How to Sell a Camper Van Fast (I Did in One Week for Profit!)

Sell a Camper Van Fast: Selling a camper van was one of the most stressful yet exhilarating things I have ever done!

So How Do You Sell a Camper Van Fast?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to how to sell a camper van fast, from a first-time private seller who had no clue what they were doing but ultimately succeeded. After one week of serious dedication, I sold my DIY custom-made camper van of two years for $500 more than its total cost.

How to Sell a Camper Privately

This post includes marketing tips and tricks that I believe helped speed up the selling process and gave me leverage in negotiations. I will share what paperwork you need for the DMV and what buyers typically request, and my biggest mistakes learned the hard way. I’ve also included a firsthand retelling of the infuriating, exhilarating, and stressful drama of how I sold my camper van fast.

Note: This was my experience selling a $9,000 used conversion van, but I expect it to be similar for other recreational vehicles (Class A RVs and Class B RVs). This is also more specific for selling in the United States catering to California laws.

Backstory of Selling Vander

After almost two years of companionship, 28,000 miles, and 12 states (from Washington to California, Texas to Nevada) together, the time with my beloved van, Vander, has come to an end. Getting that nostalgia out of the way, I wanted to ensure that I was not stuck in LA bleeding money, homeless, and unable to sell Vander at a fair price.

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Fair Market Value Price Variations

Geographic Location Matters

I grew up in the northeast, and van life is still not really a thing there. In fact, I had never heard of the term until I met my first van lifer in the wild when I was 23 in the Great Smoky Mountains. Depending on where you are physically located, lower demand may decrease your pool of potential buyers, but there is also lower competition.

Timing Matters

Seasonality

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How to Market your Camper Van in 7 Steps

Sometimes, a buyer aligns, and despite all your past effort, it is just luck. But here are tips to increase your visibility to maximize your chances of selling your camper van faster.

7 Steps to Marketing your Camper Van

1. Clean up your vehicle!
2. Take Amazing Pictures from All Angles
3. List on all Marketplace Sites
4. Use All the Keywords you can Think Of
5. Overwrite in the Description Box
6. Do your Market Research and Price on the High End
7. Listing Ready? Post it and Hope for the Best

1. Clean up your vehicle!

The target market you are appealing to is yourself, a fellow traveler looking to embark on road trips. Whether short or long-term, that potential buyer wants to make your van their new home, so the first step is to tidy up to show its full potential. When a buyer visits your camper van, remove your personal items as you want them to be able to imagine themselves using the clean amenities.

Tip: Even though you can’t tell in pictures, I even took it for a car wash before the photoshoot.

2. Take Amazing Pictures from All Angles in Good Lighting

Once your vehicle is nice and clean, take it out to a sunny, open place for a photoshoot.

Take your pictures:

• From all four exterior sides
• Backdoors open view of any storage areas
• Wide-angle lenses for interior shots to make the living space look more spacious
• Showcase any storage areas
• Anything expensive: ie. solar power and battery, fan system, refrigerator, captain seats, etc
• Mileage Odometer

If you took these pictures on a phone with editing capabilities, turn up the brilliance, brightness, and vibrance. Turn down the shadows, and WA-LA, your photographs are ready to help sell your camper van.

3. List on all Marketplace Sites

Where is the best place to sell your camper?

The world has become more digital, and so should our tactics to sell a camper van. For a private sale, the best way to find prospective buyers is by listing your ad on all online marketplaces.

Marketplaces

Best Platforms: Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, eBay
You can use the same pictures and descriptions for all of them.

Note: Craigslist requires you to pay $5 for vehicle listings. OfferUp has a lot more spam recently.

Online forums and Facebook groups are the best places to get a good idea of how to price your used camper van. But, they are not geographically specific enough to find buyers at.

Alternative options (more old school)

1. Putting a for sale sign on your dashboard with your phone number
2. Taking out a classified ad

4. Use All the Keywords you can Think Of

Like Google, most marketplaces use search engines to show buyers what they are looking for, which means keywords are important. You can use this to your advantage on how to sell your own camper van by stuffing your ad with keywords and similar words your target market may be looking for.

Make your Title Descriptive

Do use:

1. Descriptive titles that are factual but do not look spammy

• 1997 Ram ProMaster Camper Van Conversion High Roof
• 2004 Ford Transit Van Camper Rooftop Tent

2. For the best results, include more than just the model brand and year

I did two Facebook listings. My camper van conversion listing did 5x better, had more shares and was saved 3x more than the listing where I just put the model and year. Using more descriptive words catches the eye of not just people who want to buy a vehicle, but specifically people who want to buy a camper vehicle.

My listing Titles (same pictures, same description):

• 2003 Ford E-350
• 2003 Ford E-350 Camper Van Life Conversion High Top

After 24 hrs, my ad analytics showed that titles do matter:

2003 Ford E-350	2003 Ford E-350 Camper Van Life Conversion High Top
224 clicks	643 clicks
4 listing saves	26 listing saves
0 shares	4 shares
3 potential buyer conversations	13 potential buyer conversations

Do NOT:

• Be Undescriptive: Selling a Great Camper Van!
• Too Many Capital Letters: MAKE AN OFFER TODAY! 1997 Mercedes Sprinter

5. Overwrite in the Description Box: Service History, Interior, Exterior, Free Stuff, Special Features

When I was first trying to buy a van, I had difficulty getting people to respond to me. A friend gave me the advice: “you’re asking too many questions”. I have limited knowledge of vehicle maintenance or paperwork. I didn’t know what a smog test or lien title was, so I asked many questions on marketplace messenger and usually got no responses.

What was the most successful message? “Hi, I’m interested in your vehicle. Where are you located, and when are you available for a viewing? Then you can ask all your questions in person.

The point is: If you are as descriptive in your listing as possible, you will eliminate buyers who saw a dealbreaker at the onset. This will lighten up a lot of questions and pointless conversations later down the road. You are going to save yourself tons of time.

My very long description box example: (I even included other vehicle models in case someone searched for a specific model)

Feel free to use the following as a base for your description box.

​Van Info: – New tires and battery from summer 2021, new catalytic converter, high oil change every 5k, ~255,000 but engine and transmission runs well. (Fun fact: it used to be an ambulance) – back up camera and integrated navigation/Bluetooth system, and sound speaker – insulated with 1in rigid foam board & reflectix ————— Interior: (DIY Camper Van Conversion) – 3 100W solar panels run into a Goal Zero 1400 storage (Retail New: ~$1,800) – Maxx Air Fan – 2 types of LED dimmer lights: White or colored – Custom built frame bed that can turn into a table/couch setup – Dual temperature 12V refrigerator/freezer – Ample Storage: beneath bed, side shelving, drawers, and sink cabinet – Has a sink but needs a new water tank – 2x 7gallon tanks for clean water storage – Coleman 2 burner stove – blackout curtains for added stealth ————— Free if you want them: – kitchenware: at least a set of two for everything – 8in foam mattress, special cut and sewn for the table/couch setup – camping toilet (but understandable if not lol) – firewood – 2 lawn chairs and small outside table – some basic tools and screws, etc – small heater – my succulent friends Savana pro, ram Promaster, dodge, Ford transit, vanlife, off-grid

6. Price your Van Right with Market Research and on the High End

how long does it take to sell a camper van?

From all the other “How to Sell your Camper Van” articles I read, they say:

1. If you price it right, it could take weeks to a couple of months.
2. If you overprice it, it could take a few months to half a year.
3. If you price it low, it will, of course, sell quickly.

do camper vans have good resale value

Like any vehicle, the answer to this question depends on the condition of your camper van. Was it properly maintained? What fixes are needed? The current condition of the vehicle has a strong correlation to resale value.

The resale value for a used camper van holds more steadily than one that was bought brand new. Depreciation begins the moment you drive off the lot, losing 20%-30% of its value by the end of the first year.

How to Price your Camper Van’s Bottomline

It is hard to gauge what is the “right” price. Sum up the cost of your vehicle, out-of-ordinary maintenance fees, and any valuable renovations to find your total cost. Then factor in any potential mechanical issues and depreciation over the years.

Alternatively: Check Kelley Blue Book for a free valuation of your base vehicle cost, then add maintenance and renovation costs.

Do Market Research

I checked all marketplaces and relevant social media platforms for the pricing of similar camper vans. Similarities to look for: Model, Year, Title, Mileage, Any known Issues, Interior Amenities

How to Price your Camper Van Ad Listing?

Remember, you can always discount, but you can’t raise the asking price once it is listed. Make sure you start at the high end of your price range, expecting negotiations to lower the final sale price. If you have the luxury of time, you can command a higher final price.

7. List Your Van and wait for the messages to come in

My best advice on dealing with the messages from prospective buyers:

1. Feel free to not respond to people who are just wasting your time ie. lowballers and people who ask you 20 questions but haven’t said they would like to see it yet
2. Respond quickly: Most likely, you are not the only seller they have reached out to.

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Tips for Dealing with Potential Buyers

Expect to receive an onslaught of messages if you have a decent-looking, reasonably priced rig and live not in the middle of nowhere. Aside from not wasting your time and responding quickly, here are other pieces of advice for how to deal with potential buyers when selling your camper van.

1. Don’t scare potential buyers away by telling in there is a lot of interest.
2. Interval the showings so they will not overlap. If there is overlap, you can be lucky, and it will end up in a bidding war, but more than likely, it will just be an awkward time.
3. Don’t meet buyers halfway. If you do, the buyer has more leverage to lower the price because you don’t want to go back with the vehicle. There is also the additional cost of gas and the hassle of needing to bring another car or Uber back.
4. Since most buyers are always late or ghost you, make sure they are on their way, or they text you first to meet despite the agreed-upon time.
5. Don’t stop accepting potential buyers until it is a done deal aka the paperwork has been signed.

Paperwork Buyers like to see

Know your vehicle and make sure you’re paperwork is straight. Eventually, people will ask all the same questions, and you will have an answer to almost everything. The most common things buyers wanted to see were:

1. Passed Smog Test (California requires this)
2. Carfax (I never used this as it’s paid, but if you try getting a free quote at CarMax, they will send you a free car report)
3. Maintenance Service History (hopefully, you kept them over the years)
4. Registration (to see if it is current)

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Found a Buyer, Now What? DMV Paperwork & Insurance

Note: Much of the camper van selling process below may only be relevant for the state of California

1. Paperwork you Need as a Seller

Every state has different DMV rules for what is needed for a sale to be complete. It is typically straightforward on the seller’s side. You really only need the vehicle’s Title (it’s usually printed on colored paper).

Fill in the current odometer reading, then date and sign. The buyer will fill out their personal information with the other half that you would keep. The buyer will then use the first half to transfer the title into their name.

If you do not have a title:

It will take a few weeks for the DMV to send you a new one. Alternatively, pick up a Bill of Sale and a duplicate title form. Filling both forms out should be as good as the title itself. However, buyers get wary, so the official title is the best option.

Niche case scenario: Release of Liability Form

If you intend to sell and the buyer is 100% in, you can start the selling process with a release of liability form. In my case, the money had not yet landed in my account, but I was willing to give my buyers the key but hold the title. Exactly as it sounds like, this form releases my liability in case of an accident, saying that I am not responsible for any damages hereafter.

2. Officially Closing the Deal on selling your Camper Van

Once you get the money and hand over the title, the transaction will be officially complete. Congratulations, hopefully you were able to sell your camper van fast.

One last step: go to the DMV to hand in the bottom half of the title. In California, you need to do this within 5 calendar days of selling the vehicle. You can also do this online. Again, check the requirements for your state. Some states require you to hand in the license plate to the DMV too.

AAA Members: AAA is not just a car assistance service but also offers DMV services. The AAA’s professional staff were incredibly helpful and a great resource. Best of all, the wait times are short.

3. Call your Insurance and Get Your Refund

So now that you sold your camper van, call your insurance agent to cancel your policy and see if you are eligible for a refund. You only need to pay for the days that a vehicle is under your name, so insurance companies will pay you back any any days that you may have pre-paid.

Tell them the date of the sale, and you should receive a check in the mail for the remaining amount.

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Other “Good to Know” Tips on How to Sell your Camper Van Fast

1. Don’t list too early if you are not available to show the camper van

I made a mistake here. I preemptively put up my online listings a month before I was ready to sell. I did not want to arrive in LA, holding the bag and trying to sell my camper van for a long time. I wanted to be ready by the time I got to LA with buyers lined up.

I was not ready for the onslaught of messages I had received. How many serious buyers who were willing to see the van actually came one month later? A grand total of 0.

Basically, everything I did during the first 3 weeks was a waste of time.

2. Online Scammers: Don’t Get Hacked

I think I almost got hacked. Second-hand marketplaces are well known to be full of scams: on both the buyer and the seller side.

The moment I posted my listing on OfferUp, I had two people reach out to me. I was beaming. How could it be that I generated interest so fast?!

Well, I didn’t. I attracted the interest of scammers.

Both conversations started like this:

Scammer: Is this available? I have a few questions. Mind if I give you a call?
Me: Yes, it is! Sure, here’s my number xxx-xxx-xxxx
Scammer: Ok, and before I call, I just want to make sure that you’re not a scammer and the listing is genuine. Mind if you send me a code?
Me: What code?
Scammer: I’m sending it now. I got a google verification code and didn’t think about it.
Me: 083753

…then the conversation on OfferUp disappears! And I freaked out, called my friend, changed my passwords, logged out of all my financials, shocked at how stupid I was for giving him those code numbers.

Scammer (now over text): Hi, it’s me from OfferUp! I’m that serious buyer. Can you send me that other code that I sent you?
Me getting a 2FA Authenticator code from OfferUp… -__-
Me musing: Maybe I was lucky enough to be hacked by an amateur –promptly blocks “Geri”.

I wised up for the second scammer and didn’t respond, and a few minutes later, the conversation disappeared. Before it did, I looked at the profile…0 buys, 0 sells, 0 followers, 0 follows.

Don’t let this happen to you.

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A Firsthand Account of How I Sold my Camper Van Fast

Once I arrived in LA, it took one week for me to get three offers and another 5 days to close out the paperwork. During this time, I formed stress pimples from handling the many online conversations, perfecting the camper van showings, and the mind games between private party buyers and sellers.

My Potential Buyers

Buyer 1: 1.5 hours late

She made it seem like Vander was the perfect van for her grand plans. After the showing, we shook on a deal. I couldn’t believe it! The first person who came to see the van would give me a great price; how could I be so lucky?

The next day, I was to drive to San Bernardino (1.5 hrs away) to meet her professional mechanic. She even invited me to stay at her studio, and we would go to TGI Fridays for dinner.

A few hours later, she shattered my belief in buyers. She expressed that she felt uneasy and could no longer take the van because someone could’ve died when it was an ambulance. I was so glad that I didn’t turn down my other showings yet, but the pressure was on.

Buyer 2: 1 hour late

Way too tall.

Buyer 3: Never showed up

Buyer 4: 1 hour late

Super cool dude, but he was on the fence.

Buyer 5: 2.5 hours late

I agreed to sell to this couple but was very uneasy about the deal. They were great negotiators, and I was left questioning why I agreed to their mediocre offer so fast. Being sentimental, I also wasn’t thrilled about Vander’s next chapter.

Call it fate or coincidence, I couldn’t find the title until two minutes after they left. However, they had agreed to take the camper van if I drove it to them. I had found my backup option! I could finally rest easy, knowing I had a couple more days to find another buyer for a better deal.

Buyer 6: I was 5 minutes late

This foreign couple was going to make a long road trip around America, but asked many questions and checked everything for almost 2 hours. They were adamant about a lower price and ultimately matched buyer 5.

Buyer 7: On Time

This fantastic couple ended up being the new owners of Vander but needed one day after the test drive to make sure. The following day, they agreed to take Vander for the best price compared to the other two offers. I also loved their road trip plan and energy.

How to Sell a Camper Van Fast: Closing on the Best Deal

Since I had lost all trust since buyer 1, I kept all my van showings until I could get formal confirmation from Buyer 7, in case they had a change of heart. I canceled one appointment I feel bad for, who drove an hour before she saw my message about the cancellation. (I justified it since it was the buyer who no-showed the first time).

I picked up a deposit from the confirmed buyer, and all there was left to do was wait for the wire transfer to hit my bank account. I so badly wanted to trust the lovely couple that after delaying once, I ended up giving them the keys to the van and keeping the title until the money came through. Once in, the sale is completed!

And that is how I privately sold my camper van fast for profit.