Yacht Brokers’ Easy Guide to Selling on Social Media
For Yacht Brokers and Leisure Marine professionals selling boats and related products and services
A condensed version for Yacht Brokers of the printed book.
“Easy Way To Sell More Yachts: ” on Amazon
A nice gift for someone you know, an employee perhaps ?
For Yacht Brokers and Leisure Marine professionals selling boats and related products and services
Read the Guide for free, here online, or download your own copy.
Facebook is the biggest selling platform in the world that will accept yachts and boats.
But be careful. You can’t just post a yacht on facebook and expect many people to see it. There is a unique new method that I shall explain.
Many of you will know a lot of what follows immediately, so take care to skip quickly over what you know, without missing vital steps along the way.
I am going to explain, step by step, how to structure your listings and post on facebook in a way that will ensure you get many many times the exposure.
AND as a bonus, reach interested people who may not even be thinking of buying, until they see your listing!
Are you on Facebook already?
That will be a personal profile and presence.
Do you also have a Facebook page for your Yacht Brokerage?
A Facebook business page can be useful as a second website and should contain just about everything your regular website does, including the listings.
First, your personal profile. If you don’t have one you will need to create one as a first step
If you already have one, is it geared to your business, or to your private life?.
If I visit your profile on Facebook, will I see family photos, holiday snapshots and selfies?
Don’t worry, I am not going to suggest that you try to delete all those precious memories, you can simply make them private so that only “friends” can see most of your Facebook profile content.
You are going to need this personal profile to do the posting of your listings (or “posts” as Facebook calls them).
Here is how to adjust your Facebook privacy settings….(according to Facebook)
Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
Select Settings and privacy, then click Settings.
Click Privacy in the left column.
For other things that you share on Facebook, you can select the audience before you share. Review Facebook Privacy Policies and manage your privacy settings in the Privacy Centre.
You can also review and manage your information on Facebook:
Importantly, you (and potential buyers)can update your Feed preferences to see more content that you’re interested in.
You can also hide an ad that isn’t interesting or useful to you or review why you’re seeing a particular ad.
Walk through Privacy Checkup to make sure that you’re sharing your information with who you want.
Visit Access your information to see and manage your Facebook information, or Download your Facebook information for review.
Manage some of the content you share on Facebook, such as posts, photos and videos, from the Manage activity section of your activity log.
Learn how to manage what others can see about you. You can see this on Facebook Help, here, if you need to.
https://www.facebook.com/help/193677450678703?helpref=related_articles
If you don’t already have one , you will need to create a business page with basic details that Facebook will ask for as you create your “second website”
[by the way, if you don’t have a first website for your business, use the contact page on AYB to request a free website. Available only to AYB Brokers & AYB Traders]
The Business page is a great asset in itself and your website should have a link to it.
But above and beyond the benefits of being visible to those who find your website through the normal workings of Facebook, there is another reason why the page is essential to the method.
If your listing directs people to your website, Facebook makes it slow and clumsy, actually stopping at a screen that says you’re about to go to a site outside Facebook.
If the link in your listing directs them instead to your Facebook business page, it is an instant journey.
“So what? ” You might ask.
The fact is that buying habits around the world have changed drastically and attention spans are, on average, much shorter.
The global online culture is becoming
“Click-click and if it takes too long I’ll click something else”
So speed of response is very important.
So you have a Facebook profile and a Business page.
Now to create a listing. You can just start a post on your personal page, or you can switch your identity to “Be” your business page on Facebook. And post on that page.
Facebook evolves constantly, it recently started renaming itself as “Meta” in part. But this is how to post today.
Below your cover photo is a horizontal menu, below that
are two columns.The left -hand column starts “Intro” and gives options to edit some of your details.
The right hand column starts with your profile photo and a question “What’s on your mind ?”
Copy and paste your listing there. When you have the text just right, click “Photo/video” below.
Often nothing appears to happen, but if you scroll the text you have entered up, you will have the opportunity to add photos.
Make sure your post is defined as public.
That is basically how to post on facebook, but that is only the beginning.
To put your post in front of interested people, you should join a “Facebook group”
Facebook claims they will change the name Group to Community, but at the time of writing, they are making slow progress with that change.
Go to this group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/488665148199015
You should see it is called “Boats for Sale”
In the Horizontal Menu the first item “Buy and Sell” is highlighted.
BUT your only option is to “Write something…”
Now just below the cover photo on the right is a blue button “Join Group” click that. You should now see a message that you have joined the group .
Now refresh the page. “Buy and Sell” is still highlighted
And you now have the option “Sell Something”
If this does not show, are you in your business pages’ profile? That won’t allow you to sell in the group. So you need to switch your Facebook identity back to your personal profile.
To make this change go to the top right of the page where you will see your Page’s profile photo (mine is a logo). Click that. Now there is a drop-down, at the top right is your personal profile photo with a rotating circle image around it. Click that. Facebook will change your identity back and your own profile photo will appear top-right.
Now you have to go back to https://www.facebook.com/groups/488665148199015
Now, just below the horizontal menu you should be able to see your profile photo and the words Sell Something
Click that.
A pop-up block will appear, titled “Create new listing”
Select “Item for Sale”
A new block will appear, called Item for Sale
Upload at least three photos from one of your recent listings.
The next field is “Title” copy and paste the title from the same listing.
Now read the title carefully. To sell well it should include Year, Length, Make, Model as a basic minimum.
Make any necessary edits to include those three basics, then enter the Price in the next field. Just enter the figures, facebook will add any commas AND the currency sign. The currency sign can sometimes be inaccurate (there are ways to try to fix this and I will address those later).
For now, if the currency sign is wrong, better to put the correct numbers and start the description with
“Price is in USD” or whatever the currency is.
Most people who are looking at boat listings soon get used to the fact that Facebook is a bit random with currency signs.
Next select the correct Condition from the drop-down list, – New
Used – like new
Used – good
Used – fair
Needless to say, you must be totally honest at this point, not only is your reputation at stake, but an adverse report might result in your being banned from the group.
Next click More details, three more fields will appear below “Description”, “Product tags” and “Location”
Enter your description, include details of your brokerage or dealership and a link to your facebook page.
This field has a large capacity, but after you have copied and pasted, check to ensure that the last part has not been left out for being too long.
Add product tags, these are a special subject in themselves and if you need to, you can search online for up to date guidance on best practice.
For location, choose the nearest city or large town to the boat’s location. Be careful to select the correct country from Facebook’s options, as many place names are repeated on more than one country.
When you have completed and thoroughly checked the fields above, scroll back up to the photos section and add your photos of the listed craft.
Click Next (if you can’t click it , scroll slowly back up to see any red error warnings )
You should next see a block headed
Share to more places
In Share to more places
“Boats for Sale” should already be ticked
Marketplace is next, tick that
After that you will see
“Add your listing to other groups
You can list in up to 20 groups.”
If you already belong to other Boat related “For Sale” groups you can tick any that are suitable for your listing in the list that is shown,
Assuming you have not joined any others, click Post in the blue button.
Scroll down and you should see your listing headed by this message “This listing is in review
We’re reviewing your listing to make sure that it follows our rules for selling. Once it’s approved, it will be visible in your group.”
Below that you have the option to delete the listing if you don’t like what you have done.
Congratulations! You have completed the first and fundamental stage of the method.
But it is not enough !
Remember that option to post to up to 20 other groups ?
You need to join a number of other relevant groups that are of the special “For Sale” variety.
How will you find them? You can search on facebook and join odd groups here and there, but you would have to look through each one and check first if it is a buy and sell group and then decide whether it is suited to any of your listings, try to memorize which ones it , check the Rules for that group and memorize those.
Then start looking for another. All a bit haphazard and not very professional.
But what if I told you that a network of suitable “For Sale” groups already exists, designed expressly for the needs of professional yacht sellers like yourself ?
Of course that would be great news I hear you say, but won’t I still have to search for them and check what I find?
Great news. There is such an integrated network, designed by Yacht Brokers for Yacht Brokers and other Leisure Marine professionals,
It is the main part of the platform which is also supported by three websites in synergetic harmony.
It is the largest yacht selling platform of its kind with current group memberships, at time of writing, totalling more than Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand That total is rising rapidly daily ! In fact thousands are joining every week.
So how do you find this integrated network of “For Sale” groups?
Finding it is easy, but getting to use it requires something else.
Anyone can join any or all of the 40 groups, but if you want to post, you must fall into one of two categories.
- A Yacht Broker with a website with your name, address and telephone number and some existing listings. Who has integrity and wants to act professionally and is prepared to join the organisation behind the platform – OR
- A Yacht dealer who buys and sells new or pre-owned boats, or both. Who also has integrity and wants to act professionally and is prepared to join the organization behind the platform.
You will also need to be prepared to read the group Rules carefully and ensure that you comply with them carefully.
Luckily, you won’t have to read and understand forty different sets of rules, because each group has identical rules. Another benefit of using this unique yacht sales platform.
You can join any of the groups that seem to fit any of your current listings and those that you may list in the future.
The main groups are classified by type and length, so you can select what you need from those.
Your next three questions are likely to be…
- What is the name of this unique yacht selling platform?
- How can you join?
- Most importantly, What is the method to get the most profit from using the platform?
The platform is called Yachts Classifieds.
It’s first facebook page is
https://www.facebook.com/yachtsclassified/
The website is
So you could just join those groups now, but you will probably sell more yachts faster if you carry on reading here for now.
The first rule of every group in the platform states that, while all yacht enthusiasts are welcome to join the group,
- ” if you want to post,
You must first join A.Y.B. and become either
- An AYB Broker, or
- An AYB Partner
AYB Associated Yacht Brokers is an international yacht brokers organization based in England.
Th membership dues are minute.
You can have a look and join now if you wish at https://aybro.com/join
Have a look at https://classifieds.yachts .
You will see that “Yachts for Sale” is the headline group and you are asked to post to that group first, even though it is the only “UN-” classified group.
This is because each AYB Broker and AYB Partner has a facebook page created from that group that shows all their listings within the group. This page is linked as “Recent listings” from the AYB Directory entry for that member.
You can see that if you go to https://aybro.com and click on the first featured AYB member’s logo or face.
It will take you to a directory entry for that broker and near the top you will see RECENT LISTINGS
Click that and it will take you to the dedicated Facebook page for that member’s listings on “Yachts for Sale”
THAT’S WHY YOU SHOULD POST IN YACHTS FOR SALE.
Another important unique feature of the “Yachts For Sale” group within Yachts Classifieds is that any boat related item or service is welcome, not just yachts for sale, but also yacht charters, marine services, marine transport, boat insurance chandlery, motors, cleats, anchors etc.
This exception underlines the rule that in every other group, the post must fit the title.
You won’t be able to post videos, that is a Rule. The reason videos are excluded is that most large sites on Facebook are inundated with videos about extreme animal encounters and pornography.
By arrangement with facebook, posts on Yachts Classifieds groups containing videos will be automatically rejected, as will posts without at least 3 photos. “Wanted ads ” have no place in Yacht Brokers’ selling platform so they are prohibited in the rules.
Facebook doesn’t like you to post the same item twice in one group. To update your post, edit it OR delete it and post again. . (You CAN “Post to other groups”)
Finally here is an even better way to post. Remember at the beginning of this book you imagined converting a casual stranger not intending to buy a yacht into a hot prospect for one of your listings. Here is how you are going to automate that with thousands all within driving distance of your boat for sale !
Post first to the “Marketplace” and re-post from there.
Items in “Marketplace” are automatically fed to local users in their everyday Facebook feed. That is why it is so important to get “Location” right in your posting.
Facebook users often put their own location as the nearest city to reach more people, doing the same in your post you know that all the thousands of people seeing your ad in their personal feed will be near that same city. The other important fact is that the post will be fed to everyone in that locale who has ever shown an interest in items in your post Title.
Making the Title informative is essential to give surfers instant details that may attract them to open the post and read more.
So here is how to get that extra bonus.
Make sure you are in your personal profile on Facebook.
Click “Marketplace” in the left hand menu and post in Marketplace on Facebook, very carefully as I have outlined above. Then you will have a chance to share with each of the groups you have already joined. Make sure you post to “Yachts for Sale” and every other group in Yachts Classified where the title fits your listing.
Get even more views of your listing by using other groups. For example.. A 60 foot Dutch Barge could be posted in
Yachts for Sale
Dutch Barges for Sale uk
Motor Yachts for Sale
Motor Yachts for Sale 50 to 60 feet
Motor Yachts for Sale 60 to 80 feet
Houseboats
UK Liveaboards
And Cruising Houseboats
What does joining AYB involve?
If you are a Yacht Broker,
You will be included in the AYB Directory
and have access to support and advice about Selling Boats and yacht brokerage.
In the AYB Reach Out website Menu there is the Private AYB Yacht Brokers page
with AYB logos for your web pages. Printable AYB Code of Practice. AYB Standard Brokerage agreement
By joining you confirm that you comply with and accept
The AYB Code of Practice
Your application will include payment of the monthly membership dues of £8 by card online.
In the unlikely event your application is declined, your payment will be immediately refunded.
Associated Yacht Brokers Code of Practice
AYB brokers are required to act in a fair and decent manner.
AYB Brokers outside the UK will satisfy AYB that the local provisions, where different in detail, are equivalent .
(for example an escrow arrangement can replace a Bank letter)
Each AYB broker must hold a copy of a letter from the bank in question which confirms that the account where clients funds are held is a designated Client Account with the legal protection conferred thereby.
Each AYB broker must hold a copy of the current certificate of Professional Liability Insurance in respect of brokerage activities.
Each AYB broker shall provide clients with a pre-printed brokerage agreement, detailing the terms and payment structure (including whether or not VAT applies). Clients should be given adequate opportunity to read the agreement and the broker will consider whether to grant any alteration they may request prior to signing the final copies.
Each AYB broker will recommend to buyers a survey.
Each AYB broker will request a full inventory of items to be included in the sale, the list, once agreed, shall be advertised , or shown to buyers and shall be included by reference in and appending to, the final contract of sale and purchase.
If you have read so far and would like to implement this method, now would be a very good time to Join AYB and the join the groups that fit your current listings.
You can join AYB here https://aybro.com/join
And the groups are listed with weblinks at
Wishing you a profitable and enjoyable working life…