Sell your yacht as carefully as you bought it
Positioning, preparation and discretion — before a single advertisement exists.
Publishing an advertisement is the easiest part of selling a yacht, which is why it is the part every intermediary offers first. It is also, on its own, close to worthless. The portals are full of yachts that have been "for sale" for two years — visibly, publicly, and at declining prices — because they entered the market unprepared, wrongly priced, or presented in a way that invited doubt rather than offers.
Acquamarina approaches a sale in the opposite order. Before your yacht is shown to anyone, we establish what the market will actually pay, decide with you how visible the sale should be, and prepare the boat and its paperwork to withstand the scrutiny of the one audience that matters: a serious buyer and their surveyor. Promotion comes afterwards, aimed and deliberate, whether that means a full public campaign or a sale that no one but the eventual buyer ever hears about.
This page explains how we work, stage by stage. It assumes you know your boat well. Our job is to know the market equally well — and to represent you inside it.
Positioning before promotion
Every yacht enters a competitive field, not a vacuum. The buyers who might purchase yours are simultaneously looking at three or four alternatives — sisterships, close competitors, perhaps a newer boat one size down. Positioning means deciding, before launch, exactly what your yacht's argument is against that specific field: condition, history, specification, VAT status, price — and how each will be evidenced. A yacht positioned well attracts fewer viewings and more offers. A yacht merely promoted attracts the reverse: curiosity, tyre-kickers and, eventually, the slow public erosion of a price reduction history that every future buyer can read. We would rather spend two extra weeks preparing than two extra seasons selling.
What your yacht is worth — in confidence, in writing
The valuation is where honesty starts. We assess your yacht against actual market evidence: comparable boats currently for sale (your real competition), recent sales of similar yachts as far as they can be established, time-on-market patterns for the model, and the specific factors that move value — engine hours, refit history, VAT position, layout, livery of the moment. You receive our view in writing, with the reasoning attached, and it remains confidential whether or not you instruct us. We will not flatter the number to win the mandate. An instruction gained with an inflated valuation is a disservice sold as a compliment — and it always costs the owner more than it costs the broker.
The asking-price decision
The asking price is a strategic instrument, not a wish. Set it correctly and it defines the audience: serious buyers recognise fair positioning instantly, and negotiations start from respect rather than suspicion. Set it too high and the yacht does not simply wait — it deteriorates commercially, accumulating a visible history of reductions that teaches every observer to wait for the next one. Together we will decide the figure, the negotiation margin behind it, and the conditions under which we would recommend adjusting it. You will always know the difference between the price we publish, the price we defend, and the price at which we would advise you to conclude.
Preparing the yacht — and its file
Buyers purchase confidence before they purchase boats. Preparation therefore runs on two tracks. The physical one: addressing the small defects that read as neglect, presenting the engine room as carefully as the saloon, and putting the boat in the condition in which a surveyor should find it. The documentary one, which owners underestimate more often: assembling service records, invoices, VAT documentation, registry papers and equipment lists into a coherent file before anyone asks. A question answered in an hour keeps a deal warm; the same question answered in three weeks cools it. We audit both tracks with you at the start and close the gaps before marketing begins.
Photography and presentation
At this level, buyers are visually literate: they have seen every trick of the wide lens, and stylised images that oversell a yacht create disappointment at the gangway — the most expensive emotion in brokerage. We commission photography that is honest and considered: the yacht properly prepared, shot in good light, with the details a knowledgeable buyer actually studies — helm, engine room, crew areas, stowage — given the same care as the sunset shots. The written particulars follow the same discipline: specific, verifiable, free of inflation. The aim is not to make your yacht look like every other yacht on the internet. It is to make it credible.
The paper side of the boat
A sale can survive a worn fender; it struggles to survive a VAT question without an answer. Before launch we review with you — and, where needed, with your advisers — the state of the ownership documents: title and registry, the VAT position and the evidence behind it, class or CE papers, outstanding finance or liens, and the service documentation a surveyor will request. Where something is missing, it is far better discovered in preparation than in due diligence, when a buyer's lawyer will price the uncertainty against you. Order in the file is money at the closing.
Public, quiet, or fully off-market
Visibility is a decision, not a default. A public campaign puts the yacht in front of the whole market — right for owners who want speed of reach and boats whose file supports full transparency. A quiet sale never touches the portals: the yacht is presented selectively to qualified buyers and trusted professional contacts, preserving your privacy and the boat's freshness while the market is tested. A fully off-market sale goes further: no listing, no circulation, disclosure only under confidentiality to buyers we have vetted first — chosen by owners for whom discretion outweighs speed. We will recommend a route based on your priorities and timeline, and we can move between routes as the sale develops. Changing from quiet to public is easy. The reverse never quite is.
The sale, stage by stage
Stage 1 — Valuation and strategy.
We inspect the yacht, assemble the market evidence and agree the valuation, the asking price, the route to market and the timetable. You receive the strategy in writing before you commit to anything.
Stage 2 — Preparation.
Physical presentation, photography, written particulars, and the documentary file — service history, VAT evidence, registry papers — completed and verified before launch.
Stage 3 — Going to market.
The yacht is presented through the agreed route: public campaign, quiet circulation, or confidential off-market placement. Every enquiry comes to one desk, and every response is consistent.
Stage 4 — Qualification and viewings.
We qualify buyers before they board — seriousness, funding, programme fit — so viewings are few and real. Each viewing is prepared, accompanied and followed up; you receive reports of substance, not reassurance.
Stage 5 — Negotiation.
Offers are brought to you with our analysis: the buyer's position, the market context, the realistic range. We negotiate on your instructions, in writing where it matters, keeping the transaction's momentum without surrendering its terms.
Stage 6 — Survey and sea trial.
The accepted offer is tested by the buyer's survey and trial. We attend, keep the process fair, and — critically — negotiate the findings, distinguishing genuine defects from bargaining theatre.
Stage 7 — Contract, closing and handover.
We coordinate contract, deposits, VAT and title verification and completion logistics alongside your legal and tax advisers, through to funds received, and a proper handover — inventory, records, crew matters, berth. The sale ends when the boat and its file have both changed hands cleanly. (Acquamarina coordinates; legal and tax advice is provided by the professionals engaged for the transaction.)
What does it cost to sell through Acquamarina?
We work on a success-fee basis agreed in writing before the instruction begins: no sale, no fee. The rate depends on the yacht, the route to market and the scope of work, and it is stated in the agreement without hidden extras. Preparation costs — photography, any works you choose to commission — are agreed case by case and always with your approval first.
How long will my yacht take to sell?
Honestly: it depends on price, season, model liquidity and route to market — and anyone who quotes you a confident number before studying those factors is marketing to you. What we can do is show you the evidence: how long comparable yachts have taken, what distinguishes the fast sales from the stale ones, and where your boat would sit on that spectrum at a given price.
Can you sell my yacht without anyone knowing it is for sale?
Yes. A fully off-market sale involves no listing and no circulation; the yacht is disclosed, under confidentiality, only to individually vetted buyers. It typically takes longer than a public campaign and the buyer pool is smaller — trade-offs we will set out plainly so you can decide with open eyes.
What if my yacht is currently listed with another broker?
We will ask about the terms of that arrangement first — existing agreements deserve respect, and untangling them carelessly can cost you money. Once the position is clear, we can advise whether a central agency with us, a shared arrangement, or simply better execution of your current one serves you best.
Do I need to repair everything before selling?
No — you need to decide, item by item, what is worth repairing. Some works return a multiple of their cost in price and speed; others merely subsidise the next owner. We will go through the boat with you and separate the two, with numbers where they can be had.
What is a central agency, and why does it matter?
A central agency appoints one broker to manage the entire sale, whoever introduces the buyer. It concentrates accountability, keeps price and information consistent across the market, and prevents the impression of a boat being hawked by six houses at four prices — a pattern buyers read, correctly, as weakness. We take on open listings only in specific circumstances, and we will tell you honestly which arrangement fits your case.
Who handles the survey and what if it finds problems?
The buyer appoints and pays their surveyor; we manage the process around it. Findings are normal — the question is what they justify. We distinguish genuine condition issues from negotiating theatre, obtain repair quotations where useful, and renegotiate on facts, protecting both your price and the transaction.
What happens with the VAT status and paperwork?
We identify what a buyer's advisers will ask for — VAT evidence, title, registry, any finance to discharge — and help you assemble it before marketing, engaging your tax or legal professionals where the questions require them. Clean paper shortens every later stage of the sale; it is among the best investments an owner can make.
Start with a valuation, not a listing
The first step costs nothing and commits you to nothing: a confidential conversation about your yacht and a written view of its realistic market position. If our number disappoints you, you will at least know where you stand — and if we are not the right house for your sale, we will say so. Write to francesco@acquamarinayachts.com or use the form below.
Talk to us before you decide.
The most useful moment to involve us is before anything is signed, offered or promised — when every option is still open and advice can still change the outcome.
Contact Acquamarina