"Value" to an owner and "price" of a coach for sale, while not mutually exclusive, are not the same.

Several Regencies and Monarchs have been sold in the past couple of years for the same or less than I paid for my Breakaway in early '06. I bought none of them, because I "value" my Breakaway more than the "price" of any of them.

While some folks have been startled when learning current prices - not just of Barths but other quality RVs - from what I've seen, comments have been relatively gentle. IMHO, Barthmobilers deserve candor.

Well,finally the truth be told!!..BillNY you said it all!.I have sat back here reading about coaches
being in the sold section or sightings section with asking prices some think are way out of line.
I always wondered how can people give an opinion when never seeing the coach in person or test driving it.I myself have bought 2 different barths, and given both of them away without any consideration. Does this mean i think that barths are worth squat?.Absolutely NOT!.It was just time for someone else to enjoy and put their own sweat and blood into something i felt was worth buying .I for the life of me could not figure out why people would always say that certain rigs were to exspensive,when they owned the same brand.Like billny said, why would you want to devalue something you put hard earned money into.Some say look at how old it is.Well look how much some of the old AIRSTREAMS sells for, ALOT!.This site should be talking up the Barth name at ALL TIMES!
I own a couple of 40 some yr old cars that have significantly increased in value,why?, because people value them!.They have car clubs for different brands and i have been to thousands of carshows and no matter what,i never hear anyone bash anothers car that was in the car corral for sale no matter what the asking price..The reason?,,everyone hopes they sell for alot,thus increasing the value of their own cars..Would you go around your neighborhood every time a house was for sale and and you thought it was too high then bash the asking price?..Of course not, your hoping the value of your own home goes up,thus increasing your own wealth.And some of the posts i read really does devalue EVERYONES rig here!It isn't something new, but i think BillNY is doing everyone a favor by help keep things in check here.And it doesn't matter if you seen it on Craigslist or EBAY.When someone does buy a certain brand of rig,the first thing they do is search the net,the same way most everyone did here,and when they find this place and do some reading of posts,they want to feel good about what they bought, not read that they bought a POS.
Then why would they want to become a member here?
Who is gonna help fund this site as others pass on to the campground in the sky?.This site will die without NEW supporting members.Do you really want that to happen?? I know it's abit extreme, but that is how common groups of clubs find their demise.I have learned alot by reading positive posts by current and former members here.Even though i have never met those folks, i felt a common bond with them.They really loved the rigs they bought and they really do love helping others get through some of the same hardknocks that they went through.I know it is ALWAYS good to be around positive folks,and as we all know, negative folks will bring you down,they are always miserable and want you to be too!.BILLNY thank you for posting that..I know one day i will buy another Barth,and no matter what price i pay,
i know it will be WELL WORTH IT!

ZIM

I don't know what to say. I agree lets not degrade the value of our Coaches by knocking others. If I were buying I'd dicker for the lowest price possible and If I were selling I'd show the value of everything I'd added fixed, replace, tweaked, altered or restored. I would do my dickering in private either way. If you ask me to look at a coach in Minnesnowta expect a phone or Skype evaluation not a public post. My observations would be my Opinion. Bill NY keep the faith and keep doing the great job you do for US!

1)I will be more thoughtful about my responses to advice requested by someone on the barth site. However, I will continue to give my opinion about the barth being asked about based on my personal experience. I do like to read the comments of those who have more/different experience so I can glean from it what may apply to me.

2)I can understand a non barthmobile seller finding out about the barthmobile site & looking us up on the site & start to read our comments about their barth. If they read things about their rv that are true then maybe they will review their price more realistically by what they read. Or they contact Bill

3)PM price suggestions to the person inquiring about the barth in question. Or ask them to PM you.

I have been on other sites where lot's of ugliness is allowed & when I let them know that once that kind of talk starts it's hard to stop it the responses back to me weren't very pleasant. They mocked me & basically called me a prude. I am so used to this site having integrity I thought I could steer the other site to a higher standard. Not! Not that any thing is ugly about what brought on this discussion. It's what makes this such a great site-healthy communication!

I don't think adhering to 1-3 above would hinder our advice giving that much nor would I call it censorship.

Tere

Okay, I'll chime in.

First: Bill N.Y. does a great job overseeing this site, and after meeting him in person, his enthusiasm is even more contagious in person. He is an enlightened leader.

Second: I agree that potential liabilities of negative posting can affect us all, as Bill suggests.

Third: Monetary values are relative to many things, but research and observing market examples can help determine starting points. And like old cars, you either want to buy something like that or you don't. Not much in between. This site helped me (over the past year or so) get closer to understanding what these coaches sell for (considering condition) and what they won't. I didn't pay attention to price bashing all that much. We just bought one and I thought the sellers price was fair. Others didn't and made lower offers... but they didn't get the coach.

I have bought 3 Barths (and sold 2) from this wonderful site (...must be time for my annual donation...) and I read/enjoy this site daily. Like all, I appreciate Wild BillNY and posters here more than any other site.

So a quick story. I drove 700 miles each way to inspect/purchase a Regal ($ in hand). When I saw it, I immediately knew the pictures were very old and this thing was not as described. When I drove, I wasn't out of the driveway before I realized the engine was misfiring and brakes were sponges.(this is after going thru my Dave Bowers memorial 3 page cklist of questions and being told it was mechanically sound) I drove one block, turned around, and said goodbye. I wrestled with what to say about this on the site? I eventually posted that I had seen/driven the coach and would be happy to give my impression by priv msg. When I did, another member wrote me and said he had driven it too and had left it on the side of the hwy because it was so unsafe. The story repeated 6 mos later, more or less, with a Breakaway. After again being assured of condition, recent tune up and receipts, 'wouldn't hesitate to drive it across country', I didn't even drive it, as it was so misrepresented. Again, a member wrote and said 'i could have saved you a trip'....

The issue raised here had more to do with price comments rather than possible fraud, but my hope is that we would not censor all comments on Barths for sale. In both of the above cases, I chose not to 'rant', did not say coach wasn't worth price, simply offered a priv msg or phone call of my 'eyes on/hands on' experience of the coach. I would hope that tact could be insisted upon (a 'prooferator' made sense to me), but I really hope some of the condition questions, scope of repair comments, alternatives, etc could be given a wide berth. I am not a mechanic and depend on those posts a great deal. [I took 7 other trips over the years where the coach was photo'ed and described honestly, issues and price revealed etc] In all cases, I found the site so helpful in my decisions. I am in agreement with those who don't want to trouble our hard working and patient host, Billny, with this stuff, and I would defer to his decision in all things Barthmobile. But since he was kind enough to ask, I would be willing to be a part of a small team of 'prooferators' who review whatever 'flagged' posts Billny sends to a 'weigh station' and then follow up with a 'redaction' or something with the poster. This could be done on a trial basis.

So if a 'crafted statement' notified that 'possibly inappropriate' comments were being reviewed, and poster was invited to 'rephrase or clarify' for the good of the B'mobile community, perhaps it could catch a couple of us early enough that the post would not be problematic? And if a few of us were needed to help, I suspect there would be some shared responsibility. I should shut up and go cheer the vet's with my grandchildren at the 4th of July parade---then go play partriotic songs on the banjo at the local nursing home. God Bless America!

I am like everyone else here, very thankful of Bill N.Y. and his work on this site. The information available here through Bill and all the members is amazing. There is no better place than Barthmobile to gather knowledge on the beloved Barth

As many have stated, the value of any thing is what the buyer is willing to spend. It is up to that buyer to become informed on their prospective purchase. In all the listings here as well as other sites, we always see the asking price but rarely do we see the actual selling price.

Any discussion on price is simply a discussion of opinion. We all know how many of us have one. Just like our Barth, no two are exactly the same. If I were to use my personal experience to form my opinion on prices I would have to say almost all I see listed are overpriced. Maybe that's because IMHO we stole ours

If we limit the discussion of price do we not also limit the available knowledge a prospective Barth buyer can gather?

I have come to rely on the knowledgeable opinions I gather from this site.

Sometimes it's not what you say but how you say it.
Jim

quote:

I am like everyone else here, very thankful of Bill N.Y. and his work on this site. The information available here through Bill and all the members is amazing. There is no better place than Barthmobile to gather knowledge on the beloved Barth

My regret is that I had not known of barthmobile.com a few years sooner. The '77, 29ft. bustle Barth might still be on the road and I may have met a lot more of you Barth Bugs. I will start over with much more awareness with the Euro. (glas-nose)

The main problem with so many of the posts re the price of a coach is that none of us know the true selling price of a coach.

It is seldom disclosed. The asking price means nothing. As many here have observed, the price agreed on by both buyer and seller is the true market value.

Until we know the selling price of a Barth, our comments on the asking price are relatively uninformed. But, of course, that doesn't stop us, does it?

The only way to get more relevant comments is for both buyer and seller to let us know the selling price. For some reason, that doesn't happen.

Not sure it addresses the original title of this thread, but in response to BillH, I have belonged to another vehicle-related BBS where a thread was begun asking members to state the particular model, factory options, mileage and condition along with date purchased and price paid.

I am not suggesting this be done here at Barthmobile.

In the afore mentioned forum, this did accomplish a "quasi" market value data base... but it also served as a crowing ground for those who 'stole' theirs... not much good except to point out the existence of luck. What is more revealing is when forum members added dollar amounts of what it took to restore the car. Usually collectable vehicles hold value when kept in very good running and aesthetic condition.

ZIM, you said it just right. Totally agree. The only exception I would like to make is if you have seen (and drove) the coach i.e. tire condition, leaks etc. but still the price is up to each individual.