Boat share FAQ and Contact Information

There is already a page on your web site on the "craft" page which I want you to use the detail from for my advert.

Can I?

How do I ask you to do it?

OK. I am lazy.......very lazy. I figure that there are around 200 shared craft on the UK inland waterways and once I have advertised every single one once, and have pictures, details etc. my job gets much easier. In the real world this number is far fewer, there are probably about 150 boats where shares are regularly bought and sold on the site.

My job is MUCH easier if I can re-use the advert that I last wrote, so the standard procedure simply works you through the process, and asks you if you want to use the old advert and pictures. You do not need to worry about copyright on the words or pictures as I own it (by virtue of the person who first wrote it or last altered it passing it to me, just as you will for yours).

Please note I make the alterations to the existing page for you. You just fill out the forms

You cannot place an advert just be sending an e-mail, you MUST go via the forms.

Just work through the forms and all will be revealed.....start here

I want to advertise my share in my boat for sale, but somebody else on my boat wishes to sell and already has a advert on www.boatshare.co.uk . Can I add mine?

Yes, and as I deem photographs passed to me come with copyright to use them as I see fit I may use them on the second advert. However, should one advertiser sell their share the advert cannot then be "passed over" to somebody else selling on the same boat.

Two owners are selling at the same time, can we put two shares for sale on the same advert?

NO, plain and simple, and you are asked not to abuse this. YOUR advert is for YOUR stake in the boat. Once sold the advert will be taken down. You CANNOT alter contact details and pre-booked weeks on an advert once it is placed. 

I am not very good at writing "estate agent speak" so my advert may not look as good as some others...

Don't worry, as long as you have some nice pictures and can offer a few "facts" I can do the rest. Also, somebody else has probably done it for you, look for a previous advert for your boat.

Is there a maximum I can write about our boat, and a maximum number of pictures I can have?

As long as you use a plain font there is no real maximum, but obviously something the size of a book will not be considered. The maximum number of pictures is ten on a paid advert. For as long as there is a share offered for sale on any boat these ten pictures will be determined by the vendor.

Somebody offered a share for sale on this page and has sold it, but the page is still there. Is that correct? Can I remove it?

The advertising part on the page will be removed after 12 months (or sooner if requested) but the page on the boat itself will remain in the directory, for information and possible future use. If an owner on the boat wishes it removed for any legal reasons then the page will be removed provided it is carrying no advertising. But basically it is a harmless template to be used for next time an owner wants to sell, if anything is factually incorrect then just let me know.

Our boat has its own web site, we would like to just have a link from www.boatshare.co.uk to it, is that possible.

Yes, a link is possible, just send us the details. If shares are offered for sale on that boats' own web site the link can still stay on free of charge but to become listed in the "shares for sale" section of the table the fee at the present "going rate" would still have to be paid.

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Is there anything that might help my share stand out above all others?

The answer to this is think about why you bought it!? Equally think about why you are selling it!!?? Also think about what conditions, especially in a private group, might preclude a sale - there is no point in selling it to somebody only to find your group have an agreement that pet crocodiles are not allowed!! A few examples:-

Pet Free. Some people would see this as a major plus point, of course those with a dog would not, but equally you should state it as there is no point in selling your share to a dog owner if the other owners don't allow pets, you will be wasting their time and yours.

No Smoking. Actually, remarkably this makes little difference, but state it anyway. Boats tend not to smell of smoke inside after the doors have all been open for more that 30 mins and in this day and age nobody tends to smoke inside anyway.

Special arrangement for school holidays: If such a scheme operates on your boat say so, and say if your share on offer is with, or without, the arrangement.

How weeks are selected? State roughly the method used, lottery, fixed weeks or round robin system, and how many weeks you are guaranteed to get each year? If you know your dates for the forthcoming period state them. Once the dates are on the advert they cannot be materially altered, but you could add, say, weeks for the NEXT year if you learn them during the period of your advert.

Cost. State the price of the share (and if your commercial operator is also offering it for sale state the same price, but remember that you might not have to pay their commission) and state the sum you pay each year towards the running costs. If you are in a commercial scheme INCLUDE any management fee. Then, if you have quoted your weeks as well any potential owner can work out a cost/week price.

Anything else? Well do all the owners live in the south and so the boat is unlikely ever to be moored in the north? Is yours the first share to be sold out of this friendly syndicate in six years? Does any potential owner have to be vetted by the others? Is the boat only ever going to be moored at, say, the marina it is at now, or is there an agreement in place that it must be moved every, say, third, year?

Also mention any major work done on the boat or planned as this may help, equally does your group have a slush fund of money kept on one side "just in case" and would any incoming owner benefit from that or have to pay in to it over and above and costs presented at this stage.

Remember the more you tell the more sell and there is no limit on the amount of text your can put on the page (within realistic boundaries). 

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My commercial operator has a section showing my boat on their web site - can I have a link to it?

Yes if you want - but you will be doing yourself no favours....Why?  The commercial operators web site is almost certain to be offering many more shares for sale just like yours.

But somebody looking at the site may well already know who the commercial operator is?

Think about it. When you bought your share you went to that boat and that commercial operator above a private scheme or any other commercial operator for a reason. "Sell" your enquirer those reasons when they ask about your share. Don't tell them, "Go speak to Titanic Timeshare about it", you are just advertising for them, and if they go on to sell your share for you they will charge a full commission. Why not agree to split any savings on brokerage with your customer, that way you both win.

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I don't have any good pictures of my boat, but there are some on my commercial operators web site, can you just lift them?

You can have an advert without pictures for the same fee if you wish, but it will not do as well. We CAN however ask the commercial operator on your behalf if they would mind. We get on OK with most of them!  Alternatively a fellow owner may have some.....

This web site charges whereas there are others that will accept adverts like this for, it seems, free. Why?

The answer to that might be found here! (In 2023 adverts on this web site lead to 76 share sales)

This is the THE web site for shared ownership of boats within the UK and in NOT affiliated to anyone. We are not a boat broker or a mouth piece for any other part of the boating industry we advertise boat shares for sale NOTHING ELSE.

Other web sites allow you a small section and one picture, we allow much much more. £50.00 (correct 2024) for a whole year is not expensive by any means when you consider that a broker may well charge you upwards of 5% commission.  Remember commercial operators prefer to sell more profitable shares in new boats and up until now there was no focal point for private syndicates. 

Finally I have a mailing list of people who have been asked to be advised about shares coming on the market, included in your advert when you first place it is it's details being circulated around this list.


There always seems to be one or more shares for sale on our boat, can we have some sort of advert that runs in perpetuity.

No, after much thought it has been decided that this web site is best serving its customers if an advert is best placed by ONE PERSON for THEIR share/weeks, not a commercial type of advert offering blanket shares. That said new builds or persons taking a paid advert seeking to find like minded folk to form a group are exempt.
 
Does Boatshare take potential customers to view the boat?

No, we are just a web site, not a broker.