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?

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org

"druid" wrote in message
ups.com...
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?

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org




Read the contract.

Eisboch

On Mar 16, 1:06 pm, "RCE" wrote:
"druid" wrote in message

ups.com...

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?

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org

Read the contract.

Eisboch

I was afraid somebody was gonna say that... I can't find the contract
(signed it on the boat, and then spent the next month frantically
cleaning, removing Stuff, etc. so it's probably in one of the bags of
"stuff"...

AFAIK, it's a Standard Contract. Can somebody tell me what the
Standard Contract says?

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org

"druid" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 16, 1:06 pm, "RCE" wrote:
"druid" wrote in message

ups.com...

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?

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org

Read the contract.

Eisboch

I was afraid somebody was gonna say that... I can't find the contract
(signed it on the boat, and then spent the next month frantically
cleaning, removing Stuff, etc. so it's probably in one of the bags of
"stuff"...

AFAIK, it's a Standard Contract. Can somebody tell me what the
Standard Contract says?

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org




The ones I am familiar with permit you to cancel the agreement at any time
but if the boat sells within a certain timeframe after contract cancellation
(usually 6 months) to a buyer who the original broker can prove that he
introduced the boat to or it was found as a result of the his/her efforts,
he/she may still be entitled to a commission.

This stuff can get touchy. Brokers like to get their commissions.

Eisboch

On Mar 16, 1:44?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

Hello, Lloyd

The broker can't hold your boat captive.

I would suggest that you have a frank talk with him or her and relate
that you are less than satisfied with the marketing efforts.
(Hopefully you have expressed this in prior conversations, but
regardless you have the right to be dissatisfied).

The cleanest way to cancel the listing is to ask the broker to furnish
you with a list of propsects to whom he has shown the boat. Assure the
broker that if any of those specific people ultimately buy your boat
he will get at least partial commission. The list is important. You
don't want the broker hearing through the grapevine next month that
Joe Doaks bought your boat and then calling you after the fact to
claim that he showed Joe and Mary Doaks your boat on March 10, 2007.

When you relist with somebody else, you can sign an agreement that
excludes a sale to the specific people on the list, or at least
assures that if one of those people buys your boat from the second
broker that the first broker will be included for part of the
commission. (This allows you to keep your word to the first broker).

Your first broker still hasn't lost out entirely. If he's running a
print ad for your boat or he gets an email or phone call after you
have moved the listing to another broker there is almost a 100% chance
that the second broker will "co-broker" with the first and they will
split the commission.

I would imagine your listing agreement is something boilerplated by
the BCYBA. It may contain language that gives your broker an
"exclusive right to sell" your boat for up to 180 days. In all
liklihood your broker will relinquish the listing if you express your
unhappiness and volunteer to protect him as outlined above.

Broker/client relationships are sort of like marriages- not every
randomly selected couple of folks will find that it is specifically
working for them. A pro will let you out of the deal.............but
then again a pro would typically have given you better service to this
point and you wouldn't have a reason to be unhappy.

Best of luck.

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:33:55 -0700, Chuck Gould wrote:

On Mar 16, 1:44?pm, "druid" wrote:
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

Hello, Lloyd

The broker can't hold your boat captive.


Good to hear!

I would suggest that you have a frank talk with him or her and relate
that you are less than satisfied with the marketing efforts.
(Hopefully you have expressed this in prior conversations, but
regardless you have the right to be dissatisfied).


I've tried to be positive about my concerns: for instance, I thanked him
for getting the detailed specs online in my email pointing out the errors.
I would like to keep him "on my side" as much as possible.

The cleanest way to cancel the listing is to ask the broker to furnish
you with a list of propsects to whom he has shown the boat. SNIP

Thanks for the Great Advice!

I think I'll wait until the April mags come out (he was supposed to get
the ads in the March mags, but missed the deadline) - see how that shows.
Then again, the longer I wait the bigger the "list of prospects" would be...

I would imagine your listing agreement is something boilerplated by
the BCYBA. It may contain language that gives your broker an
"exclusive right to sell" your boat for up to 180 days.

This was the clause I remember from last time that was bothering me.
Hopefully he'll be kind and cancel it if I decide to change brokers.

So - did you ever get the problems worked out on BC Boatnet? Haven't seen
you post there...

Thanks again
druid

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

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. :-)

On Mar 17, 10:30 am, "dene" wrote:
On Mar 16, 12:44 pm, "druid" wrote:



Hi,
I don't like the broker currently selling my boat.SNIP

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. SNIP

Yeah, thought of that. For one thing, I'm the World's Worst Salesman.
I know my asking price is a bit high (although it's lower than the
survey said it was worth), but I know the sellers will be
"bargaining". It's worth the commission to have THEM deal with the
looky-loos, the low-ballers, and have on their conscience "the one
that got away" (and I really don't like hearing how bad my boat is,
which is of course what the sellers will do to try for a lower
price!).

My concern is not that he hasn't sold the boat yet, but more HOW he's
selling it: if you look at Meridian Yacht's website, they have 8
sailboats including mine, and it seems that ALL the others are better
presented.

Anyway, I've emailed him with a list of problems with the "full specs"
and I'll see how he deals with that.

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org

On Mar 19, 1:56 pm, "druid" wrote:
On Mar 17, 10:30 am, "dene" wrote:

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

Hi,
I don't like the broker currently selling my boat.SNIP

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. SNIP

Yeah, thought of that. For one thing, I'm the World's Worst Salesman.
I know my asking price is a bit high (although it's lower than the
survey said it was worth), but I know the sellers will be
"bargaining". It's worth the commission to have THEM deal with the
looky-loos, the low-ballers, and have on their conscience "the one
that got away" (and I really don't like hearing how bad my boat is,
which is of course what the sellers will do to try for a lower
price!).

My concern is not that he hasn't sold the boat yet, but more HOW he's
selling it: if you look at Meridian Yacht's website, they have 8
sailboats including mine, and it seems that ALL the others are better
presented.

Anyway, I've emailed him with a list of problems with the "full specs"
and I'll see how he deals with that.

druidhttp://www.bcboatnet.org

How did the e-mail turn out?

-Greg