Are RV Consignments a Good Way to Sell Used RVs?

For people with travel trailers they want to sell, RV consignments may be the best solution. There are other options, including buy-owner and simply selling the RV to a dealership, but RV consignments have the potential to sell faster and provide more return on your original investment than any other method you may consider.

Paperwork

When you use the buy-owner method of selling an RV, you will be responsible for handling all of the paperwork involved, including initially placing ads to attract buyers. RV consignments include transferring the registration and ownership, marketing, and more. Once the RV is contracted for consignment, you won't have to do anything else until the RV sells, and then it is a simple matter of concluding the contract and getting paid for your recreational vehicle.

More Visibility

An RV lot is going to have a lot more focused traffic than you'll get in your driveway or even parking the RV in a nearby shopping center. RV dealers are routinely getting impromptu shoppers who haven't taken the time to scan the classified ads, and who probably don't live near you. RV dealers will even take care of scheduling tours, and well-established dealers already have a network of RV sales options that private owners could never match.

Appointments and Showings

For private sellers, every interested buyer equates to time you have to set aside for showing the RV, answering questions, and fielding phone calls from people who may only be window shopping when all is said and done. RV consignment sales include all of that, in addition to an experienced sales staff that knows how to weed out the buyers from the lookers.

Financing

A large majority of RV sales are done through timed payments rather than cash on hand. Unless you are willing to finance the sale yourself-- and deal with the potential headaches that can entail-- contracting the motorhome for consignment sale is a much simpler approach. RV dealers already know how the financing process works and have the tools in place to take care of financing problems when they arise.


Selling an RV yourself can be frustrating, and often take much longer to make the sale than you had expected. RV consignments simplify the process for you, saving you time, money, and worry. Simply park your RV on the dealer's lot, fill out the consignment contract, and pick up your check after the sale.

6 Great Reasons for You to Use RV Consignments

There are a lot of reasons to decide to sell your RV, from changes in lifestyle to moving up to a larger model. You could put your existing RV up for sale yourself, but using RV consignments typically provides owners with faster sales and fewer hassles. Consignment sales aren't as complicated as you may think, and all of the work is taken on by the RV dealer in exchange for a small fee after the RV is sold.

1. Appointments and Showings

Showing the RV to prospective buyers can take up a lot of time, and the process repeats itself until the sale is made. With RV consignments, the dealer's experienced staff will schedule appointments and show your RV to interested buyers as part of the normal course of business. 

2. Easy Financing

Owner financing can be confusing and frustrating, and DIY financing can be difficult to collect on if the buyer defaults somewhere down the road. With consignment sales, financing is never an issue for you. The dealer accepts all risks and all you have to do is pick up your check after the sale. 

3. More Interested Traffic

For obvious reasons, RV lots get a lot more visitors from people who are interested in buying an RV than the average residential neighborhood. These are people who want to buy, and often want to buy right now as opposed to someone who saw your ad in the local paper and didn't have any other plans for the morning.

4. Paperwork

Once your RV sells, the title and registration have to be transferred to the new owner. Dealerships handle completing the necessary paperwork regularly, but the process can be confusing for the individual seller. For a lot of RV owners, avoiding the paperwork is the most popular reason for using consignment sales

5. Sales Network

RV dealers who have been in business for years have an established network for selling RVs. For a private owner selling their RV, the most reliable sales network is typically an ad in the local paper or parking the RV unattended in a nearby parking lot.

6. Increased Visibility

Increased traffic and a more expansive sales network are great reasons to choose consignment sales, but there is a lot more to increased visibility than knowing where to sell. When your RV or travel trailer is parked on a dealer's lot it is in a safer location and attracts more attention from people passing by than having it sitting in your yard or at the local grocery store.

RV consignments generally sell faster than By Owner sales, often bring in a better price, and eliminate all of the frustration associated with scheduling, showing, and negotiating with interested buyers. For you, that means no more missed work or setting aside valuable time to show the RV and answer questions for someone who chooses not to buy anyway.

4 Essential Services Available From Leading RV Dealers

Not all RV dealers are the same, and it is very important to make sure you are working with a factory-authorized RV center for quite a few reasons. From RV-sized service bays to a staff that can answer any questions you may have, top-rated RV dealerships offer something for every RV owner, including these essential services. 

1. Sales

The first thing that comes to mind when you talk about RV dealers is that they are the best place to purchase a recreational vehicle. Sure, you could buy from a private owner, but that means a lot of going from place to place to tour RVs that aren't quite what you are looking for. Only RV dealers have multiple units on site to see and choose from, plus the experienced staff to answer any questions you may have.

2. Service

After the sale, RV dealers are the only place to find dedicated service bays large enough to handle any RV. And only authorized service centers can take care of warranty service using the parts and products recommended by the manufacturer. That is a very important distinction because having your RV serviced anywhere else would void the warranty and result in higher out-of-pocket costs. Factory-authorized technicians are one of the best features of a leading RV dealership, but far from the only one.

3. Financing

The ability to get your RV financed on the spot is an appealing feature of RV dealers. You still have the option of getting financed through a third-party lender, but it saves a lot of time and effort to get the financing at the point of sale. If you are purchasing a previously owned RV, you may not be able to get the financing you need from any other source.

4. Consignments

RV dealerships that offer consignments can be a boon to RV buyers and sellers alike. For sellers, consignments mean having your RV featured on the lot for buyers to consider. This increases traffic compared to selling it yourself, simplifies financing with no risk to the seller, and may even net a higher sales price. For buyers, consignments mean more units to choose from, lower prices than buying new, and the potential for after-market features that would be prohibitively expensive to install yourself.

Well-established RV centers have a lot of benefits to offer. From consignments and financing to a supply chain that includes hard-to-find parts for older RVs, the best dealers are a one-stop location for everything you need to make the RV lifestyle easier, simpler, and more enjoyable. 

Travel Trailer or Motorhome? Which is Best for My Family?

There is a distinct choice between camper types, with travel trailers being more fitting for some and motorhomes fitting other tastes more closely. There is not a cut-and-dried answer to which is best because how you use the RV determines what works best for your family. Travel trailers are more robust, but deciding which is your best choice comes down to how you answer these questions.

Where Will You Camp?

Travel trailers tend to be a little more robust than a motorhome and make a great fixed camp at your travel stops. On the other hand, a motorhome is an all-in-one residence, restaurant, and gear storage. If you enjoy mingling with other people and visiting major attractions, motorhomes are the way to go.

Easy Access or Off-Road?

If you dream of getting off-grid and in touch with nature, motorhomes may be difficult to maneuver into tight places or along winding mountain roads. You can buy a travel trailer with heavy-duty suspension and large tires that go almost anywhere, but you cannot reduce the weight or change the suspension of a motorhome. 

What Will You Do?

Motorhome living areas are accessible while the vehicle is in motion, which means passengers can remain a little more active. Travel trailers are off-limits when they are in motion, but trailers make an excellent base camp when the family wants to explore an area in the tow vehicle. Having a parked campsite is also beneficial to families with pets. It allows the people to visit locations where their pets may not be allowed without leaving the pet in an uncomfortable environment.

Cost Considerations

Considered alone, a travel trailer is much more affordable than a motorhome. It contains a living area and perhaps a storage unit on the back, compared to a motorhome that has living and driving built into a single unit. However, if you have to purchase a towing vehicle for your trailer, such as buying a fifth-wheel trailer that requires special equipment, the cost of that vehicle has to be considered as part of the RV investment. Because you are then buying 2 vehicles of different types the cost could very easily surpass that of a motorhome.

Fuel Cost

Motorhomes are not known for getting great gas mileage. Travel trailers require a tow vehicle that begins with a much higher range per gallon, diminishing as the load of the trailer increases. This can save you hundreds of dollars on a long excursion, or on a trip where the trailer is often parked and the vehicle used as transportation without the cost of pulling a residence along.

The choice between a motorhome and travel trailers leans toward the camper trailer being a more robust option. Motorhomes excel in luxury and convenience if that is your primary goal, but a towable camper is the most applicable for most other applications. The final decision will depend on your own preferences for RV travel, and what you need your RV to do.

5 Ways That Choosing the Right RV Dealers Shapes Your RV Lifestyle Experience

If you have been thinking about taking up the RV lifestyle, authorized RV dealers can be a huge asset. They know what kind of equipment you need for the kind of traveling you want to enjoy, they can offer tips on selecting the best RV or travel trailer, and the best RV centers have a knowledgeable staff that can answer all of your questions about RV ownership, Seeing the country in a motorhome, and much more. The best way to show you how important your RV dealer can be, it's best to look at some of the ways the dealership you choose is going to affect how much you enjoy your new lifestyle.

1. Better Selection

Leading RV centers are typically authorized to sell multiple brands of motorhomes. Even more importantly, they can help you find the model you want, and work with the factory to get your RV built and delivered ASAP even if it isn't already on the lot.

2. Experienced Staff

Having a staff of knowledgeable people available who know the RV business inside and out can help you start your RV lifestyle on the right track. They can give you information that only comes from years in the business, and provide you with tips and hacks that simplify RV life. These tips are themselves garnered from years of dealing with customers who have already been there, and learning from others will save you a lot of guesswork and mistakes along the way.

3. RV Service Bays

An ordinary auto shop is not usually the best place to have RV repairs made. Their bays are designed for much smaller, lighter vehicles than RVs, and a motorhome requires a different range of skills than just automotive repairs. RV centers have large bays that accommodate larger vehicles, technicians who are familiar with the motor, chassis, and construction of the whole motorhome. RV centers repair everything from balding tires to water tanks, and that includes working with both AC and DC electrical current.

4. Onsite Warranty and Maintenance FulfIllment

Auto mechanics are not the same as authorized RV repair centers. If your motorhome is still under warranty, you need an RV dealer to honor the warranty, perform warranted maintenance, and generally make sure that everything that gets done to your RV is in conjunction with your warranties rather than voiding them away.

5. Building RV Relationships

A working relationship with a good RV dealer can be like joining a network of RV-minded people. The best RV dealers have been in business for many years, have developed a network of partners, and discovered the best places to get even the most difficult-to-find parts. A dealer that does not have RV bays, can't locate rare parts, or doesn't know how to replace the faucet in your kitchen sink, is not offering you a full range of services and that will make your adventures less enjoyable.

The RV lifestyle is a lot of fun, but you will enjoy it more by starting out with an RV dealer that already knows where to go, how to avoid breakdowns, and what to do when something goes wrong will ultimately lead to a more exciting, less stressful mobile lifestyle.

4 Tips for Selecting the Right RV Dealers for Your Consignment Sale

It is important to choose the right RV dealers for your RV consignment if you want to sell quickly and get a great price. We have chosen these 4 tips for selecting the right RV dealers to illustrate how your choice can positively impact the way the RV sale will go.

1. Established RV Dealers

Established RV dealers know the local market, Through years of experience they have developed a network revolving around the RV business, including contacts interested in purchasing consignment RVs. Perhaps equally important is the fact that they have access to hard-to-find RV parts, and making necessary repairs can greatly increase the value of your RV.

2. Paperwork Management

Established RV dealers can finance your RV consignment inhouse, and that means your RV will be available to a wider range of potential buyers who may not have the cash flow for a direct purchase. And once your RV is sold, RV consignment dealers can handle the ownership transfer. That means you only have to pick up your check after the sale without working through the hassle of the paperwork the sale involves.

3. Popular Location

Having a popular location means more traffic, and that equates to putting your RV in front of more people who are actively in the market for a recreational vehicle. Some of the best RV centers have been in the same location for a generation, and are well-known in the business. Location alone can make your RV sell faster, especially when compared to selling it yourself at home. Instead of viewers responding directly to your RV you will have the opportunity to sell to someone who was looking at something else and decided they liked yours better.

4. Experienced Staff

Underneath it all, established RV dealers also have experienced staff that understands RV sales. They can show your RV on demand, field questions from prospective buyers, and perform any repairs necessary to facilitate a quick and profitable consignment sale. If you sell your RV yourself, you will have to set aside time and arrange appointments for people to view your RV, and most of those views will be people who are simply curious but not really in the market.

RV consignment sales are a faster, safer, and more profitable way to sell a used RV, but only if you choose an RV dealer with a proven track record in making the sale. Keep in mind that once the RV is up for sale it will have to remain on the lot for a contracted amount of time, so do your homework and select a consignment dealer that can get great results.

5 Important Considerations When Shopping RV Trailers For Sale

There are many kinds of RV trailers for sale right here in Tracy, California. Before you buy one, make time to explore your options, compare the amenities, and think about your group size and towing experience. Choosing the right fit for your travel plans will have a big impact on how often you use your travel trailer and how enjoyable each trip will be.

1. New or Used?

New RV trailers for sale will include factory warranties and other purchase perks. On the other hand, a used travel trailer may have valuable aftermarket additions, appliances, or other favorable changes. Used travel trailers are also less expensive than new ones, but you should take care that a low price isn’t covering up some important flaws. If you buy used, ask your Tracy, CA RV dealer about consignment sales, and the benefits of buying consignment RVs.

2. What Type of Camping?

Smaller travel trailers are better for getting into difficult places, but larger ones are more comfortable when you establish a base camp to explore from. For couples or very small groups, Taxa Outdoors manufactures ultralight travel trailers that are designed for going off the beaten path without sacrificing the most important aspects of owning a travel trailer.

3. What is Your Tow Vehicle?

Some travel trailers can be towed behind a family sedan, including models like the Taxa Cricket. Others require a large vehicle or even a fifth wheel. You will either need to purchase a camper trailer that matches your tow vehicle or calculate the cost of a new tow vehicle into the cost of ownership.

4. Do You Have Towing Experience?

A small travel trailer is much easier to pull than a longer one. California’s iconic Pacific Coast Highway, for example, can be treacherous for experienced drivers towing large travel trailers. If you aren’t sure about your towing abilities, it’s a good idea to practice towing, backing, and turning in a parking lot before you leave home, or shop for a smaller camper that doesn’t require the same skillset. You might need to learn new driving skills. For your first travel trailer, it is more practical to go with what you know and upgrade to bigger and better things after you’ve gained more experience.

5. How Many People?

Large travel trailers are capable of seating and sleeping up to 8 people or even more. A Taxa Mantis is maxed out at 4, and two of those should be children. Because there are so many different sizes and types of travel trailers for sale, your space requirements are an important part of the buying decision.

You can find a travel trailer to meet your needs in Tracy, CA at your hometown RV dealer, but it is important that you match your personal preferences with your purchase. Do not be afraid to ask questions and take your time when touring the different models. This is a big purchase and deserves the most-informed decision.

Manufacturer Spotlight: Cricket Trailer

The folks at Nohr’s RV Center are more than RV enthusiasts - they are outdoors enthusiasts. In addition to motorhomes and fifth wheel living spaces, we also love to go where the more luxurious RVs cannot reach. It is still nice to have a roof against the elements and walls against the winds - a niche that is perfectly filled by Cricket Trailers.

Buying Local: Test Driving RV Options at your Local RV Dealer

Nohr’s RV Center has sold a full line of RVs and travel homes since 1970, and we fully understand that every vehicle handles a little differently, as well as major differences in Class A and C motorhomes. We recommend taking a test drive to both evaluate the vehicle and to get a feel for how it handles.

RV Camping Off Grid

Going off grid with your RV is a major step. Without the amenities of a campground to rely on, you have to take everything you need with you or make trips to replenish what you use. This requires a lot of planning, but it also opens up new destinations that are only available to more adventurous people. At Nohr’s RV Center, we support the off-grid RV lifestyle, but we want you to understand what the phrase involves and how to do it properly.

Adding Solar Power Panels to your Motorhome

The more time you want to spend in your RV, the more consideration you must give to power consumption. One solution is to install solar power, a power source that will for while you drive and camp in out-of-the-way places. To help you determine whether solar is right for you, Nohr’s RV Center compiled some helpful information on adding solar to your motorhome.

Celebrating the Holidays in an RV

At Nohr’s RV Center, RV travel is more than a weekend getaway - it is a way of life. When the holidays approach, bring your RV in for a full-service inspection, and then set out to enjoy a holiday adventure of a lifetime. To give you an idea of what is possible, we put together some popular tips and suggestions for happy holiday celebrations in your RV.

RV Travel Apps

There was a time when an RV traveler had to manage as best they could, but the internet has changed all of that. Today, there are countless apps available for your phone or tablet that provide all sorts of useful information to people on the move. At Nohr’s RV Center, we like simplicity, so we have put together a list of the best RV travel apps to help you go farther faster and with less hassle.

Setting up your RV Campsite

The beauty of an RV is that you can have all of the comforts of home combined with the freedom to go almost anywhere. Over the years, Nohr’s RV Center has noticed that setting up camp can be daunting for people new to RVing. We also know that the quality of your camp will affect the quality of your trip. These useful tips provide a guide for first-time RVers trying to set up camp.

New to RVing? Driving Skills to Learn before your First Road Trip

Nohr’s RV Center is dedicated to life on the road and doing it successfully. We want you to enjoy the RV lifestyle, and that means understanding the complexities of driving your motorhome. Not only is your RV an expensive piece of equipment, but it also behaves differently than passenger vehicles. Before you set out on an RV adventure, take the time to brush up on the driving skills necessary for safe motorhome travels.

Navigating your New RV

Nohr’s RV Center wants you to get the most out of every RV adventure. To that end, we have noticed that today’s digital electronics do not get enough consideration. We aim to correct that oversight with some tips concerning popular apps and devices that will enhance your RV experience. Using electronics is a great way to simplify your trip, but always keep a paper map on hand for emergency situations with no internet access.

Saving Money while RVing

We love the RV lifestyle at Nohr’s RV Center. We also understand that getting the most enjoyment out of your trip often means stretching your travel dollars as far as they will go. We have selected some RV travel topics with the most savings potential, along with tips on how to maximize the savings.

Top Toys for your New Toy Hauler

Toy haulers are ideal for getting your favorite toys to the places where you play. They provide a secure place to store your things while traveling or camping and prevent accident damage related to the roadway, vandalism, and more. Nohr’s RV Center wants you to get the most enjoyment out of your RV, and few tips for how your toy hauler can be used is a good step in that direction.

RV Kitchens

Nohr’s RV Center recommends paying close attention to the kitchen area when deciding whether a particular motorhome is right for your needs. Recreational vehicles have evolved a lot over the years, and RV kitchens make a perfect example of that. Where early travel trailers and RV had tiny kitchens that were sparsely designed, RVs over the last 20 years or so have developed into areas which more closely mimic the cooking area you would have in a brick and mortar home. However, RV kitchens vary widely in usefulness and functionality.

RV Consignment

One way to save money on your RV purchase is to buy it through consignment. This allows you to take advantage of owner pricing but still have the peace of mind that your RV purchase is in the condition you are buying it as. Additionally, you will find a better, more dependable selection at an RV consignment shop like Nohr’s RV Center than you will by searching through the classifieds.