Why Some Superyachts Sell Quickly While Others Sit on the Market for Years
A superyacht appears on the brokerage market and within months a buyer has been found. Another, apparently every bit as impressive, remains listed through season after season, occasionally undergoing a price reduction but stubbornly refusing to sell. From the outside, the difference can be difficult to understand, particularly when both yachts come from respected shipyards, carry impressive specifications and are presented with the sort of photography designed to make ownership seem irresistible.
For buyers, however, the length of time a yacht has been on the market can provide useful information. It just needs to be interpreted carefully. A yacht that has remained unsold for several years is not necessarily a bargain waiting for somebody clever enough to make a low offer, while a yacht that arrived on the market yesterday is not necessarily correctly priced simply because it is fresh to market.
The reasons one yacht sells while another remains available are considerably more complicated.
The market does not price sentiment
Owners inevitably have a different relationship with their yachts from prospective buyers. Considerable money may have been spent building, maintaining and improving a vessel, but there will also be memories, experiences and perhaps years of personal involvement wrapped up in it. None of that is unreasonable, although it can influence expectations when the time comes to sell.
The market has no such emotional attachment. Buyers compare a yacht with everything else available at that moment, taking into account the shipyard, designer, age, specification, condition, maintenance history, asking price and likely future expenditure. Recent transactions involving comparable yachts also influence what sophisticated buyers consider reasonable.
An asking price significantly above that implied by the market can therefore leave even an exceptional yacht sitting unsold. Eventually the price may be reduced, sometimes several times, but another problem can then emerge. Buyers have become accustomed to seeing the yacht for sale and begin asking why nobody else has bought it.
Specification can narrow the audience
Length alone tells surprisingly little about how two yachts compare. One 50-metre yacht might devote enormous space to exterior living, while another prioritises accommodation. One may have genuine long-range capability and be designed for extended exploration, while another is perfectly suited to Mediterranean summers but less appropriate for somebody planning to travel much farther afield.
The same applies to everything from cabin configuration and crew accommodation to tenders, toys, beach clubs, swimming pools and helicopter capability. Highly individual yachts can be extraordinary yachts, but individuality inevitably reduces the number of buyers whose requirements precisely match those of the original owner.
That is one reason a yacht can receive considerable admiration without receiving an offer.
Condition changes the real price
The asking price is only part of what a yacht costs to acquire. A vessel approaching major machinery work, class surveys or a substantial technical refit presents a very different proposition from one whose owner has recently invested heavily in maintenance and upgrades.
This is where apparently similar yachts can become very different financial propositions. A more expensive yacht with recently overhauled machinery, updated systems and well-maintained interiors may ultimately represent better value than a cheaper vessel requiring several million euros of expenditure shortly after completion.
For a buyer, understanding what is coming next can be every bit as important as understanding what has already been spent.
Presentation can only take a yacht so far
The standard of yacht marketing has improved enormously. Exceptional photography, cinematic films, drone footage and virtual tours can make a serious listing extraordinarily seductive. Eventually, however, a prospective buyer steps aboard.
The condition of the paint, maintenance standards, vibration, noise, engineering spaces, crew areas, interiors and hundreds of small details suddenly become tangible. A yacht that exceeds the expectations created by its marketing can become considerably more compelling. One that disappoints during the viewing can lose momentum remarkably quickly.
Good presentation therefore matters, but it cannot indefinitely compensate for the underlying condition of the yacht.
What does a long time on the market actually tell a buyer ?
Not necessarily that there is something wrong.
It should, however, prompt questions. How has the asking price changed since the yacht was originally listed ? What comparable yachts have actually sold during that period ? Has significant maintenance been completed or deferred ? Is some aspect of the specification limiting the potential buyer pool ? What major expenditure could be approaching during the first few years of ownership ?
Most importantly, how does the yacht compare with what else the same money can buy today ?
The objective for a buyer should not be to find the yacht carrying the largest discount from an ambitious original asking price. It should be to identify the yacht that best meets the intended use, ownership expectations and budget at a price justified by its condition and the current market.
Sometimes that will be the yacht everybody has just noticed. Sometimes it will be one that has been sitting in plain sight for two years.
The right yacht. The right advice.