Where to list an RV for sale?

[TriumphGuy]

UPDATE:
We sold the fifth wheel in about 30 days. This is from beginning of Nov to early Dec in a southeast location. Weather was unseasonably warm for part of the time, which may have played a part.
I chose Craigslist and RV Trader, and used a Google Voice number and CL anonymous email for communications.
Thoughts about the experience:
- Price it right! We advertised for just above low retail and I'm sure that brought the traffic in. We had about 5 serious calls. 2 offers just a bit too low, 1 taker at an agreeable price and then 2 more calls just after it sold by people wanting to come see it. I don't think that's so bad for 30 days at the end of the year
- RV Trader stinks for user interface on the seller side and for filtering out spam. They should have a better form for getting contact info to keep spammers out.
- CL and RV Trader gave about the same amount of leads. CL offers more pictures and a better UI for entering your ad info. RV trader makes you pay too much for what little you get and their form stinks for entering info. If I had the $$ I'd make a startup to put them out of business.
- Expect a ton of scammers and spammers. Looking back, I should have added this to the ad: "Please indicate your name, city and state in your message or I will not return emails or phone calls due to the amount of spam."
- And of course, make it super clean. I'm convinced the effort we put into it to make it "like new" sealed the deal when that 3rd caller came to look. They shared with me later they had looked at quite a bit of dealer stock that was a mess. (my experience as well!)

Lastly, understand your unit and possible market. Ours was a somewhat unique bunkhouse floorplan (rear lounge) and I think it stood out against others out there, as there weren't many bunkhouse 5ers for sale anyway and nothing with a recliner in the back.

If I were selling something that had more "comps" out there for sale I would expect a longer time to get it to move.

- - -

Hi folks,
Trying to keep this question "between the ditches" and not violate any rules...
My current thinking is:
- Local Craigslist, using a Google Voice number and their CL email "pass through" so you can try and avoid spam. (i.e. don't use your real phone number or email, have a way to screen through all the junk you'll receive)
- RV Trader seems to have the best exposure for general private party ads. Although I really dislike their user interface for creating the ad in general, and they allow no formatting at all in the text description. (Someone could come along with a good website and blow up the RV trader business model IMHO).

Other methods which I don't think are worth it (at least at the moment):
- Parking it (legally of course) along a busy road. Nothing but problems in the past with trying that
- RVT.com seems to be just dealer listings
- Local classifieds ... anyone still look at these things?

If time were to drag out for long I'd consider taking it to PPL or trying local consignment. But one must be honest with the pricing if something is not selling ... i.e. if there are zero leads, it may be not selling because too high of an asking price.

Speaking of price, just above low retail, with only the truly applicable options is where I would start for a "quick" sale (whatever quick is this time of the year). Going to the library and looking up trade value from the hardcopy NADA books can be useful.

Am I missing anything? Anyone with experience trying to sell to a dealer or one of these "sell your RV for cash" I see online? They look sketchy!

[Clay_L]

rockhillmanor wrote:

Clay L wrote:
I used a local dealer after wasting a couple of months trying Craig's List, local paper, and several forums.
The dealer sold it in a few weeks and charged 10 percent. He took care of the financing and would have handled the trade in if one had been part of the deal.

X10
I sell all my RV's on consignment at the local RV dealership.

Because they can offer financing you can just about triple your demographics of who can buy your RV versus you trying to sell it yourself and demanding cash only. That's why IMHO they sell a lot faster on consignment where they can get financing.


Not to mention you don't have to deal with looky loo's and unscrupulous people coming to your house and scoping out your property.

🙂

[rockhillmanor]

Clay L wrote:
I used a local dealer after wasting a couple of months trying Craig's List, local paper, and several forums.
The dealer sold it in a few weeks and charged 10 percent. He took care of the financing and would have handled the trade in if one had been part of the deal.

X10
I sell all my RV's on consignment at the local RV dealership.

Because they can offer financing you can just about triple your demographics of who can buy your RV versus you trying to sell it yourself and demanding cash only. That's why IMHO they sell a lot faster on consignment where they can get financing.


Not to mention you don't have to deal with looky loo's and unscrupulous people coming to your house and scoping out your property.

[dapperdan]

We found our very first fiver on RV Trader, I believe lots of people use sites like that if for nothing else a basis for pricing/valuation.

Your RV is only going to be worth what somebody else is willing to pay for it, comes down to getting the "word" out. I'd use the internet to my advantage if I were you, use all the outlets you can.

There is always selling it on a consignment basis through a local RV dealer.

Just my two cents, good luck....

Dan

[Empty_Nest__Soo]

My experience from about a year ago: I live in a very rural area, so I was expecting problems selling.

I listed our last RV (a TT) on Craigslist (the one covering all of southern West Virginia), at a fair price and included several good photos, in and out. I got several inquiries within a day or two. On Saturday morning, just days after I listed it, a couple showed up at our door unannounced, i.e. not one of the inquiries we had gotten by email. I showed them the TT. The wife offered a price several hundred less than I had posted it at. I replied that I had gotten several inquiries which seemed serious and that I was not yet prepared to move on price. Husband pulled a big wad of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket and counted out the amount I was asking. I got the title and signed it. Helped him hitch up. Done.

A couple of days later, I got a call from one of the fellows who had inquired earlier. He was much disappointed that it had been sold already.

Craigslist seems to work, even here in the boonies. Price is right, too.

Wayne

[Clay_L]

I used a local dealer after wasting a couple of months trying Craig's List, local paper, and several forums.
The dealer sold it in a few weeks and charged 10 percent. He took care of the financing and would have handled the trade in if one had been part of the deal.

[the_bear_II]

My choices would be:
> Craigslist
> Post an ad at local RV Parks and campgrounds
> RVtrader
> RacingJunk.com -a surprising number of RVs are sold from this site.
> consignment dealer if I didn't want to hassle with buyers and didn't mind losing up to 30% of the final sale price.