Sell Your Boat

In today’s competitive market, where customers can search worldwide for yachts, a meticulous professional approach to brokerage is required. At Wooden Ships, we take great care to market your boat widely and promptly respond to each buyer inquiry. 

Sell your boat with us. We have nearly 50 years of expertise handling successful sales of classic wooden boats throughout the UK and abroad, so you can rest assured that we will handle everything as smoothly as possible. We use our experience to complement your knowledge of your vessel to get the best result possible.

We always welcome new owners looking to move on and sell their yacht. If you think it is time to put your boat on the market, please send us an email or call us, and we can discuss the best way to proceed. We like to look at every boat we sell and photograph her to give prospective buyers a much better understanding of the boat before they travel to view themselves. 

We are regularly on trips to different areas of the UK and Europe to inspect boats and meet with clients and owners, so it is never too long before we can see most of our boats for sale.

If you would like our specification forms, please get in touch, and we will email the documents to you.

Like all UK brokers, we charge an 8% + VAT commission on the selling price. No sale, no fee. All advertising is at our cost. We do not insist on sole brokerage, but we would like to lay out an agreement from the outset if other brokers are involved.

 

Why choose Wooden Ships Classic Yacht brokers

Established nearly 50 years, Wooden Ships Classic boat brokerage is one of the leading specialist traditional yacht brokers in the UK. We specialise in selling classic and traditional boats throughout the UK, Europe and Internationally. Please find out more about our classic yacht credentials here

We will:

– Give you a realistic valuation of the boat, not an inflated value, to please you and get the listing

– Provide advice on what work you should do pre-advertising

– Provide advice on a marketing strategy

– Conduct a thorough inspection of the boat, not a survey, but akin to that which helps convince potential buyers to travel and see the boat. Our reputation goes a long way.

– Write a detailed and informative specification on the boat, providing all the information a buyer needs

– Take lots of helpful detailed photos to help convince a buyer to travel for a viewing

– Take video footage of the boat

– Write up contracts, hold money and handle negotiations during the sale

– Handle title paperwork and registration questions to smooth the sale

– Deal with currency exchange in foreign sales.

What we do in a typical sale

Sometimes a buyer will see a particular advert for a boat, email or call asking for details and then organise a viewing. Other times we suggest a particular boat to a client, be it a ship on the market or a boat that we know could be for sale but is not listed publicly. We have numerous boats like this where owners have asked us to keep her in mind, which often works well.

We spend a lot of time talking with potential buyers about general boat ownership as many people are novices and want advice on all aspects. We also spend a lot of time narrowing down exactly what a buyer needs, rather than what he thinks he needs, to ensure they buy the right boat. 

This personal conversation is something we repeat many times. We know buyers like it rather than reading it off the website – it adds a personal touch that sets us apart in many ways.

Once the buyer has decided on his boat and made an acceptable offer, we organise contracts and the deposit, then arrange the survey in many sales. After the survey, there is often some negotiation on price which goes through us between buyer and seller. We then handle title paperwork, the funds, and any boat registration.

We often help buyers with insurance, moorings, repairs and transport through our contacts to ensure they start on the right foot.

 

What is the process of getting your boat on the market?

– Contact us!

– We will request some photos and little more detail. If we like the boat, we will agree to market it

– We send out specification forms and listing agreement for you to complete

– We visit the boat, undertake a thorough inspection and photograph her in detail

– We provide advice to the owner on her value, and we agree on an asking price

– We write up a spec on the boat, check this with the owner and list the boat on the website

 

If you’re ready to sell your boat or want to know a bit more about us, please contact us for a chat, or read our blog on what you should expect from selling your boat through a broker.

 

Sell your boat with Wooden Ships