rvt.com vs rvtrader.com: What Is The Best Site To Sell an RV?
The results you get will depend on which company you use. But your results may not be due to how good the companies are. Your results may depend on any number of factors. Not everyone is happy with any company they place theirs for sale ads with.
Different owners got different results. If you are judging how good a company is by your selling results, you may be using only one factor out of many. People will get undesirable results from both options and they will get great results from both options. it all depends on who the target audience trusts.
Is RVT And Rvtrader The Same?
From our research, we could not see that the two RV selling options were owned by the same company. While we are disappointed in the lack of information on the RV Trader about us page, it turns out it is a separate company from RVT.com.
RVT is owned by a private company called Natco Trading Corporation. It was supposed to be founded in 1998 by Rodney Friesen who used to own an RV dealership and that ownership extended beyond 3 decades.
On the other hand, RV Trader was founded in the early 1990s and is owned by Dominion Enterprises. Its chain of Trader magazines is its trademark. We could not find a single person who was the brain behind the founding and success of this corporation.
However, one source says that Dominion Enterprises is a competitor of RV Trader and the former is supposed to be led by a man named Charles Watkins. In the same source, RVT is listed as a competitor. RVT seems to have almost twice the revenue of RV Trader 3.2 to 1.7 million dollars respectively.
Yet, it seems that RV Trader has the better reputation of the two. RV Trader also has 39 more employees than RVT 189 to 150 at the last count.
Who Owns RV Trader?
This is a good question. In one source there was a brief mention that Dominion Enterprises owns RV Trader. In another source, it was mentioned that it was a private company.
A look at the Dominion Enterprises website reveals no mention of owning RV Trader on their ‘our brands’ web page or on their ‘About Us’ web page. But another source says it does produce and own the Boat trader magazine. The word Trader is said to be the trademarked term for RV Trader.
In other words, who owns RV Trader is almost a mystery. We say almost because the RV trader brand name is listed under Trader Interactive which is supposed to own all the Trader magazines, etc. you find online.
Another source does state specifically that Dominion Enterprises does in fact own RV Trader. It took a lot of digging to get to this information as there seem to be corporate layers that restrict finding out what exactly Dominion Enterprises owns.
This company owns roughly 500 paid and free magazines you use every day to find homes, jobs, boats, and RVs to name a few. Digging into corporate ownership of different brands is a large maze at times
Is RV Trader Legit?
It goes without saying that RVtrader is legit. This magazine has been around for roughly 30 years and has been a part of the Trader family of classified magazines. The people who use this magazine do not have any complaints about its legitimacy, just about the results they receive.
Not everyone does well when they advertise through this RV selling option. That is par for the course for any classified ad service. According to one reviewer, dealers and individual sellers have to pay a fee to advertise on their website.
This requirement cuts down on the number of scammers that reach its pages. It is a very safe place to shop for RVs one that is considered to be the safest option when you are shopping online. It is regarded as even safer than Craigslist and Facebook marketplace.
The one aspect that speaks in its favor is that very reputable dealers with physical locations advertise on this website. If the website was not legitimate, then those dealers would spend their advertising money elsewhere. The magazine also has an inventory that reaches up to over 200,000 RV models to choose from.
Rvt vs Rvtrader For Selling An RV
Both companies have very transparent ad packages that help you get the exposure you want for your RV. RVT has 5 packages that range between $29.95 and $239.95. The lowest most are the basic and give you very little exposure while the highest cost is the Ultimate national.
However, their web page also states that the Ultimate gives you the most exposure for $189. Why pay more when you get the most exposure for $50 less? RV Trader has 3 ad packages.
There is the basic for almost $70, the Enhanced for $140, and the Best for $249. Each package has its own features and you get more options the higher you go. Most of the negative reviews for RVT focused on no inquiries from anyone. However, the positive 5 Star reviews dominated the response about selling through RVT- 86 to 1%.
RV Trader cannot say the same thing. The same customer review website gave it a 3.0 rating compared to RVT’s 4.8 but RV Trader only had 17 reviews compared to the over 5000 for RVT.
But results depend on several factors and most of the responsibility for those factors falls on the shoulders of the seller and not the websites. Photos, price, and condition all play a role in selling your RV through these magazines.
rvt.com vs rvtrader.com For Buying an RV
Both magazines have great inventory for you to look at. You cannot beat the size of the RV models listed on their pages. Plus, the organization of those websites is above average and easy to navigate.
You are going to get very factual information about the different RVs as the individual owners write the ads and put the best information possible in those ads. Plus, because both websites charge a fee for advertising on their pages, you will not have a lot of con artists or scammers trying to bilk you out of your money.
In other words, they are both top RV classified magazines that are professional and work hard to present to you good RVs at fair prices. Some owners may over estimate the value of their RV but that is found everywhere even in garage and yard sales.
Also, you get good search engines that help you find the type of RV you want to buy, and those options are accompanied by a photo or more. RV trader has a very detailed search function that lists several categories to refine your search and filter our models you are not interested in.
Once you get to the results page, you will see the photos and details about those RVs you selected. On each individual ad, you get lots of photos, the specs, and more detailed information so you know what you will get once you arrive at the seller’s location.
Pros And Cons of RV Trader & RVT
The pros and cons for both magazines will practically be the same. There may be some differences due to different management styles but the websites are similar and contain similar information.
Pros:
- reach a large market of buyers
- more sellers to choose from
- hundreds of thousands of RVs to look at
- great search functions
- RVs on sale near you and around the country
- detailed information and price are very visible
- detailed information and price are very visible
- lots of photos to look at for most ads
- stats on views, saves, and how long it has been listed
- and much more
Cons:
- a lot of competition for specific models
- can be sold quickly and before you get your financing arranged
- wide exposure if you are selling and buy the right ad package
- may get time-wasters (not serious buyers)
- add packages can seem expensive
- results may not be what you expect (a lot of owners do not get any results or views)
- takes time for the ad to be seen ( there are a lot to look at)
Some Final Words
Both magazine websites are legitimate and they both offer more RVs for sale than you can possibly look at. The best way to view RVs is to use the search function and filter out the ones you do not want.
That means you need to decide in advance the type of RV and features you want to buy. There is a good representation of reputable dealers who advertise in these magazines. That means you should not get taken or short-changed. You can visit both websites here and here to make your own comparison.
