By Vincent Wigmans

There is a practice in aircraft sales that nobody puts in a brochure, but every owner who has sold an aircraft has either seen it or paid for it.

It is called buying the listing.

A broker visits the owner, looks at the aircraft and names a price. Not the price the market will pay, but the price the owner hopes to hear. The owner is delighted. The mandate is signed, the aircraft goes online, and the broker has what he came for: the listing.

Then the market does what the market always does.

The script

It rarely changes. Month one is full of optimism: lots of views, a few inquiries, “serious interest from the Middle East”. Month three brings a few polite emails from buyers who ask whether the price is a typo. Around month six, the call comes:

“The market is moving. To get this sold, we need to look at a price reduction.”

And then a second reduction. And a third. Each one is presented as the market’s decision, never as the broker’s original estimate. The owner never hears “I told you a number I knew was too high”. He hears “the market dictates”.

By the time the aircraft reaches a realistic price, it is a different aircraft in the eyes of the buyers. It is the one that has been online for ten months.

Why the inflated price works so well

It works because it solves the broker’s problem and creates the owner’s problem.

For the broker, the listing is the scarce resource. Aircraft with a real chance of selling are not that common, and a mandate on a good aircraft is worth winning. The easiest way to win it is to be the most optimistic voice in the room. Promising the highest price costs nothing at the signing table. The cost arrives later, and the owner pays it.

For the owner, the inflated price feels like good news. And good news is easy to believe, especially when it is about an aircraft he loves and has maintained well.

What it actually costs the owner

The cost is bigger than most owners realise, and it has nothing to do with the final price.

  • Time. Every month on the market is a month of hangar, insurance, maintenance and capital sitting idle in an aircraft that is not flying for you.
  • Listing history. Buyers see how long an aircraft has been online and how often the price has dropped. A listing with a long history and several reductions tells buyers the owner is desperate and the aircraft is difficult. It hands them the negotiating position.
  • The first impression. An aircraft only gets one fresh launch. Listed at the right price in week one, it attracts the buyers who are actively looking. Listed too high, those buyers pass, and they rarely come back for a second look at the same aircraft.
  • Maintenance risk. With inspection and overhaul slots becoming harder to get, a long listing can push an aircraft into a major check or an engine shop visit before it sells. That turns a price discussion into a much more expensive one.

How to protect yourself as an owner

Not every broker who names a high price is playing a game. Some honestly see the aircraft differently. The question is whether they can prove it.

  • Ask for sold prices, not asking prices. Any broker can show you what other aircraft are listed for. Only a broker who knows the market can show you what they actually sold for.
  • Ask for the comparable aircraft behind the number. Hours, year, maintenance position, avionics and location. If the answer is vague, so is the valuation.
  • Ask how long the comparable aircraft took to sell. A price that sells in 18 months is not the same as a price that sells in 3.
  • Agree the reduction schedule before you sign, not after. If the plan is to review at 90 days with a defined step, you are managing the price together. If the first mention of a reduction comes in month six, you are being managed.
  • Keep the mandate short. A long exclusive mandate gives the broker comfort and you no leverage.
  • Be suspicious of the broker who gives you the highest number without any questions about your maintenance status. The logbooks decide the value, not the optimism.

What an honest valuation sounds like

An honest broker will often be the least popular voice in the room. He will tell you the aircraft is worth less than you hoped, explain exactly why, and show you the sold aircraft he is basing it on. He will tell you what to fix before listing, what to expect in terms of timing, and where the negotiation will happen.

That conversation is harder to win. It is also the only one that ends in a sale at a number you can rely on.

The bottom line

A high price costs a broker nothing and costs an owner months. If someone wins your aircraft by promising a number the market has not agreed to, you have not found the best broker. You have found the most convincing one.

Before you sign a mandate, ask for the proof behind the price. If the number is real, the proof will be easy to find.

If you want an honest second opinion on where your aircraft sits in the market, get in touch with Vincent via email vincent@faaircraftsales.com