Fiberglass RV Pricing - Holding Value vs. Usage Depreciation

[Donna D.]

I don't think this is necessarily true. NADA seems to give a good approximation for late model trailers.

That may be true, late model trailers. But anything that isn't considered "late model" it drops value like a rock. Ask anyone that's had an insurance claim and the insurance company used NADA to value the trailer. Never mind what reality says. The problem is when newbies use NADA to try and determine the price of a "used" not-late-model-trailer and then go out to try and buy. It's an opener

[Chester Taje]

I have been looking for a FGRV project unit. I know lots about most of these units. Before the economy went nuts I could find lots of real cheap units. People are now getting smart. They have come to realize that small units sell pretty good and these same people are upping there price.

[Booker B.]

That's what I see too Chester. I have been looking for a cheap fixer upper for my programming partner and haven't seen a deal down here in BC this year. Last year there were several units with busted fridges/leaks etc.. in the 2500-3000k range. Not now.

[Roger H]

I've kind of held back on this topic until tonight, but I've probably bought and sold as many fiberglass trailers since I've been a member here as anyone on the Forums. I could definitely be considered a "flipper" by some standards; however, I bought each trailer (well, most of 'em anyway) with the intent to keep it, and then found another that suited my "needs" better. I bought them all very inexpensively, put some work and cash into them, and sold them at a tidy profit. I also dabble in Airstreams and have bought and sold more than my share of them as well; again all but a couple with the intent of keeping and using them.

I knew what each trailer was worth when I sold them, and priced them on the high end. I sold each one at asking price, and they went from Iowa to New York, Minnesota, Lake Tahoe CA, Illinois, Oregon, and Georgia. Some of the folks who bought them are members here, and we remain in touch so presumably, none of them were dissatisfied.

Regarding how a fair price is arrived at, some years ago I bought a rusted-out Dodge short bed pickup to haul branches to the tree dump/compost pile. I had a lot of yard work to do, and buying this old truck was cheaper than paying to have stuff hauled away. I kept the truck for several months, and when I determined I was finished with it, advertised it for sale for $500. It was a good work truck and it ran ok. I was honest about it's condition, and a fellow drove about 30 miles to come look at it. After he looked at it, he literally cussed me up one side and down the other for wasting his time and told me he wouldn't accept $50 to take it away... and what was I thinking! I bid him farewell. The next guy who came to look at it had cash in hand and was thrilled to get it for so little. He was satisfied. Both ends of the spectrum, and trailer buyers are no different.

I bought a 1953 Airstream Flying Cloud specifically to re-sell a few years ago. The owner was asking $6500 for it. I looked it over really well, and new exactly what it was going to need to have done to 'flip' it. I gave him a business card and told him "I'm not here to insult you, but I'll offer $2500 for the trailer. If you sell it at your asking price, by all means sell it. But if you find yourself stuck with it, you have a guaranteed sale." He said, of course, I'll never sell it for that little! And I suggested that he just hold onto my card.

Well, six weeks later, out of the blue he calls me and tells me that he needs to replace the engine in his daughter's car, and that the trailer is mine for the $2500. I met him a couple of days later and brought it home. After I spent another thousand dollars on 'stuff', the trailer really was worth $7500 and that's about what I got out of it. There's more to the story, but I won't bore you with how it played out.

The bottom line is that if you have a high-quality trailer and you market it properly, you'll get your asking price. Sometimes you just have to be patient. Prices have definitely risen over the past five years, and it's much more difficult today to make a large profit on a single trailer than it was a few years ago. It's kind of taken the fun out of the hunt for me.

Roger

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

At the risk of being too analytical, this topic seems to be about personal values as much as trailer values. It has probably involved more folks than just about any I have followed since signing on 2 years ago.

In my checkered work life I facilitated retreats, trainings, meetings, etc. with folks who worked together, often helping them identify personal values, discovering those that differ from coworkers and those they share, as a means to know one another better and understand where someone is coming from, especially if there were misunderstandings or big decisions to be made. I have read this thread carefully because to me many of the responses have reflected personal values. On a forum of thousands of course there are going to be differing diverse values reflected. Values just are, neither good nor bad, we all got them and they can differ greatly from person to person, though most folks have a few in common. Most folks are pretty passionate in discussions that involve personal values and money is a great subject to bring personal values to the surface.

Respecting other's values always seems like a good idea, even when we don't share them

Penney


PS - Roger, I'd likely buy a trailer from you any day, judging by knowledge you've shared on the forum. I think that is what is at issue in so many cases, the knowledge base of the seller vs the buyer, your two examples are ones where you, as the seller (the truck) or the buyer (the Airstream) knew more than the person you were dealing with and it paid off. Unfortunately, even with the forum as a guide, not all of us are as savvy as we'd like to be whether selling or buying.

[Pat And Arleen]

We use our camper just about every weekend and take lots of trips with it. So I can say ours has more value than the ones people don't use. The more we use them the more value they have.

[Mitchell]

Hello,
We have really had a wide range of perspectives shared by those willing to take the risk. Thank you for that.
We have had a little Socrates, Plato, Locke, Smith, Freud and even some Homer. We endured, but now it looks as if Nietzsche has finally put an end to it.

I myself am looking for a fresh perspective. I appreciate the chance to search in a safe environment. Current history is revealing ever more clearly that Darwinism's perversion mutated into 'dog eat dog' has failed us. It seems we might have need of conspiring to cooperate to achieve great and worthwhile accomplishments. Maybe we will build a highway, a bridge, a power grid, a sewer or even a space ship.
While most all of us have within the sovereignty of our own respective minds value systems that are tempered by a sense of fairness into respect for fellow human beings, a handful that could not care less about whose flag they wrap themselves in or about the Citizens that that flag belongs to, who feign humanness only as a tool, appear to know no bounds when it comes to abusing the masses.

However, we here as a community, fiberglass rvers, voluntary participants, if we consciously choose to do so, could refuse to emulate those or have our attitudes and actions dictated to by the same.

How do you feel about individuals agreeing to co-operate?

Mitchell

[Alf S.]

Hi: Mitchell... My Father used to say of his 4 sons," Now boys if you could only agree to disagree".
How on earth do you expect to get agreement from a forum of over 10,000 members???
The only thing I know for sure is "Caveat Emptor".
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Ericpa3]

from experience as a buyer:
if a seller has a quality trailer at a reasonable price and you make an offer which is accepted, immediately put money down and get a signed contract for sale. That will offer you some insurance against a seller changing his mind, withdrawing the trailer for sale, and offering it at a higher price the following week.

[Daniel V.]

However, we here as a community, fiberglass rvers, voluntary participants, if we consciously choose to do so, could refuse to emulate those or have our attitudes and actions dictated to by the same.

How do you feel about individuals agreeing to co-operate?

While forums may group people with similar interests, don't forget this is still the internet. For all we know you could be a genuine philosopher with a real interest in mankind, or you could just be another "flipper" trying to get a few followers to bring their prices down for your own good. However I would acknowledge the limitations of short written messages and not expect much in terms of accomplishing group illumination over an internet forum. I doubt all the fiberglass eggs in the world will rise from their hiding spot and fix our world like in a Love Bug movie. And I suspect that for a large majority this is still a hobby, not a sect or a money-making scheme. Bottom line here is there is no harm done between two agreeing parties in a sales transaction, and I still fail to see how any of this applies more to fiberglass trailers than anything else. There are market segments that are far worse. I'm not sure where you're going with this thread, but I think it is probably directed more towards capitalism in general than anything that can be fixed here. Interesting nonetheless. Just my two cents...

[CharlynnT]

I love this forum! Always so interesting.

Not to change the subject, but we have just bought a boat (a hole in the water you throw money into) at a REALLY good price -- seller motivated, what with the Global Financial Crisis and all that. So we finally bought "LOW"! Hurray!

And we did our research and Due Diligence and Non Destructive Testing on the hull and so forth and so on.

And just needed a few SMALL repairs (did you know, "port" means left and "starboard" means right, and "two or three days at most" means a month?) and a few modifications for our particular purposes....

Anyway, we love our boat, it is ours, it is a good price for US (even with repairs) it is a good boat for US, WE like it.

Monitors: can we invent a Poetry/Philosophy thread to move such interesting posts to? I would seek it out, especially on those weekends when I am neither camping nor boating.

; )

[Mitchell]

Hello,
I love this site and appreciate all of the helpful people within the community. I have received much valuable assistance in the form of advice, directions and referrals.
That said, I have a bone to pick.

I have noticed more than once where posters have piped in to advise a seller that their asking price is too low. That often appears to be thinly veiled I must say.
Also I have to say compared to what?

Hello All.
That is where I began my inquiry. I was not originally searching for a new method of locating a value for a fiberglass trailer or any other item for sale. Obviously, people sell for what they can and buy for what they can. I think that's one of those self evident things or something.

Again, I am appreciative of the interest and participation from this community.

As it now turns out, I am selling my fiberglass trailer. I have used it for just over a year and have now received a Trillium which is what I originally wanted, but was unable to find last year. I set the price to reflect what I purchased the trailer for plus what I put in to it including labor (mostly parts though) and then reduced for my usage and enjoyment during the few trips I took in it.
I hope I have priced it so that someone else who might not be able to afford more can get introduced to fiberglass rv camping.
Mitchell

[Booker B.]

On the topic of flipping trailers I found a very angry post from the Vancouver craigslist. I will not copy the post here as this is a family forum but I have to agree with he is saying - the trailer market in Vancouver is the most expensive in Canada ... The trailer mentioned is still for sale on the site and it's a beauty.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/for/1300417944.html

Edit: looks like the for sale postings have been pulled - either it's sold or the guy was too embarrassed to leave it up.

[Pamela H]

Wow...this is becoming a hot topic. Plato...Socrates, Freud? Come on guys...this is about free enterprise...that is what made this country strong. I bought my egg cheap, but if I ever go to sell it, I promise, I will try to get what the market will bear. That is so I can buy my next one!! Or, if at that stage in my life I am looking to do something else, I can use the funds for that purpose. Given that concept, am I flipping my trailer? Yup. Am I doing it the day after? Nope...but why shouldn't I be an informed seller, and get what it is worth? Has no one on this forum bought a new car and sold it a few years later, only to lose their shirts? I sure have. Why can't we hope to profit from some of our efforts-if that is indeed what we do? It feels a little socialistic in here...on this thread. There is nothing wrong with buying low and selling high. We all hope to do it on our houses...some of us even buy real estate with the intent to "flip" it. Keep your eyes open, knock on your neighbor's door, buy that trailer for $300 and work on it-go to the campground storage areas, contact the people who never use their trailers-and get a good price. If you feel guilty-then pay them more. But-when both buyer and seller are content with the sale, both have won. If you as a buyer lost out on a trailer that went to high-I am sorry-look for the next one, that is what I did.

Pam

[Frederick L. Simson]

Wow...this is becoming a hot topic.

Yes. A little TOO hot.
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