To sell thru a broker or not?

[knotsurfing]

I am trying to sell a boat (see listing on Trading Dock) and have been approached by a broker. He says he takes no upfront money, will list the boat on several sites, and only makes what he can sell it for vs. my pre-determined best price. He also says that is is an open listing (meaning I can still sell on my own). I am leary about this and need any input available. The broker is Beavboats in South Florida. Any experiences with this broker?

[Shark1007]

Suggest you do a search on him, I recall something here or on Fla Sportsman.

[Shin-Dig]

You will be able to sell that boat w/o a dealer. Be patient as few are buying boats during the holidays. You will be better off holding on to the boat until February instead of taking a beating.

I called Beaveboats about a boat once-Gary told me to call the owner of the boat myself as he could not elaborate on any of my questions. In other words-he was no help other than making me aware of the boat that I found listed on the internet. If I am going to give a dealer $, I want full service, not just a listing.

[Mike Boehler]

I just bought a boat through a broker and he really did a lot of work for the sale.
he actually worked for me and his client to make things happen.
A month later and he's still willing to help me out with some questions I have about the boat. I'd guess that the seller was really happy with his pro-active stance on selling.
I don't know your guy from adam but he doesn't sound like he would be as active. I could be wrong, but if a broker hands you off to the owner directly, what's he getting paid for? Placing internet ads?

If you want to go the broker route, I'd search out a good one on your terms, not someone soliciting your business.

Mike

[Libra]

If he offered you an "Open" listing, then you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, based on your post anyway. "Open" listings simply gives the broker the right to list it, show it and sell it at your pre-determined price to you. Yes, he's going to jack the price up to allow for negotiations and his commission, but you still get your price, unless you agree to something less.

[Hill]

Before any large puchases (>$100 for me). I have found if you do a google search using "V companyname" , you can find out who and why they have been sued. Of course you have to use the real business name and not the fictitious one. Kind of like Nuvari is built by Carver and owned by Genmar.

[Greg B]

I recall some substantial negatives if their an outfit in Orlando or Jacksonville. Search here and FL Sportsman as noted above.

[yachtjim]

Open listings are not the way to go in my opinion.* I teach a boat selling seminar and this question always pops up.* Any true broker will only accept a central listing because they are spending real money to properly advertise your boat in print and on the net.* If they only have an open listing this would be quite a gamble.* So with an open listing you commit nothing to the broker and they commit nothing to you but a few internet ads.* These internet ads are a great thing though right?* Wrong.* Any buyer that finds your boat through the internet can be considered internet savvy.* Chances are they will run across the two main boating databases:* BoattraderOnline's and Yachtworld's (with BTO being the biggest).* Most buyers will search both sites.* The only benefit to an open listing is the bottom feeding broker will put your boat on Yachtworld (I say bottom feeding because you will have a hard time finding a legitimate hard working successful broker that takes open listings).* Let's say your internet savvy buyer finds the boat on YW before he finds it on BTO.* Now you have shot yourself in the foot because you have to cover this broker's commission even though the buyer probably would have found your boat on BTO anyway and dealt directly with you.* Since the broker introduced the buyer to you, no matter how much or how little work the broker did, he has a case to collect the commission.

Do yourself a favor, if you can't or don't want to show your own boat hire a legitimate local broker that is going to advertise your boat in print and on the web.* This will cost you 10% of the sales price.* Sign a central agreement with the broker and you will be surprised at how hard they work for you (in most cases).* If you do want to show your own boat as 92% of sellers do, then do it FSBO or use a service like our FLEX Plan (Click on our little yellow star above my name to the left to learn about it).* In fact we have a bunch of FSBO Products, like our FSBO Kit you can buy at West Marine.

Whatever you do..please don't enter into an open agreement.* Hire a real broker or do it yourself.

[knotsurfing]

Thanks for the advice. I will follow my gut instincts and sell on my own.

[j9f]

I went with an open party listing late this past summer. At first I declined, a month later I went with it for a few reasons. I thought it was a good option for me.

1. They were able to list my boat on web sites that you had to be a broker to list your boat on. There were about four of those if I remember correctly. At least I had the impression that I was getting more exposure.
2. Another reason was that the open party listing only took 5%. So I basically bumped my price up 5% to compensate.
3. In the two months I had my boat listed in the local paper and two or three web sites, I had racked up almost $500 in advertising costs. The company listed in all of the same places at no charge to me. Plus got me some local boat show exposure.

In the end, I sold my boat right here on the trading dock. I called the broker and they just said congatulations.

What did they gain? Well, I hooked three other friends up with them. So lets say they make the deal on one of four boats..... they still make money and get more listings.

I just wish I would have gone with the open party listing right off the bat and saved myself the expense of listing on my own.

Some advice. Read the agreement carefully to ensure that it is truely open and get in writing all of the places they will list your boat and the listing numbers once they are there.

Good luck. Very nice looking boat.

[grin]

What it comes down to is there are people who go out and find the boat they know they want, and then there are people who need to be told what they want and actually go straight to dealers to be sold a boat. Then there are the boats that target each of those groups. Try to sell a Contender or Seavee to a person who wants to be sold a boat and they will get upset and walkout when you tell them it cost 25% more than the boat with every option in the book(compare shoppers). Compare shoppers buy boats with specs, not reputations! Those kind of boats do very well with salesman. Boats with reputations do well without salesman and are alot less likely to need a broker. I have sold my previous Contenders and Makos within minutes and somtimes even without a ad. My Hydrasports took forever to sell, and I had a Sportcraft(new/unused/won it) that required a broker to sell. He got close to 2 grand more than I was adverising it for in the Boat Trader when the guy bought it. My requirment for the brokerage deal was that I could bring it over to their lot for that kind of shopper. And that was what sold it. Just think of how many people drive around looking on lots and comparing specs with no clue to name brand, instead of knowing what they want and going to the ads for exactly what they want. Boat selling is either super easy or you can't get a single call or look it seems. When I sold my 1994 Contender I got about 200 calls in two weeks, but the guy who bought it told me it was sold(sight unseen) 1/2 hour after I posted it. So to all the Contender bashers out there, you can't have one unless you fight for it!

[marlineer]

I think some of you have confused a dealer with a broker. There are substantial differences. As a member of YBAA, I would suggest you use a recognized broker, as there is alot to making a deal work besides just finding a buyer. The broker who offered you the open listing is worth a shot as it will make the boat available to a much broader market. There is alot of value in having your broker wade through the B.S. till a buyer shows up.

[B-Faithful]

Check out Yacht Jim's brokerage plans. I just listed my boat with him.... I chose the flex plan...

http://www.byowneryachts.com/cgi-bin...1C97E/sl0/home