YachtForums Yacht Sales - Community Based Yacht Brokerage

I thought that I posted this yesterday, but don't seem to see it on the thread:
I appreciate you treating us all like we own the sight, and offering us a partial ownership in this possible venture. That being said, it really is your site. We have helped it to grow, but there would be nothing to grow if it weren't for your efforts and foresight.
I think that taking compensation off the table is a good idea, but I think that you should certainly try everything you can to prosper from your idea. I, for one, would not stop visiting nor contributing if I knew that you were making loads of money. I'd be proud of you, and would certainly be happy to let you pick up the check next time we have a meal!

In advance, I apologise for going off subject, but now that this is our group having a roundtable, which by the way, SHOULD be something we do more often than once every decade...
I would not be true to myself if I did not write this, in spite of the fact that I have a very sympathetic view to your situation Carl.
Regarding K1W1's comment which can only be referring to Marmot, let me say I miss the bugger a lot!
I feel as though we have lost some "ballast" some depth and BRUTAL honesty without him and his incredible knowledge.
He did not suffer fools or fakes!

Yes, we ALL get seedy and short tempered when we have to deal with the public each and every day.
That is a major reason why I stopped taking calls 3 years ago from prospective clients wanting me to quote or design their next mansion, and, excuse the arrogance, I don't deal with the average Joe in the street ( the clients that burned me most were building $11 to $18 mill homes, carried by my firm) and I still do need the income, but I just had enough of the ignorance, arrogance, self importance and EGO of fools! It has cost me dearly, but my soul needed a break. Next year I may start again, perhaps.

Maybe Marmot needed a break as well. In my first few months posting, after being a lurker for while, it was Marmot who sent me a very kind and encouraging P.M after I received a nasty post and arrogant PM from a Senior Member (Banned years ago by you). I am sure Marmot has been a LOT of help to many members in the same way.

I find lately that there are members who are also getting to me. One in particular who constantly, constantly, posts drivel and antagonistic, attention seeking posts. He is a post "counter" no doubt.
If Marmot were around, he would be cooked, flipped and tossed. So now I understand his frustrations even more.

Carl, with respect, for every member that complained bitterly about him, I bet there are a few more who quietly enjoyed seeing him expose the impostors. He was an authority on this site, as is K1W1 and a select FEW others that we, the Senior Members respect, not necessarily would have over for dinner, but kept the YF "Chatter" more true...

Okay, said what I needed to. Just had to share with my friends and fellows.
Cheers,
George

Back to subject:
Could we change the compensation scheme to a "reward" scheme? As in something from YF for the effort of that member?

Carl, there are many here with much more experience when it comes to boats changing hands than I have. I do agree that this is a good venture for the forum, however, it I think you need to proceed with caution. Maybe sit down one morning before you turn on the laptop and do a in depth SWAT analysis of the venture. This would let you see the pros and cons. Either way, you have my full support.

Sorry for chiming in late, been busy in the past couple of days and this requirwa a little more brain power than a simple post

In short. Great idea especially without the compensation scheme and closed threads. Referral feed may be an issue too, or at least provide ammunitions to detractor

I am always amazed how supposedly professional brokers expect to sell and expensive boat with worst pictures and listing accuracy than the proverbial used car salesman. Even at the higher end of the market

I can see how the virtual side will work but how about the physical side? Showings, paperwork etc.

If you're going to compensate it should be disclosed fully to the public and probably even included in the title of the member. I'm sorry but in my opinion anything else with an undisclosed form of compensation or reward for assisting in the sales process at the very least gives the appearance of impropriety even if actually impropriety doesn't exist.

You didn't like the word "kickback" earlier but let me assure you that a disgruntled customer would absolutely use that word. And the other word that comes to mind is for one to say that the persons posting weren't independent but were "pimping" for the site.

I'll include one additional reminder. There are no secrets once more than three people are told anything. So whether it's rewards or direct compensation or just the discussion taking place in this thread, you should assume that it will all become known. If there is any part of it you're not comfortable becoming public, then you shouldn't do it.

Your attorney will certainly advise you as far as legality of various setups. But in Florida and California, I'd be very hesitant for anyone not licensed as a salesperson to receive any commission on the sale of a used yacht.

After a brief hiatus from this forum, and despite having misgivings long ago about the viability of a Yacht Brokerage arm to YF, I am increasingly convinced that Carl's vision is right on the mark. This can work, and the thoughtful details & questions of you previous posters in this thread serve to underline my confidence in the success of this new venture.

Glad to be back, Carl...Bertram Yacht (the factory) actually, across the street from Richard Bertram & Co.
The only employee ever to migrate from the Engineering Dep't. into Sales, from the best of my knowledge.

Trying to find a legitimate opinion of any given boat is like trying to find that sock that you are sure you put in the washing machine but has mysteriously disappeared leaving you with another single sock to add to your collection.

The problem with opinions is that everyone has one.

It is well known that builder A built a cheap and nasty product but they have sold hundreds of them. Builder A, has found a niche in the market that his product fills adequately. Anyone with any clue about quality of a vessel probably wouldn’t buy one of them, but the proof is in the pudding that there are hundreds if not thousands of people out there that find this product acceptable for their needs.
Should a builder that builds a product that fills a niche be penalized because of the opinions of people that think they know better.

The same rings true for builder B that builds a product that is extremely high quality, extremely reliable, very safe, but is also very expensive. The opinions expressed by a few that do not have an intimate knowledge of builder B’s product may express not only unwarranted but unfounded.

Take the top five megayacht builders in the world that are renowned for their quality, price and reputation, and then review the opinions of the many and the consensus would be most likely very positive, even though the people who are expressing these opinions may not have ever been onboard one of these vessels and certainly have never surveyed one to see what is behind the surface to see what makes these builders one of the best.

I think YachtForums having a brokerage section is a good or even a great idea but allowing even a select few to voice an opinion on a particular vessel may come across as either vindictive or worse libellous.

Also, if the only opinions are positive what is the point?, it would be the same as any article written the many trade magazines that for all intents and purposes is just fluff. We all have our personal favourites and inversely our least favourite yachts. How do you determine what is fact?

There is no doubt that there are many people who are members of the YachtForums community that are very well informed, extremely honest and have a broad knowledge and understanding of how boats are built and put together. Their opinions carry a lot of weight and influence, but these opinions should be shared cautiously and most likely privately.

Now I feel I'm really alive again! Great to be back

First of all, going through the list of names in this thread, I am humbled to be in this loop. It is an honor to say the least.

I will keep this short because from the few posts I could read, all grounds are covered. I agree with K1W1's and Kafue's every word.

A great Idea, sans the compensation part. It is a great idea, and if you guys remember, many conversations were commenced under the boat for sale threads before it was banned two summers ago, and you could sense that some opinions from certain members were either the last nail in the coffin for the boat or it's best appraisal ever! So, YF has a true word and a measurable leverage which can be put to the good of the industry.

The strength I see, is the listings will not have duplicates like found YW and such sites, each with its own set of images, price, etc. etc. The biggest thing I see, is carrying a discussion around the listings will be an indicator that the listing is for real and alive! Anyone that went on to contacting many on YW knows that most are listed while being sold already or not even up for sale!

For the reward system, I suggest, as noted by George "Recognition" which means a lot more to everybody, and will not have the bad impacts of any "Compensation" even if it was a cheap drink, it is still a way to question motivations. My suggestion is not unique, I was a member in a music related forum years back, and they had special titles for certain members that no one reading their posts can question, YF has a few, such as YF Historian, two of them if I remember correctly. The forum I am talking about used to have special titles such as "Yacht Forums Citizen", "Yacht Electronics Geek", "Yacht Slick" (This maybe a status too! ) I think you see the "drift" here. So much for keeping it short! Will go through this again for sure when I'm less high on legal drugs!

A side note that I can't pass, reading my friend Kafue's post, I was shocked reading Marmot is suspended, even though I personally had an encounter with him long time back, and two private "Listen to him and you'll learn something" from two other members, and I still remember every word Carl wrote in his message, and I always avoided participating in few threads he was on. Yet, I think it is a loss to the community nonetheless. His knowledge will be missed, maybe I won't say it to his face but I admit it!

Glad to be back in your company guys more than I'm glad to be alive again! and really liking the new look and hot links to Twitter and Facebook, I have a link to YF on Twitter but now I can share a taste of true sweet sea salt with my followers over there.

Cheers all and God bless.

Alf