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Old 07-31-2014, 01:56 PM   #1
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Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

I am really a newbie. Please look over my ad and give me any suggestions to get more calls. Also what do you think it's worth?
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/rvs/4591395881.html

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Old 07-31-2014, 04:49 PM   #2
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

I can tell you that it's worth less than 10000 like your saying. You can't even register it as an RV in most states since it's yellow.
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Old 07-31-2014, 04:50 PM   #3
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

I hate to burst your bubble but, I don't see anything here that would make it worth more than a 97 school bus with the seats out. Maybe $2,000 to $3,000, right now it's just a yellow truck. You did ask.

Quote:
This was originally a school bus, which was professionally converted to a recreational vehicle, complete with storage compartments/running water/private bathroom/toilet/shower/kitchen sink and propane for hot water and a large water reservoir underneath (just like a regular RV).
Really? Professional what? I see nothing in the pictures that makes me think RV in any way shape or form. Are those storage compartments you mention the shipping crates strapped to the walls? Do you throw a mattress on top of them for a restful nights sleep? Then in the morning you sit on the crates with your feet dangling over the edge? It has fresh water, how big, are there gray and black water storage tanks? If so how big? Where and how are the propane tanks mounted? Picture show broken rear window. It still has the crappy bi fold entry door, not good in an RV. My wife wouldn't go around the block in that "RV".

Quote:
It already has a private title, so you can drive it with just a normal license, you don't need a special license or anything like that. I have the title in hand.
Is it an RV or motor home title, or some sort of New York private vehicle title? I don't know about all states, but in Indiana, you would NEVER get an RV title with the red blinker lights on top, or be still painted yellow.

Quote:
I know you won't be able to find a similar RV for under $20,000, so that's why this is worth much more, compared to just a regular school bus. It's very difficult to compare this to a similar RV or school bus, but you will easily save many thousands by getting this awesome Skoolie!
I do live in the land of motor home builders, but I'm sure for my $20,000 I could find something with beds, furnace, air conditioning, refrigerator, complete kitchen with stove and microwave, really nice living area with pretty impressive entertainment center. on some sort of chassis a bit newer with less miles.

Quote:
equivalent regular RV would cost at least $30,000
Really?

Quote:
There has been many hundreds of hours of work put in to this conversion, by a professional mechanic with almost a lifetime of experience doing this type of work
You may be a good mechanic, that don't make you a good motor home builder. "Almost a lifetime of experience" doesn't tell me much, especially if your only 25. I going to go out on a limb here and say that my "almost a lifetime of experience as a professional mechanic" is about triple yours, and that still does not make me necessarily a good motor home builder. My son is a professional, he works as an engineer for a large RV manufacturer.

If you're going to make statements in the ad, show the stuff in the pictures. I really don't need to see your back while driving. The one picture that might show the sink is too dark to make out anything. In one picture I see a door that might lead to the bath/shower. Is it a **** n' shower? Looks pretty small. If you're going to take and post pictures of the number plates they are of absolutely no use if you can't read them, Learn how to use your camera or phone, if that's what you are using. Get someone who knows how to string some cohesive sentences together to help with the wording.

One of the problems with a Skookie is, they are never worth what you have in them. I've got over $10,000 in mine (not real sure, not really keeping track) and it's still not worth that if I were to try and sell it today. For that matter RV''s aren't either.
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Old 07-31-2014, 05:32 PM   #4
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

Also, the title of your ad lists it at 1$. You might want to change that to some more realistic holding amount, unless you really want to sell it at 1$.

As to all the work done on it, do you have receipts to show the buyer? Might help to prove that it has been worked on.
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Old 07-31-2014, 11:11 PM   #5
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

Quote:
Originally Posted by abwetzel63
Also, the title of your ad lists it at 1$. You might want to change that to some more realistic holding amount, unless you really want to sell it at 1$.

As to all the work done on it, do you have receipts to show the buyer? Might help to prove that it has been worked on.
$1 means "negotiable" on Craigslist, jsuk
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Old 08-01-2014, 02:52 PM   #6
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

Ah, okay. Don't do craggylist or fleabay very much, don't know the lingo.
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Old 08-13-2014, 07:23 PM   #7
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

Re: RV registration. John aka Quake says in the ad he's from Florida. The bus isn't street legal in NY, but if the RV title is from out-of-state, a buyer might be able to get passenger plates like Valerie did based on that title, without having to face the dreaded DMV inspection. I would suggest doing it in a quiet upstate office like she did, and not try it in the mad house at Hauppauge. The bus still has to be not yellow by the 15th day of having NY plates.

But if the RVIA-suggested minimum required systems copied into the law aren't installed, a driver can get ticketed for improper registration class if one attracts the attention of law enforcement.

I agree with Somewhere in USA's points. All I saw was a door plus crates strapped with ratchet straps, but that might have been just for the move from Florida to Long Island. But to be fair, John never said that HE was the experienced mechanic that did the conversion. And prices of things on Long Island all seem to be at least 3 times what they would be elsewhere.

For Skoolie.net, better pictures of the interior and more vehicle info such as motor and transmission, and size of the plumbing tanks would be helpful for one to decide if there is any interest.
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Old 08-20-2014, 09:10 AM   #8
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

Quote:
This was originally a school bus, which was professionally converted to a recreational vehicle, complete with storage compartments/running water/private bathroom/toilet/shower/kitchen sink and propane for hot water and a large water reservoir underneath (just like a regular RV). It already has a private title, so you can drive it with just a normal license, you don't need a special license or anything like that. I have the title in hand. I know you won't be able to find a similar RV for under $20,000, so that's why this is worth much more, compared to just a regular school bus. It's very difficult to compare this to a similar RV or school bus, but you will easily save many thousands by getting this awesome Skoolie! There has been many hundreds of hours of work put in to this conversion, by a professional mechanic with almost a lifetime of experience doing this type of work. It's currently located in Long Island, in Medford, New York. It has a class A Florida title.

Feel free to ask me any questions or make an offer. I don't have an asking price but I know this RV is worth much more than $10,000, as an equivalent regular RV would cost at least $30,000. I may also take a trade or a trade plus cash, for a newer car or van.

Feel free to ask any questions or make any offers. May also trade it for a car, van, or truck.
Please email or text me at 407-227-7024. This is an Orlando number because I'm from Florida.

Thanks,
John

I'm just an average Joe and I will tell you what's wrong with your ad from my point of view. I hope you don't get butthurt easily.

1. When I read the ad, I think the author needs to go drug rehab because he is definitely high on something.
2. The ad reads like it was written by a slimy used car salesman.
3. I flag ANY ad that posts a price of $1. People don't put a dollar because they want to negotiate, they do that so their ad comes up when someone doing a search puts a price limit. Scumbag car dealers do it all the time. I also forward the ad to my flagging army to flag it like crazy.
4. Professionally converted? By whom. See No. 1.
5. Private bathroom? Instead of what, mounting the toilet on the roof for all to see you make doodoo? Maybe a ladder and a sign that says public restroom.
6. $20,000, $30,000...paaleease. You might as well write $20-30 million because it's as realistic as your figures. See No. 1.

Scrap your ad and start over. No one will take your ad seriously the way it was written. Don't write a bunch of flowery bullshit like another member on skoolie.net that shall go nameless. It makes you sound like an asshole.

P.S. I hope you're not butthurt.
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Old 08-20-2014, 09:55 AM   #9
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Re: Selling my 1997 Blue Bird in Long Island, NY

You might find it helpful to browse the Conversion Forums and look at other people's projects. There are many people who paid less than half of what you are asking, invested a little more money (and a lot of time) and have a fully-functional, comfortable, clean-looking bus that is comparable to an RV.

I think that advertising the bus as an RV makes your ad seem a bit silly - only because people who have no experience with RVs or Skoolies don't necessarily compare the two equally. I know that I would love to live in a Skoolie, but I probably wouldn't buy an RV (not adventuresome enough for me)! There are many purists who see a bus as something more wholesome than an RV; and there are other people that have certain expectations when it comes to the functionality of an RV (beds, finished interior, functional bathroom, interior decoration, comfort, safety, etc.). If you asked a normal person off the street if they thought your bus looked like an RV, no one would say "yes" simply because it looks like someone bought a bus for $1,000.00, ripped out the seats, threw in some shipping crates, framed off a section for a bathroom, and said "voila".

Unless you can list specific credentials for a "professional" installation, I would not even include that in your ad. A licensed and certified electrician could have rewired your bus, but "professional" is extremely vague. If you can't accurately and specifically back up the assertion of "professional", it means very little - especially to someone who is experienced mechanically / electrically / etc.

If you browse other ads on Craigslist for buses, or even browse the Classifieds here on Skoolie.net, you will find that your bus is extremely overvalued and the comparison between this skoolie and an RV is extremely misleading. I know you said you're new to this whole thing and it's good you're doing some research, but I think you might need to do a bit more reading and revise your ad to make it more realistic. Good luck!
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