I just read Wayne's post on the subject of boat Brokers and sales and couldn't agree more with his comments. The key to the successful sale of almost anything lies in exposure of the item to potential buyers. This is what has made sites like eBay so successful, you can gain exposure to literally thousands of individuals who might have an interest in the item. This not only results in a quick sale but also almost always insures that you will get top dollar for the item. Unfortunately gaining exposure on a boat is not quite as easily accomplished. In my opinion the absolute premier site for computerized marketing of boats is Yachtworld.com, however individuals are not able to advertise there, only brokers. This leaves private sale advertising limited still to local ad's or a few computer sites, most notably boattrader. However, in the higher end market of most yachts, say $100,000.00 and up, I still wonder if most purchasers in this area don't still rely on Brokers as their source to purchase? Much like Real Estate, there might simply be that much larger segment of the population that use professional Brokers and don't even bother to look at "FSBO's" (for sale by owners) than those that do. Many people are intimidated by the thought of having to work out the deal on their own when it comes to the paperwork and financing involved and just prefer to leave that stuff up to the Pro's. Case in point, while I have run local ad's on my '89 Vista and placed it on TWBST some months ago, I have had a total of two individuals respond that expressed any real interest in the boat, although neither actually came to look at the boat. On the contrary, an '87 model Vista, which is virtually identical to my '89, with about $20,000.00 less in equipment and priced within $2000.00 of my asking price was sold by a local broker after being listed on Yachtworld less than a month. That fact has to tell me something about the benefits of working through a Broker. However, I could not begin to sell my boat at my asking price and also pay a 10% commission, so there is the rub. Obviously at this point I am considering listing the boat with a broker, but am wondering if I should maybe give boattrader a shot first? Appears from Wayne's experience that maybe many buyers are shopping there. Jim Alexander Vista 43 Port Charlotte, FL

> Unfortunately gaining exposure on a boat is not quite as easily > accomplished. In my opinion the absolute premier site for computerized > marketing of boats is Yachtworld.com, however individuals are not able to > advertise there, only brokers. This leaves private sale advertising > limited still to local ad's or a few computer sites, most notably boattrader. ______________________________________________________________________ I disagree completely and I use my immediate experience selling my boat as my prime example. I put up a free web site first and then listed the boat with a couple of free sites along with one that cost $25. per quarter. Trawler World BST is another great place to list your boat and I did that too. Thinking that I needed to be on Yachtworld I listed with a non-exclusive broker also. If you do a search on Google for a "56 Chris Craft Roamer", my boat is the *top* 6 hits....but not one is Yachtworld!! I sold the boat myself saving the 10% listing fee and in only a couple of months. Exposure is........listing your boat on sites that are searchable from the search engines we commonly use. The Yachworld ad and broker produced 2 visits to the boat and neither bothered to respond after the visit. I, on the other hand was able to recieve e-mails and phone calls that I could respond to personally and that produced a quick sale for me. Bob Clinkenbeard Looking at trawlers this weekend!!