Club Classified Page, does anyone receive replies?
Recently we sold our motorhome after many happy motorhoming years and we've decided to buy a caravan. I've been following all the new additions to the Caravan and Motorhome Club page and seen quite a few I like.
BUT out of very single one I've contacted -no-one (and I mean NO-ONE) has replied over the last few weeks! Not private sellers, not club members, not dealers. I've checked and yes, my contact details are correct. I look every day at the NEW listings and make sure I'm contacting sellers who have advertised in the last few days/ one week only.
So at this point I'm thinking - is there any reason to continue to look for caravans for sale on the Club classified page? I'd be very interested to know what are the experiences of other club members. Do you have good stories of using the classified pages to cheer me up and make me continue?
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Personally, having read of the many scammers I wouldn't use it myself.
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Really! I didn't realise that was a problem.
I've been mainly concentrating on vans being sold by Club members, but they don't reply either. My partner and I thought of all the places there might be to look at advertised caravans, the Club classified would be the obvious and best. So it's been quite disappointing that no-one ever replies to me when I contact to express interest.
I was starting to wonder if this is common, is it a "thing" and if the Club knows about it.
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As I understand it, the Classified Ads are run by a separate commercial organisation, not the Club, all they do is point you in their direction and allow you to advertise for free. Just had a look at the page and it seems that you contact the company who then pass on your details to the seller so there could be delays because of the system. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that if the van you are interested in has already been sold it is possible the seller won't bother to reply. Bad manners as far as I am concerned but I suppose if they are getting dozens of inquiries they may not bother?
David
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Hi JillwithaJay - thanks for replying. When we started to look around, my partner and I thought that looking on the Club classified page was an obvious thing and our first/ maybe last port of call.
We've been mostly concentrating on Club members, to avoid the scammers, but also because it felt right. People like us......
But it's been quite disappointing to be honest, never receiving a reply of any sort, not even from another member. And so we've started to wonder if any other members have had a problem too and if so, why isn't the Club doing something about this?
Or is our experience a total one-off and other members might contact me to tell me how they bought from the classified and had a great experience.
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Thanks David, I really didn't know that. With both of your replies, I'm now thinking to give Classified a wide berth and start our search elsewhere.
We liked the idea of buying from another member, now I'm wondering if there's a different way we could do that, maybe from the For Sale section in the back of the magazine (unless they are scammers too!)
I'm surprised that the Club keeps it running if it's getting such a bad reputation.
Many thanks for the steer from both of you - David and Jill
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If you know what make of caravan and model it might be worth looking at any Facebook Groups for that manufacturer as people may well advertise within the group. I know that happens a lot in the Bailey Motorhome Owners group. Short of that perhaps try a few dealers, at least then you might get a warranty whereas buying privately is always caveat emptor!!!
David
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Many thanks David. The Facebook group is something I hadn't thought of. The guy who came to value our motorhome (and was very good) told us to steer clear of Ebay (too many scammers) but we liked the idea of buying privately and also the "safety" of buying from a fellow club member - which is where we thought the Classified page came in!
We've been in touch with a few dealers, but they all seem to put at least a £2K mark up on their vans. But your point about the warranty is well made.
We still like the idea of buying privately and buying from a Club member - we just don't know where they advertise, so we'll now try Facebook and see how that works out.
Many thanks for the good advice. It's what Club Together is all about!
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I’d sell it to a dealer or 'we buy any LV' sort. You might get a few quid less than a private sale but, once the deal is done, there can be no come back on you. You will have the secure knowledge that no future owner can hold you liable for anything.
That way you will also remove yourself from the potential grasp of the spammers.
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When we decided to give up caravanning, we got in touch with one of those "we buy any caravan" sites, described the van (12 years old, a few bumps and scrapes and cracked shower cabinet), he quoted us a price, about £500 less than we'd thought of asking if selling it privately, drove all the way from Colchester to Wiltshire, handed me a fat wodge of twenties, hitched up and drove off.
It was a sad day for us, but effortless and, more importantly, completely stress free.
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Keep trying.
Don’t forget a dealer has to budget to cover any work needed and to cover warranty. You will never get anything near the price dealers ask on their forecourts whether you sell to the trade or privately.
Is it too late to ask about a p/ex deal with the MH seller?
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