NADA Wanderlodge Listings

[davidbrady]

Don,

You still won't answer my question. Why would BBBB resist? Since I'm not getting an answer I'm left with my own opinion, which is that it's better for the bottom line to do away with NADA but its better for the Wanderlodge community to sustain NADA. BBBB chooses the bottom line which is only natural for a business. The disingenuous part is that wog is played as if its for the community, but in fact what's important to BBBB overrides that. In short there's a big conflict of interest and its at the expense of the community.

[DonB]

Ahh, whack-a-mole! At least we are back to the real objection here. Not what is happening or why, but who is precipitating it.

As to the question, it is predicated on an assumption that may or may not be true, but as I said I'm argumentative so for the sake of argument I will answer as though I was the person, rather than assuming that this is his answer:

"I've already taken an action that solves all of the issues. Grasping at an unlikely straw (that there are lots of willing participants who could get past even modest quantities for NADA) is not productive."

Remember, that's MY answer. Ask others yourself.

[davidbrady]

I hope the premise is wrong, but yes, one of us shouldn't be doing this unless we have a consensus, hence my earlier complaint about "where's the discussion", one of us should not be doing this while saying its good for the community, and the membership should not be standing up and saying hurray at the doing. As far as unlikely straw's, well we'll never know unless we try.

[DonB]

Did you actually remove my post?!?

[travelite]

(04-21-2015 22:46)DonB Wrote:  Did you actually remove my post?!?

By mistake. I'm trying to restore it. There, it's back. Sorry!

[DonB]

OK, you had me going for a moment. At this point I can't think of anything to say that wouldn't be repetitive; probably already repeated lots and that's a no-no in proper debating.

[davidbrady]

Gotta put the kids to bed, have a good night.

[cmillsap]

I can understand why some owners of the older coaches are unhappy with the value NADA puts upon their bus. I would be too. I have no vendetta against Randy but I don’t think his way to solve the problem is in their best interests. I’ll try to explain why I think that way without getting too far out into the weeds.

I think getting the NADA values as high as possible on all models would benefit everyone. At least current NADA values are favorable to later model owner/sellers. If we dump the NADA, how then do we value our coaches? Do we have to resort to an individual appraisal? Will that appraisal be commensurate with what other busses of your particular model are selling for? If not, why not? Is it the condition of your coach as compared to another? What if the appraisal doesn’t reflect the marketplace? Then what else can you do to try to obtain current selling prices for you bus? Do you go to BBBB and Bird Connection and Wanderlodgetrader.com to check what your model ‘bird is selling for on those sites? What if there are no current sales of your particular year & model? These sales sites don’t maintain a list of sold ‘Birds or the price level they sold at. Do you have to rely on Randy’s or Bill’s opinion as to the value of your bus?

Let’s explore why Prevosts are able to maintain such a high value on resales for their owners. First there are several Prevost converter sales sites available that adamantly list their new and used units at high retail values. Then there are several internet sites dedicated to just selling Prevosts. Many of the same Prevost are listed on multiple of these sites. They don’t need NADA, they have their own elaborate system to support sales. You will find that the listing price for like model Prevosts is held fairly uniform over the all those venues. That’s the difference. Even Newell has a factory new and used sale site and so does Foretravel for that matter. These internet sales sites generate buyers and lots of them which supports a lot of turnover and promotes stable sales prices.

Sadly, Bluebird has no factory backup, no new models to set the basis for used prices and there are darn few resales sites dedicated to selling Wanderlodges. You will find the listing price of a same model bus to range widely on the resale sites for Wanderlodges. This makes it difficult to place an accurate and fair value on each model. So we end up selling for less than we anticipated and in the process promote the reduction in value of our busses.

So, from my perspective the best way I can think of to set a standard in prices for our “birds is to use NADA to our advantage. Buyers flock to NADA to get some indication of the value of the vehicle they want to buy. Why throw that away? Let’s fix it. They are willing to work with us to set fair values, let’s take advantage of their willingness to do so. We can’t just keep buying from or selling our busses to other forum members or the occasional “Wannabee” that joins the forums. Let’s realize our past mistake of just blaming NADA for their erroneous reporting instead of helping them set fair prices. We have to tap the bigger outside marketplace of buyers and we need NADA to help us do it.

[GregOConnor]

Don, you Crack me up. Don't forget to clock in

[markusfmeyer]

If the spirit of this thread is truly to find a solution to a supposed problem, isn't it true there are usually multiple solutions to any one problem? Accusing Randy and WOG of mob mentality which is insulting to say the least, and trying to set prices therefore NADA should be fixed is narrow minded, in my opinion. You've already stated other brands don't need NADA. If you really want to fix something look at all the alternatives. You just don't happen to like the one Randy proposed, I'm guessing because it's personal. Quite sad things have come to this and that we can't just get along.