Sell Your Yacht

We assess the vessel against recent closed comparable sales, current inventory in her size and builder class, and where demand actually sits this season. You get a defensible number and the reasoning behind it, not a figure designed to win the listing.

Over-pricing to flatter an owner is the single most common reason a yacht sits. A vessel launched at 20% above market spends its best months being used by buyers as the expensive comparison that makes something else look reasonable. By the time the price corrects, the listing has an age on it and the market has learned to discount it.

You appoint Moran as exclusive sales agent for a defined term. One broker owns the mandate, one team controls the presentation, and every inquiry in the market routes to one place.

Split or open listings pull in the opposite direction. Buyers see inconsistent pricing across brokers, work out that nobody is really accountable, and discount accordingly. We set out the term, the commission, the marketing budget and the termination conditions in writing before anything is signed. You should not have to ask for any of that.

This is the stage owners underestimate, and it does more for the final number than anything except price.

Media. Professional photography and video, exterior and drone, full interior sets, and a walkthrough. Scheduled around the yacht being somewhere that photographs well in the right light, which sometimes means waiting a fortnight for a better position rather than shooting where she happens to be lying.

Technical specification. Compiled from build documentation, maintenance records, class certificates and the equipment inventory. A complete, accurate spec is what lets a serious buyer’s captain form a view before traveling. A thin one costs you viewings you never hear about.

Pre-survey walkthrough. We go through the vessel the way a buyer’s surveyor will, and identify what they are going to find. Every item then gets a decision: fix it now, disclose it and price it in, or leave it. Deciding in advance is what stops a survey turning into a renegotiation.

Crew. Your crew are part of the presentation and they have a personal stake in the outcome, which is rarely the same as yours. We brief them properly, and because we run crew placement in-house we can be straight with them about what a sale means for them. A demotivated crew shows in every viewing.

The first sixty days matter more than the rest combined. A new central agency gets peak attention from the international broker network and from buyers who track new listings in their size bracket. That window opens once. Launch at the wrong price and you spend it teaching the market to ignore you.

So the sequence is deliberate:

Weeks 1 to 2, before public listing. Direct approach to buyers we already know are looking in her range. Named individuals, family offices and captains, contacted by phone and in person. A meaningful share of our sales close here, before the yacht has been publicly advertised at all. For owners who want discretion, this is sometimes where the process both starts and ends.

Week 2 onward, public launch. Simultaneous release to the broker network, central listing systems and our own channels, so every competing broker with a matching buyer can bring them to you on day one rather than a month later.

Ongoing. Boat shows where the timing fits, industry press, and continued direct work. Details of every channel are in the marketing section further down this page.

We qualify buyers before they board. Time on a yacht with an unqualified viewer costs you crew goodwill and tells you nothing.

The offer. Usually on a standard industry form with a deposit into a third-party escrow account, subject to satisfactory survey and sea trial. We negotiate price, terms, deposit size, timescales and what is included down to the tenders and toys. What stays aboard is a more common late-stage argument than price.

Survey. The buyer appoints their own surveyor. The findings arrive in two categories, and separating them is the whole job: genuine defects, and a wishlist. Legitimate items get addressed or priced. Wishlist items get pushed back on, with evidence.

Most deals die here. Not over price, but over a survey list a buyer uses to repopen a negotiation they thought they’d lost, and an owner who takes it personally.

Sea trial. Run with the buyer’s captain and engineer aboard. Machinery under load, handling, systems, noise and vibration.

Acceptance of vessel. Once the buyer formally accepts, the deposit typically becomes non-refundable and the deal is substantively done. This is the moment the sale becomes real, and it is worth knowing that in advance.

Documentation. Bill of sale, closing statement, deletion from the existing registry and registration under the new flag. Any outstanding mortgage or lien discharged and evidenced.

Funds. Balance through escrow, settled against the closing statement. Commission and any agreed deductions come off here, so there are no surprises.

Tax and VAT. Position confirmed before closing, not after, and it varies considerably between a US-flagged vessel and one in EU waters. We coordinate with your own legal and tax advisers rather than pretending to replace them.

Crew. Contracts either transfer to the new owner or conclude properly. We handle this in-house, which matters, because crew who are treated badly at closing are a reputational cost that lands on you and not on the buyer.

Handover and delivery. Inventory signed off, manuals and records transferred, and delivery to wherever the new owner wants her. We stay available afterward. A handover that goes well is where the next mandate comes from.