Sellers Guide

1. Safety – Please be careful around boat yards and marinas follow their safety procedures. If your boat is afloat, wear a life jacket when taking external photographs.
2. Photographs – General.

• No people (except for your Hero photo, no faces)
• No pets
• No historic photos we want to know what your boat looks like now. 

We take pride in showing off your boat to it’s absolute best on our site, to do this we only accept high resolution, “well taken” photographs ideally each one should be converted to an image file JPEG a minimum of 1024 width and 1024 height in pixels, this is the size image we will add to your boat listing. All modern day digital cameras/camera phones can achieve this. We will accept up to 200 images per listing. All images can be uploaded as part of your boat listing submission, we will tailor any over size images to meet our website image requirements, nothing goes live without your authorisation.

1. What is a Hero photo? This is your listings main, come and get me, photo that portrays your boat in it’s entirety, please make sure this is a daylight photo, we know boats can look good lite up at night, but unfortunately they do not sell your boats best features. Take a look at our “Example Photos” tab for a typical “Hero” photograph. This is the only time a person can be part of the photo as they can be driving/sailing the boat for an action photograph. Their faces should be obscured either by looking away from the camera or digitally.
2. Photographs – Internal – General. No people or animals as part of these shots. What do we mean by “well taken”, obviously you will have de-cluttered and cleaned by now, so you need to show off your hard work, one of the most important things you can do, and this sounds obvious, but you would be amazed at the photos we have seen. Take the internal photos in the lightest/brightest part of the day, when it is not raining, turn all internal lights on, if possible wait for a bright sunny day…I know, not always easy in winter in the UK. Make sure curtains are well back away from the windows/portals, make sure the doors are open, cratch covers/canopies are folded or removed. You can try using your flash, just make sure the images are not over exposed.
3. Photographs – Internal – Procedure. Now you are ready to start taking some photos, use your smart phone or digital camera, take multiple photos, we suggest three of each section of your boat, working from the entrance point through to the other end. Each section will typically be, but not restricted to: entrance, system control area, engine bay, kitchen, lounge/TV area, bedrooms (remember to move the clutter to another room before taking photos of this room), toilet, shower area, fish holds.
4. Photographs – Internal – Features. Starting from the entrance slowly work your way through each section taking up to 3 pictures, zooming into each thing you would prefer bidders not to see. For example, worn flooring, cracked/missing tiles, leaky windows, mouldy silicon, missing trim, rusty radiator, cracked fibre glass, bent tiller, leaky engine, torn cratch cover, I know it’s counter intuitive, but honesty works. Now repeat the process and take up to 3 pictures of all the features you would like to highlight such as: freshly painted panelling, underfloor heating controls, solar controls, leisure batteries, fold away beds, shower room extractor, sky lights. If included in the boat sale: safety equipment, fish finders, satellite comms, appliances, new cratch cover etc. Don’t highlight items that you are not going to include in your boat auction.
5. Photographs – External – General. We have already mentioned this but will again, your safety is most important, if your boat is afloat then put your life jacket on and make sure it is moored securely. If it is in a boat yard/marina, follow their safety regulations. Make sure it is not raining and is light and bright and there are no people or animals in the foreground or background.
6. Photographs – External  – Procedure. 3 overview pictures of each section taken in the lightest/brightest part of the day when it is not raining, work from Bow (Front) to Stern (Back). Including not but limited to: Front Deck, front cratch area, port side, starboard side, roof, cabin, steering area, fish holding area, storage areas. Don’t forget your Your “Hero” photo.
7. Photographs – External – Features. Repeat the procedure this time zooming in and taking 3 photographs of those bits that have had a hard life, anything that is broken or cracked, any peeling paint, rusty guard rails, cleats, pullies, torn sails etc. Now repeat the process zooming in and taking 3 photographs of all the awesome features that attracted you to the boat in the first place. Gnomes, solar panels, fishing rod brackets, sun bathing area, external BBQ, outboard motors, sails, steps to water, hot tub, helicopter pad 🙂 Remember only include photos of those things that are going to be included as part of your boat auction listing.
8. Photographs – Documents. As detailed in our “Do This First” article take a photograph of each page of you document folder in Chronological order newest to oldest. If you want to photoshop out names and payment details please over write them with a black paint. Submit these as part of your listing in the “Documents” section. We will also check these images to make sure there is no personal information left on show.