Camping World consignment- anyone used it?

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Dougie Brown

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Nov 16, 2007
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UK
This is sadly our last RV trip in North America and we?ll be selling the RV & toad during the second half. I?m not too concerned with the toad as I?ll be able to sell it as a non-toad if all else fails although I?m hoping for a value-added sale with all the towing gear left on.

The RV will be advertised from about 20th August and we fly home at the start of November. I plan on a classified eBay ad. showing our itinerary and schedule (Seattle - Phoenix) between those dates and will reasonably accommodate viewings. So goes the plan. If however time gets short with no sale, consignment has always been an unfavored option. I saw yesterday that Camping World are apparently keen for consignment business (?America?s #1 RV dealer...??) and on the face if it, I can see them being an option for us especially as they can offer multiple locations. I?ve yet to call them for terms and projected sale figures etc. but assuming they?re acceptable:-

1: has anyone used them for consignment, and
2: where might be the optimum location between late August & late October between Washington & Arizona for selling?

In case the price range matters, were looking at around the $30k mark.

Thanks,

Dougie.
 
One quick call you may want to make to CW is to find out what age RVs they will take. I?m not a big fan but have used them for window shopping, and my understanding is they don?t sell RVs older than about 10 years, or less
 
Good friend of mine consigned their 2008 Tiffin Phaeton with CW in 2014, receiving glowing promises of a top $ price and quick sale.  Nothing ever happened during the two years CW had it on  their lot, which is pretty amazing since the Phaeton was and still is a very popular model and theirs was well-maintained.  An acquaintance stopped in at the CW store and asked about used Phaetons but got steered to look at a new coach instead.  It seems pretty clear that CW made little or no effort to show or advertise the rig, which just sat there collecting dirt.  The sad part is that my friends had to keep up the payments all that time and eventually ended up declaring bankruptcy to get out of the loan.  As in many things, your mileage may vary...

This is an all-too-common tale, though, and not just CW.  RV dealers that sell new rigs may take consignments, but selling their own stuff is always more profitable for them. Perhaps even more crucial, at near every dealership the sales guys get a greater commission on new or even used rigs than on a consignment sale. That gives them every incentive to steer buyers to something else. Ask a lot of questions of whomever you choose for a consignment sale. If I were going that route, I would use only a store that was exclusively consignment sales, so that I knew they were motivated to sell my rig. PPL is the biggest one of those, but there are others.

My friends turned down two other dealers who handle consignments, mostly because those dealers refused to make unrealistic promises.  CW told them what they wanted to hear, i.e. they would receive NADA High Retail price and the sale would be quick. But that was all saleman blather - their consignment contract with CW promised nothing at all and absolved CW of any responsibility for anything.
 
We placed a travel trailer on consignment with CW about 3 years ago.  It was about 5 years old and in very good condition.  After leaving it there we had a change of heart in a few days and went back and took it  out.  They were very gracious explaining that they had several lookers and  one couple who were trying to arrange a loan but respected out wishes to withdraw it and even refunded our $450 consignment fee.  We were happy with their service.

Bill
 
All points noted thank you. Two years being neglected is definitely a nightmare I do not wish to encounter.

What are your thoughts on good or bad locations during that time frame?
 
If I were to consign a motor home it would by with PPL in Texas.
There are to many RV's for sale in Arizona and Florida. Your rig would be one  of very many.
Where we are in Casa Grande I have seen nice rigs priced reasonably sit for 3-4 years with the price dropping ever lower and lower.
Most snow birds arrive with a rig already and while a few may upgrade not many do. Then you are up against the big sale in Quartzite and the every weekend show by LaMesa RV at Arizona State University where there are literally 400-500 units of all kinds for sale
 
I  consigned our fifth wheel to camping world.  they asked me what I wanted, I told them and they said we can do that.  4 weeks later it was sold.
 
Just spoke with CW in Mesa as that's where we're ending the trip before flying back the UK. 10 years is normally the age limit as someone has said above but he was interested in ours due to the new wrap and floor remodelling. There are no fees or comission; they agree a price with the seller and make their money on the mark-up.

Darbeen, I take the point about AZ as we've spent three winters in Casa Grande and been to the shows. The CW rep's perspective (predictably) is that the market there is all-year-round and is the most buoyant in all his 40 years' experience. So maybe somewhere in the middle lies some form of reality!

I'll press ahead with eBay and local Craigslists when we set off south from Seattle after the cruise and be as realistic as I can with price. Hopefully I'll never have to darken any consignment dealer's door.

Dougie.
 
Good to hear that some have had a positive experience. My friends were devastated by the whole affair.  I think their contract was similar to the one mentioned above, giving them a guaranteed price and CW marking that up to get a profit. Maybe the price got too high? I suspect my friends had a large loan and also an inflated notion of what their coach was worth, but we weren't close enough friends for me to ask personal financial questions.
 
A couple of years ago, a friend of ours placed his coach with CW-Avondale, AZ on consignment. Didn't follow up with them for a couple of months and then went back to check up on status. Found a lot of parts were stripped from the coach by the service/parts departments. CW wound up buying the coach from them for the asking price, without fee.
 
BernieD said:
A couple of years ago, a friend of ours placed his coach with CW-Avondale, AZ on consignment. Didn't follow up with them for a couple of months and then went back to check up on status. Found a lot of parts were stripped from the coach by the service/parts departments. CW wound up buying the coach from them for the asking price, without fee.

Wow. I'd be wanting a lot more than asking price to walk away from that
 
Wow. I'd be wanting a lot more than asking price to walk away from that
Punitive damages? I think you would have to go to court to get that.  Otherwise, their fiduciary responsibility is to "make you whole", i.e. assure you suffer no loss as a result of leaving your rig in their care.  I'm not a CW fan and find that sort of thing appalling, but I think the CW management (or their lawyers) did the right thing.
 
As someone else suggested, if I were doing it, I would go with PPL in TX.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Punitive damages? I think you would have to go to court to get that. 

Obviously we're talking hypotheticals, but it seems to me if I walked up to check on my rig and there were parts missing that would be a criminal matter (theft), not civil. There's no argument they could loft that gives them any access to the vehicle or its parts, other than to sell it under the terms of the contract. To "make it all whole" by giving the owner no more than he might have theoretically gotten in a private sale (sale price without commission) was a freebie for CW, cost them exactly nothing and they sold it to the owner as-if he was getting something for the stunning breach of trust (and very possibly a violation of the law) that took place.
 
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