Need Advice: Where should I sell my Airstream?

[SeattleMum]

Hello,
I'd love some advice as to where we should list our Airstream for sale. We've only used the Airstream once and we simply need to sell it. It makes us a bit sick to do this as we will surely lose money. However, we belatedly realized we don't have time to use it and it doesn't make sense to keep making the monthly payments. It was purchased new from Airstream in Washington state. It's a beautiful 2012 International Signature. Retail was $84k and we bought it for $73k. We took it to Bellingham once overnight two years ago. Aside from that, it sits in storage. It has been winterized and de-winterized. We can't sell this through the dealer as they will only pay us a fraction of the value. Any ideas as to where we should list this and for how much? I've been putting this off as it literally gives me a stomach ache to think about it. Any help would be much appreciated!
Lisa

[ghaynes755]

Lisa

Place and ad here on the classifieds. Sold my FC in about 3 weeks. Also I listed on RVTrader.com. Got many inquiries from there also.

You can look through both the Airforums Classifieds and the RVTrader.com to get an idea on pricing.

[Ray Eklund]

Lisa... your local Craigslist will have a RV section. Be careful screening potential buyers, as there are crooks out there with counterfeit cashier's checks and sob stories to catch you off guard. Other than that...

ghaynes755 recommendation reaches a more educated price orientated crowd that knows an Airstream brings a PREMIUM over "book value". Most buyers expect the trailer to be.. NEW at a big discount.

Decide how much you need to get and add 5% for wiggle room. The best time to sell is after a trailer has depreciated five or more years. Many sellers with a two or three year old trailer with minimal use will discover that potential buyers can buy a new trailer with warranty for not much more cost.

People looking for trailers become serious as Spring gets closer. Winter months are the realm for the bargain hunters. When you receive a call, ignore emails, the first questions is "WHY are you selling such a new trailer?"

Just think as if you were buying your trailer. Get prices for a similar model a year before and the year after yours. A mint trailer will bring a better price.

Good luck.

[terryV]

How about having your dealer sell it on consignment? If they won't, there are many around the country that will.

That way you don't have to worry with it at all. They show it, clean it, and handle the paperwork of the sale.

[SeattleMum]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I think I'll post an ad here and on the rvtrader site. I still have no idea about pricing. I've been looking online and I don't see any price comparisons. I see the same model but it shows the suggested retail price which leads me to believe they were old advertisements. Does anyone have a ballpark idea of how this should be priced? When we bought it, base price was $77,245 and extra options and tax brought it to $84,718. Our loan is for nearly 60k and I'd love to sell it for enough to pay off the loan. Ideally, it should be priced to sell, which may mean it won't pay off the loan (I'm prepared for that).

We looked at consignment at the dealer but they were only going to give us 45k which really doesn't work.

Thanks in advance for any help with pricing. I really appreciate it!

Lisa

[Arcticfox]

This will be interesting to see what people think you should do with pricing. It such a shame as the trailer sound almost new yet it's actually almost 4 years old with the 2016 units not that far off


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[Piggy Bank]

It is understandable that the dealer would need to "buy wholesale and sell retail" since they have business expenses to cover.

You might press them a bit more and see if they will explain to you why their number is what it is. They may be willing to share their "market analysis" of what it would be listed for and sell for.

[Bobu]

Since we are currently looking for a trailer, give me some info on yours. We may have a match...
Bob

[Gnorts]

Originally Posted by urbanmum

...We looked at consignment at the dealer but they were only going to give us 45k which really doesn't work...

Consignment involves selling your trailer and earning a commission. If the dealer gave you a dollar figure, they were talking about buying it outright, and they offered you its tradein value. We bought exactly the same trailer from the Portland store of the same dealer last May. It was a consignment. They were asking $64500 but we paid quite a bit less. That might be a good place to start, but expect to do some negotiating. Beware of scammers on CL.

[handn]

If your trailer is priced fairly it will sell itself. A classified on this web site is a way to go. You might try a short run add in your metropolitan area newspaper and see if you get any traffic.
As far as pricing, start with Kelly blue book. Generally, AS's sell for more. There is depreciation but not as much as with other rvs. But your 4 year old trailer will not sell for the new price.
You might ask your dealer for a quote. His offer will be wholesale. Add 10 or 15% and you will be pretty close to the likely sales price. Ask a little more because the buyer will always want to negotiate.
Mechanics of sale are pretty simple. The buyer has a certified check and the seller signs over the title.
Things get complicated if financing is involved. Make the buyer do the work, it is not your job to get financing.
If the trailer has not sold in 60 days or so, you have to cut the price to get traffic.
If you don't want the bother, you can always take wholesale or go consignment. If the latter, check around and get references. There is a little bit of risk in a consignment transaction. Good luck

[SeattleMum]

[SeattleMum]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I attached a spec sheet - it's the only copy I have. I'll attach a few photos shortly. It had zero towing miles when we bought it new. We towed it from Seattle to Bellingham once, and we towed it twice from our house to the dealer. Hope this info helps!

[SeattleMum]

[SeattleMum]

Bob, I'm not sure how to send you a private message. If you're interested after seeing the photos, maybe you can message me and I'll reply. Best of luck in your search!