A Guide To Caravan Prices

The value of a caravan can be very difficult to determine as there is very little information available to the general public, within the industry the only current supplier of guide prices is Glass Guide and they deem their prices for trade only. Within the industry we class there to be several prices for a caravan and we will explain the purpose of each below. For the general public unfortunatly the only way to determine what a caravan is worth is to browse websites in an attempt to get a feel for current market values, yet this may not be an accurate way to get a true value of a caravan.

The first figure is a trade value and becomes the basis for many of the values below. This is a figure that the industry would use as a net value for a caravan and is used by dealers to determine a buying price of a caravan. We ourselves use this figure to purchase touring caravans from the general public, however we are unique in the industry as we carry an extensive database of values dating back to 1987. Our values take into account factory fitted options and dealer specials which are based upon a manufacturers standard product. For example purposes we will use Caravan A with a trade value of £5,000.

A part exchange price would normally be slightly higher than a trade value as a seller has a margin in the caravan they are selling. The seller would look at the trade value, for this we will again use Caravan A at £5,000 as the caravan being part exchanged and use some of the margin of the caravan that they are selling. For the purposes of an explaination we will use Caravan B which has a trade value of £10,000 and a selling price of £11,000 giving a margin of £1,000. If the seller offers a part exchange value of £5,500 they are discounting the selling price by £500 to add it onto the trade value and give you a percieved part exchange value of £5,500. The trade value of your existing caravan does not alter and your balance to change figure would be £5,500 plus your caravan, a net purchase price of £10,500. A good option can be to sell your caravan to National Caravan Buyer as we can pay more than a basic trade value leaving you to be able to negotiate a discount on the caravan you want to purchase and potentially spend less upgrading. For example, we pay £5,250 for your caravan, you negotiate a £500 discount from the seller which would leave you £250 better off when upgrading as you would only be paying the seller £5,250.

A private sale price is normally slightly higher than a part exchange figure, this is assuming that the caravan is in good condition for it's age and has been serviced regularly. With any private sale value you can normally expect for the price to be negotiable and many caravans will come with added accessories. Our experience shows us that the higher the value of a caravn offered for private sale can often result in the caravan taking longer to sell as many potential buyers will seek the security of spending large amounts of cash with a reputable dealer that can provide security and warranties. If a caravan is up for sale at what appears to be a very low value we would always recommend caution as often a deal that appears too good to be true often is. Using the above example of a retailer offering a caravan for sale at £11,000 we would expect to see a private sale at aproximantly £10,750 as it is not being sold with the back up of a dealership.

A forecourt price is exactly what it is described at, this would be a caravan dealers retail price for the caravan. Again this would be higher than a private sale as the dealership can provide warranties and other associated services. The market can fluctuate from dealer to dealer and areas of the country can also have a bearing on forecourt prices. When looking at a caravan for sale at a dealership it is always wise to browse a few so that you can get a feel for the values and any part exchange figures / discounts that you may expect. If you are looking to purchase a new touring caravan our sister site www.nationwidecaravanninguk.com offers the ability to email multiple dealers so that you can find the right deal for you.