whay are people asking stupid money for campers

[thejinx]

i have been sourcing parts from many companies over the past year. To be fair all companies i have dealt with have been superb, prices have been fair and advice has been brilliant. I dont think i have bought anything off ebay i use it as a yard stick for what not to pay for an item. I realise parts are getting scarce and if something is scarce it starts to cost more dosh. Am i wrong in thinking that the walk through mat between the seats on a bay is a bit pricey at £17.00 plus £5 for pastage :shock: Sorry if i am upsetting someone on here who is the seller but holy shit its a rubber mat .

 

[Happystamps]

i dunno what you're all complaining about... mine was £200...




(still a ripoff though!)

 

[RICH-I-AM]

Must admit, i was thinking of selling mine a while back.
Mrs wasnt happy, she said i could only sell it if some of the proceeds went into buying a new kitchen :roll: .
What then?
If i end up regretting selling my pride and joy and only have about 2k in the bank to buy another what do i do?
Wait for the bubble to burst? Will it burst?
Never built mine as a money making machine anyway(not that it probably would if i sold).

Rich

 

[Bricktop]

The VW "scene" as I see it has changed massively over the last 6 or 7 years and I wouldnt say for the better, the shows are getting ridiculously expensive and the show and shines are full of the same busses which have mostly been 'bought' by their new wealthy owners and in some cases actually trailered to the shows! Its these idiots with their 'ornaments' that have pushed prices through the roof to the detriment of those of us that actually use and enjoy our busses for what they were made for!
Rant over

 

[pottinger]

For what its worth another slightly unusual angle to look at this from and probably why
the prices may seem pretty high compared with historical values is that the scene has opened
up the whole VW - aircooled - beetle - bus retro thing to a group or should i say generation
now at an age that the price aspect is not as bigger issue.

example, i am now 40 :msn4: and my generation (and the previous) are now bang on the time line
for remembering the good old days :lol:

Now, as a rough figure 15-20k buys a restored EB whether from a dealer or someone thats
done it all on here (ie gadgets CV bus).

WHAT other 15-20K vehicle (ESPECIALLY NEW) compares to what a camper (regardless of
split / EB or LB) can give you whether emotionally, hobbywise or practicalitywise and therein lies your answer IMO.

Yes, there will always be parties trying to rip you off on part prices and vehicle prices but I dont think that is
reserved for the VW scene - its the way life is today, but thanks to forums like this NEW owners do at least stand
a chance of making the right informed decision and i would like to say thankyou myself to this forum for that.

Prove it to yourselves, reply with what vehicle you would replace your camper with if i took it away and plonked
15K in ya lap ! (NO you cannot buy another), and i havent even approached the comparison depreciation trap of your replacement !!!!! :lol:

Cheers guys

 

[bertiethebus]

I swam the channel last year when a work mate sold me the eb he bought 5 yrs earlier n never got round to doing :roll:
The price,,,,,, £350!!!
Bus even had subaru conversion in it :shock:
Took it out n put proper 1600 in tho
Couple of minor welding bits under it and i pug new brakes on for my peace of mind, has a hand rollered paint job ( now da'd back to a "patinad" look)
Still i was offered what amounts to drug money for it :shock:
I love it n its for keeps!!

 

[john the horse]

The VW "scene" as I see it has changed massively over the last 6 or 7 years and I wouldnt say for the better, the shows are getting ridiculously expensive and the show and shines are full of the same busses which have mostly been 'bought' by their new wealthy owners and in some cases actually trailered to the shows! Its these idiots with their 'ornaments' that have pushed prices through the roof to the detriment of those of us that actually use and enjoy our busses for what they were made for!
Rant over

i agree ours in show and shine every now and then and was bought, along with everyone else who bought in too, its normally on a trialer or a lorry with a fooked motor :lol:

i dont think its the peoples fault its the media image thats at fault , i mean how can a rusty old bedford be cool, coz they say its not. its the easily infuenced that get bitten i think. any way good luck to people joinin in the " its bloody overheated again scene" we sold a perfectly good porker for our bay and it had two more cylinders and no roof, i mean wheres the fun in 231bhp aircooled with the roof down , when you can have nearly 60bhp of do you think the windows will leak this time,fun


we love our bus and wouldnt be with out, besides he give people a smile every time hes out and thats worth it.

 

[blogdroed]

... i mean wheres the fun in 231bhp aircooled with the roof down , when you can have nearly 60bhp of do you think the windows will leak this time,fun ...

:lol: :lol:

I'm going to print that out and stick it on the dashboard!

 

[THE LAST PANZER]

When it comes down to i wish i could spend more on my bus not to increase value just increase smiles per mile and when all is said and done my bus is totally priceless to me and i'm sure we all feel the same regardless of price, colour, model, year or condition

There are busses you look at and think MMmmm wish that was mine but when you get in your own and your driving home you can't help but think Aahh thats better like a comfy pair of slippers or coming home after a mad 2 weeks on holiday even with its liittle quirks ( little problems that you just can't be arsed to sort come on we all do it)

One last point isn't it funny how only the owners know how to drive there own bus to the best of its performance :lol:

Sorry this is getting off the subject.

 

[kank]

What do you call stupid money tho ?

I mean it's nice having an clean early bay but if you had to sell would you sell your (restored or OG) for £4k or would you go with the market value of £10k plus

I'm keen to find out what people think is a good price for a sorted bus ?

What would you say mine was worth?
1971 restored RHD dormobile fully moted lost of service history full camping gear new poptop seal R+R etc etc

 

[Graham L]

From a dealer perspective its a hard one, we try and sell buses at a fair rate (most of ours leave here between £8 - £11K ) with full MOT & UK Registration) but possibly with work to do at the lower end of scale so people can personlise their bus, especially the interior.

But at the weekend I have to say I felt like punching a few punters at Camperjam with their sarcastic comments, we had the brilliant blue deluxe on the stand advertised at £4400 (the same price we have it advertised at anyway compared to some other dealers I could mention who put their prices up for the show!!)

The bus is solid, a little tatty, needs an Engine & box but is SOLID and not rusty, the amount of people I heard say comments such as

" he's having a laugh at that price"
" you buy could a decent T25 for that"
" Theres hope yet my EB is up for £5500 BUT does need welding"

The list goes on and I have to say it was the first time I'd had such negative comments and made me wonder whether its worth the hassle anymore, you bring in solid buses and people think you are trying to rip them off but we are not making much at all considering the price at £4400 includes VAT @ 20%, do people expect me to give them away?

Yes we do full restos as well and go into great detail about what the customer wants and its likely cost but this is a small percentage of the business, most of our vans I feel fit into the affordable category but there are clearly people out there that think I'm trying to rip them off.

Have you seen what units, small business rates, labour costs these days??

RANT OVER and sorry if I've offended anyone but thought I had to comment 8)

 

[Clem]

We discussed the 'punter' crowd at Camperjam since the weekend, and possibly the trend for shows right now generally. This also came after some comments I read from Paul Knight regarding some Peppercorn attendees.

A lot of shows are full of lifestyle traders that outnumber parts traders (new and used). Previously Camperjam has been almost all lifestyle and this year had more VW parts traders than before and from my perspective was good to see. We wondered how well they did though, and whether there is much place at summer shows for parts etc. There will always be a few folk looking for bits but the most are families and visitors who will browse and shop the market stalls .... a large percentage are now t4 and t5 owners/drivers who frankly wont be wanting needing (old) parts in the same way.

This leaves the punter market at shows populated with wives and kids who aren't arsed, modern van owners who are just after some flowers to hang on the rear view mirror and the parts hunters will be clued up customers who probably scour the internet for stuff mostly and know the price for everything ! :lol: That leaves a lot of folk wandering around commenting with little real knowledge .....

There are so many comparisons made, price wise, in what people can do stuff for vs. what a business can do it for. People always forget the overheads. In my low key set up we have rent and utilities to cover, but people forget that for a business all that must be covered and then rent and utilities on that persons home has to be covered! Thats before paying for any extras, and of course, the outlay on stock etc ....

There are no answers, these things will have been going on since time began. I worked in a mountain bike shop for a while. Everyone who was a mate of the shop team thought they should get trade prices ... they'd argue that it didnt cost us anything, what they forgot was the costs to even be there in the first place! :lol:

 

[jammac]

" you buy could a decent T25 for that"[/t 8quote]

maybe they should...... they would be far less cool which would suit just fine ay

 

[scott wilson]

From a dealer perspective its a hard one, we try and sell buses at a fair rate (most of ours leave here between £8 - £11K ) with full MOT & UK Registration) but possibly with work to do at the lower end of scale so people can personlise their bus, especially the interior.

But at the weekend I have to say I felt like punching a few punters at Camperjam with their sarcastic comments, we had the brilliant blue deluxe on the stand advertised at £4400 (the same price we have it advertised at anyway compared to some other dealers I could mention who put their prices up for the show!!)

The bus is solid, a little tatty, needs an Engine & box but is SOLID and not rusty, the amount of people I heard say comments such as

" he's having a laugh at that price"
" you buy could a decent T25 for that"
" Theres hope yet my EB is up for £5500 BUT does need welding"

The list goes on and I have to say it was the first time I'd had such negative comments and made me wonder whether its worth the hassle anymore, you bring in solid buses and people think you are trying to rip them off but we are not making much at all considering the price at £4400 includes VAT @ 20%, do people expect me to give them away?

Yes we do full restos as well and go into great detail about what the customer wants and its likely cost but this is a small percentage of the business, most of our vans I feel fit into the affordable category but there are clearly people out there that think I'm trying to rip them off.

Have you seen what units, small business rates, labour costs these days??

RANT OVER and sorry if I've offended anyone but thought I had to comment 8)

i stand shoulder to shoulder graham and my costs of import are at least twice of yours.I have stopped doing it unless ordered to because of this.Some say i`m expensive, arrogant ...NO i`ve just got fed up with the same old drivle about £10k for that he`s having a larf...I used to carry stock too up to 100k at a time and was also vat registered and everyone bar NONE wanted it cheaper, more rust free and all the extras for nothing. We`ve stood the test of time and continue to have a successful import business.
In my opinion if a bus cost £35k + vat to build ( see danbury and downunder) then it cost that to build and the person paying is happy.
is it good for the scene...well my first bug cost in excess of £10k to build back in 89-93 and i did a hefty amount myself...sold it for 5k 6 years later.....wasn`t good for my pocket but i didnt do it for that! i`m now nearly 40 and my pocket is now important to me and my children and i will not be a busy fool
so likewise ...sorry if anyone finds this offensive but your`e welcome to come to the workshop to discuss the £3000 per week wage bill, vat bills, rates, bill, insurance bill, ni contribution bill, etc etc etc
The scene has morphed again and i see bugs ghias and fastbacks ruling the waves once again very soon...actually lets just skip to mk3 golfs and krusty old t4`s some hardcore rave and some dodgy pills :mrgreen:

 

[Marvel]

actually lets just skip to....... some hardcore rave and some dodgy pills :mrgreen:

Now we're talking!!