RV’s, such as fifth wheels, travel trailers, folding or pop up campers and truck campers are selling slower this year than they did last year. That means that there are more recreational vehicles for sale, and less people seeking one to buy. That is good for the buyers, but not very good for anyone trying to sell one. It is even more critical now than ever that anyone trying to sell an RV make sure they get all the exposure and create classified ads that get the potential buyers attention.

Like anything that is for sale, maximum exposure is one of the most important pieces to selling. The more people that your ad is put in front of, the better your chances are for selling it. That is how McDonalds got to be one of the biggest names in fast food, maximum exposure through advertising. List your RV on as many Classified RV web sites as you can find, when you look at the selling price of most RV’s if you advertise on 10 or 15, the cost will be minimal if you sell it quickly.

Another really important piece of selling an RV quickly is writing the best ad possible. Make sure the Title of the ad tells the year, make and model of your RV, and not something like cheapest RV anywhere. The reason is that Search engines look at the Title of the ads, and you ad will be found if it says what someone searches for. It is not likely that anyone shopping for an RV will type in anything like cheapest RV anywhere. Make sure everything is accurate, and take as many good quality pictures as possible and put them in the ad.

List your phone number, day and night, and e mail address, make it as easy as possible for any interested person to contact you. If the listing service does not allow your e mail address to be visible, put it in the description, so a prospective buyer can e mail you.

Shall we take the plane?

So you need to get somewhere in the 48 states. Do you choose a plane, a train, a bus (there are still a few left) or your personal automobile? Fuel is now a major expense, not only for you and your car but for everybody. The airlines have been losing money for years mostly due to artificially low fares. Now they have the jet fuel crunch. It is that old story, “So we lose money this year; we’ll make it up next year.” But that never happens. So now the costs have had to go up, ten bucks here, twenty there, all in an effort to look like they haven’t really raised the fares. And they’ll still lose money. While fuel is now the major culprit, it is just one of many loss factors the airlines face. But the real rub is the lousy service, unreliable schedules and broken promises.

And that isn’t the end of it. Not long ago almost every mid-sized town had commercial air service. The airlines are folding their wings and abandoning many of these cities with disastrous consequences for those cities, their commerce and their residents. Where a few years ago, the government told the airlines where to fly and how much to charge, they now can do pretty much as they please.

Amtrak: coming of age, finally

So air travel is no longer a desirable choice. How about trains? Just ten years ago it was cheaper and more convenient to fly than to take the train. Amtrak was losing money big time except on a few East Coast routes. Now Amtrak can be less expensive and considerably more convenient than an airline. Amtrak hasn’t changed its fare structure — yet. The airlines have had to. But Amtrak services a very limited number of communities. (This will be true of the airlines, soon.) If you are traveling with children, the choice is a no brainer; Amtrak is a good choice. If you are traveling with baggage, Amtrak will probably be the better choice (depends upon weight and size). If it is a long trip, Amtrak is slower (usually). If it is a short trip, Amtrak is frequently faster. But if you can accept the extended duration of your trip, Amtrak is certainly much more comfortable.

So let’s take the bus

Greyhound used to go almost everywhere. They had express busses for long distance runs and ‘milk runs’ for the shorter runs. Then the government said Greyhound was too big and making too much money (transportation in the USA didn’t get any less expensive than Greyhound!) so they broke it up. Buses still were the least expensive way to go. Reserved seats on a bus were almost unheard of, you felt like you were packed in a sardine tin, and almost nothing could be as boring as a bus ride. But they got you there, cheap.

I could buy dinner for two if I got a dime for every time I’ve heard someone say, “Boarding a plane, now, is like boarding a bus used to be.” Busses are now MORE convenient that the airlines and the airlines are steadily getting worse. So, perhaps, the solution is to take the train to the nearest city and then take the bus to your final destination.

Then we could take our family car

Then there’s always the family car (or van or SUV). It will take you where you want to go, when you want to go. You can stop, get out, smell the roses, eat something, — you have the options and most are under your control. Cost-wise, for trip of 600 miles, for a family of four (two adults and two children) your car will cost you about the same as Amtrak. But does Amtrak go where you want to go? For longer, overnight trips, the car is less expensive (you can get a motel room for much less than the cost of an Amtrak sleeper and, believe me, you don’t want to try to sleep in their coach seats. In most situations, the car, again for a family of four, is much less expensive than the airlines. What about the bus? The bus wins economically but a long trip with two children in a commercial bus is not going to be very pleasurable.

We’ll take our RV

There is one other option. If you already own an RV and it’s not a super gas hog (less than 8 miles per gallon), and you are going on an overnight trip, the RV wins hands down.