I live in the Tampa Florida area so the first places i have searched are the major sources of RVs here.

Here they are;

1- Lazydays – They advertise them selves as the biggest dealer in the US and with an average inventory of 1000 to 1200 units on site, they are big.

2- Camping World – They have a newly expanded site here in Tampa and they do carry hundreds of RVs in their local inventory.

3- eBay – There are always hundreds of RVs listed on eBay but they are everywhere when you look for their actual site.

4- Craigs List – Lots of poorly described RVs are listed here, but they are more of a gamble for the serious buyer.

LAZYDAYS-

These guys are big and flashy with big showrooms and all kinds of pretty services and amenities to impress you when you walk in. But, their prices are high. They act like that LIST price you see on NADA is a real number and that they can sell their RVs for a price somewhere between this and Average Retail.

And, having bought from them several times over the years I can say with confidence that once the sale is over and they dump you into their Service Department, you are in what we used to call; Lazydays Hell! Oh, they fix your rig, but they rarely meet their promised finish dates. So plan on enjoying the Tampa area if they are working on your Rig.

CAMPING WORLD-

The existence of a local Camping World store is often a lifesaver for many campers. They are big and they are everywhere. And their techs are usuall pretty good.

But their used camper sales prices are relatively high. I have tried to trade and buy form them in several states over the years, and relative to what I will call “the real world average price” they will be somewhat higher. I guess its the overhead required to be a national dealer.

eBay-

EBay will ave a lot of campers listed, but they are probably 80% small time dealers units with the rest being owned by individuals who typically think their unit is really worth a lot more than it really is. And, they will get mad at you if you offer them a more realistic price.

And, of course, there is the gamble you take on an unknown unit owned by an unknown person who may be hundreds of miles away.

Craigs List-

Yeah, this is the “Wild West” of sales. The site is its own kind of Hell to search through because there are no guidelines for the people that list here, who know nothing about selling or what the keywords are for attracting a potential buyers attention.

And, You need to ask a lot of questions before you even think of going to look at any RVs listed there. And, if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. Use this site with extreme care.

There are lots of other sites that list RVs for owners and dealers for a price and you can find a good deal, but it will take some sorting to get to what you might consider buying.

SORTING through CHAOS-

I now have a little less than 150 campers that fit my criteria in “Watch Lists” and printouts. For the next few days I will be sorting through these to narrow it down to a couple of dozen that I will actually call and try to negotiate with.

Wish me luck!

by Don Bobbitt, 2014