Your Selling Options
There are several possible ways to sell you aircraft. Lets look at some choices.
Options for selling your aircraft
As an aircraft owner you have three basic options when you choose to sell your airplane. You can:
- Sell your airplane yourself.
- Sell your airplane to a Dealer.
- Select a New aircraft Dealer to sell your airplane.
- Select an Independent Aircraft Broker to sell your airplane.
We will explore each of these options realistically with you, suggest why you should select a quality broker to
market your aircraft, and finally suggest why Fessler Aircraft Sales will do the best job for you
Definition: Broker vs DealerAircraft Broker: A broker is an entity that brings a buyer and
seller together to sell an aircraft the broker does not own for a commission.
Aircraft Dealer: A dealer buys aircraft for inventory and is also usually an aircraft broker.
Fessler Aircraft Sales is an aircraft broker.
Dealers typically purchase aircraft and take trades, but remember they are a "For Profit" business and will offer wholesale
prices for your aircraft.
Advantages: Selling the aircraft yourself seems very attractive because you control the deal and
you keep all of the money.
So, why would you do anything else but sell it yourself?
Disadvantages: You would not sell it yourself for the same reason you would not want to trust
it to an inexperienced person to sell it. You want results, not expensive lessons to learn how to do something
you may only do once or twice in your life. If you are financially stable enough to own an aircraft,
your time is valuable.
Here are a few examples we have heard from owners who have tried to sell their own aircraft:
- As a favor to one buyer, the seller let him fly the aircraft before completing payment.
There was nothing in writing and the prospective buyer had a "Gear Up". Guess what? He walked away from the deal.
- A long demonstration trip was flown that resulted in no sale and the seller was left holding the bag for all expenses.
- An unscrupulous buyer convinced the seller to bring the airplane for a pre-buy to his location. The aircraft was
inspected and rejected; however, the seller was faced with the maintenance bill. The owner did not get a deposit
and was not reimbursed even for his fuel and pilot expenses.
There are also important factors to consider involving the proper handling of Paperwork, Sales Tax, issues,
lien releases, change of title transfer, and contracts that can limit a seller's future legal liability.
Another negative is the time, distraction, and hassle factor of fielding the calls, separating the time wasters
from the real prospects, sending out photos, specifications, brochures, showing and professionally demonstrating
the airplane, making sure it is clean, and following up with the real prospective buyers in a timely manner.
These tasks all have to be done and can rob your time from the business that earned you the kind of money required
to own and operate an aircraft. You will probably come out far ahead by concentrating on what you do best and
letting a professional who is experienced handle the transaction for you.
Conclusion: You might save money selling the aircraft yourself, and there may also be extra risks,
but the real question to answer is, Will the money I might save selling this one aircraft earn more money than
I can make doing what I do best, running my own business?
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Advantages: Time is the major advantage of this option.
Disadvantages:
Your will generally net 20-30% less for the airplane than you could get by selling the airplane yourself or through
a broker.
Conclusion: If you want your money now, without the hassle of going through the selling process this could
be a good option to consider.
Advantages: Selecting the dealer you purchased your new aircraft from allows you to work with someone you have a previous relationship with.
Disadvantages: A new aircraft dealer must place their orders well in advance in order to maintain inventory. If these aircraft do not sell the dealer will have ongoing capitol outlay for interest and insurance, reducing their profit margin. Their sales personnel may be compensated differently, putting your aircraft a lower priority.
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Advantages: This option is a reasonable compromise between selling the aircraft yourself and selling it to
a dealer. In most cases a quality broker can sell the airplane much faster than an owner. You and the broker have
the same interest. The broker makes a commission when your aircraft is sold. The higher the price, the higher the
commission. A broker wants to sell your airplane as soon as possible because he doesn't get paid until the
aircraft is sold.
A quality independent broker is a marketing expert you trust to act in your best interest. He will report
to you regularly. He is like a staff member that works on straight commission, without a salary, without benefits,
and doesn't mind that he will be laid off when the airplane sells. You have the benefit of years of experience
working for you, experience you couldn't hire in any other manner for so short a time period.
Disadvantages: You could commit your airplane to a group or an individual only to see nothing get done.
The broker ties up your valuable asset and then moves on to other business while waiting for someone to walk in
and make an offer on an airplane you want sold.
Things could be worse. Some prospects for an airplane may
have already had unsatisfactory dealings with a particular broker. The wrong broker can do some troublesome
things like misrepresent the aircraft, improperly handle offers, or waste time and money on unnecessary
demonstration flights.
Conclusion: A quality independent broker can be your best option for getting the most money for your airplane
with the least amount of risk and trouble. Brokers, however, need to be examined carefully for competence.
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We invite you to measure us by the same standards you would meaure any dealer or broker. You may have your
own list of standards, but here are a few we would encourage you to examine:
Experience: Jim Fessler is the principal in Fessler Aircraft. I have more than 25 years in the aircraft business. I purchased my first
aircraft, a Comanche 250, in 1977. I have been a Beechcraft and Grumman (Tiger) Dealer, and completed the Beechcraft professional
salesman course. I have owned and managed my own business for over 30 years. I have a Commercial pilots license with Instrument and Multi-engine ratings. I have been flying since 1963, and all my flying is in General Aviation aircraft.
An e-mail done regularly to a list of our best prospects and to fellow dealers that we trust. We take
quality photos, send out Photo Brochures, evaluate your aircraft, and represent it in the best possible manner.
We also have detailing services available and relationships with paint and interior shops that can save you money
when your airplane needs refurbishing for resale. We will recommend what you should do to make your
airplane bring "top dollar."
Conclusion: If you want to sell your aircraft you
should strongly consider Fessler Aircraft Sales for the job. We have a solid reputation built on results for
satisfied customers. We do not sell new aircraft assuring you that your aircraft is our top priority.
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