You’re ready to upgrade to a new rig for new adventures, but first it’s time to sell your current RV. Where do you start, and how do you make sure it’s a smooth process? After you’ve set up your listing complete with price, photos, description, and contact information, it all comes down to how you manage buyer inquiries. With a little effort and a few precautions, you can work with potential buyers to sell your pre-owned Class A gas RV or other used motorhome quickly and for the best price. RVT is sharing more on selling your RV, including taking inquiries and doing your own-follow up with shoppers.
Be Responsive
Private sellers often lose sales because they simply don’t respond in a timely fashion. You don’t need to be glued to your phone or interrupt family dinner, but you also don’t want to make a potential buyer wait several days to get answers. By then, they’ll have probably moved on. If they haven’t, they might not be willing to work with you due to a bad first impression. Here are several ways you can ensure you’re responsive:
- Respond to all inquiries as soon as possible, and always within 24 hours.
- Unless requested otherwise, respond to the buyer in the same manner they reached out to you (phone call, email, text, etc.).
- If you have restrictions on how buyers should communicate with you (i.e., “no phone calls”), make sure it’s explicitly stated in the listing.
- If you know your schedule will prevent you from answering right away, change your voicemail greeting or email vacation responder to let buyers know (and make sure your voicemail box isn’t full!).
- If you respond to a buyer but don’t hear back within a day or two, reach out again. It’s likely they got sidetracked and forgot about your follow-up.
- Keep a record of inquiries, including when they reached out and when you responded.
Be Proactive With Your Own Questions
If a potential buyer reaches out, find out the specifics of what they’re looking for in an RV. This can help answer their questions before buying an RV, avoid any unnecessary meetings if your RV doesn’t meet one of their fundamental needs, and can help clear up any potential misunderstandings from the listing.
Asking questions can also help protect you from scammers. Is the buyer local? Scammers will often claim to be overseas, or buying for a friend or family member who will pick it up. Are they paying in cash like most buyers? If they want to conduct the transaction with a wire transfer, money order, or cashier’s check without seeing the vehicle, that can be a sign of a scam.
Pro tip: Keeping your advertising on secure, trusted sites like RVT.com can help protect you from scammers.
Stay Objective
Selling your used fifth wheel RV or other beloved motorhome sidekick can stir up emotions, especially if a potential buyer sends an initial low-ball offer to try and snag a deal. Don’t get offended; instead, use it as a chance to dialog. Follow up saying that your price is firm, and explain why.
Also, don’t get offended by questions about imperfections that may show in photos. Buyers simply want to know what they’re getting into. Take the focus away from the dings and scrapes by reminding them of the excellent care that you gave the RV (maintenance records go a long way here), and that imperfections are reflected in the listing price.
Own Negotiations
It’s also important to manage price negotiations when selling your pre-owned Class B+ camper van or other used RV. Buyers will often attempt to pre-negotiate the sales price before seeing the vehicle, and then try to renegotiate the price down again after personally inspecting it. Avoid multiple price negotiations by letting the buyer know that, beyond the original listing price, you’re only willing to discuss the price once they’ve seen the RV and deemed it a good fit for them.
You can also create a sense of urgency in your follow up by letting the buyer know if other people have shown interest. Just don’t reveal your timeline for selling; if they ask, let them know you’re not in a rush, but that you don’t expect it to stay on the market long at its current price.
Be Honest
The last thing you want is to be blamed for misleading the buyer. Be the type of seller that you would want to buy from. If you’re still a bit unsure if you can manage the process of making a sale yourself, take advantage of RVT.com’s Tips for Selling an RV. With a little preparation and precautions, you can work successfully with potential buyers and get top dollar for your RV.
By Audrey Somero
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