Mandate, price, presentation, marketing and closing — how a brokerage sale is actually run.
Appointing a central agent
Almost every professional sale runs through a central agency agreement: one broker holds the mandate, markets the yacht, coordinates other brokers who bring buyers, and is accountable for the process. Splitting a yacht across several brokers on open terms usually damages her — the market sees the same asset promoted inconsistently and reads it as distressed.
The agreement should state the term, the asking price, the commission and how it is shared, who pays marketing costs, and what happens if the yacht is withdrawn or sold privately during the term.
Setting the asking price
Price is set against genuine comparable evidence: what similar yachts of similar age, builder, condition and specification are asking, and where reported transactions have actually settled. An asking price set on hope rather than evidence costs time, and time on the market is itself a discount.
- Builder, model and sister-ship history
- Age, hours, refit history and condition
- Specification, flag and commercial or private status
- Where comparable yachts sit, and where comparable yachts sold
Preparing and presenting the yacht
Buyers form a view in the first two minutes of a viewing and in the first ten photographs. Deferred maintenance, tired interiors and disorganised documentation all read as risk and are priced accordingly. Preparation is nearly always cheaper than the discount it prevents.
Marketing
A yacht is marketed to a defined pool: brokers with matching buyer briefs, the broker's own client base, the industry listing systems, the show calendar where relevant, and discreet direct approaches where the owner prefers confidentiality. Not every yacht should be advertised publicly — some sell better quietly.
Offer, survey and closing
An offer is made in writing, conventionally on a recognised form of memorandum of agreement, with a deposit held in escrow, a period for survey and sea trial, and an agreed mechanism for dealing with defects. On acceptance the yacht is delivered against payment of the balance, with title, registration, VAT position and any encumbrances cleared before funds move.
How long it takes
Months, typically. Well-priced, well-presented yachts in active segments move fastest; unusual yachts, ambitious pricing or a thin segment can take a year or more. A seller who needs certainty by a fixed date should say so at the outset, because that changes the pricing strategy.
Questions
- Who pays the broker's commission on a sale?
- Conventionally the seller, out of the sale proceeds at closing, shared between the central agent and the buyer's broker.
- Do I have to advertise the yacht publicly?
- No. Yachts are regularly marketed discreetly to a defined broker and client pool where the owner prefers confidentiality.
- Should I refit before selling?
- Sometimes. Targeted work that removes obvious buyer objections usually pays; a full discretionary refit rarely returns its cost at sale.
This guide is general information about how the yacht market conventionally works. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it does not describe the terms of any specific yacht. Rates, prices, availability and access are confirmed in writing before anything is committed.