2nd best day of rving

(the day you sell it), but alas, not yet.  Some ramblings.  Listed on the forum 9/1 and had one inquiry.  That went on for several months.  Finally agreed on too low of a price, then they backed out.  Has been listed on rvt since 9/1 also.  Lowered price twice.  Several inquires, some ridiculous low balls , and some will you be home this weekend? But no shows.  Nothing for several weeks then last Thursday 4 inquires! In 8 hrs.   Another ridiculous low ball so scratch that one.  Sent messages to 2 but no response from them yet.  Last one actually answered phone and might be a prospect.  Only a few hours away.  Health reasons prohibit our using since last March, other than regular cranking and short trips around the block. Second owner and paid cash when I got it.  So it really doesn’t cost me anything just to sit under carport.  So how long has it taken you to sell with out just giving it away?

Hi Tarnold,

I have some tips to offer for a successful sale.  I learned this during my days of flipping niche market cars......6 Pontiac Fieros, 6 C5-Corvette convertibles, 3 of the Pontiac Solstice, and one Saturn Sky, about 16 in all.

"Pictures Sell....PERIOD", especially when marketing nation wide.  If you don't catch their interest in the first 5 seconds on-line, you've lost them.

Many years ago I spent $150 on a Canon PowerShot S5-IS digital camera from Best Buy.  It has a 12x optical zoom which is the magic bullet for taking pictures of vehicles.  Though it is considered old technology today, it still provides supreme quality pictures for the purpose.  Many of the pictures you see of my PC were taken with that digital camera.

Here is a list of tips when taking pictures along with a few sales tips.

- Contrary to popular belief, take them on an overcast day.  This eliminates all shadows from the sun.
- Take all pictures horizontally, not vertically.
- Stand back and zoom in when taking pictures.  I like to be at least 50 feet away when taking exterior pictures.  The farther, the better.  This eliminates all fisheye distortions.
- Aspect ratio of your pictures is also important.  3x5 is great for viewing horizontal pictures on most any electronic device from a cell phone to a 70" TV screen.  You want the pictures to fill the screen.
- Remove "EVERY" personal item.  Make it look like they are buying a new vehicle.
- Clean and detail the vehicle, inside and out.  With your PC, use a magic eraser to remove all gray marks off the interior of your refrigerator.  Polish the cabinetry, strip the bed, remove added pillows, remove everything not included when a PC is new.  Features like an added TV and other such appliances and furnishings are an exception.  Fill the coat closet with the exact same empty hanger.  You get the idea here.
- A 6 foot step ladder works great for interesting views of a convertible.  A taller step ladder might do good for a PC.
- After all your pictures are uploaded on your computer, crop out what you can so the subject fills the pictures, maintaining that 3x5 aspect ratio mentioned earlier.
- Take pictures of all your PC literature, sales brochures, servivce records, the title, all your keys, jack, tire iron, everything you are including.
- Posting less than 100 pictures of a motorhome, would fall short in my opinion.
- Leave nothing to imagination.  Answer all possible questions in picture fashion.  Remember, prospective buyers need all their doubts put to rest before considering a trip to you.
- Your ad must include a cell phone and email address so that they can call, text, or email you.  YES you become vulnerable to spam, but that is what it is.
- The safest risk-free sale is done at a branch bank location where the buyer banks at.  Have the bank issue you a same-as-cash check, funds withdrawn directly from their bank account.  I have accepted checks that I have pre-approved before the buyer leaves their home.  I look up their branch bank on-line, ask to speak to the teller who issued the check, give them the check number, and get verbal confirmation from them of the check's authenticity.

Click here for pictures I took with that old Canon camera when selling our Saturn Sky last October.  I had a buyer 12 hours after posting the ad on Facebook Marketplace which included a link to the pictures on Flickr.  Our Sky was not a flip.  I restored the car and we enjoyed it for 4 years.  The last picture is a critical one.  It shows the vehicle title (blocked), all the documentation and such, included in the sale.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/37432012@N08/albums/72157717335533052/

I realize that a motorhome is not a tiny two seat convertible, so you have to get even further back to take a great shot.  Naturally it helps where the pictures are taken.  Consider the back-drop.  You can't go wrong in large parking lot in a forest preserve or other natural background place.

The pictures I post on forums of our PC, I would retake if selling it.  Some have fisheye distortion, but more importantly, I would show "CURRENT" pictures, not ones taken in previous years.  Nothing is worse than misleading people with misleading pictures.  Honesty is "ALWAYS" the best policy in selling a vehicle.  A motorhome is "NO" exception.  You need to build trust with the buyer so be open and thorough as best you can.  It starts with piles of beautiful pictures.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/37432012@N08/albums/72157617468317295/

It will be the best 4 to 8 hour investment of your time.  And you'll get real close to your asking price.  BTW: I think your asking price is very reasonable.

Hi Tarnold,

I agree with Ron that your price is fair.  We bought our 2015 2552 a couple of years ago from the second owner with 23,000 miles on it and paid pretty much close to what you are asking.  Ours is a 30 amp with one ac, no toad came with it, never mind about the price to set up towing a vehicle.  I think the problem is that not too many people are familiar with Phoenix as there aren’t a lot of them out there.  When we decided to look for a smaller coach we first decided on a Coach House and went to their factory.  It wasn’t a big deal for us since we live in Florida so we had seen a few around in our travels.  We were sick and tired of all of the garbage that was out there and wanted to go with a quality rv.  Needless to say we were quite disappointed once we were at the factory.  We got to see how they were being built which I am sure is much better than 95% of what is out there, but my husband was not that impressed.  In wrapping up our tour and looking to place an order at a $211,000.00 price, we were told that we needed to put down a sizable deposit and had to wait two years before we would receive delivery!  My husband said “ we could be dead in two years!!!”.  This is when we started looking for alternatives.  I had noticed that someone had a Phoenix Cruiser parked in their back yard fairly close to our house.  I had never seen one before and had never heard of Phoenix.  So I decided to start doing some research on Phoenix and really liked what I saw.  I started looking at RV Trader, RVT and other places to see the models and get some feel for the asking prices and the values.  We wanted to find one for sale with the twin beds as we had friends that have a twin bed Winnebago and told us it was great for traveling if you needed to stop at a rest area or other place other than a rv park.  We were looking for one for sale in Florida so we could actually see one in person but we couldn’t find much in the 2552 model as it is a popular model.  In reality, there were one or two Phoenix Cruisers for sale.  Like Ron said, the person that was selling it did not have a lot of pictures posted so it was important to us not to travel too far to be disappointed once we got there.  I could have stopped at the person’s house that has the Phoenix near us but I do not have that type of personality to feel comfortable doing that.  With all of that being said, your price is fair for your coach but there aren’t a lot of people out there that understand the quality of the coach and you will have a limited audience.  When someone has had several RVs they will be much more knowledgeable and are prepared to pay more for a quality product.  I would try Ron’s idea and post a lot of pictures.  Cameras in cell phones today are pretty good so you should be able to get some good shots although I can attest that my photography is not that great so I don’t know how well that would work for me.  Good luck and hang in there.  You will make someone a happy camper when they buy your coach!11

Op here.  Being the frugal ie cheap that I am, rvt has a base price that includes only 10 photos.  But the good thing is the ad runs till sold.  Out of the 4 hits I had last Thursday no one has gotten back.  One did ask for pics but after acknowledging his request, still no further response.  Spring is around the corner, so look for activity to pick up.

Op here.  Being the frugal ie cheap that I am, rvt has a base price that includes only 10 photos.  But the good thing is the ad runs till sold.  Out of the 4 hits I had last Thursday no one has gotten back.  One did ask for pics but after acknowledging his request, still no further response.  Spring is around the corner, so look for activity to pick up.

Does rvt allow you to post a link to all your pictures?

Maybe sell the smart car separately?  Not all buyers that may be interested in your rig want a smart car as a toad and there may be others that are looking for a smart car as a toad or city commuter. The smart is worth $6 grand at best.  It’s a niche market for those cars.  I know I had one. So you’re basically asking 79,500 for your rig.

On carvana the cheapest. 2013 is 10,900 and the most is 14,590.  Just saying

If you can score that good for you.  I paid 10,900 for mine new in 2011.  There listed on Craigslist out here on avg asking 6k obo.  But if you can get those prices sell it separately. Heck sell it to caravana

Unfortunately many buyers of motorhomes, won't appreciate a tow vehicle in the deal until after their first trip without one.

Consider marketing the PC without a tow vehicle, and without the tow bar and all that.  Market your Smart car "with" the tow bar (and tow brake if it has one).  At under 1550 pounds, you don't need a tow brake, a beautiful feature in a Smart.

When you connect with a buyer for your PC, offer your Smart as an extra feature for $XXXX extra.