Good advice for the seller

Find the documents that prove that you are the rightful owner of the boat. This will typically be the documents you got when you bought the boat yourself. (Sales agreement, invoice/receipt, money transaction, insurance, and the like...)

If your boat type is not available in the yacht database you can enter it. Even if you provide a lot of information about your yacht in your advertisement, a potential buyer will be able to find much additional information in the yacht database.

When you look at advertisements where do you look? At the photo! Put a photo in your advertisement. It doesn't have to be a professional photo, but make sure the technical quality of the photo is okay - it should be bright and sharp. Don't use a photo of a covered yacht on dry land, it gives such a melancholic feeling. Choose a photo you like.

You should advertise at several places on the internet. This site is not the only site to advertise on, and on most sites you can advertise for free. As on this site, the best sites have a possibility of selling the parts of the equipment which are not to be sold with the boat.

Make sure your boat is completely clean and tidy - and then some. When you finally succeed in wheedling a potential buyer down into your boat, preferably the trap should snap shut. It should be pleasant to spend time in your boat. The boat should be clean and tidy. If the boat is dirty the buyer will quite naturally assume the presence of errors and malfunctions, which he cannot see and he might - perhaps groundlessly - demand a discount in the price.

When you present your yacht it should contain exactly the amount of equipment, which goes with the yacht - neither more nor less. If you first have to explain what's in the yacht, but isn't included, and what's not in the yacht, but is included, it will just mess up the sale. The buyer will start to focus on what goes with the yacht and what doesn't, and this will reduce the value of the yacht.

The boat and the equipment that comes with it should be in working order before the yacht is put up for sale. Don't promise that you will repair things after the sale. That is asking for trouble. The buyer might sail the yacht to another marina, discussions may arise on whether a certain repairs were done well enough, etc.

All agreements made with the buyer should be written down. This includes a list of all the flaws and defects you are aware of. It is of no use to hide anything - the buyer will find out anyway sooner or later. You will also prevent the buyer from later demanding a repayment because of hidden faults. A list of flaws and defects signals honesty and shows the buyer that he can trust you (provided he doesn't find anything that should have been on the list).

A yacht should always be surveyed on dry land. This is an advantage to both you and the buyer. You avoid subsequent discussions on whether any defects under the waterline have arisen before or after the transfer. Usually the buyer pays the expences if he does not buy the boat. Get an agreement with the buyer in advance.

Always settle payment at the time of the sale. There is no reason for you to lend the buyer money. It is the buyer's job to arrange the financing. The buyer can choose to borrow from his bank or from one of the finance companies that specialise in this kind of business.

Be aware of fraud! An obvious kind of fraud is that a person, who pretends to buy your boat, sends a cheque for a sum in excess of the asking price and asks the difference to be returned to them. Do never trust this behaviour. Even if the bank has cleared the cheque it may be worthless.