How do I determine market value?

[RobinKees]

How do I know what my trailer is worth when I never see anything close to it being offered for sale?

This forum was a tremendous help in 2014 when I was searching for a FG trailer. In the end, I purchased a lightly used 2014 Trillium Legend M-1300 with the front bunk floor plan. It has one added option: a crank out awning. It's from just before the manufacturer changed and they became Trillium Sidekicks. It is in great condition except that the propane is not working. I will get that fixed before I sell.

Here is the 2014 Sidekick Trillium info, which is the same as my trailer.
http://www.chilhoweerv.com/brochures...el-Trailer.pdf

I love my "Little Chickadee"! But. I bought it to take to dog agility competitions. My senior agility dogs have passed away. My remaining agility dog has gone blind and is racking up large vet bills as we try to save his life. Agility is not happening in the foreseeable future. I look at my trailer and know selling it could provide the money I owe the vets.

Hard to sell it but as much as I love it, I love my dog even more.

[rbryan]

Start with the retail value of the trailer when it was new in 2014. Depreciate a small amount per year since, maybe no more than 3 to 4 percent (rough estimate). If you've done any mods which increase the value, take those into account. This should give you a ballpark figure. But remember that at the end of the day, a "fair price" is a price that a willing buyer and a willing seller agree upon.

[vintageracer]

Figure you'll pay $2.00 to $5.00 a pound for a fiberglass trailer based upon the weight of the trailer and the condition of the used USED trailer!

[Kai in Seattle]

We had to determine value of ours for our insurance company. The agent told us to find things for sale "as close as possible," Add in anything you have recent receipts for.


Part of the price is condition of trailer and how desperate you are. Desperation of buyer or seller doesn't lead to their best financial interests, but can influence the price either way.


I'm sorry to hear about your dogs and the vet bills. Hope this works out well for you financially; sorry to hear your trailer is going down the road without you.


Kai

[Raz]

When newer trailers are listed here they all seem to be selling for close to if not more than a new one. Often suggested is the buyer need not wait or travel far. Seldom do we know the actual selling price but these little trailers sell quickly. Newer Trilliums are rare (my guess about 100-200 made) and 40 year old ones are selling for $5k-$7k. Jalousie windows on all four sides. It's a seller's market, start with what you paid, you can always go lower.

[RobinKees]

Thank you all for the responses. Very helpful!

Short term, I can pull the money from savings to pay the vet bills so I can take my time selling. Eventually I need that money back to live on. Borrowing from myself, in a sense, gives me the time to get my Trillium ready for a new owner and find a buyer.

[floyd]

Look nationwide for all brands of 13ft fiberglass trailers of about the same age, condition, and equipment. (awning, no bath, A/C etc.) you can add about 10% for the left coast.
Low population western plains states will be about 10% below national average.

[Civilguy]

Here's a search for "2014 Trillium" I ran of the sold trailers on Fiberglass-RV-4sale.com. Of course there is no way of knowing the final selling price, but looking at these listings may help as a guideline.

https://www.fiberglass-rv-4sale.com/...lium&sa=Search

As 2014 Trillium trailers are probably not real plentiful, I think Floyd's idea of searching other 13-footers will help too.

[Civilguy]

This is not strictly related to the Trillium, but it does relate to the prices of trailers, always a popular subject.

We just sold our 2012 17' Casita FD. After posting the "lazy" price of $19,900 (to a deafening silence!), I returned from vacation and worked on figuring out what might be a more attractive price to list it for.

I compiled 67 record prices for 17' Deluxe Casitas which were sold this year. All but eight of the ones I included were sold in the last two months. This included a mix of Spirit, Freedom, Liberty and Independence models.

I then plotted the prices corresponding to the model year as shown here. I don't know that one can draw precise conclusions from this, but it does generally illustrate a relationship between price and age.

[RobinKees]

Excellent and helpful information. Thank you both so much!!

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by Raz

When newer trailers are listed here they all seem to be selling for close to if not more than a new one. Often suggested is the buyer need not wait or travel far. Seldom do we know the actual selling price but these little trailers sell quickly. Newer Trilliums are rare (my guess about 100-200 made) and 40 year old ones are selling for $5k-$7k. Jalousie windows on all four sides. It's a seller's market, start with what you paid, you can always go lower.

Basically this. If it has been stored well (preferably under cover), clean and shiny, it should bring close to what a new one goes for, which may well be more than what you paid for it three years ago. Discount any options to zero, don't include any taxes or shipping charges you paid. So in the end, you should lose very little on it.

I bet the newer Casitas on the graph above are at or above original paid price. As long as all the manufacturers enjoy a multiple month order backlog, this craziness will continue. People ready to buy new, but not patient enough to wait six months for a trailer, will just go ahead and pay up for a nice used one. To some, missing a season of camping is a non-starter.

Ultimately, the market will tell you if your price is too high. If it doesn't sell in a couple of weeks, adjust the price accordingly. When we sold our Casita earlier this year, moving it was more important than getting top dollar. So we priced it about 15% under market. Sold in four hours, so had we been more patient, we could have gotten more. But we have no regrets.

[Onthrvr]

I need help in determining the sale value of a deluxe 16’ scamp. Less than a year old. Has a tv and side bath. Can anyone advise?
It also got a new door this summer with a real door handle. They have switched to those and mine was badly warped so they put in a whole new door. Works much nicer.

[Onthrvr]

I need help in determining the sale value of a deluxe 16’ scamp. Less than a year old. Has a tv and side bath. Can anyone advise?
It also got a new door this summer with a real door handle. They have switched to those and mine was badly warped so they put in a whole new door. Works much nicer.
Has an awning, ac, heater. Super clean and not used like it should have been.

[David B.]

Mr. Bruce, I think all the above posting suggestions from the original poster’s request, will be the same for your situation.

[k0wtz]

Trailers are like cars drive them off the lot be prepared to lose but do a lot of listings read my advice in scamp be prepared to wait. I have a very desirable camper and it has taken 6 weeks to move. Don't get in a hurry and hold out on your price as long as you can.


If I was looking for a new rig which I am not I would take a long hard look at yours let you take the loss and have a nice one for less money but some people have a headset they want new regardless. I bet someone has one of these ordered right now and the factory will let you off the hook. they have a backlog on orders!


good luck


bob

[sokhapkin]

Originally Posted by k0wtz

Trailers are like cars drive them off the lot be prepared to lose but

This is not correct in regard to molded fiberglass trailers. If the trailer is in a good working condition, the market price is equal or even more than you paid when picked up the trailer at the factory.

[rbryan]

I was once offered 3 grand more for my trailer than I paid for it new 2 years before. So what's it's market value?

If it's molded fiberglass, you don't just look it up on NADA or Kelly.

[Donna D.]

There's always two prices and it doesn't matter the year of the trailer or it's condition.

1. What the seller is willing to sell it for.
2. What a buyer is willing to pay.

After those two there are factors such as: condition, options and location, location, location