NIRVC Consignment

[Butte64]

Has anyone on the forum used the consignment option with NIRVC and care to share the experience?

Pros and cons to consider?

[Misty123]

I haven't personally, but they sold an American Heritage for a friend of mine and everything went great. This was after he let Lazydays have it on consignment and they trashed it.
I don't think you can go wrong with NIRVC period.

[Gary.Jones]

NiRVC is a straight numbers and data shop from the owner down to lowest salesman. They won't take the coach if they don't "know" that it is highly likely that they will be able to sell it for you, and they won't let you price the coach at a price point unless they know it is a serious and reasonable price that will move it off their lot in a reasonable amount of time. NiRVC has a national sales manager who keeps track of every major dealer's inventory, asking price, sale price, and how long inventory stays on other dealers lots, and so they KNOW what is moving, what is moving at what price, and what is sitting there collecting outside mold and mildew for long periods of time. If they will take a coach, and agree to your selling price, it is because they know that it is a good price point and a product that they are pretty sure they can sell. I just have not seen other dealers who collect as much as data nationally as NiRVC does. As a person that spent my academic life collecting and analyzing data, this is something that I respect out of any dealer, and a dealer that operates on some other basis is either going to consistently under-perform, have trouble making a profit, or screw you in the process.

if they agree to let you consign and agree to your asking price (and I would love to know what percentage of coaches they would take on consignment anyhow.... I would bet it would be a small number), then I would easily put my coach with them because I would be pretty sure that it would move. Here is my suspicion.... that vast majority of owners who are looking at the consigment are either trying to get out of the RV market totally, or have an unreasonable opinion of their coach's value, which is not a good trait for selling a coach.

Finally, they understand that any coach of any quality needs to be tethered to 50A electrical service or the first thing the new owner will need to do is replace all the batteries.........a simple reality that most dealers don't understand or design for.

Gary

[Matt D]

While NIRVC is certainly a good option, here is what we did when we sold our QKH (the first time)..

I used NADA as a baseline to begin the analysis. Frankly, that number was surprisingly high in my estimation. In any event, I took the NADA valuation and removed 20% to encourage a quick sale, and to align with my sense of the market.

We wound up $15K apart with the buyer, and we agreed to meet in the middle, at $7500 down from where we started initially.

From posting our first advertisement to coach delivery, 9 days had elapsed.

Unfortunately, I feel many owners price their coaches based upon what they owe, or something else that is equally nonsensical.

Be frank in your pricing, come down just a touch from "fair" and it will move.

Consider also that next year, the Phaeton loses a little ground in the valuation process, and the Aspire likely goes up in price.

JMHO,

-Matt

[hikndog]

Love NIRVC and bought our last coach from them a few months ago. I don't know anything about their consignment program but would suggest you try selling your coach yourself. We had a 2013 Anthem DEQ, listed it on RV Trader and had multiple offers. Actually sold coach in less than a month with two people standing by if offer did not go through. We got $36,000 more than NIRVC would give us on a trade and believe I could have gotten more if I threw first offer "under the bus" and negated our deal before money actually passed hands.

[Marcosdad]

I took a pass on NIRVC's offer to consign my rig opting to either sell it outright or trade it when the time came. Happily, it sold. Another option they offer is to help you (and your buyer) do the deed. Ie help with financing, titling etc. Obviously, there is a fee for that and I forget what the fee is. Selling yourself is optimum, but it does involve some time/work and luck. Worked for me

[wmpbauer]

Gary Jones has made IMHO, an excellent analysis of the difficulties of buying and selling a motor coach in the current environment. On the one hand, sellers (especially in private sales) tend to have unrealistic expectations for the value of their coach, and buyers are frequently challenged to acquire solid information on current market value for the coach they are wanting to buy.

Traditionally, dealers have taken advantage of that set of circumstances. However, within the last couple of years, buyers have begun using tools readily available on the internet, even though they charge a small price. NADA is the guide that BANKS use in terms of loan values for making these large loans, and so is the go to guide for coach value. When both buyers and sellers purchase the NADA subscription to gain firsthand access to the information in that guide, they are on much more solid ground when entering negotiations for buying or selling. It just takes off the blinders!

I purchased my last coach from NIRVC, and found their data-driven approach refreshing....but I also did my homework, bought the NADA subscription, and was able to verify their numbers. The info I got from NIRVC and NADA matched, and That went a long way to establishing TRUST!

With data being so readily available, buyers and sellers can revolutionize their relations with their dealers if they will just do a little research, call the dealer out when given outrageous offers (on both sides of a trade), and walk on deals that flat-out stink.

Pat

[TDB1227]

In 2013 had appointment & went to ALVARADO TX/MHSRV to look at a used NEWELL. On arrival, I was asked by the sales person why I would want to buy a (verbatim) " used, fleabag NEWELL" iso of a brand-new, 2 year warranty ENTEGRA. Except for driving by, on the way to the ENTEGRAS, I didn't even see the NEWELL and purchased the 1st of my 3 ENTEGRAS (2 from MHSRV).


Although very happy with the ENTEGRA it solidified my position NEVER to give a coach in consignment to a dealer also selling new.

[Saltydog44]

Might be interesting if a dealer were to pay a flat commission to a salesperson no matter what they sell. If the salesperson is incented by % of price, New vs used, or just to move a certain brand or model, then he or she has to recognize their own self interest.

A flat rate for moving a unit would mean they don't care what you buy but just want you to buy what YOU want..... Makes the customer the focal point...

FWIW

[ButchT]

RV Trader worked well for me. Multiple offers within two weeks. A little bit of a hassle having to show and test drive with perspective buyers but in the end, got what I was asking for the coach (2005 Revolution LE)

[brobox]

Originally Posted by ButchT

RV Trader worked well for me. Multiple offers within two weeks. A little bit of a hassle having to show and test drive with perspective buyers but in the end, got what I was asking for the coach (2005 Revolution LE)

X2 To establish real value, I called my banker and he copied the bank's NADA book value for my model of MH. Due to upgrades it sold for higher than high book value. I didn't give test drives until they showed real interest, which was only 2 test drives including the buyer.

[Butte64]

Thanks for all the great information and suggestions.

[nebster]

I consigned with NIRVC Dallas.

Before that, I listed in all the usual places and got a lot of inquiries. We were selling our Newmar, just out of warranty, but a fairly rare bunk model that I think mostly appeals families.

Despite the inquiries and several close/semi-serious offers, no deal precipitated, and it was getting difficult to manage the logistics of the RV since we had no permanent storage space. It was also getting cold in Colorado. Who wants to buy an RV in snow and ice?

So, we consigned with NIRVC. I had a very good idea of price, and they were flexible on listing price and selling range. I never felt like they would take advantage of being on both sides of the deal. They thought they had a buyer immediately, but that one fell through at financing. (Made me feel a little better about my false starts.)

Ultimately, the coach sat for a few months, but then it sold for higher than any of my private sale offers. We ended up about the same after commission -- which is certainly negotiable by the way, if you have a desirable coach that their data shows will sell. Their ability to offer the whole sales package, streamline the transaction, and pile on a dealer warranty and other services really does add value beyond just the basic sales intermediation.

There were some little things I think they could do better, and they were quite sloppy with the consignment contract (in my favor). But, honestly, my expectations were pretty low, and they certainly exceeded them. I'd give them an A-.

[Gary.Jones]

My initial point was 1.) that they are not an organization that is going to blow sunshine you know where on a unit that they know they can't sell or will sit on the lot a long time and then turn around and unload it to some other dealer who handles lower rung or older units, or 2.) agree to a owner price point that they know will not sell and will mean the coach sits for months going nowhere. The fact that you were all in "sync" suggests to me that you were reasonable, and you had a unit they knew they could sell in a reasonable period of time.

They follow the data and the data speaks. I have seen a couple of posters who complained that they could not get a "good deal" on their used 5er..... my guess is that NiRVC is not in the business of selling 5th wheels, so they would have had to unload it to another lot at wholesale price.... I think my point was simply they will accept something they are pretty sure they can sell, and they won't try very hard to get something they know that they have to unload or can't sell. And, imho, that is the way you should do business.

Gary