Selling an RV Through Consignment

Good for you; well done!

If anyone's curious about this, here's and update: We chickened out on the consignment sale and decided to sell the RV ourselves. Three days later, Johnson RV called us back and made us an offer to purchase the RV -- for $4000 less than they had offered on the consignment. We said "No Thank You". Hubby basically told them if they wanted it, they should be able to give us the same price they offered on consignment. A few hours later, they called us back and agreed to give us what we were asking. So we made the deal. I know they'll make a profit, and we're happy with the price we got.

Thanks again for the tips and advice.

If you consign on a percentage basis, make sure there is some agreement that allows you to see the selling invoice so that you get your true cut of the transaction.

ryoung

frankdamp wrote:
I went with a consignment, with the dealer estimating $28K and a fixed fee of $700 instead of a percentage. They reckoned the only offer they got was for $14K. We ended up, after threatening a lawsuit, with $19.5K. we wanted out so we took it. Turned out the dealership's owner had bought it and he had his guys fix a few minor issues. He got $24K for it.

Nevermore!!

Nothing in this post makes any sense. First and foremost, in a consignment situation, the dealer cannot sell the RV for less than the price that you agreed to without your expressed permission. If they said they only got an offer of $14,000, that really makes no difference, you have the right to take it or leave it.
Second, why would you list your RV for such a small flat fee? It gives the dealer no incentive whatsoever to sell it. By the time he pays a commission to the salesman, covers the costs of preparing the paperwork and the labor of just plain having to maneuver around the thing, he is probably going to make next to nothing. And also, a flat fee offers no incentive to attempt to sell the rig for anything other than the absolute minimum he can convince you to take. It is much better to set a floor price and offer a substantial percentage of the sales price over and above that floor. And you still need to offer a substantial profit for the dealer at that floor, or they will walk around your rig to sell a rig they make more money on. It's both human nature and good business.
Finally, what do you care what anyone does with the RV after you have sold it? If the dealer wanted to buy it, invest money into fixing it up and then sells it at a profit, how is that any skin off your teeth? The only thing you could perhaps be upset about is if you had made those repairs yourself, maybe you could have gotten a much higher price. Just like homes, most people buying RVs are looking for "move in ready", they are not looking for a fixer upper.

I went with a consignment, with the dealer estimating $28K and a fixed fee of $700 instead of a percentage. They reckoned the only offer they got was for $14K. We ended up, after threatening a lawsuit, with $19.5K. we wanted out so we took it. Turned out the dealership's owner had bought it and he had his guys fix a few minor issues. He got $24K for it.

Nevermore!!

NJRVer wrote:
Make sure you hold the title until you get a check.

and it clears
bumpy

Make sure you hold the title until you get a check.

After reading over the contract, talking a lot and pondering it overnight, we've decided that consignment might be a good fit for us, so we're going to give it a try. I will update this post with our progress, good or bad, so we can all learn from the experience. I thank you all for your comments and advice. I always appreciate your expertise.

SwanInWA wrote:

...he's extremely confident that he can have it sold in the next few weeks, I'm a skeptic by nature, which of course is why I'm here....

If he is confident of selling in a few weeks it should be in the contract that they sell it in that time or buy it outright.

You do know the test to determine if a sales person is lying?

We sold our RV on consignment. We named our price after researching sales. The consignment place didn't name the price. We purposely put a higher price on it because everyone offers a lower price. It's just the nature of things. So basically, we sold it for what we thought was a good price, not a low price. The place we dealt with (PPL Consignment in Texas) doesn't sell it directly without the seller's input. Every offer is first relayed to the seller and it's the seller that makes the decision to sell or not. It worked very well for us and we sold within a month to a party who flew in from Florida.