Advice on selling my 5th wheel

[A_Miel]

I have a 2017 fifth wheel that I want to sell. I am not using this forum to sell it, rather just for some advice on pros/cons of putting it up for consignment or selling it privately. I am leaning towards consignment, since I am pretty far out in the country and might be difficult for folks to come out here. Any pitfalls to be aware of when going consignment? Would appreciate advice/suggestions. Thanks!

[laknox]

AKF15E wrote:
RV Trader - worked for me twice. Facebook marketplace worked great when I sold my motorcycle. Beware of Craigslist - tons of scammers on there.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Trader. Their search gives =way= too many false hits, especially if the searcher is looking for specific models or options. Bad for sellers, too, as potential buyers have a tougher time finding what they want because they have to wade through too much irrelevant stuff to find what they want. RVT's search engine is far and away better than Trader's.

Lyle

[Me_Again]

However you cut it, you are going to lose a lot of money on a trailer that new. Hopefully you are not underwater on a loan.

[AKF15E]

RV Trader - worked for me twice. Facebook marketplace worked great when I sold my motorcycle. Beware of Craigslist - tons of scammers on there.

[thomasmnile]

Sold our travel trailer via consignment this year. My experience:

Tried the word of mouth private sale approach first. Two buyers wanted us to give it away, the third, when given the trailer specifications, determined his TV wouldn't be able to tow it.

Called the dealer we bought it from 6 years ago. Was told on the phone they currently weren't accepting units for consignment sale. Went to the dealer in person and spoke to the sales manager, we came to an agreement and 'net to us' price. BTW, the dealer apparently bases their offer on current wholesale price. The sales manager told me we would be charged a $500 detailing fee, plus any needed repairs their inspection may find (there were none). The manager stated the unit would be marketed on RV Trader and their own website. Brought the trailer to the dealer that weekend. It never even made it to marketing stage, it sold in less than a week, we received a check for the net proceeds two weeks later (they are a multi-state/store operation).

I would say if the trailer is free and clear, that works to your advantage. First question I was asked was did we owe on it. I did not sign any title transfer documents until the trailer was a confirmed sale (Florida has electronic titles now anyway).

If possible, try the dealer you purchased the trailer from first. I found it interesting I was told no on the phone, but when I went to the dealer and showed them the original sales documents, no became yes.

Might we have made more via private sale? Possibly. But I saw a number of trailers for sale (our exact year and model) that had been languishing on RV Trader for months. We hadn't used the trailer in 3 years, it was costing us over $300/mo in storage and insurance; we wanted it gone and were free of the aggravation of attempting a private sale and the potential scamming that goes with such a sale. So, our experience was positive. IT got even better when we sold our no longer needed 13 year old TV to Carmax for $14K the following week. I had individuals approach me over the last two years offering to buy the truck for substantially less than Carmax offered; so that worked out well too.

Good luck.

[Limit4]

Sounds like you made your decision, I sold our 5th wheel in 2 days on Facebook Marketplace. I know I was fortunate. Good luck.

[A_Miel]

I think I'll go consignment. Thanks for the great advice everyone. It is really valuable to hear the cautions/warning and wisdom from you who have had experience. Happy trails and Happy New Year!

[Fisher_Bill]

X2 on the good pictures, it's not that hard but when I go shopping (for anything) I want to have a pretty good idea of whet I'm looking at, not a picture of a table with junk on it or a close up of the sink.
I want to see a wide angle shot from front to back, back to front and all of the slides so I can figure out the floor plan.
Pictures with the slides in are practically useless almost as bad as 20 outside shots with maybe 2 or 3 inside.

I sold my slide out camper on CL and made $1400 without trying, I posted it for the same amount that it was listed for when I bought it 5 years earlier and got full price but I did deliver it to central Oregon, close to my folks so it was easy for us to deliver.

[bobsallyh]

Do not give the consignment outfit your title. You hold it, have them call you if the customer is ready to settle. In the last decade there are many of these outfits will hold the title, sell the rig, and you don't get your money. And you have no title to show ownership and the buyer may never get the title either. We have had two outfits here in Yuma, AZ. that pulled this stunt. One is in the iron wigwam and the other reportedly fled the country. Two people got there money from the first outfit but the second outfit made off with everything. If they don't want to do business this way with you, run, don't walk away from them. Also, if it is a dealer that sells new RVs you will be playing second banana. Personally, sell it yourself.

[KPetrick]

If you go the consignment route talk with your insurance carrier and make sure they will cover it while on the consignment lot. Most carriers do not.

Keith

[westernrvparkow]

Do you still want the cheese, or is getting out of the trap your main concern? You may be able to get a bit more money out of a private sale, but the hassles will increase significantly. You will have to deal with tire kickers, with answering an unending stream of questions only to find out the potential buyer's payment plan is seeing if their lottery ticket is a winner.
You have to ask yourself why would a buyer travel to your location to view and potentially buy your fifth wheel over every other fifth wheel for sale within the same drive time radius? Since it is only two years old, I doubt superior condition would be the reason. Unless it is really unique, I doubt it will be because it is the specific rig someone has been searching for high and low. Therefore, the most likely reason would be price. You post suggests most potential buyers would have to drive a considerable distance so your price would probably have to be significantly lower than comparable rigs that are more centrally located. Personally, I would find a good consignment dealer, accept the fact I might be leaving some money on the table if the stars would have actually aligned had I chosen a private sale, and get on with more important things in life. Do you really want to become an RV dealer with only one rig in stock?

[mtofell1]

I've sold my RVs for the most money on Craigslist or RV Trader/RVT but it does take some work. If you're willing and able it will save you a ton of money over trade-in or consignment.

Cliff notes of what I've done:

Write a fairly long ad explaining the trailer and a bit about you - why you are selling, what you enjoyed about the trailer, etc. So many people just put a 10 word ad and it doesn't grab people.

Get GOOD pictures... not blurry cell phone photos. Get a wide-angled lens and some high quality pictures. 99% of the time your buyers are going to find your trailer online and the pictures are your first (and possibly only) impression.

Screen people - from the first point of contact, Google phone #s and email addresses, listen to parts of their story and be sure things add up. Ask for a copy of a driver's license and offer your to them - this weeds a lot of dirtbags out quickly.

Be realistic with pricing. At 3-4 years I've sold (quickly) my trailers at 1/2 of MSRP. At 2 years you should be able to do somewhat better but likely not much.

[laknox]

RVTrader and RVT give wide coverage. More local coverage can be had via Craigslist and Offerup. There is a web site that allows you to search all CL pages in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in one place. Searchtempest.com.

Lyle

[Busdriver]

Could try marketplace on Facebook

[agesilaus]

Make sure you know about all the scams involved in selling big ticket items. No Checks, certified or otherwise for one. Bank transfer is a good way to go.