TT shopping frustration

Timely thread as I just checked my tongue weight yesterday. Our trailer (2014 Trail Runner 27RKS) according to the manufacturer is 6442 pounds with a tongue weight of 500 (rear kitchen layout). I checked the trailer with my sherline weight scale that I just bought and without anything in it, the tongue weight showed 580 pounds. This I'm sure was the result of the awning, full propane tanks, battery, and anything the manufacturer installed after it was weighed. I said to my wife, lets load it up with everything we plan on camping with so I can check it again (nothing real heavy, just normal stuff everyone takes with them). I'm guessing we loaded maybe 750 pounds of stuff including the weight distribution hitch that I put in the front cargo area because that would normally be attached. We put just about everything in front of the trailer axles since I had such a low weight when dry. The tongue weight raised to 980 pounds. Once I re-distributed things so what we put in the trailer was equally distributed throughout the trailer the tongue weight dropped to 880 pounds. Then I added the weight of the hitch receiver (about 60 pounds) and the total tongue weight is 62% more than the dry weight. My suggestion is to bring a Sherline scale and calculator with you when shopping so you know the actual weight on the tongue and then add a minimum of 60% to that amount and you'll be pretty close to what you will have when towing. Based on what your max tongue weight is, you should be looking at trailers with tongue weights less than 560 pounds dry (940 X 60%).