How much to offer a CW or other big seller on a used unit?

Mile High wrote:
Just a note on CW, in the words of Marcus Lemonis himself

“We don’t like motorhomes because they don’t turn as fast, they’re not high margin,” he said on Friday when talking about the future of Camping World. “We sell them, but they are not big for us. It’s really about selling warranties, insurance, roadside assistance, service, parts.”

So besides making statements like he doesn't want your business if you support the President (he apologized later), he admits they are not in the MH business. CW wants your money in the finance room where they will push hard on warranties, tyron rings, extra goodies, etc.

We bought at CW, but I tell people we rescued it from CW. Their service department really never graduated from installing awnings, and they are just not prepared to work on these. Besides, ours had some of the most rude, arrogant, deceitful people I've ever experience in an RV Dealership, but I realize they are all different. We have no ties to them now - cancelled the warranty, fixed all the stuff they touched, and moved on.

Intersting..

Any price, all they can say is no.

Just a note on CW, in the words of Marcus Lemonis himself

“We don’t like motorhomes because they don’t turn as fast, they’re not high margin,” he said on Friday when talking about the future of Camping World. “We sell them, but they are not big for us. It’s really about selling warranties, insurance, roadside assistance, service, parts.”

So besides making statements like he doesn't want your business if you support the President (he apologized later), he admits they are not in the MH business. CW wants your money in the finance room where they will push hard on warranties, tyron rings, extra goodies, etc.

We bought at CW, but I tell people we rescued it from CW. Their service department really never graduated from installing awnings, and they are just not prepared to work on these. Besides, ours had some of the most rude, arrogant, deceitful people I've ever experience in an RV Dealership, but I realize they are all different. We have no ties to them now - cancelled the warranty, fixed all the stuff they touched, and moved on.

Thanks All,

Good points to consider.

gutfelt wrote:
OK now back to what the op actually asked

""where is a good starting point.""" (price wise on example ask of 75K)

Thanks for the input. Oh! wait. You didn't. :h

The big sellers will generally advertise their best deals close to bottom price, but you can never predict what someone will do. But John Allen (JAllen4) is an experienced car dealer as has done this stuff on higher-priced vehicles (Cadillacs) for many years. So, listen to what he says - figure out what a good deal is, then if you get offered a good deal take it and run. To do this, you need to be familiar with the prices from other sellers and with the condition of this coach. If you don't know how to find out both, you will likely pay too much.

There is no standard formula as to what to offer for a used unit that someone is asking $75,000 for. Some dealers ask very close to what they expect to get and others mark up the product greatly. I have actually seen units priced under true value and silly consumers thinking they should discount it 40%.

Wolfe10, who actually knows what he is doing, gave you a reasonable answer. Do your research on-line as to what others are asking for a similar product and what the "book" values are. Anyone offering 40,000 for a reasonably priced 75,000 dollar unit should get one response. The salesman should laugh and go looking for a "real" customer.

Why not just ask the seller what the lowest prices is that he will accept? If he says $70K than you just say "I'm sorry, that is more than I am willing to spend".
What he says next will tell you a lot. If he indicates that he might take a lower offer, than you know that he lied when he said that $70K was the lowest acceptable figure.
If he directs you towards another, less expensive, coach, it may indicate that $70K was indeed the lowest price that would be taken on the first coach.
It is a game but you will not win if you show your cards first. Make the seller give you the lowest figure and go from there.
If you are paying cash, you have more bargaining power, at SOME RV lots. Some RV lots do make additional money on financing an RV and are less receptive to cash offers. Others will jump on an all cash sale that can be closed that day.
Use what you have but don't tip your hand until you are certain that this is the coach that you really want. Once you have decided that you want a specific coach, then you can use everything that you have to get the best price.

fitznj wrote:
Offer CW whatever makes you feel comfortable.....

A good deal is when BOTH parties walk away with a smile on their face.

I'm comfortable with $500 for the $75,000 rig. No one forcing them to sell it to me.

I'd rather feel a little uncomfortable for an hour or so and save an extra $5000.

They do this as a job. It's not their baby, so don't worry about offending them. They know what they can accept and the won't take less than that.

To the original question, assuming the price and condition are comparable to similar rigs, I'd go in having decided how high I'm willing to go. Then I would nose around the lot looking at it and when they ask, tell them you like it but were really trying to stay down around $40-50k and see where it goes from there.

The opening offer should always be low. If you throw out an offer and they immediately accept, you paid too much.

offer way less than $60k on a $75k sticker its my money I,d go for $40k.they have way more wiggle room than you think.