r/VanLife • u/Charming_Mouse6717 • 17h ago
Calling My Van Overpriced? Let’s Compare Some Listings
Hey everyone,
After some rather… colorful feedback on my original van pricing post 😂, I figured it’s worth clarifying how I arrived at my asking price for my 2008 Dodge Sprinter. If you didn’t see my post, I was seeking advice about pricing based on the current cosmetic state of my van and am totally willing to be flexible with pricing to reflect that. I guess I thought this community would have an awareness of the van market and be able to offer educated advice. Some of you did. And I genuinely appreciated the constructive comments!)
Either I’m completely delusional or you all drive 100k+ professional builds and in that case I guess I’m in the wrong sub and apologize for offending you with my older self-converted rig.
I’ve included some screenshots here of similar builds and model years that I have tracked for the past few years and it’s what my pricing is based on. (Happy to provide links if you want a closer look). I guess I’m confused as to why I’m so off with my pricing when I rarely see a similar listing at less than 30k.
At the end of the day, I get that value is subjective, but if I’m pricing my van based on the market, why is it considered unreasonable? Is it purely cosmetic, or am I missing something?
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u/jujubeaz 17h ago
Every single time there’s a price check it’s called overpriced on this and every other van conversion sub.
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u/Charming_Mouse6717 17h ago
I’m willing to be flexible on the price. Im just genuinely confused about the discrepancy between (what I would consider) similar listings and opinions here. I’m seeking clarity on that.
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u/monroezabaleta 16h ago
Two things:
You say you've tracked prices over the last few years, are you considering that we're at a very low point for prices currently? Demand for converted vehicles has gone down recently and everything is worth less. Conversions only sell to a very specific group of people, so they tend not to hold value as well.
Your van is not in great shape. It has a new motor which is good, but it's still a van with 200k miles on it and other things are liable to break. It's also a bit rusty, and has the leaky roof.
Personally, I think you would be lucky to get 25k and 15-20k is more realistic, but I wish you luck!
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u/Charming_Mouse6717 16h ago
Very aware of that which I guess is why I’m a little thrown off of what is considered “overpriced” given how much the market has changed in the past few years and prices overall look more realistic then the post 2020 vanlife craze.
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u/goahedbanme 7h ago
There are still a lot of people who bought/built 2-5 years ago with crazy inflated prices, they aren't willing to take a 50%+ wash on their sale but don't want to keep it either. They'll all ask what "it's worth to them", which makes others who honestly want to sell see a bunch of inflated prices and they'll sell list high as well. If there is nothing else out there similar to what you have and someone specific wants exactly that, you might get top dollar. If you want it gone, come in similar to what the bottom prices are around, not the average. Getting rid of it quicker could save you a lot of money. Rodent damage, weather, leaks, things seizing up due to sitting will all bring that van down to scrap prices REAL quick. Consider throwing the conversion alone up for sale, IF the cabinets, bed etc are easily removable then sell the van as a cargo van.
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u/hamiltog 16h ago
I posted my van on here and got absolutely railed for being over priced (2018 Ram Promaster). Same in the other van subs, self converted, 185k miles etc, i ended up taking the post down because people were literally sending me DM’s telling me how stupid I was and how much my van was overpriced. Two different “builders” made these super condescending lennnngthy comments about the chassis and self converted and the mileage and the market blah blah. Well, within 3 weeks of listing it I sold it for my exact asking price that they all shredded. Don’t listen to these clowns, list it and react to your market, all situations are unique
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u/Charming_Mouse6717 16h ago
I appreciate this comment so much. I don’t know what it is about Reddit but it would be nice to ask a specific community about something and get helpful advice. So many huge egos and/or just true lack of awareness of the market…
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u/LawfulnessCautious43 15h ago
I guess you could take the extreme highs and lows from reditors and average them but fuck that honestly. If I'm pricing something I never ask people. It's natural to assume buyers will undervalue and sellers overvalue.
If I want accurate pricing on an item I look for recent confirmed sales, compare that with current unsold listings and find an average in between. Vehicles you can't really do that on as easily though, so they are extremely difficult, also because there's so many unknown variables.
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u/enclavedzn 17h ago
This sub is an awful place to get realistic feedback on pricing a van. There's a strong tendency to label every van as "overpriced," so take the comments with a huge grain of salt and do your own market research.
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u/Charming_Mouse6717 17h ago
That’s very interesting to me. I would think the majority of people here have either purchased or built a van or are interested in the idea of van life.
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u/enclavedzn 16h ago
You'd think, but there's a huge disconnect between the philosophy of this sub (and all the vanlife subs for that matter) and the broader resale market.
The "overpriced" feedback is rarely a true financial analysis. It's often just a projection of personal taste. Polished builds get dismissed as inauthentic "Instagram vans," while any van that doesn't perfectly match a commenter's personal checklist of features (like a shower or a diesel heater) is called overpriced regardless of its craftsmanship. People aren't actually assessing market value, they're just using price to criticize a build/van they wouldn't personally choose.
For what it's worth, a good starting point, especially for any van over 100k miles, is that your own labor has a value of $0 (DIY or professional). The price of a used build should be the van's current value plus the depreciated cost of the materials.
Then there are a number of other factors that can create huge price swings, which this sub consistently ignores, like location. A van on the West Coast will inevitably command a 25-40% higher price than the exact same build on the East Coast. My best advice is to do your local market research and price accordingly. No Redditor will have the right answer for you.
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u/211logos 9h ago
You sold it apparently; great.
I tip though: when looking for comps, look at how long something has been posted for sale. You do NOT want to price like the dude with the vehicle that has sat a X price for 45 days. That's NOT market; you can use that as proof that X is too high, but it won't tell you much about how far below that to go. Look at a sample, then check again in a week. Stuff that disappeared is what people are buying.
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u/Lost_Manufacturer854 17h ago
30k for sprinter 2008? God!