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Old 04-13-2017, 09:47 PM   #1
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Renting a travel trailer

hey guys

i was wanting to buy a trailer trailer out to rent out and i would use the trailer maybe 1 week a year. i was wanting to rent it out to offset the cost of owner ship and make some money. i see lots of people renting them out on kijiji and seam to have lots of bookings.
i was hoping there was some people here that rent there trailer out that can share some info with me and answer some questions i have.

1. what are the most popular trailer sizes that people want to rent the most

2 on average how many booking do you get per year, how many days or weeks are rented out in a year. how much revenue is possible?

3.what do you provide to the renter i.e. propane , cups, plates , camping gear?

4. how much extra maintenance is needed and approximate cost per year?

5.how much time spent on managing renting the trailer i.e. setup, walk through inspections, meeting people to take deposits and answer there questions?

6. on how many occasions to people leave the trailer dirty and don't empty tanks
i would charge a cleaning deposit about $100 just wondering if a lot of people dont care about that.

thanks
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Old 04-13-2017, 10:55 PM   #2
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If it were easy and profitable everyone would be doing it. The reality is people trash things and you'll spend more cleaning/repairing the thing than you make.

If the business model made sense Camping World, Walmart or Enterprise would already be doing it. And they are established companies that are setup up to do things like this. You're just a guy with an idea.

I could see maybe renting to some friends and family... maybe advertise on Facebook or to people you know? Just throwing it out to the general public is crazy. You'll get nothing but frat boys and druggies looking for something to drag up into the woods and beat on.

Go look at some used RVs on a lot this weekend and you'll get an idea of how people take care of things.... and those are RVs they owned at the time. A rental? I can't even imagine.
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Old 04-14-2017, 12:11 AM   #3
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If I were to do something like this I would stick with something fairly small, simple and with durable construction. Scamp and Casita fiberglass trailers come to mind, they are not cheap, but seem t o have fewer easy to damage features, plus they can be towed by many smaller vehicles.
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Old 04-14-2017, 05:56 AM   #4
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I had a colleague doing this a few years back. He would buy 10 year old trailers, fix them up and rent them. He would drive the trailer, drop it off and hook it up for the client. Mileage was at the expense of the client.
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Old 04-14-2017, 06:03 AM   #5
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I would never venture out into the RV rental world, too many issues...
and the money is really not there for what you need to charge to offset your REAL costs...

but, if you're determined...

go out an rent a unit for yourself, or at least look into what it takes to do it... paperwork, insurance, waivers, education, walk thru, and daily costs.

then...

buy a slightly used, basic model, with few 'frills', with easy to understand operations and controls... you don't want a lot of money in the thing, and you don't want folks who might rent it to have to go thru a two day educational seminar to operate it... RVs can be daunting to most new folks, the very folks who are looking to rent!

by the way, the rental market is not large - folks can purchase an rv for less than they can rent one... which might be part of the reason why the market is so small...

plus, insurance does NOT cover other folks using, renting, or driving your rv... and a commercial 'rental' policy to cover these type of rental activities is VERY hard to find, if at all possible, and very expensive... and does not cover everything that a normal RV policy might.
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Old 04-14-2017, 06:12 AM   #6
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I have a friend who rented his 2 year old Fleetwood Discovery to a nice couple who wanted to see if they liked the idea of "camping" in a big motorhome. Well, it turned out the nice couple became a large rowdy group Tailgating at a football game. When he got the coach back it was a wreck. He said the nice couples insurance paid out over $12,000 in damages! He said years after that rental disaster, his coach still has problems.
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Old 04-14-2017, 06:23 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bogucki View Post
hey guys

i was wanting to buy a trailer trailer out to rent out and i would use the trailer maybe 1 week a year. i was wanting to rent it out to offset the cost of owner ship and make some money. i see lots of people renting them out on kijiji and seam to have lots of bookings.
i was hoping there was some people here that rent there trailer out that can share some info with me and answer some questions i have.

1. what are the most popular trailer sizes that people want to rent the most

2 on average how many booking do you get per year, how many days or weeks are rented out in a year. how much revenue is possible?

3.what do you provide to the renter i.e. propane , cups, plates , camping gear?

4. how much extra maintenance is needed and approximate cost per year?

5.how much time spent on managing renting the trailer i.e. setup, walk through inspections, meeting people to take deposits and answer there questions?

6. on how many occasions to people leave the trailer dirty and don't empty tanks
i would charge a cleaning deposit about $100 just wondering if a lot of people dont care about that.

thanks
Great American, thinking like a true capitalist.

Unfortunately I think this is a really bad idea. We all know how tender these things are put together, so we baby them in order to make them last. Can you imagine the wear and tear a renter will put on your unit?

I purchased a cheap used unit to learn on, best idea ever. So you're​ really going to teach renters everything they need to know in a couple hours? Just learning to deploy the awning can take awhile. How about burning up your expensive frig because they don't know how to level your trailer. Everything from dumping to just getting safely to the campground and unhooking, takes time to learn. Another poster mentioned insurance, if you can find any, they will eat you alive.

The only way I could see this working is to provide this service to a local campground. You drag it out and fully set it up, kinda like renting a cabin. I would have durable used units and lock down the hitch so nobody tows it but you. This would make getting insurance easier and insure everything was set up correctly.

Still sounds like lots of hassle for little gain to me.

Best of Luck
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Old 04-15-2017, 08:36 AM   #8
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I have an acquaintance that owns an RV rental business. I have quizzed him pretty hard about what makes it work and have even rented a few trailers from him before I bought mine. Here is the deal on why it works for him. He is considered a dealer by the manufacturer that he buys his rigs from, so he gets them at dealer cost, but he cannot sell them new, only after he rents them can he sell them as used rigs. He mostly rents class c motor homes as most folks don't have a properly setup tow rig. He turns over his inventory every other year so his rigs are only two years old and have high retained value. People prefer to buy from him over a private party because for some reason people feel better about buying from a business. He does rent a few trailers but does a pretty extensive checkout on the tow vehicle. You pay an additional fee for insurance that he carries. He has his own shop and full time maintenance guy.

If I was in your shoes I would see if there is an RV rental place near you that would manage the rental of your trailer for a management fee. This is very common with vacation homes here in the NW. People own a beach or mountain cabin and a management company takes care of booking, cleaning, repairs etc. on your home for a fee. Usually the fee is around 30% of the rental. Repairs that can't be recovered from the renter (normal wear and tear items) are paid by the homeowner.

All that said if you only plan to use the trailer one week a year, I would rent one instead of owning one. These things just deprecate so fast and don't like to sit outside. You would be money ahead not owning one.
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