has anybody ?

[ThePlotter]

After 43 years of caravanning it seems it may be time to sadly sell the van.
I have a three year old van with loads of extras and my question is has anybody any experience of selling to the many companies that advertise in all the mags that buy caravans in.
Also suggestions for quickest way to sell safely and get a reasonable price.

 

[otherclive]

After 43 years of caravanning it seems it may be time to sadly sell the van.
I have a three year old van with loads of extras and my question is has anybody any experience of selling to the many companies that advertise in all the mags that buy caravans in.
Also suggestions for quickest way to sell safely and get a reasonable price.

Firstly you need to assess the value of your caravan. Do this by looking at dealer websites for similar ones. Of course a sale to either one of the traders that buy vans or a private sale will be less than the dealer prices. I’d say that traders who buy for cash will be like Webuyanycar. com. You’ll. get a rock bottom price.

If your a member of the CMHC you could use their website classifieds. Then you could sell everything in one go to like minded individuals. Alternatively there is Autotrader caravan sales.

Safe sale I assume you mean you get the money satisfactorily. Cleared cheque using express clearance, cash are options but I would use internet transfer to my current account. Then make sure it had gone in before releasing the caravan.

PS edit. Try the owners club too.

 

[Parksy]

Topic moved as requested
Sorry to see that you're selling up Plotter, most caravan forums (except this one ) and both clubs host free classified ads.
Gumtree local can yield good results

 

[Damian]

Plotter, whatever you do , do not be tempted to use the "we buy any van " type sites, they will make an offer then when you roll up they will slash that offer price , all you would get is the scrap value at most.
I speak from personal knowledge and the ensuing exchange of very frank views !!!!!!

I sold the van through Gumtree for £6000 more than I was offered.

With due diligence you should be able to sell quite easily and for a good price (Make sure the money is in your bank before parting with it, and don't even respond to those that are viewing on behalf of a friend who lives abroad and will pay to have the van picked up !!!!)

 

[Thingy]

Sorry to hear you have come to the end. What you have to consider is that any company that buys your caravan will intend to make a profit on it. That profit is better in your pocket and I would be inclinded to sell privately. If you also have all the ancilliaries, it would be a good deal for somebody just starting out.

Try caravans4u.co.uk

 

[waffler]

Sorry to hear you’re giving up. Whoever you sell to I suggest you use bank transfer. This is how it works. Buyer brings his laptop or tablet to your place, logs on to your WiFi and then to his bank. Give him your bank sort code and account number and he transfers one pound to your account. You log on to your account and check the arrival of the pound. The buyer then transfers the rest of the cash. You check and give him the caravan. The point of the one pound is that it checks he has typed in the correct details. Just be careful with your log in to ensure he doesn’t see passwords etc. If the buyer brings his own WiFi then that makes it even easier. If he uses yours ask him to delete the record after he has finished. (Theoretically he could stand outside your house and use your WiFi otherwise.).

 

[Dustydog]

A sad day Plotter. I guess the bones get more frail with age.
Dare Inask if you are going to the dark side , a motor home :woohoo:
Whatever you do , I wish you all the very best and many more happy years.

 

[Buckman]

Sorry to hear you’re giving up. Whoever you sell to I suggest you use bank transfer. This is how it works. Buyer brings his laptop or tablet to your place, logs on to your WiFi and then to his bank. Give him your bank sort code and account number and he transfers one pound to your account. You log on to your account and check the arrival of the pound. The buyer then transfers the rest of the cash. You check and give him the caravan. The point of the one pound is that it checks he has typed in the correct details. Just be careful with your log in to ensure he doesn’t see passwords etc. If the buyer brings his own WiFi then that makes it even easier. If he uses yours ask him to delete the record after he has finished. (Theoretically he could stand outside your house and use your WiFi otherwise.).

Due to money laundering legislation that only works if the amount is £10k or under. Otherwise you have to wait 3 - 4 days. A way around this is for them to do the £10k transfer by BACS and to pay the balance in cash.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

yes a sad day. but it comes to us all eventually. I agree with all the above, try and sell it privately by secure means we used Gumtree in the end. dealers only want to give the minimum price. certain sites even less.

we advertised ours and got responses within a couple of hours a nice couple came and looked at it checked it over and said they would think about it as they had others to see that day, 4 hours later they rang us and said they wanted it at the full asking price and would be back the next day and bring cash with them. which they did.. all done and dusted in a couple of days. we even got a Christmas card from them the that year saying that they had used the van a few times and loved it.

the only slight issue I had was trying to pay in such a large amount of cash into the bank. but a copy of the receipt satisfied them where the cash came from.

 

[otherclive]

yes a sad day. but it comes to us all eventually. I agree with all the above, try and sell it privately by secure means we used Gumtree in the end. dealers only want to give the minimum price. certain sites even less.

we advertised ours and got responses within a couple of hours a nice couple came and looked at it checked it over and said they would think about it as they had others to see that day, 4 hours later they rang us and said they wanted it at the full asking price and would be back the next day and bring cash with them. which they did.. all done and dusted in a couple of days. we even got a Christmas card from them the that year saying that they had used the van a few times and loved it.

the only slight issue I had was trying to pay in such a large amount of cash into the back. but a copy of the receipt satisfied them where the cash came from.

You are spot on re money laundering. A while back I tried to pay £300 cash into my father's account and even with a receipt signed by the buyer Santander would not accept it into his account. So i had to bring it home, pay it into my account at my bank then do a BACS transfer to my fathers account.

 

[SamandRose]

Try Gumtree, ebay or Auto Trader.

Take lots of photos, inside and out. Make it clear that it's a private sale and that you're selling up only because you're having to give up caravanning due to health. Add a sentence (but no more than that) saying how much you loved the van.

Price-wise, I suggest using the above sites to see how much dealers are selling the same or similar vans for, then ask a bit less for yours.

We bought our van (albeit a bit more than 3 years old)! from a family who had done exactly that because they were moving abroad. I had no hesitation in giving them the asking price given that it was in better condition than other vans on dealer forecourts on sale for up to a grand more.

We paid a £100 cash deposit on seeing the van at the owner's house, then paid the rest by bank transfer on the morning of the day of collection. No issues.

 

[ThePlotter]

Well the deed is done after 43 years I am no longer a caravanner
I contacted numerous dealers some said they were not buying at the moment and others said they would call back but didn't, and one based near Preston wanted £1.50 a mile to come and see my van.
Another I contacted on the website came back fairly quickly with an offer which was only slightly lower that expected, they arranged to come and view, which they did and agreed the price without reduction and allowing me to keep all the equipment and within minutes paid into my account by bank transfer which I could check and then off into the distance went the van, which I admit was somewhat emotional.
from their arrival to departure less that hour and a half and all very professional, as added benefit they were only 20 mile away in Burton on Trent which helped me as I knew of them being genuine as I had bought bits and pieces from there in the past.
So the deed is done now just need to decide how to holiday in the future.

 

[Parksy]

A sad day Plotter.
You could still advertise the air porch awning, Aquarolls, ehu lead and step on Gumtree as suggested earlier.

 

[Hutch]

Yes a sad for you, But you will have wonderful memories of the caravanning times.

 

[emmerson]

Sir Anthony, that is indeed sad news. Anne and I talk it over every year, "Maybe this will be our last, as we're getting too old/the vans old/the cars old" "Yes dear". "But if we don't go to Europe next year we won't see Guy or Siegfried, etc, etc" "Yes dear". "OK then, we'll book for next year". "Yes dear". "But we've had 53 great years". "Yes dear".

And so it goes on, but as our combined age is now 157 years, the caravan is forty years old, and we currently do not have a towcar, this seemed the right time to get out, right?
Wrong! We've already booked the European Classic Caravan Rally in
Belgium!
Oh, by New Year, we will have clocked up 186 nights out this year!
However, whatever you decide, my friend, do it well do it safely, and keep looking in here.
Au revoir, but maybe not goodbye.

 

[Dustydog]

Plotter,
It comes to us all in the end. Emotional but when the body and bones get old no way back.
The world is your oyster. Be happy whatever you choose next :cheer:

 

[ThePlotter]

Emmo long time no speak sounds like despite being an old ****** like me you keep going as does the Royale ?
Loved that forum that we were all on including his Lordship (seen nothing of him on the boards)
yes sad to pack up but no point leaving the van depreciating on the drive and costing us around £600 a year in insurance, tracker, club membership, servicing etc

Take care and keep well

Sir Plotter

 

[Raywood]

Sad but as you say no point keeping it wasting money once you have to give up.