Selling Trailer

[Cardinals]

Wife and I own TT. We are thinking about selling it and would be interested in your thoughts about selling it to a dealer vs selling on our own.

Not set yet, but my take a year or two off and then purchase when we finally retire.

Thanks.

[legolas]

4x4Bob wrote:
I have sold two trailers advertising them my self.

The sales went fairly quick and the new owners were happy when they departed because I explained how every thing worked and gave them my maintenance log.

However, I did receive the phone call from Montana from a guy who wanted to purchase one of the Trailers. His trusted agent would be in the area for the pick up. He would write the check for $1,000.00 over asking price in case there would be any last minutes charges. I could then refund the left over amount to the agent. Told him that sounds good and I gave the address of the Sheriffs sub station for pick up.:B

Just keep in mind there will be no chance of problems with Cash payment.


Bob

Good at spotting counterfeit bills are you.

[anaro]

We sold our last tt on craigslist. Best dealership offer on trade was $5000 less than I sold it for on craigslist. Pricing is key. I looked at nada, I looked at New and used prices for my unit on rv trader.com and I searched craigslist locally to see what similar tt were selling for. We then arrived at a fair price that allowed for some negotiations. We also included the wdh and enough camping essentials that the new owners would be ok to just go camp in it (ie sewer hose, fresh water hose, 30 amp extension cord since our new unit is 50 amps, water pressure regulator and a set of lynx revelers.) We had lots of scammers but I had set up an email just for craigslist so that if a scammer got that email there was nothing they could do with it. I ignored the obvious scammers and didn't respond to businesses (hint do not include your phone number in the ad, use email only, you can later email a phone number). I had 2 people come look. The second one purchased it. It took just under 3 weeks to sell. We went to their bank and had a bill of sale notorized. Their bank (a local well known bank) transferred the money to my lien holder and the remainder was a cashier's check the bank gave us. When we had the title in hand we signed it over to the buyers at their bank, again utilizing a notary. We turned our tags in for a tax refund.

We gave them a good pdi, helped them set up the wdh, and even taught them about a brake controller and wouldn't let them tow until they had one. Overall it was a positive experience and I would do it again. Just remember to do everything locally and in person for your own protection.

As others said, empty it out and clean it up really well. Take pictures of it empty. Have it ready to be taken when someone looks at it. We washed, buffed and waxed ours and spent a great deal of time on the little details. Then again, ours was well cared for from the beginning. Basically, I thought about what I would look for and how I would want to see it. We opened everything up and demonstrated what we could with limited power. If a buyer was willing to put a deposit down then we were willing to go to a local campground and show every system worked. Both people that looked at ours said the fact we were willing to do that told them everything worked. Even though everything worked and our tt was in excellent condition, we made sure the bill of sale listed everything as is because you just never know what can happen with trailers.

[chip_litch]

dadmomh wrote:
Completely agree with wmoses re craigslist. We sold our HTT and while it worked out perfectly for us and the new owners, there was a LOT of cr** to deal with. You get weird responses, people will say they need your home email because...... DON'T, we had one crackpot - probably literally - who lived in Fresno, CA and wanted to know if we would trade our '07 ROO for a '67 "mostly restored" VW.....NO! You will likely get more weird stuff than serious buyers and you absolutely have to be diligent about your personal information regardless of what story they come up with. The young couple that bought ours sent several emails through craigslist until we felt totally comfortable sending some additional pix to their home address. Of course, that meant they had our address, but we used the email on my laptop that had no clue of who or exactly where. They asked us for $500 off our asking price, we met at their bank, we had already talked to their bank manager and knew things were good, closed the deal and THEN they actually stepped inside. They were thrilled! We were delighted that a young family that would take excellent care of it and love it like we did. Just know that there are a lot of weirdos out there and people not in touch with the real world, so caution is the word.

You can sell on consignment at various places, but there is a commission. OTOH, if the buyer wants to finance or other special issues, the dealer can handle it. Takes time. Less cr**.

Before you let the first person see it, remove all personal items, pictures, anything that will NOT go with the trailer. Detail it to as new condition as you can. Give it a good bath and wax. DO NOT put any perfumed air freshners or such as it can give the idea that you're trying to cover up a mildew smell. Vacuum the upholstery, Pledge the cabinets, wipe down any walls that have a smudge and fix any little 15 minute jobs you've put off. The picture that sold our ROO was of the interior of the refrig. Their thinking was that if the frig is spotless the rest of the trailer is likely the same.

Good luck and happy camping again in a couple of years.

If it was a 1967 VW bus, you made the wrong call.

[PAThwacker]

Affordability plays a major role in these 10 to 30 year old pups/TT. I do not expect our 2008 to last to 2018.

[Lokin4deer]

PAThwacker wrote:
Was that a 1995 Pup? more action for the pup sites:10 to 20 year old pups.
d

No it was a 25"TT the couple that bought had never camper before and didn't want to start with a pop up.

[spike99]

dadmomh,

I agree with your post.

If wondering, I recently sold my 2006 Jayco (via private sale) and you are right, lots of weird people out there. Trading at RV dealer is cleaner but they often offer 50%-75% lower than average retail selling price.

.

[dadmomh]

Completely agree with wmoses re craigslist. We sold our HTT and while it worked out perfectly for us and the new owners, there was a LOT of cr** to deal with. You get weird responses, people will say they need your home email because...... DON'T, we had one crackpot - probably literally - who lived in Fresno, CA and wanted to know if we would trade our '07 ROO for a '67 "mostly restored" VW.....NO! You will likely get more weird stuff than serious buyers and you absolutely have to be diligent about your personal information regardless of what story they come up with. The young couple that bought ours sent several emails through craigslist until we felt totally comfortable sending some additional pix to their home address. Of course, that meant they had our address, but we used the email on my laptop that had no clue of who or exactly where. They asked us for $500 off our asking price, we met at their bank, we had already talked to their bank manager and knew things were good, closed the deal and THEN they actually stepped inside. They were thrilled! We were delighted that a young family that would take excellent care of it and love it like we did. Just know that there are a lot of weirdos out there and people not in touch with the real world, so caution is the word.

You can sell on consignment at various places, but there is a commission. OTOH, if the buyer wants to finance or other special issues, the dealer can handle it. Takes time. Less cr**.

Before you let the first person see it, remove all personal items, pictures, anything that will NOT go with the trailer. Detail it to as new condition as you can. Give it a good bath and wax. DO NOT put any perfumed air freshners or such as it can give the idea that you're trying to cover up a mildew smell. Vacuum the upholstery, Pledge the cabinets, wipe down any walls that have a smudge and fix any little 15 minute jobs you've put off. The picture that sold our ROO was of the interior of the refrig. Their thinking was that if the frig is spotless the rest of the trailer is likely the same.

Good luck and happy camping again in a couple of years.

[skripo]

PAThwacker wrote:

skripo wrote:

Doug33 wrote:
In NJ, a benefit of trading in when buying a new one is that you only get charged sales tax on the difference in the price between the new one and the trade in. Which can be a lot of money because the tax rate is 7%.

I was about to make that point. I bought a new StarCraft popup in 2013, used it 5 times and then traded it in for a TT. I lost nearly 25% in the deal.

The only reason I went for it is because of the nearly 15% sales tax issue. I would have had to sell it for $1,000 dollars more than he was offering to come out ahead by $100.00.

It really depends on what you paid and how old the trailer is. In my case I saw no upside for the prospective customer. I did however strip the trailer of all the accessories and sold everything privately through Kijiji (our version of Craigslist).

Just so you know, I ALWAYS buy used. These were the first new vehicle purchases I made in the last 20 years and that was a result of new construction techniques that allowed me to get a luxury 27' trailer that only weighed 4,760 pounds with all the options.

Hi dollar Pups are pain to sell. I lost 50% on trade and couldnt care less. The dealer sat on the used pup for over a year. If you monitor pup portal et all, average pup action is 10 to 20 year old pups.

He sold it in 2 weeks.

[PAThwacker]

Was that a 1995 Pup? more action for the pup sites:10 to 20 year old pups.
d

[Lokin4deer]

I sold my 1995 Starcraft in the spring on Craigslist. My bottom dollar was 3500.00 so I listed it for 4500.00. I put it on at 11 pm on a Saturday night I had 4 people look at it on Sunday. The 4th one bought at 5 pm for 3750.00 cash they had in their pocket. Price it right and make sure to leave yourself some wiggle room.

[PAThwacker]

skripo wrote:

Doug33 wrote:
In NJ, a benefit of trading in when buying a new one is that you only get charged sales tax on the difference in the price between the new one and the trade in. Which can be a lot of money because the tax rate is 7%.

I was about to make that point. I bought a new StarCraft popup in 2013, used it 5 times and then traded it in for a TT. I lost nearly 25% in the deal.

The only reason I went for it is because of the nearly 15% sales tax issue. I would have had to sell it for $1,000 dollars more than he was offering to come out ahead by $100.00.

It really depends on what you paid and how old the trailer is. In my case I saw no upside for the prospective customer. I did however strip the trailer of all the accessories and sold everything privately through Kijiji (our version of Craigslist).

Just so you know, I ALWAYS buy used. These were the first new vehicle purchases I made in the last 20 years and that was a result of new construction techniques that allowed me to get a luxury 27' trailer that only weighed 4,760 pounds with all the options.

Hi dollar Pups are pain to sell. I lost 50% on trade and couldnt care less. The dealer sat on the used pup for over a year. If you monitor pup portal et all, average pup action is 10 to 20 year old pups.

[jtludwig]

eluwak wrote:
We had ours listed on RVTrader for 8 weeks and let it expire. During that entire time we never had a buyer call (time of year was bad), but were constantly hounded by companies wanting to help us sell it. It was super annoying.

I had very good luck and sold my Lance 1575 on RVTrader.com.

I did receive lots of scam emails/text messages from people wanting to pay me more than asking price, and then have me return the extra money, and other scams like that. I also received calls from companies who had lots of people "interested in buying my car". I always laughed at those because I was selling a travel trailer :). I did receive over 20 legitimate calls though from prospective buyers.

Here is how I did it once the buyer and I agreed on the price/terms:

--I asked for a small upfront deposit of $200.00. I allowed a personal check for this deposit because they weren't coming for several weeks to pick up the trailer..so I would know if the check ended up bouncing before delivery.

--The buyer met me at my RV Storage lot and we inspected the trailer together and I explained how everything worked.

--Once the buyer was happy with things, I hitched the trailer to MY car and we towed it to his bank (while he followed me). We both went inside the bank and he obtained a bank check/cashiers check. Once I confirmed with the teller that the check was issued with guaranteed funds, I signed the title over and hooked it up to his car. I wanted to be at the bank personally when the cashiers check was issued so that I knew it was authentic/genuine, and not a forgery.

I wanted cash, but didn't want a briefcase full of $20 and $100 dollar bills..so getting a cashiers check at the bank seemed like the next best thing.

[skripo]

Doug33 wrote:
In NJ, a benefit of trading in when buying a new one is that you only get charged sales tax on the difference in the price between the new one and the trade in. Which can be a lot of money because the tax rate is 7%.

I was about to make that point. I bought a new StarCraft popup in 2013, used it 5 times and then traded it in for a TT. I lost nearly 25% in the deal.

The only reason I went for it is because of the nearly 15% sales tax issue. I would have had to sell it for $1,000 dollars more than he was offering to come out ahead by $100.00.

It really depends on what you paid and how old the trailer is. In my case I saw no upside for the prospective customer. I did however strip the trailer of all the accessories and sold everything privately through Kijiji (our version of Craigslist).

Just so you know, I ALWAYS buy used. These were the first new vehicle purchases I made in the last 20 years and that was a result of new construction techniques that allowed me to get a luxury 27' trailer that only weighed 4,760 pounds with all the options.

[jimw606]

I put my 5ver on Craigslist and sold it very quickly.
But you may get some of those funky phone calls.