Every vessel sale carries a number nobody puts in the headline price: the brokerage. It's been the industry standard for so long that most buyers and sellers never stop to ask whether it's still earning its keep.

The number itself. Sale and purchase brokerage has sat at roughly 1% of the sale price for decades, and it's often paid twice: once to the broker representing the seller, once to the broker representing the buyer, each working the deal from their own side of the table. On a $10 million secondhand Supramax, that's $200,000 in commission before either party has paid for a survey, a class transfer, or a single day of due diligence. Chartering commission follows a similar convention, traditionally set around 1.25% of the freight or hire value. Yacht brokerage runs higher still, typically 8 to 12%, with brokers of larger commercial tonnage generally landing between 0.5% and 2.5% depending on deal size and complexity.

What that fee is actually paying for. It isn't unearned. A working S&P broker maintains relationships with owners and operators who never post a vessel publicly, screens buyers for financial capacity before wasting a seller's time, negotiates price and delivery terms, and coordinates the surveys, class documentation, and paperwork that get a Memorandum of Agreement to signature. Brokers typically work on a no fixture, no commission basis. Months of unpaid effort on deals that fall through are the reason the 1% exists in the first place.

Where the model breaks down. The traditional brokerage model was built for a world where finding a vessel meant working the phones and a personal network, because there wasn't another way to reach the market. That's no longer true. A seller who lists a well-specified vessel directly, with complete technical data and verified IMO-linked records, is reaching the same pool of serious buyers a broker would call, without paying a five or six-figure fee to make the introduction. A direct marketplace doesn't replace the judgment a broker brings to a complex negotiation, but it does remove the cost of simply finding the counterparty, which used to be the most expensive part of the transaction.

When you still want a broker. A few situations still argue strongly for one. A complex negotiation involving multiple stakeholders or financing contingencies. A sale requiring discretion, such as an owner restructuring a fleet who doesn't want the market to know. A buyer entering a vessel class or flag jurisdiction they don't know well and need local expertise to navigate. In these cases the broker's fee is buying judgment and risk management, not just introductions, and it's worth paying for.

Where a direct platform wins outright. Standard secondhand tonnage, a bulk carrier, tanker, or MPV with clean class records and no unusual complications, is exactly the deal type where the broker's core service (finding a credible counterparty) has been commoditized by verified, searchable listings. On these deals the 1% isn't buying much a buyer or seller can't now do themselves.

The practical takeaway. Before your next sale or purchase, price the deal both ways: brokered, with commission built in, versus direct, with the time and diligence work done in-house or through a platform that verifies the vessel's data at the source. On a straightforward transaction the gap is real money. On a complicated one, it's the reason brokers still exist. Know which deal you're in before you decide how you want to run it.

Browse current tanker, bulk carrier, and MPV listings, or list a vessel directly, at ShipMarketSquare.com.