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How to value trade?

RoyBell
Explorer
Explorer
How do you value trade on a camper?

NADA comes back retail low: $16,550, Average retail:$19,950

Can someone explain what these numbers mean? Are these prices that someone should expect to pay from a dealer? There is currently one camper like mine for sale, listed @ 18K, and several others of similar style by the same company for around the same ($18K).

I may be biased, but mine is in much better condition than those listed. They have blemishes throughout the insides. We pride ourselves on maintaining stuff and keeping it as new condition. Rugs inside, stored inside vs outside, regular maintenance, cleaned after every use, etc.

The reason I bring this up is because a local dealer gave me a price on my trade without even looking at it. They offered $12K, which is on the low end of what I expected from a dealer for trade. However, if they offer $12K to everyone, based on 25% under low retail, I would expect I have some bargaining room then since I feel mine is in better condition.

Are there any formulas based on Nada and what is for sale to see what I should expect for trade value? I know they say approx 25% under Nada, but which number?

I could try to sell private, but it was a headache when I did that with my Pop-up. @ $12,000 trade in price, I would save approx $1000 on tax savings. Selling for $16,000 privately (low retail) would net me an extra $3,000, even with the tax loss, which does seem more appealing...unless the dealer is willing to give more on trade anyways.
23 REPLIES 23

thomasmnile
Explorer
Explorer
Congrats on your successful sale. I tried the private sale route with our WhiteHawk, but the one prospect wanted it for 'free' and the second backed out when I gave him the weight info on the trailer and he determined his TV wasn't suited. That aggravation and 54 mile round trip to storage facility to show it led me to the consignment route. In the end, as you did, I got what I wanted and someone got a lightly used WhiteHawk in good shape.

philh
Explorer II
Explorer II
Dealer will generally not pay more than wholesale (auction) value. They will often mix the pot with new trailer pricing to make it look better, but in the end, they use the wholesale price to base the rest of the transaction off of.

Congrats on the sale, you did well!

RoyBell
Explorer
Explorer
Just an update:

I sold my camper pretty quickly. I had it listed @ $18K and didn't get many bites. I dropped it to $17K a week later and got quite a few emails. 1st guy to look only had $15K to spend but said it was the nicest one he's looked at from the 6 he looked at. 2nd guy to look purchased at asking price- $17,000.

For reference: NADA retail low: $16,550, Average retail:$19,950

Selling it towards the end of summer, I imagine not many people are looking so I had to be realistic in it's value. Had it been spring time I think $18,000 would had been pretty easy to get. For reference, I ordered my new camper @ about 30% off MSRP. They would only give me $12,000 for mine with that deal. So with roughly $1,000 tax savings with the trade, selling private I ended up about $4,000 ahead.

philh
Explorer II
Explorer II
Wholesale value on trailers is pretty low. A dealer on a trade in value will typically offer 75% of wholesale.

librty02
Explorer
Explorer
shfd739 wrote:
librty02 wrote:
valhalla360 wrote:
beemerphile1 wrote:
There is a facebook group called "RV Pricing and Values" an individual appraisal is $30 or if in a hurry it is $10 more.


Do they guarantee to buy it for the appraised value if the dealer won't and if you later find a higher sales price, do they pay you the difference?

They are likely no better than within 20% which is just as easy to figure out looking at the for-sale ads.


Exactly who in their right mind would give anyone $30 just to have a mythological number thrown at them...kudos to the people throwing out those numbers for thinking of such a scam...anyone can give you a meaningless number :S


The person that runs the page is a dealer and pulls the values from recent wholesale auctions and dealer guides. He knows his stuff and has helped the page followers get top dollar for used units on trade or save thousands when buying used units.



I don't care if he's a dealer or not. A number is just a number. He could tell me my trade is worth 12k. The new unit I want is 30k. One dealer might give me 10k for trade but 28k for the new unit. Or one might give me 14k on trade but want 32k for the new unit. It's all about the difference. He can't tell you what the dealer you go to is going to want for that new unit. Especially when it all depends on locations also. Shipping costs are higher the further you are away from Indiana. Some dealers may throw in a bunch of goodies with the deal some may not. Me paying someone to give me a number is just that a number period. It doesn't mean a thing. Every dealer is different and always will be. It's all a numbers game.
2011 FORD F-150 FX4 CREW CAB ECO...
2018 Ford F-150 Max Tow Crew 6.5 3.5 Eco...
2013 Keystone Passport 2650BH, EQUAL-I-ZER 1K/10K

shfd739
Explorer
Explorer
librty02 wrote:
valhalla360 wrote:
beemerphile1 wrote:
There is a facebook group called "RV Pricing and Values" an individual appraisal is $30 or if in a hurry it is $10 more.


Do they guarantee to buy it for the appraised value if the dealer won't and if you later find a higher sales price, do they pay you the difference?

They are likely no better than within 20% which is just as easy to figure out looking at the for-sale ads.


Exactly who in their right mind would give anyone $30 just to have a mythological number thrown at them...kudos to the people throwing out those numbers for thinking of such a scam...anyone can give you a meaningless number :S


The person that runs the page is a dealer and pulls the values from recent wholesale auctions and dealer guides. He knows his stuff and has helped the page followers get top dollar for used units on trade or save thousands when buying used units.
'17 Shadow Cruiser 240BHS
'08 Toyota Sequoia Platinum
โ€˜07 NBS Silverado 2500 Dmax

rbpru
Explorer
Explorer
Here is what I have learned,

The NADA price is what the TT dealer want to get for a used unit.

The TT dealer make money or goes our of business.

The TT dealer usually does not need another used TT on their lot.

The values of your TT is whatever the buyer will pay for it.

A good deal is one you are happy with. Someone somewhere got a better deal, someone somewhere got a worse deal.

Memories, good times and enjoyment do not add to the price of a used TT.

Floor plan is everything.


Good luck
Twenty six foot 2010 Dutchmen Lite pulled with a 2011 EcoBoost F-150 4x4.

Just right for Grandpa, Grandma and the dog.

librty02
Explorer
Explorer
valhalla360 wrote:
beemerphile1 wrote:
There is a facebook group called "RV Pricing and Values" an individual appraisal is $30 or if in a hurry it is $10 more.


Do they guarantee to buy it for the appraised value if the dealer won't and if you later find a higher sales price, do they pay you the difference?

They are likely no better than within 20% which is just as easy to figure out looking at the for-sale ads.


Exactly who in their right mind would give anyone $30 just to have a mythological number thrown at them...kudos to the people throwing out those numbers for thinking of such a scam...anyone can give you a meaningless number :S
2011 FORD F-150 FX4 CREW CAB ECO...
2018 Ford F-150 Max Tow Crew 6.5 3.5 Eco...
2013 Keystone Passport 2650BH, EQUAL-I-ZER 1K/10K

valhalla360
Nomad
Nomad
beemerphile1 wrote:
There is a facebook group called "RV Pricing and Values" an individual appraisal is $30 or if in a hurry it is $10 more.


Do they guarantee to buy it for the appraised value if the dealer won't and if you later find a higher sales price, do they pay you the difference?

They are likely no better than within 20% which is just as easy to figure out looking at the for-sale ads.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV

caver
Nomad
Nomad
That deal where I was driving off the lot and he flagged me down, that was the actual owner of the dealership. ๐Ÿ™‚ I know another dealer that has a new toyhauler yet it's a 2015 model and it shows but i looked at it in person and it's new.I asked them price over the phone as they seemed busy that day in the middle of winter. He said 19K+ They are about 100+ miles away. I can drive 200+ miles to a different dealer and get the newest version 2020 for 16+K.

Huntindog
Explorer
Explorer
caver wrote:
CL around here has become almost useless for buying used. When I price a used camper I click through the base price as most options the dealer will have installed anyway when it was originally ordered. I saw one the other day on FB where they had a picture of all the nickle dime add-ons you can select on Nadaguides...that I'm not paying extra for. I would consider big ticket add-ons like an onboard generator. If you price it too high it will scare people off. I'm sure many of us have traveled an hour or two out of our way to find something that looked nice in the pictures only to get there and find it was misrepresented. One large dealer around here has their best lot about 75 miles away. I took my used albeit niche camper and scoffed at what he wanted on the trade. He flagged me down before I left the lot and suddenly offered another 1000 to the deal. I took it but still felt a bit beat up. In hindsight, that camper sat on his lot for a long time (niche camper) so maybe it WAS better for me to cut and run.
And thein is the rub. A dealer NEEDS to make money. When they buy your trade, they have not necessairily made their money on your deal until they sell it.
So, how long did they pay interest on the floorplan of your new unit? Then how long does your trade sit on the lot? It could be a year real easy before they make a dime on your total deal.
Meanwhile they have bills and salarys to pay.

So they MUST buy it right... That means cheap.

So if you want to do better than the dealer will offer, you can sell it yourself.. But that means you take all of the risk, and all of the headache.

There is no right or wrong answer.
I am no fan of dealers, but it does help to fully understand their situation.
Huntindog
100% boondocking
2021 Grand Design Momentum 398M
2 bathrooms, no waiting
104 gal grey, 104 black,158 fresh
FullBodyPaint, 3,8Kaxles, DiscBrakes
17.5LRH commercial tires
1860watts solar,800 AH Battleborn batterys
2020 Silverado HighCountry CC DA 4X4 DRW

caver
Nomad
Nomad
CL around here has become almost useless for buying used. When I price a used camper I click through the base price as most options the dealer will have installed anyway when it was originally ordered. I saw one the other day on FB where they had a picture of all the nickle dime add-ons you can select on Nadaguides...that I'm not paying extra for. I would consider big ticket add-ons like an onboard generator. If you price it too high it will scare people off. I'm sure many of us have traveled an hour or two out of our way to find something that looked nice in the pictures only to get there and find it was misrepresented. One large dealer around here has their best lot about 75 miles away. I took my used albeit niche camper and scoffed at what he wanted on the trade. He flagged me down before I left the lot and suddenly offered another 1000 to the deal. I took it but still felt a bit beat up. In hindsight, that camper sat on his lot for a long time (niche camper) so maybe it WAS better for me to cut and run.

beemerphile1
Explorer
Explorer
There is a facebook group called "RV Pricing and Values" an individual appraisal is $30 or if in a hurry it is $10 more.
Build a life you don't need a vacation from.

2016 Silverado 3500HD DRW D/A 4x4
2018 Keystone Cougar 26RBS
2006 Weekend Warrior FK1900

valhalla360
Nomad
Nomad
You aren't going to get an accurate number down to the penny.

NADA, For sale ads, etc...get you a rough idea but easily can be 20-30% off from actual sales prices.

Problem with doing a trade is you want the final price after they include the trade. It's the oldest trick in the book to offer you a high trade-in value and then they don't give you as big of a discount on the new RV, so they make up the difference.

Push them (even if they offer more than what your research suggests is a good price) and be willing to walk away (without being obnoxious about it). If you do that at 2 or 3 dealers and no one budges...you probably have the best deal that is available.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV