Suggestions on Selling Trailer

fitznj wrote:


Try selling a boar in December........

Not sure selling livestock is a great comparison to selling travel trailers. ;)

Great point Gerry. I tried selling our boat over a two year period. Finally, I listed it early spring and it sold in a few days.

Your PM inbox should be full by now

Sold several boats/motorcycles/cars on Craigslist; Never had a problem, sure you get the odd email with a ridiculous low ball offer or the hard luck story but it's pretty easy to weed out the losers from those who are really interested.

If you price it realistically, clean it WELL inside and outside, take good photos and be honest in the description then you should be set.

No one has mentioned it but the season is very important. You will get more buyers in Spring/Summer than Fall/Winter and get closer to your asking price.

Try selling a boar in December........

Dennis Smith wrote:
I have sold 2 on creigs list. First one took two hours, second one less then an hour. cASH only. Have the trailer perfect, price it right. Give a good description of the unit, lots of photos and it will sell. Did I say make sure its perfect, price it right and cash only. Put that in the ad. Cash only.

This is exactly what I did and my TT sold pretty quick. The buyers looked at several and came back to mine because they said it was the cleanest and best maintained. The many photos I put in Craigslist brought several out to look. I priced it fair.

avoidcrowds wrote:
gdetrailer, I think you missed the OP stating that trade offers are too low Nothing wrong with that observation, as it is true. Trade offers are wholesale pricing, but the OP wants retail. So, he must sell it himself.

I will echo Craigslist. Look on Craigslist for your model/age trailer before you post yours. Check within a couple-hundred miles of yourself, so you get a realistic overview of the market in your area. Price your trailer accordingly. The cleaner it is, the higher the price. You don't want to buy something that looks used, so be sure yours shows well.

Cash only. If you are concerned about the safety of a wad of cash being handed to you, go to your bank with the buyer, as "that is where the title is". Take their cash, pull the title out of your pocket, deposit the cash, and sign the title over to them. Safe way to do it. I sold my trailer this way.

Good luck!

I didn't "miss" any "point".

OP felt that dealer trade offers SHOULD have been substantially more than what was offered.

In reality, the dealer trades will result in a low price offer, but what you trade off in price you GAIN in SPEED of getting out of your old trailer.

Dealer is not getting "rich" out of the deal, they ARE making a profit, otherwise they would be bankrupt in a hurry.

OP felt slighted thinking that the dealer should have paid full value price when in reality dealer MUST offer lower than what they will sell it for.. The next buyer will "haggle" over the price and the dealer has to make some margin out of the deal.

If OP thinks that they will get bunches of money more by selling it themselves then have at it.. But after sitting on it at full top dollar for 6months to a year the OP may wish that they took the dealer offer.

Sure, you can attempt to sell it for much higher but keep in mind, the BUYER who is looking at non dealer trailers has the SAME idea that THEY will get the trailer for CONSIDERABLY LESS than if they bought from a dealer (IE get it FAR CHEAPER THAN A DEALER).

The result will be that the OP will end up SLIGHTLY a little more (most likely break even or if local market is saturated, LESS) than the dealer offer and will have had the hassle of all the tire kickers, the no shows and other folks who are not really in the market but tossing out super lowball numbers to see how desperate the seller is to unload it..

Yep, I HAVE experienced this myself..

Just remember there ARE THOUSANDS of USED trailers for sale, you are "adding" another one to the mix.. Laws of supply and demand are at work..

gdetrailer, I think you missed the OP stating that trade offers are too low. Nothing wrong with that observation, as it is true. Trade offers are wholesale pricing, but the OP wants retail. So, he must sell it himself.

I will echo Craigslist. Look on Craigslist for your model/age trailer before you post yours. Check within a couple-hundred miles of yourself, so you get a realistic overview of the market in your area. Price your trailer accordingly. The cleaner it is, the higher the price. You don't want to buy something that looks used, so be sure yours shows well.

Cash only. If you are concerned about the safety of a wad of cash being handed to you, go to your bank with the buyer, as "that is where the title is". Take their cash, pull the title out of your pocket, deposit the cash, and sign the title over to them. Safe way to do it. I sold my trailer this way.

Good luck!

I have sold many many RVs, cars, you name it on Craigslist and never had a problem with tire kickers, never $500 down etc.

augustpilot wrote:
Please help with places to advertise our trailer, want to buy new trailer and trade offers are too low, so want to sell ourselves. I know a lot of you have advertised and sold, so looking for ideas. Thanks

Craigslist.org..

That is a great place to start with and it is FREE!!

But, I will give you several pieces of unwanted advice..

#1 Step back and realize the trailer is not worth as much as you think.

#2 Used RVs are only worth what the BUYERS are willing to pay and not a penny more. You can throw that NADA "guide" into the trash, those prices ARE unrealistic, do not take into account YOUR local "market" and what your local market is willing to pay for it.

Also NADA does not take into account for a GLUT in the local used inventory.. I see PLENTY of used trailers for sale in my local area.. Fills up a page of 100 listings on Craigslist within a few hrs.. Gets to well over 300-400 listings per day in my area.

YOU may think the trade offers are too low but you don't realize that it takes TIME AND MONEY for a dealer to sell your trailer. Dealer has overhead like utilities, people, lot rent or mortgage to pay..

#3 Selling it yourself will involve many tire kickers and most likely they WILL be "low balling" you if you feel your trailer is worth more than the market will support. YOU will be putting time (and "time IS money") into listing, showing then completing the sale.

#4 REAL IN YOUR "ATTITUDE", it shows in your post.. Buyers will see it also and many will not even want to deal with you making selling it even harder.

I wish you all the luck..

trailernovice wrote:
this is not trailer-specific, and never gotten into this situation myself...but I'd suggest you think long and hard before becoming 'the 1st bank of August'....you'll probably get a lot of those 'how about $500 down, and I'll pay the rest at $300 per month over three years' type offers, if you sell it yourself without going through a consignment lot

You forgot the out of state check, "I'm in the military", and "can you ship it to me?"