously
*underpricing* the boat and leaving a lot of money on the table as it
has to do with Craigslist being magic.
The vast majority of people buying a boat are going to want to dicker.
Those that don't are often of the opinion that the price is already a
red hot deal, and yet, from a seller's perspective, the trick is to
price the boat as high as you can and still find a sufficient market
(one buyer) to complete the sale. People think something is a red hot
deal either because they're green to the marketplace or the
merchandise is so seriously underpriced that anybody can tell it's
being given away. (The fool and his money are usually parted before he
gets around to looking at your boat).

One of my favorite brokerage stories conerns a guy who was advertising
his boat FISBO. He was asking just over $100k for a boat that was
commonly selling for $125-140k. I called him up to ask about his boat,
and to tell him that if it was in good shape I might be able to sell
it pretty quickly for him and *still* net him more than he was asking.
He said, "Too late. I sold the boat to the first guy who looked at it.
All cash, no survey, no nothing. Done deal. I think I did pretty well,
I got $80,000 for it."

When I offered a weak congratulations and commented that I hoped he
hadn't sold his boat too cheaply, he retorted, "Yeah, so what if I
did? At least I didn't have to pay a commission to some gaul-darn
thievin' yacht broker!"

Love makes the world go 'round. :-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I've sold three boats on Craig's list this year. First situation,
boat rotted with an inept broker for 3 months. It would have sold
sooner had I picked the right one. After his time was up, I merely
deducted his commission from the price and sold it pronto.

Next situation with a Maxum 2400, I was scheduled to give it to a
broker in a week. I put it on Craig's list, stating a price with a
broker and without. A guy bit the day the boat was scheduled to be
delivered. I didn't budge on the price.

Last situation with the Regal 2465. Survey done 6 months ago said 35k
BOCA value, so I priced firmly at that figure. Sold in two days to a
1st time boat buyer who had been looking for six months. His kid
named the boat, "It's About Time."

I think there is a role for a broker and wouldn't hesitate using one
after I've exhausted my effort on Craig's List.

-Greg