MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: SlimTim on July 20, 2019, 05:52:52 PM
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Hi all,
I've been shopping around for a second hand camper trailer and I've noticed that there is a huge range for sale.
Does anyone have any thoughts on why this may be the case?
Do first (or second, or third) time buyers tend to miss something then on-sell their camper? Something that's not necessarily a fault with the camper, just underestimating the size for example.
Only asking to avoid any of these potential issues myself.
Cheers,
Tim.
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My take is its a lot of everything. Some jump in then realize they dont like / have time to use it enough/ bought the wrong item / did it just to be the envy of the so called mates / others do the upgrade for more comfort to Hybrids / offroad vans due to age / health circumstance etc ...
Because getting away and traveling is now booming in numbers as never seen before, due a lot to the internet and being able to work as you travel its showing up in the amount of trade ins campers / vans etc .
For us we started in a tent, then built a camper , then age / health issues / wanting more ease of set up / comfort and now building a Hybrid style .. Building for us was more affordable and we get exactly what we wanted for a budget price, though just not straight away as money / time / space / life gets in the way to do it
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I reckon it’s because the trend for many now is to buy a hybrid / caravan instead....look at the sales figures for new campers (rear fold, front fold, soft floors) sold and they are not very big at all, the hybrids and caravan sales figures smash them by a large margin.
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I know that for us we weren't 100% sure it was for us so when we took the plunge bought a 2nd hand soft floor with the view to give it a try and see how we go. Once we worked out that we liked the lifestyle and came up with what we reckoned were our must haves etc (and what type of campers we were) we then moved on and now have a caravan.
Problem is I still have the original soft floor (more out of a sense of nostalgia) that is just sitting in the driveway :'(
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There are a few contributing factors as others have mentioned, in no particular order
- The amount of "RV" owners, 1 in 13 households own a registered "RV" that means that there are quite a few out there.
- The trend to more caravan style setups means supply and demand for the traditional used camper has changed
- People buying campers and then not really using them. Advertising plays a role here just like softroader 4wd's advertising always shows them off-road and people buy into the idea of that's what I would like to do, and then never take them offroad. The camper industry got good at doing the same, except the softroader 4wd still gets used day to day but the camper just sits there.
- Price of campers, 10ishyrs ago campers were pretty much all Australian made and comparatively pretty pricey. The introduction and rise of imported campers have had a two-fold effect, firstly it allowed a lot more people to buy a cheap camper and get into using one so a lot more were sold, now the importers are now producing hybrids/caravans, it is allowing more people to upgrade.
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For us we started with a soft floor (which I'm trying to sell in this flooded market) as we had 2 young kids so needed the room especially when it was wet.
Now the kids sleep in a seat each on longer trips so we brought a lifestyle breakaway ultra to set up for camping without kids in the next few years
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I think that quite a few people go down the same rout as we did. At first we got a soft floor and after a while we decided that it was getting too awkward to get it set up so we got a second hand rear fold camper. This one was a lot easier to set up and get comfy and we'd still have it except that we broke the chassis getting to Bourke from Wanaaring. We got it repaired and strengthened in Bourke and drove home and started looking for a replacement. We looked at what seemed like hundreds until we came across a new fangled forward fold camper. For us, after a few very minor mods, it's perfect.
So we have contributed two campers to the second hand market and after a few more years, when we're old and decrepit, we'll be looking to move to a hybrid / caravan and contributing to the second hand market again. We'll probably need to upgrade the tug too.
All it takes is a few hundred people doing what we're doing and it'll make the market seem a lot bigger than it actually is.
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I think that quite a few people go down the same rout as we did. At first we got a soft floor and after a while we decided that it was getting too awkward to get it set up so we got a second hand rear fold camper. This one was a lot easier to set up and get comfy and we'd still have it except that we broke the chassis getting to Bourke from Wanaaring. We got it repaired and strengthened in Bourke and drove home and started looking for a replacement. We looked at what seemed like hundreds until we came across a new fangled forward fold camper. For us, after a few very minor mods, it's perfect.
So we have contributed two campers to the second hand market and after a few more years, when we're old and decrepit, we'll be looking to move to a hybrid / caravan and contributing to the second hand market again. We'll probably need to upgrade the tug too.
All it takes is a few hundred people doing what we're doing and it'll make the market seem a lot bigger than it actually is.
I recon you've nailed it right there.
Add to that the cheaper brands coming into the marker so the people that want to can turn over their trailers even faster.
For every one person/family that is now moving on to their 3rd or 4th upgrade I don't believe there is 3 or 4 more people/families looking to enter the market. 1 or 2 maybe, but not enough to slow the flood of used trailers that we're seeing now.