Disappointing Broker

[pablothesailor]

Yes , boats have not escaped, we are in the closing of our property, probably at 40% less than what we asked...........our offers on boats will be related to this..........

[Jamel]

With such mixed reports about boat brokers I often wonder what they do for their money apart from displaying an ad! In the USA what percentage is charged by brokers to sell a vessel? If you can do your research and contact the owner direct to negotiate, cutting out the underperforming middleman, is that considered OK?

[Capt Phil]

Not much, Jamel. A 10% commission is normal but can be negotiated down with some brokers. You can try contacting the seller directly but many listing agreements included a 'small print' clause that a commission is due the broker for a period of time after the listing agreement expires. So the golden handcuffs to the broker can remain even after the listing period is over.
You and the seller need to be prepared to prove that you had no knowledge of the boat being listed previously. If you have even read a newspaper that the broker advertised in, the seller may be on the hook to pay the broker his commission even though he hasn't lifted a finger to earn it.
Many times the seller will just pay the commission to avoid being sued by the broker. Not a great process by any means... Capt Phil

[pablothesailor]

I was offered a boat by a US broker one month ago, he told me the price was firm at $145,000...........3 days later I saw the boat on Yachtworld at $129,000.....

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by pablothesailor

I was offered a boat by a US broker one month ago, he told me the price was firm at $145,000...........3 days later I saw the boat on Yachtworld at $129,000.....

I'm thinking the broker probably got a call from the owner after you called and told him to lower the price to try getting offers. Could it be possible also that the broker never mentioned someone was interested in the boat or what the offer was? I think so. From what I've read here on the forums and elsewhere is once the boat is with the broker, the owner doesn't hear much from the broker. Does that sound right to others?

[pablothesailor]

Originally Posted by Dan_78

I'm thinking the broker probably got a call from the owner after you called and told him to lower the price to try getting offers. Could it be possible also that the broker never mentioned someone was interested in the boat or what the offer was? I think so. From what I've read here on the forums and elsewhere is once the boat is with the broker, the owner doesn't hear much from the broker. Does that sound right to others?

No, I never called the broker, someone who was selling a boat who I had spoken to passed on my email details to this guy who then emailed me with details of another boat, I emailed him back to say it seemed a bit over priced, I then recieved a rather rude and angry email back explaining that the owner was firm on price and that this was the ¨deal of the century¨, the broker through his ¨rant¨ mentioned the name of the boat which I then searched and found on Yachtworld way below his asking price............I suspect the boat had been for sale on Yacht world for some time!

[Sabbatical II]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Not much, Jamel. A 10% commission is normal but can be negotiated down with some brokers. You can try contacting the seller directly but many listing agreements included a 'small print' clause that a commission is due the broker for a period of time after the listing agreement expires. So the golden handcuffs to the broker can remain even after the listing period is over.
You and the seller need to be prepared to prove that you had no knowledge of the boat being listed previously. If you have even read a newspaper that the broker advertised in, the seller may be on the hook to pay the broker his commission even though he hasn't lifted a finger to earn it.
Many times the seller will just pay the commission to avoid being sued by the broker. Not a great process by any means... Capt Phil

In a free country you can choose to sell the boat yourself or use a broker. Similarly when purchasing you can do all the ferreting around to locate the seller and arrange to see the boat when it suits each seller or you can use a broker. I have had a good broker experience in selling my last boat. I am glad that I didn't have to:
1. Field all the calls from dreamers with no money.
2. Take the ones who did have the money out to the boat and listen while they ridiculed my nice little boat and then insult me with a low ball offer.
3. Take liars who had no intention of buying the boat for a free test sail.

My broker put in many hours for free for "buyers" who wouldn't listen. This is just one of the many "buyers" that inspected my boat.
1. We told the bloke that the boat had some Osmosis and showed him photos of the affected areas and he conceded that it was not structural and yes the boat was fine.
2. The bloke decides to go ahead with the survey.
3. The broker takes his dingy over and picks up my boat 2 miles away and brings it over to the marina for the survey.
4. Surveyor inspects boat & informs the buyer it has osmosis. As the surveyor wants to justify his $800 fee he paints a very black picture of the minimal osmosis and scares the "buyer" off, all the while telling the "buyer" how fortunate it was that he hired such a competent surveyor who has saved him from disaster.
5. Broker has to deliver my boat back to the mooring.
6. The so called buyer now argues with the broker that someone else other than him should be paying the surveyor's fee and the marina haul out costs because the boat is such a dog.

As the broker is on commission, he gets paid nothing for his effort. Who would be a broker? And yes they actually want money for it because they have to pay for the office rent, feed their wife and kids and hopefully make a small profit.

My broker was worth every cent that I paid him.

Greg

[Sailagain]

Originally Posted by Me-and-Boo

I was not looking for a broker, I was scouting marinas. His door was open as I drove by so I thought a "HI, I am looking for a boat." would be a nice congenial way of starting a conversation. A simple response of "I have a couple here right now, here is my card, call me Monday and we can talk" would be a decent response.

am I missing something here? You were NOT looking for a broker? So even if this person spent some time with you, you would not have used their services?

Rude people are a fact of life - haven't you encountered them at many places in your life? I have - Walmart, McDonalds, West Marine, Real-estate agents, apartment rental agents...etc

I don't think brokers have more or less of their fair share of the rude people in the world

Do you start a posting for every rude person you encounter at a specific business?

[Oz Steel]

As a male I find it saddening to hear of this sort of behaviour and that service is of no consequence these days, especially here in oz.For the most part I would rather rely on women than men as the male tend to get in the way of them selves and tend not to see the real issue.

[Oz Steel]

Yes we all have bad days but there is absolutely no justification for bad service at any level, at anytime. I have walked out of several shops in the past on the basis of "I will get to you at some point when I have stopped talking to my colleague and when I am good and ready" oz steel

[Mimsy]

Originally Posted by Sailagain

Rude people are a fact of life - haven't you encountered them at many places in your life? I have - Walmart, McDonalds, West Marine, Real-estate agents, apartment rental agents

Yes but I don't drop $100,000 in McDonald's. If I'm spending $2 on a burger I don't expect anything other than efficiency. If I'm parting with significant funds, I expect a modicum of politeness.

The person the rude broker screwed was not Me-and-Boo, it was the owners of the boats that were listed with him. That is important to note because when you decide to list your boat with a broker, you are giving them a large chunk of change for it.

If brokers read this thread and learn from it, then it has served a purpose. The good ones will read it, note it and be careful to treat all with respect. They will probably also make more money in the long run.

Now for the "What not to do when you are selling your boat" thread....

[Oz Steel]

Got to agree with that. We as a supposedly civilised people should not have to put up with morons who think that you owe them a favour for selling your boat.

[Don1500]

There is always the story of the hayseed, bib overall, straw hat wearing yokel that walks into the Cadillac Dealer. The young brash salesman ignores him, but the older experienced salesman goes over to him and explains the cars, shows him the workshop gets him coffee. Then the farmer leaves. The young guy asks the older salesman why he spent so much time with an obvious no sale. The old guy says "Wait." A month later the hayseed comes back and buys a caddy for himself and one for his wife, and makes sure the old guy gets the sale. The old guy says to the younger guy, "Soybeans were up last week." Got to know your market.

[Sailagain]

Originally Posted by Mimsy

Yes but I don't drop $100,000 in McDonald's. If I'm spending $2 on a burger I don't expect anything other than efficiency. If I'm parting with significant funds, I expect a modicum of politeness.
..

Haha. Even that's hard to find at McDs these days. The wait time for the food gets longer and longer

I Did say real estate agents - you can find just as many rude ones there. And they get the same, or more, amount of funds that a broker would.

Just move on - I have found most people will not change. Good brokers will remain good and bad will eventually move into real estate, or find a job or McDonalds

[Jamel]

My last contact with a broker was Manly nr Brisbane. So bear in mind I had flown across the country from WA to look at this boat. The broker showed me the boat with the owner onboard, introduced me to him and promply went off to play golf!