I think Yachtworld may have put the last nail in the boat search coffin this morning

[Frosty]

In old news, sometime in the past couple of years, Yachtworld US took away the Advanced Search option. This was an excellent way to look up boats, with many easy parameters you could repeat (or adjust). Totally functional.

Once that was gone, it was a frustrating exercise in using filters that didn't work all that well, and didn't even have options for many of the useful parameters. Awful!

But thankfully, there was still yachtworld.co.uk. Day saved! I have used that every day, always hoping it would not be dumbed down as our US one was.

This morning it happened (at least on my computer). Went to run my advanced search (my usual parameters, plus the one of "last 1 day" so I don't have to look at the same million boats I've already ruled out over and over again). I was taken to a generic "Boats for sale" page. Augh!!!!

I had heard that the Australia site was also still usable. Went there. Same generic page and no advanced search.

Guess I'll have to find a boat on Craigslist, geez!

(Not only is it a bummer for me, but the old way actually introduced me to some boats I would not have otherwise considered. I'd do my basic parameters, plus "past 1 day" and see some boats I might click on that I would not have found if I were only searching by brand.)

I have about 1% hope it's some glitch on my end....

 

[Alaskaflyer]

Yep.

Nope.

 

[MYTraveler]

Does anyone have any idea what would motivate YW to degrade its functionality? Makes no sense to me.

The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that they are using technology for which they are not licensed. But the technology is so basic, that explanation seems very far fetched.

 

[John R M]

Add that to the demise of boatersresouces.com, which used to have lots of ads. I've been following about a dozen GB 42's, 9 of which were on boatersresources. Not sure where any of those may now be listed, if at all. My list of potentials in now very short.

 

[Moonfish]

I used to spend an unhealthy amount of time using the "advanced search" function. Now, I can't remember the last time I purposely went to YW to find a specific boat.

MYTraveler, you ask a good question. I can't understand what their reasoning is, either. Especially considering the essentially universal condemnation they have received as feedback...

 

[Alaskaflyer]

Perhaps instead of having users being able to bookmark a particular search as many of us did, they would prefer to harvest your email address for their "search alert" function, to populate email lists which can then be sold for additional revenue.

 

[andrewharperyachts]

I used it this morning, this is on my PC. I wonder if the phone app is different? This is a random search I use, it has all the advanced search options available:
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats-fo...=53-70&price=125000-500000&fractionalShares=0

 

[firehoser75]

I agree with all of you. I thought their "reason for existing" was to sell boats????
How does that work if buyers get totally frustrated and stop looking??? How does that help listing brokers sell their boats???

Many people, like me, will not use a resource that requires "logging in", creating an account, or giving out my email (so they can sell it and I get all kinds of unwanted junk). Until there is no other choice what so ever, I will look elsewhere or not at all.

 

[Moonfish]

My friend owns a site called Boater Base, which he has been developing for years as a more functional and marketable boat selling site than YW. It's for both private sellers and brokers. It seems like he's been beating his head against a brick wall all along, though. It's EXTREMELY hard to get something like that up and running against the established, deeper pocketed sites. But credit to him for persisting! Another one of the challenges he has, though, is explaining all the bells and whistles Boater Base listings have. And there are a lot!

Anyway, he could definitely use the exposure (and tons more listings): https://www.boaterbase.com/

 

[Frosty]

I suppose maybe they want "us" to have to call brokers (which of course we do anyway once we FIND a candidate boat).

But my problem with that is multi-fold:

1) I'm considering boats in a number of geographic areas (all around the loop, for example), so I prefer to go to the source (which cuts out one broker, but then cuts in another equally so no net change).

2) My experience with having brokers call me back, or even call me about a boat I specifically told them I was interested in, is dismal. Missed way too many trying that method.

3) In a market like it is now, I'm hammering on the search ten times a day (and even then half the boats are Sale Pending by the next day). No broker I know of is going to do that for me (and I'm happy to do it).

This just seems to be going completely opposite from the direction of the world, which is to give people access to information so they can do research on their own (if they choose to), then engage the professionals when the time comes (after all, I would always be engaging a broker in order to buy a boat from YW -- after I did my own preferred legwork).

So aggravated. (We won't even go into their 5 pixel photos, no competition, etc.)

 

[Comodave]

When Yachtworld took it away from the US version I contacted them and got a generic response about how they valued input, yada yada yada. But it was ok since I could use the UK version. I just checked most of the countries on the site and none has the advanced search option anymore. Not that I would be able to use most of them because I don’t speak those languages. I can’t believe they would purposely downgrade their site deliberately. Idiots. I just texted my broker and asked him to complain to Yachtworld. Maybe that will get their attention if a lot of brokers complain.

 

[Blissboat]

I used to spend an unhealthy amount of time using the "advanced search" function. Now, I can't remember the last time I purposely went to YW to find a specific boat.

MYTraveler, you ask a good question. I can't understand what their reasoning is, either. Especially considering the essentially universal condemnation they have received as feedback...

Ditto. Hollowing-out the customer experience seems to be an increasingly popular business model, though, so we may be frustrated and perplexed, but I guess we should no longer be surprised. Hell, any more I'm surprised when I have a good customer experience!

 

[Adopo]

I thought this was the case a while back and used the UK sight as well. Then I discovered the advance search buttons on the left side of the page on Yachtworld.com. Notice the screen shot I just took and with the search parameters noted with boat recently added function set at one day to pull up new listings from today. Every day I pull up in the advanced search, new listings that are 1 day old. I have found that his is not always right however.

I did go to boat wizard today, something I have access to due to my relationship with a broker, and the soldboats button was not a the top header, so I had to go directly to that website. On sold boats, I have found that sometimes brokers lie about the price paid for a boat, to inflate the prices I suppose. I saw this a few weeks ago on a new boat that sold, and listed the asking price.

 

[moparharn]

Let me start off by apologizing to the brokers who might read this post.

I think YW is doing this so that people are forced to go to brokers to find their boat. The problem with this is that most brokers I have had interaction with are either too busy or too inept to do a proper job of searching for a boat in a timely manner. In short brokers work at their own leisurely pace and this is why it is important for aggressive buyers to be able to work the system to quickly identify an opportunity. What is the problem? You cannot get information on a boat unless you contact the listing broker anyways. I suppose they want to drive more business to "buyers brokers"? In the current era brokers are struggling to get enough listings, so maybe they want to spread the money around and force buyers to use a broker for their search. Either way a broker is getting the commission, but this way might address the complaints of some brokers. Maybe the brokers complained that they are getting too many contacts from buyers (might explain why they rarely return an email in any semblance of reasonable timing).
Brokers pay for YW so unless the brokers suffer from this change we should not expect to look for our own boats anytime soon. This will drive down interest and ultimately be bad for the brokers, sellers, buyers, or some combination of them.
Let's face it. Brokers are in their profession for a reason. Being on island time is part of the program.

 

[Solly]

I believe you guys are mistaken.... Search for something on the home page. 35' to 40 ' It will come up nothing found. On that page, go down to the Year, Price, Type etc. drop downs and put something in. under Region put North America, then under that put the area in North America you want to search. Boats will start showing up. At least they did for me.
Not as easy as the old search but still there somewhat....

 

[twistedtree]

I think the issue here is that YOU are not the customer, the brokers are. I suspect YachetWorld wants to control what you see, not have you control it. Then they can charge brokers to put their boats in front of you.

 

[Adopo]

I believe you guys are mistaken.... Search for something on the home page. 35' to 40 ' It will come up nothing found. On that page, go down to the Year, Price, Type etc. drop downs and put something in. under Region put North America, then under that put the area in North America you want to search. Boats will start showing up. At least they did for me.
Not as easy as the old search but still there somewhat....

They are not listening....just saying lol

 

[Comodave]

I think the issue here is that YOU are not the customer, the brokers are. I suspect YachetWorld wants to control what you see, not have you control it. Then they can charge brokers to put their boats in front of you.

That is why I complained to our listing broker in the hopes he may complain to YW. Brokers are indeed the ones with the power to get it changed. But lots of people need to complain to lots of brokers.

 

[Comodave]

I thought this was the case a while back and used the UK sight as well. Then I discovered the advance search buttons on the left side of the page on Yachtworld.com. Notice the screen shot I just took and with the search parameters noted with boat recently added function set at one day to pull up new listings from today. Every day I pull up in the advanced search, new listings that are 1 day old. I have found that his is not always right however.

I did go to boat wizard today, something I have access to due to my relationship with a broker, and the soldboats button was not a the top header, so I had to go directly to that website. On sold boats, I have found that sometimes brokers lie about the price paid for a boat, to inflate the prices I suppose. I saw this a few weeks ago on a new boat that sold, and listed the asking price.

Sorry, I don’t see where you are referring to. I can’t see the screen shot well enough and also don’t see advanced search on the left side either. Can you help a bit more with how to do it.

 

[Frosty]

I think the issue here is that YOU are not the customer, the brokers are. I suspect YachetWorld wants to control what you see, not have you control it. Then they can charge brokers to put their boats in front of you.

I don't disagree with you. But as an interesting aside, I contacted a broker this afternoon about a listing he had and after we had a bit of rapport I mentioned how my shopping was really going to go downhill without the old Advanced Search.

To my surprise, he agreed with me! I said but wait, don't you still have better search tools? I thought it was just "us" that were cut out. Well, maybe he's wrong, but he said that they now have to suffer just like we do. Geesh.

And Moparhan, I agree completely. If I had to rely on brokers to find me what I want I'd age out of boating before I got one. And in many ways I understand this. I'm small potatoes, commission-wise. So fine, I'll do more of the legwork and only bother you when I've got a good candidate -- and it will be a win/win (you'd think).

(This may not apply if you want a very specific boat in a specific place - like say maybe you have a standing order in with a certain Nordhavn broker for a nice example.)

 

[Adopo]

Sorry, I don’t see where you are referring to. I can’t see the screen shot well enough and also don’t see advanced search on the left side either. Can you help a bit more with how to do it.

Yes, I just checked it, getting ready to do my nightly search.

The first thing I do is hit the search button with nothing in it, just hit the green search. It will then open up all the search options, and you can click on them to create the search you want.

The first picture shows the green search button on the left, and the second picture shows what comes up after you hit that green button. I had the same issue until I figured it out lol!

 

[tiltrider1]

All the advanced search functions are still there. They have been placed in a less obvious spot. Wouldn’t surprise me if this was driven by the brokers themselves.

Anyway, on the main page in the top line it says Boats Research Services. Click on Boats, you get a drop down box, click on power boats, now you get the page with the advanced filters. They are a little different but they are all there.

 

[Frosty]

I couldn't get those flippy triangles to work (after I finally found them, thanks to you). But my computer is not super new. It does work on my phone. Now I wonder if my search will "stick" like the old one did (and I still think it's much clunkier and more time-consuming).

My only real complaint about the old Advanced Search is that at the bottom there were two buttons to start the search. The right one (usually the "go ahead and do this" button) was "Clear this Search," and the LEFT one was "go ahead and do this." Can't count the number of times I cleared my search accidentally, but I did eventually get used to it (but that right there shows you how their design flow goes).

 

[socalrider]

I agree the new interface sucks - partly because you can't save a search. Another beef is that you can't search by number of cabins, which was a primary criteria for our last boat purchase (we needed 3).

Many of the search features are pretty useless due to the number of mis-categorized boats. And searching by boat type is also futile - heck we can't agree what a "trawler" is on TF! It'd be better if you could search by engine HP, or tankage.

 

[Judy at JWY]

You are deluding yourself if you think YW exists to service you and therefore they will listen to your complaints. Don't want to hurt your feelings, but YW's existence is for the purpose of having brokers list their boats for sale on their monopolized multiple listing service.

I pay $1,000 per month for up to 10 boats, I pay an extra $25.00 per month for every broker who works under me. That is the cheapest I can get away with: no "featured" listings, no promotions, no YW website. Although the prices continually rise and with services diminished, multiply that by the 20 years I have subscribed. And heaven-forbid they should ban me for this post as I couldn't survive without YW.

 

[John R M]

All the advanced search functions are still there. They have been placed in a less obvious spot. Wouldn’t surprise me if this was driven by the brokers themselves.

Anyway, on the main page in the top line it says Boats Research Services. Click on Boats, you get a drop down box, click on power boats, now you get the page with the advanced filters. They are a little different but they are all there.

The one exception is the ability to search by region. I'm only interested in boats on the US east coast and great lakes, boats on the west coast are too far away to be of interest.

Edit: Just found you can choose regions!

 

[Seevee]

My friend owns a site called Boater Base, which he has been developing for years as a more functional and marketable boat selling site than YW. It's for both private sellers and brokers. It seems like he's been beating his head against a brick wall all along, though. It's EXTREMELY hard to get something like that up and running against the established, deeper pocketed sites. But credit to him for persisting! Another one of the challenges he has, though, is explaining all the bells and whistles Boater Base listings have. And there are a lot!

Anyway, he could definitely use the exposure (and tons more listings): https://www.boaterbase.com/

Would like to see your friend survive, but without an easy to use web site and search engine it ain't gonna make it. To me, it was frustrating to even look at it. Needs a LOT of work.

 

[Seevee]

As for sites... why hasn't BoatTrader been mentioned? While not the best, it has a LOT of listing and includes the FSBOs.



And occasionally Craigs list or even Facebook Marketplace work. However, a lot of scammers there, too. So I could argue not to wire your money to Algeria for a Facebook purchase. However, I've purchased a ton of stuff on those places.... always met with the owner personally and mostly local stuff. With common household items, cars, electronics, I first look at where the seller lives and if it's an upscale neighborhood, the product is significantly better. And occasionally found stuff like furniture never used, still with the plastic coverings on.

 

[sledge]

Another one is Boatquest.com But i'm not sure how it compares, haven't been shopping in a long time....
I agree I don't like the newer YW interface. Yes, advanced search features "can be found" but you have to work a bit harder to get to them.

 

[Adopo]

In addition the market for buying absolutely sucks! I've been to every show, and searched every listing, sometimes looking at up to 2500 listings on YW and Boat Trader. If you see what looks like a great boat, it is gone in a matter of days if you don't act. Just nuts. I keep waiting for a shoe to drop while the prices just go higher and higher, and the inventory is depleted. I feel that I missed that window about 12 months ago. Dock prices are next, they are going up if you want to purchase one, at least in HHI. I assume it is that way everywhere.