Selling a Motorhome on Consignment? Read This First.

Owning a motorhome can be quite an experience because you can enjoy total freedom and explore different sceneries with no worries about housing. Still, you are also tasked with maintenance which can be a hassle. The freedom makes the experience exciting, but the maintenance makes the experience demanding.

Many motorhome owners decide to sell their vehicles when they feel they can no longer keep up with their maintenance demands or the need to upgrade. But one puzzling thought that always comes to mind is “how do they sell their motorhomes?” There are various channels available for selling beloved vehicles, but it is essential to consider specific factors when choosing the channel to use.

Every owner looking to sell their motorhome understandably wants to get as much profit for their investment as possible. For considerable investments like motorhomes, the income generated from a sale depends on the level of advertising dedicated to selling it. One channel that offers a high degree of advertisement for selling motorhome is consignment. This article explains what motorhome consignments are, how they work, and various differences between selling your vehicle through private sale and consignment.

What is a Motorhome Consignment?

Motorhome consignments are no different from other consignments. RV consignments are facilities such as motorhome dealerships that help sell the used vehicles to their new owners. They are widely used because they remove the responsibilities of selling the motorhome from the owner and assign them to the dealership/entity tasked with selling the vehicle.

How Do Motorhome Consignments work?

Maintenance is not the only aspect of motorhomes that is demanding. Selling a motorhome is also demanding. Selling a motorhome requires considerable time, dedication, and expenditure on costly ads. Consignment offers the opportunity for vehicle owners to transfer the responsibilities of selling to a trusted and reputable consignment company. The consignment company handles the duties of advertising, paperwork, and finding buyers for a fee.

You are still the motorhome owner and decide who the vehicle should be sold to, but you pay the consignment company to find buyers and negotiate the pricing of your motorhome with potential buyers.

Reasons People Choose Consignment

There are specific reasons motorhome owners choose to sell their vehicle through this medium, and those reasons include:

• The time needed to sell a motorhome: Selling a motorhome involves a lot of time, and most buyers may not be able to afford the time involved; they hand over the responsibility to a dealer.
• Advertising: Choosing to sell a motorhome yourself typically means working with limited resources, reducing the chances of securing a favourable deal for your investment. In contrast, consignment gives you the option to work with vast advertisement resources, thereby increasing the chances of securing a huge deal on your investment.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Motorhome Consignment

Specific factors should guide your choice of consignment. These factors include:

1. How the consignment dealers charge: There are two models that consignment dealers use for their charges, a percentage and commission model. The percentage model involves the dealer subtracting a specific percentage from the profits realised from an RV sale. In contrast, the commission model involves the owner setting a specific price for the RV sale and the dealer removing whatever bonus realised from the sale.
2. The length of the consignment contract: This is the stipulated time that the vehicle will remain in consignment.
3. Extra services: Check and ensure that the dealership offers extra services like prep, maintenance, and repairs.
4. Advertisement resources: You want to ensure that the dealership controls enough foot traffic because the more the foot traffic, the more chances of securing an excellent deal on your investment.
5. Security: When your vehicle goes into consignment, you entrust your vehicle into the hands of the dealers. You want to ensure that they offer top-notch security for your vehicle.
6. Reputation: An excellent reputation translates to a capability. Check reviews and ask for recommendations about motorhome consignment dealers.

How Long Does a Motorhome Consignment Last?

Being that consignment dealers work tirelessly to sell your vehicle in a quick time, a consignment contract typically lasts between 40 and 90 days. It is best to secure motorhome consignment insurance once your vehicle goes into consignment.

The Cost of Motorhome Consignment

There is no specific cost for motorhome consignment, but there are two models used to determine the costs. These are:

1. Percentage costs: In this model, the motorhome owner and the consignment facility agree on a percentage on which they will share the motorhome’s sale. The consignment percentage usually ranges from 10 to 15% of the sale.
2. Commission: Here, the owner gives the consignment facility a fixed price for selling the motorhome and authorises them to keep the extra they realise from selling it.

Other Fees Involved in Motorhome Consignments

1. Cleaning: Selling through a consignment is not an instant process as the motorhome will be in consignment for a stipulated period. The owner will be paying for the cleaning services offered during this period.
2. Motorhome consignment insurance: This insurance covers any damage that can occur while the motorhome is in consignment. It is different from the motorhome’s standard insurance.

Private Sale Vs. Consignment

Various options are available for selling a motorhome, depending on why the owner is choosing to sell their vehicle. Some of the most common reasons why vehicle owners choose to sell their motorhomes include:

• Lack of use: When the motorhome lays in storage and does not see frequent use, the owner decides to sell the vehicle to an owner that will put it to better use.
• Upgrade: When the existing owner wishes to upgrade to a later model vehicle
• Moving on: When the owner wishes to retire from the motorhome lifestyle.

When choosing to sell a motorhome, the idea in the mind of every owner is securing the best deals possible. There are two different options to help you achieve the best deals on a motorhome sale. These are:

1. Private Sale: With private sale, the vehicle owner is responsible for every facet of selling it. These include all fees for advertisements, handling enquiries, and all other costs.
2. Consignment: with consignment on the other hand, the motorhome owner hands over the responsibility of finding a buyer, advertising, and enquiries to a dealership, while shouldering all costs and maintenance till a buyer is found.

Comparing Private Sale to Consignment

Specific factors distinguish selling a motorhome through private sale from selling it on consignment. These factors include the disadvantages and advantages of each channel over the other, and they are:

1. Demands: As mentioned earlier, private sales involve the owner handling all the responsibilities of selling the vehicle. This method of selling can often prove to be too demanding for the owner. In contrast, consignment is not demanding for the vehicle owner as he retains ownership of the motorhome while delegating all responsibilities of selling it to an experienced dealer.
2. Profit: In a private sale, the motorhome owner is the sole beneficiary of the profits realised from the sale, while in a motorhome consignment, the profits realised from the vehicle’s sale are shared with the dealer. The dealer’s fees are paid through a percentage or commission format. The percentage format sees the dealer take a specific percentage of the profit. In contrast, the dealer is given a specific price to sell the RV in the commission format and takes whatever extra realised from the RV’s sale.
3. Costs: In an RV consignment, the RV owner needs to pay for consignment insurance, cleaning, and maintenance, while in a private sale, the costs are reduced as the RV is in the owner’s possession, and there is no need for any consignment insurance.
4. Advertisement: Consignment offers an abundance of advertisement resources for the owner to sell their vehicle; a larger audience gets to see the RV. In contrast, private sale offers limited advertisement resources.
5. Access to RV: In a motorhome consignment, the vehicle’s owner has limited or no access to the vehicle once in consignment, but in a private sale, the RV’s owner has unlimited access to the vehicle until it is sold to a new owner.

Each channel mentioned above has specific advantages and disadvantages. The choice of channel to use depends on the motorhome owner and what they wish to achieve. For example, securing a higher deal on your motorhome is increased with consignment rather than in private sales.

Conclusion

Selling your motorhome on consignment can be very beneficial in most cases. This is because it allows you to utilise the resources of the dealership, who has access to a much larger audience that you cannot acquire if you had chosen to sell the vehicle through private sale.

Be sure to read the following motorhome selling related posts:

• 4 Things to Consider Before Selling Your Motorhome
• Advice for Selling Your Motorhome RV on Consignment in 2022

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