'97 on ebay

[davidbrady]

It's an endlessly fascinating topic - pricing of Wanderlodges. I think Jeff has a valid point; regardless of whether a person is in the market or not his words do have an influence. Buyers and sellers are accustomed to seeing and hearing about what should be considered a fair price. Buyers and sellers have immediate internet access to the 'asking' prices of virtually all the birds currently on the market. They also have access to brokers and insurance appraisers who freely give their often biased and self-serving views of correct market prices. Couple this with the endless online pastime of passing judgement over the condition, circumstances, and price of a coach that's never been personally inspected. All this is taken in by buyers and serves as their price anchor for what they consider a fair price. Anything too high above this anchor is perceived a ripoff and anything too far below a huge steal. Sellers do the same. They subconsciously listen to the public drivel, they place far too much importance on the experts' opinions (brokers/insurance appraisers) and they let these voices influence their pricing. Then there's the price that the seller paid for his coach, or the money poured into upgrades and maintenance. This all has the effect of influencing the seller to stick to his asking price, but he faces a strong headwind of online experts, brokers, and insurance appraisers who often have self-serving agendas. So a transaction price isn't simply supply and demand, or "what a buyers willing to pay", or what a broker or insurance appraiser says it's worth, it's all the above and more. As interested parties we all benefit from a higher Wanderlodge transaction price. I contend that if prices increase then so does the condition and longevity of our birds. More vendors enter the fray, more parts become available, more folks with necessary disposable income enter into the mix, and the health and benefit of our birds and pastime increases.