2 selling questions - RV-Dreams Community Forum

tincanman · RV-Dreams Family Member

2 selling questions

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

What I do with large items to sell is to look at similar items on several websites to compare pricing listed in ads. For RVs I would look at Craigslist, RV Trader.com, Racingjunk.com and Ebay.

This will give a range of prices folks are asking along with an idea of the range based on condition of the RV. Most of the ads will show the date the ad was posted so you can see how long the RV has been for sale.

Check this price range against the NADA pricing and then set a price you feel is appropriate.

You usually get more by selling privately but you have to spend more effort in doing so. Another method for selling is to use a consignment dealer. A good one will heavily market your RV and take care of all the hassle. They do take a commission (up to 30% of the sales price).

JonRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ebay and RVTrader are good sites to get a feel for the market value. However the pricing is heavily dependent on location and condition.

tincanman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you all for the good advise.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

PPL is another number source. Since they charge a commission, the price the seller gets is less than the asking price, so I would assume that most sellers figure that in their asking price.

As for private sale vs trade-in, we're looking at that, too. If you have a popular brand and are buying a new(er) coach, you will get a reasonable amount for your current coach. Like trading in a car/truck, it is pretty hard to figure out what you are actually getting, but at least you know that the old coach is gone at the same moment you get the new one. You can easily move your stuff from old to new. The dealer will then spruce the old one up some and mark it up to cover his costs plus some "wiggle room" to make the buyer feel good. The difference between what you get and what he gets can be fairly large. If you sell it yourself you can afford to do some of the sprucing up yourself and still sell it for less than what the dealer will ask. The disadvantage is that you either have two coaches OR you have to wait until the current one sells before buying the new one.

Another possibility is a consignment sale. Again, there is a commission to be paid, but the dealer does all the work. Again, though, either you own two coaches OR you have to go shopping for the new coach after the old one sells.

When we decided to sell our mpg we went with a consignment at the same dealership where we bought it. They actually got MORE for it (even counting their cut) than what I was going to ask, AND they did all the work. Of course, we will had our S&B then, so it was easy to drop the trailer off, and when the check finally arrived we could start shopping for our Foretravel.

Now that we're talking about changing coaches, we're thinking that we will put our coach up for sale and continue traveling. When it finally sells we'll find an extended-stay hotel wherever we are then, move in, and then go looking for the replacement coach. Of course, we'll be watching the ads as soon as we advertise the Foretravel and realize that it may take a while to find what we want.

Clay L · RV-Dreams Family Member

A trade in will be at or real close to wholesale. You may be able to get retail or close to it if you sell it yourself.
I spent a couple of months trying to sell mine using Craig's List, local paper, Penny Pincher, and several forums. I ended up putting it on consignment with a large local dealer and he sold it about a month. He took care of the area advertising and financing. He charged 10 percent and got a little over NADA average retail.

rodeojoe · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think you can always get a better price selling privately than what they will give you as a trade in. Now is a good time to list too as many people are about to get their tax returns back.

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

NADA has an online estimating tool at www.nadaguides.com/RVs.

tincanman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you all!

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

NADA works well for fairly new and popular brands. They are less accurate for older, low-volume brands, and some brands aren't even there (try to find Newell, for example).

travlingman · RV-Dreams Family Member

One advantage to trading in, depending on the state you will be registering, is that you only pay taxes on the difference between the trade in and new purchase price.