POPYachts

Phillbo

Phillbo

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Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
2553
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560
I listed my boat on Craigslist and got a call from a POPYachts marketing representative. Sounds like a no risk deal but I get nervous when it sounds too good to be true. They market your boat for 10% above your asking price and that's how they get paid when it sells to a buyer they brought to the table. Below are the conditions I was sent in email. Anyone have any experience with this or similar companies?

---------------------------------------------

POP Yachts is not like a traditional brokerage:

1.) You may continue to market the vessel on your own. If you sell it on your own, you owe us nothing.

2.) We do not lock you into any 6-month or 1-year agreement. You may cancel at ANY time by sending us an email and we will pull down our advertising within 5 days. Again, nothing owed to us!

3.) You tell us realistically what you want to net in your pocket and we will build our fee on top of that. It is really that simple.

4.) We incur all the cost to market your vessel on more than 160+ MLS websites - world-wide.

We are an additional resource for you to sell your vessel. We incur all the risk, cost, time, and effort to bring you a buyer. When we do, we all win. If we do not, you have lost absolutely nothing.

http://www.popyachts.com
 
I engaged Popyachts when I sold my Mariner. I was also advertising in Boat Trader and some other websites. They offer wide spread advertising on sites that I didn't have access to. I was pleased with the write up and pics they took and the marketing they did. I got weekly updates on the number of "hits" and inquiries. I ended up selling to a private buyer who saw my ad in Boat Trader and did not have to pay any commission. The only caveat is if a buyer "registers" with them-you have to register in order to get more details on anhy boat you're interested in-and that buyer buys the boat from you even if they saw the original or subsequent ad in another source, you owe them the commission. They usually have a minimum sales price of 30K in order to list a boat. My experience found them to be professional and legit.
 
quote:
Originally posted by cmariner32

The only caveat is if a buyer "registers" with them-you have to register in order to get more details on anhy boat you're interested in-and that buyer buys the boat from you even if they saw the original or subsequent ad in another source, you owe them the commission.

Click to expand...


Well that is concerning. How do they know who purchased my boat? Am I required to provide them with the name and address of the purchaser?
 
In my case, they did not require me to provide the name and address of the buyer, but I can't say that it is their normal procedure. That would be a point to ask before signing an agreement. I just informed my agent that I sold my boat and that terminated our agreement.
 
I just sold my boat I had listed with them. Not to anyone that looked at the site.
I emailed my broker and told him the boat was sold and he said great.

A day or two later, I got an email from the corporate offices with a long list of peoples names, asking if the buyer was any of the listed.

It wasn't.
That was the end of it. No other questions.

I used them last year to sell a boat I bought to flip, The worked very hard to sell it, the did, and even lowered their commission a little to get the boat sold.

I would definitely use them again

Tom
 
I had contacted them as a "buyer" in the spring and after numerous calls, emails and contacts walked away vowing never to deal with them at all.
The regional sales manager contacted me after I sent in a formal complaint.
I guess as a National chain each area has different levels of support. New England was not good. For example: I had three "brokers" that kept contacting from POP Yachts saying they were the exclusive rep for a single boat, but no one could answer any of my questions as to the boats basic history and condition. They were simple questions.
 
I had contacted them as a "buyer" in the spring and after numerous calls, emails and contacts walked away vowing never to deal with them at all.
The regional sales manager contacted me after I sent in a formal complaint.
I guess as a National chain each area has different levels of support. New England was not good. For example: I had three "brokers" that kept contacting from POP Yachts saying they were the exclusive rep for a single boat, but no one could answer any of my questions as to the boats basic history and condition. They were simple questions.
 
quote:
Originally posted by pacemakertom

I just sold my boat I had listed with them. Not to anyone that looked at the site.
I emailed my broker and told him the boat was sold and he said great.

A day or two later, I got an email from the corporate offices with a long list of peoples names, asking if the buyer was any of the listed.

It wasn't.
That was the end of it. No other questions.

Click to expand...


So, my concern is that if the person I sold to that contacted me via a Boat Trader add was on that list it sounds like they would come to me for their commission even though they did not bring me the buyer.

If they do not present me with a buyer, why should I owe them a commission?

I'll have to discuss that with them before signing anything.
 
a quick search over on tht will get you a lot of opinions... not a lot of good things have been said...
 
I think I'll shy away from them. They have sent me an email every day since my original contact with them pushing me to approve them moving forward with the marketing. Four days ago I sent the below reply and have not heard anything back from them since then.

........................

Maria, I have a couple more trips planned on the boat before I get serious about
marketing it.

I do have a concern though. It's my understanding that if I find a buyer on my
own but at some point that buyer had registered on your site and requested
information on the boat that it appears your company would require that I pay
them a commission. Is that understanding correct? Am I required to provide
detailed information around who purchased my boat?

I plan to market it myself on sites like craigslist and boat trader and given
the internet search technology it's likely that someone registered on your site
could also find one of my adds and contact me directly.

Please clarify.
 
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