Broker or no broker?
 

I’m getting ready to sell my Marlago. Contemplating whether to use a broker or not. At 10% it would end up being $8-10k.

For the guys that have sold with out a broker, how do you manage the tire kickers and dreamers? There are a ton of them around here.

Jeremy at seabound yachts has quite a few and is a good guy to deal with :)
https://seaboundyachts.com/

I had good luck selling my last two boats in current market, one a little over a year ago and other about two years ago, without a broker. I'd try without one first and see how it goes. Can always get a broker later. JMO

What is your billing rate? Or cost of your time?

I can tell you at a $8-10K brokerage fee I would of lost the same amount of money in lost billing time if I had to show the boat to 2-3 people and that doesn't even get into the potential to save money on ownership expenses if the boat is sold faster thru a broker because you may not have as much free time available to show it. It's all about cost benefit.

If you decide to broker or want some info, contact Tony Friedrich at Custom Marine Sales 314-581-3532

I liked using a broker because it took ALL the hassle away from the sell for me...the water trials, financial wrangling...everything. A 10% well paid, in my humble opinion.

Let a broker deal with time wasters, finances, insurance questions, comparisons to other boats, buyers who know everything, surveys, getting permission from the wife etc, etc.

Brokers have a website, advertising, previous customers, current customers actively looking, let him earn his commission, which he’ll probably negotiate a little bit at the end so as not to miss a deal.

Most buyers aren’t straight up decent guys (like OSO members :)) they’re liars. Spent my working life selling cars and boats and one takeaway I learnt very quickly is that ‘Buyers are Liars’. They’re accountable to nobody and can say anything they like to try and beat you up.

OSO members broker recommendations would be the best place to start.. Good Luck. 👍

RR

From what I’ve seen from some brokers, not all seem to do a great job at representing a boat. Boat isn’t clean, stains or dirty water in bilge, among other things. Not saying all of them, but some big names out there. Yea you’ll find plenty of that with private sellers but for 10% I’d think they should take care of that. I’d also have an issue with my baby being ran without me there. There’s many benefits yes but I’d definitely be trying to sell myself first. If a seller is serious you should be able to tell pretty quickly if they’re willing to travel, put money down etc. Just my .02

Sold my boat this past year by myself. Listed it on Craigslist. Answered a phone call from one person. Call lasted 5 minutes- not the right buyer. Replied to an email, answered another phone call, negotiated the price on the call, buyer drove 400 miles and met me at the dock, took 20 minute sea trial, put it back on the trailer, unhooked my truck for the new buyer to hook up and drive it to is new home. Simple and I had complete control of everything.

I posted an honest ad with plenty of pictures.

I have always sold my boats on my own. Price it correctly and be honest with pictures you should have not issues. I did buy a boat once from a guy and drove from Kansas to Texas to see the boat. We also put a deposit on the boat. When we got there he was to drunk to take the boat out. We did buy the boat the next day because the price was right. The guy I sold my last boat gives me updates all the time on his upgrades. If I didn't have all these horses I would buy that boat back from him.