The RV pundits told us that after the big rush of the COVID pandemic buying surge slowed down, there’d be a change. They said too many people would find out what RVing was really like, and wouldn’t find it to their liking. They projected a time would come when plenty of used RVs would flood the market. Seems like they’re right—there are plenty of used RVs on Craigslist. That doesn’t mean it’s a buyer’s market. It could be, but too many people trying to sell their RVs have taken the Heloise Home Course on How to Hack Off a Potential RV Customer.
Expose yourself
Selling an RV on the internet seems to be a natural. You have plenty of exposure, and if you post on a forum like Craigslist, the system makes it easy for the buyer. Plug in the name of the city where you want to buy and the category of the RV you want. Like, “travel trailer.” Most sellers know the difference between a “travel trailer” and a “fifth wheel,” but evidently not all. Happily, that’s easily resolved, if the seller posts a picture of the outside of the RV as his first picture. But some apparently want to show the inside of the rig, and a buyer can get pretty excited about what they see—until they find out it’s a fiver—and they really want a travel trailer.
But there are other details that are even more important. Buyers hate to have to contact a seller to ask something as fundamental as, “What year is this rig?” “Who makes this unit?” Yeah, it happens. Discerning buyers are going to be quick to check out pricing. If a seller fails to provide a MODEL NUMBER, then not even with a year, maker, and length, it becomes nearly impossible to find a value in a price guide. Here’s one “conversation” by text:
Buyer: “About your travel trailer, could you tell me the model number? Thanks.”
Seller: “The model is Wildwood. No model number.”
Buyer: “It may be printed on the outside near the door. Forest River built several Wildwoods in that size range. Or it might be printed on the spec sheet, often glued inside a cabinet door.”
Seller: “It’s in storage.”
Buyer: “Thanks, anyway.”
Did these folks really want to sell?
A failure to communicate
Other sales killers include the old, “What we have here is a failure to communicate” problem. Trying to sell your RV? If you include your phone number, please answer it. If you’re too busy to answer, how’s your voicemail working?
“The number you have reached is 555-123-4567. Please leave a message. [Pause] I’m sorry, the voice mailbox is full.”
Delayed responses when trying to sell an RV can also spell out death. Customer spots an online listing for an RV. He sends a text:
Buyer, 2:25 p.m. “Hi. Do you still have the Aljo for sale?”
Seller, 3:56 p.m. “Yes still available.”
Buyer phones seller, asks a few questions. Among them, what’s the model number? Seller says he doesn’t know, but he’ll check and call right back.
Buyer, some time later, texts: “If you can’t track down the model number, a picture of the specifications page, probably glued inside a cabinet door would be great. Thanks.”
Two days later, the buyer, after donning his Sherlock Holmes hat, figures out the model number. He still hasn’t heard back from the seller. Buyer tries texting again, asking if the rig is for sale. Seller doesn’t get back until the next day, texts the model number. This goes back and forth, with lengthy delays, and the buyer finally gets the seller on the phone. Yes, he still has the rig, but then the call drops. A minute later, somebody else answers at the seller’s, says someone is coming right then to look at it.
Eventually, the seller admits the first person didn’t buy the rig. Arrangements are made—or are they—to look at the rig. It’s a two-hour drive from the potential buyer’s hometown to the seller’s. When the buyer gets into town, he sends a text for final directions—and never hears back.
For us, it took a lot of effort to buy
Finally, here’s how we bought our last RV. After combing through countless “dogs,” in Craigslist ads, we finally found something that seemed likely. The pictures were promising, and glory be! The seller had actually put a lot of detailed information about the rig in the ad—including the year, make, and model! All that was left was to make contact with the seller—just drop an email.
And another email. And another. All with no response. We resorted to detective work. The seller gave an approximate location—the intersection of two major streets. “Flying over” with Google Maps revealed that intersection to be a commercial area—but the ad pictures showed the rig parked in front of a residence. However, in the background behind the trailer was a hillside, populated with saguaro cactus. We zoomed out and found a hillside, behind a nearby residential area. From there, it was a painstaking “drive” using Google’s Street View—and there it was—the trailer in question.
Now armed with a street address, we hit the county recorder’s internet site and, finally, tracked down the property owner’s name. Alas! Despite having the name, none of the phone numbers panned out. And still no responses from the email. We finally took the bull by the horns, drove nearly two hours out, and knocked on the door. Yes, the trailer was for sale. We bought it. And along the way, in conversation, the seller mentioned a couple of things about us we hadn’t talked about. We had brought them up in our emails—the seller obviously had gotten them!
It doesn’t take much to do it RIGHT
So, do you REALLY want to sell your RV? It’s not too hard.
- Post as much detail as you can about your rig in the ad. Include the year, make, and model number.
- Include pictures—lots of them! Outside, inside, and preferably without the rig loaded with a lot of junk. Unmade beds and cluttered countertops are a major turn-off.
- Respond to phone calls, or whatever method you use for contact. Do it promptly!
- Did you sell your rig? Great! But now, go another step. PLEASE take the ad down. There’s plenty of frustration to be told, “Oh, yeah. I sold that motorhome a month ago.”
Maybe it just boils down to that principle we used to live by. “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them.” A little common courtesy goes a long way. It might even help you sell that rig!
##RVDT2291
I received an email from a RV dealer. We buy RV’s. They contacted me, but didn’t want to buy it. They wanted me to consign it to them for ninety days. Then pay them about $300. to inspect it. I listed my TT on RV Trader which had a small block that one of their partner dealers buys RV’s. Checked the block. Days later they contacted me and wanted me to consign my TT with them for ninety day. They wanted me to deliver it to them, then they would inspect it. I asked them how much they’d list it for. Price was so low they should have been insulted to tell me.When you see the word inspect, it could be a way for them to generate additional money from you.
This is a bait and switch tactic, advertise to buy, then call and try to get you to consign your RV to them. If sold for less than you own, then you have to pay the difference for them to get the title. When they get the buyer a loan, they get money from the financial institution. They get a kickback. They were both large multi state dealers.
Following thru with this article, I went to Craigs lists and surprisingly only saw a few campers. I did reply to one with a confusing title ( two years 2022 & 1985 in the title. I sent them a message about not being a serious seller . Hopefully they will take my suggestions
This article could be rewritten replacing RV with any commodity. I used to buy and sell motorcycles that needed some love. Not just to make a little extra cash, but also somewhat as a hobby. After a while I learned to not respond to ads that don’t have a few basics like, year, model, and price. Usually the phone numbers don’t get you connected. Welcome to the digital age of missing information.
Beware of the “liars club” also when looking at used RV’s…I have seen this many times, the world is full of them.
Just for giggles & grins, I look at some of the RV ads that pop up. These ads show unmade beds, clutter all around the inside, broken blinds, trash and weeds surrounding it, and asking an insane price. I want to text them and ask if their price is what they will pay me to take it.
Wayne, exactly right on! I can’t believe some of the pictures people put in their for sale adds. You can’t see the RV (or auto or truck which ever be the case)for trash etc. How about just “needs a little TLC” or has a ?,?, but I was told they worked when I bought it, but I never used them or checked them out. Tires look like new, lot of tread. Junk, junk at non reasonable price..
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Great! Had no idea that Heloise was still plugging away. 😉 This was an amusing article as long as I avoided putting myself into the buyer’s (seeker’s?) shoes, then it quickly became exasperating. Congratulations on so determinedly buying your rig despite the seller’s equally (?) determinedly efforts to not sell. Sheesh! Some people … . 🙁
Safe travels! 🙂
The biggest thing the irks me is when no price is listed it just says “Please contact”. I interpret that to mean the price is so high we’re embarrassed to put it in the ad. I never call on these ads.
I did the online search last spring when we were actively looking for an RV. I can’t tell you how many dead ends we found. The most common thing we found was ‘it is in storage out of state and the storage is due the first of the month, send me a small deposit so I can extend the storage and we can work out the details from there’. If that is not an instant scam alert,I don’t know what is. In another case we did drive 50 miles to look at a unit that was not the year, make or model in the ad. That was a waste of 3 hours and $30 in gas and tolls. After this experience I am very leery of buying anything major from a Craigslist ad. We did find a very good unit at a reputable dealer near us.
We were selling our 5th wheel that was 5 years old on craigslist. I took plenty of pictures, inside and out along with my asking price. We didn’t add the model number though. The trailer was empty, and cleaned thoroughly, due to the fact it was at the beginning of covid. We answered 2 calls the next day, one being very sketchy, but the second call, the buyer came to our home and bought the trailer on the spot, and at the price I was asking. I believe all the pictures I took helped to sell it.
These incomplete ads almost seem more the norm than the exception these days. Also, I see a lot of unrealistically high asking prices. I’m guessing people who massively overpaid during the pandemic are trying to get out from under their loans. I’ll bet other sellers see these prices and then price theirs similarly, adding to the abundance of high asking prices. As a buyer, if you see so many asking too much, you might be fooled into thinking these are normal prices for used RVs. Don’t be fooled.
I have done some good sales on Craigslist & competing sites, both buying & selling. At the same time there are a lot of folks who use these sites because they don’t want to make the effort to make an item saleable, but don’t want to pay somebody else to do the work either. Nor do they want to commit the time to conduct the sale. My thoughts are ‘ridden hard and put away wet, and the tack hasn’t been maintained either’. Keep looking.
I have EBay to be a good and generally safe choice. Also, EBay has a buy-back warranty – but read it closely. I bought ours on Ebay and was delighted with the buy – so no need for a buy-back claim. There are plenty of pictures and you can communicate with the seller thru the EBay system; that way you have a solid, written record. (I’ve heard of some fraud problems and dangerous contacts thru Craigslist. In either case or source, buyer and seller – beware and careful.
Thx for the article, good info. Just sold our ‘07 Tiffin on RVTrader. Ad was ~$300 but renewable quarterly w/o charge for a full year. I incl lots of pics, inside & out, and lots of details (incl model #😀). Took about 3 months to sell…lots of inquiries, a few test drives. Dodged >12 scams: ‘order a VIN ck from this, my favorite website’; or ‘I’ll send you a cashiers ck sight unseen & have my driver pick it up in a few days ’. Then a couple from CO drove 2 days to test drive it, bought it 2 hrs later and drove it home that day.
For buyers: To me, one of the most meaningless questions is “Why are you selling?”
In trying to sell my Aliner, two of my favorites come to mind. A man wanted me to put it on a trailer, tow it to Arkansas, and his daughter would estimate it’s value and the selling price.
the second, a man kept demanding interior and exterior photographs of the modifications. Turns out he owns an Aliner and wanted to know how other people modify their trailers without going to an Aliner rally.
Bizarre! Why would you put up an ad and not respond to buyers? It makes no sense!