BGA prices just doubled!

[sdwarf36]

Maybe they're just waiting for the fire....
" The whole back row burnt-those were our $20 k buses."

 

[deftone]

I'd be embarrassed to admit I paid 5-10 times the price for anything, just because I had to have it TODAY.
Their business model is simple- tie up the market and try to dictate the prices so that they can take advantage of gullibility, naivete, and ignorance on the part of the consumer.

Americans are such "consumers" they don't even bother to become educated on what they're consuming. That's where stealerships come in.

If you are familiar with any of the Skoolie groups on facebook, you will see new members every single day who are ready to drop a chunk of their life savings on a bus with absolutely no research done at all. Mostly thanks to the "tiny house" movement! This is where the BGA's of the world make their money.

 

[EastCoastCB]

If you are familiar with any of the Skoolie groups on facebook, you will see new members every single day who are ready to drop a chunk of their life savings on a bus with absolutely no research done at all. Mostly thanks to the "tiny house" movement! This is where the BGA's of the world make their money.

Yup. The tiny house/hgtv crowd have to have it NOW so they can show it on FB/Instagram.
The FB skoolie thing is LAME. Roxy looked into it and its full of idiots.

 

[Njsurf73]

Yup. The tiny house/hgtv crowd have to have it NOW so they can show it on FB/Instagram.
The FB skoolie thing is LAME. Roxy looked into it and its full of idiots.

Hey, it got my wife on board. So FB isn't all bad. But she lurks here more than there for "inspiration" lol

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Stu & Filo. T]

Yup. The tiny house/hgtv crowd have to have it NOW so they can show it on FB/Instagram.
The FB skoolie thing is LAME. Roxy looked into it and its full of idiots.

I gave up FB 2 yrs ago, Havn't missed it.

 

[EastCoastCB]

They want 25 grand for an 02 RE bluebird. Nice bus, but god almighty what a crazy price. Are they REALLY selling these buses?

2002 Bluebird All-American RE (Stock # 1881)
8.3L Cummins Diesel
Automatic MD3060
Air Brakes
84 Passenger (14 Row)
Belly Storage
$25,000*

That bus is less than ten grand anywhere else.

 

[Dog Rescuer]

They seem to have a good market on higher end buyers. But the buses are the same ones from any auction - incredible profit margin for them.

I ran the vin number on one I was looking at there - and it came up as sold at an auction for $2200 - the were selling it for $12,000.

They want 25 grand for an 02 RE bluebird. Nice bus, but god almighty what a crazy price. Are they REALLY selling these buses?



That bus is less than ten grand anywhere else.

 

[EastCoastCB]

They seem to have a good market on higher end buyers. But the buses are the same ones from any auction - incredible profit margin for them.

I ran the vin number on one I was looking at there - and it came up as sold at an auction for $2200 - the were selling it for $12,000.

Even a "high end" buyer ought to know better, but yeah what a crazy profit margin. Theres a gold rush in Tampa!

 

[cadillackid]

I feel like I got "Lucky" there... when I didnt know any better and bought the DEV, paying 6K (im sure for a bus that sold at auction for $1500).. nevertheless I ended up with a bus with an engine / trans with 85K miles on it.. though I did have bad tires..

now that I know better I can see howe the prices are crazxy high... but I think thats how they do.. *MOST* people here im guessing will only ever buy one Bus.. at least on a percentage basis only a few of us buy more than one.. so they figure if they can capitalize on that buyer who isnt educated and just wants a bus.. (Like I was).. they gain a sale.. ..

of all the dealers it seems Don brown and "occasionally" tampa bus market get some decent prices. Don Brown gets a lot of Busses on Trade-In or bought directly from schools.. so im guessing they pay next to nothing for their busses and can offer halfway decent pricing for a dealer..

some people are afraid of auctions .. a dealer offers a person the ability to see and drive a bus before committing to it.. for someone with Zero mechanical Knowledge it may be a decent option, it does cost though...

the flip side is if you buy a 2K bus at BGA for 10K, vs buying that same 2K bus at auction.. thats a lot of $$ you could spend on repairs and upgrades to that 2K Bus.. even a breakdown on the way home could be easily covered in that unless you flat out blew it up...

yeah being educated at this sure helps.. im glad for those that come here first and get their confidence up to bid on a bus.. and thoug hwe have seen failures.. for the most part the success rate of auction busses have been pretty high overall..

BGA recently sold a Bus just like EC's shorty for 12.5K!!

they sold one like RedByrd for over 10K without A/C.. its not even listed on their sold page...

-Christopher

 

[EastCoastCB]

I just met some nice folks who are bus shopping and that's sorta how I explained it to them.
I told em if they buy an auction bus for two or three grand tops, they could literally replace the engine and tires and still probably be in it for less than a BGA bus goes for.

Next bus I buy, I'll paint it plain white, pull the seats, and post it on CL for like 6 grand or so.
I'll make money AND do someone a huge favor.

 

[EastCoastCB]

I feel like I got "Lucky" there... when I didnt know any better and bought the DEV, paying 6K (im sure for a bus that sold at auction for $1500).. nevertheless I ended up with a bus with an engine / trans with 85K miles on it.. though I did have bad tires..

now that I know better I can see howe the prices are crazxy high... but I think thats how they do.. *MOST* people here im guessing will only ever buy one Bus.. at least on a percentage basis only a few of us buy more than one.. so they figure if they can capitalize on that buyer who isnt educated and just wants a bus.. (Like I was).. they gain a sale.. ..

of all the dealers it seems Don brown and "occasionally" tampa bus market get some decent prices. Don Brown gets a lot of Busses on Trade-In or bought directly from schools.. so im guessing they pay next to nothing for their busses and can offer halfway decent pricing for a dealer..

some people are afraid of auctions .. a dealer offers a person the ability to see and drive a bus before committing to it.. for someone with Zero mechanical Knowledge it may be a decent option, it does cost though...

the flip side is if you buy a 2K bus at BGA for 10K, vs buying that same 2K bus at auction.. thats a lot of $$ you could spend on repairs and upgrades to that 2K Bus.. even a breakdown on the way home could be easily covered in that unless you flat out blew it up...

yeah being educated at this sure helps.. im glad for those that come here first and get their confidence up to bid on a bus.. and thoug hwe have seen failures.. for the most part the success rate of auction busses have been pretty high overall..

BGA recently sold a Bus just like EC's shorty for 12.5K!!

they sold one like RedByrd for over 10K without A/C.. its not even listed on their sold page...

-Christopher

The ones I cringe the hardest at are their fifteen thousand dollar buses with 6.0 diesel nightmares in them.

 

[Dog Rescuer]

I almost bought that bus for $12K - They talked a good talk - but after doing some more research, I found the exact same bus for $4k. I think I have a stronger engine.
If I were ever to get another bus - I would go the auction route - though I am perfectly happy with Tampa Bus Market - They saved me getting the bus down here- and have been really good about helping with any issues - or with spare parts.

Some of their buses may be a little higher - but most seem reasonable. Plus they don't charge the crazy "add on" fees that BGA was charging.

 

[Njsurf73]

I feel like I got "Lucky" there... when I didnt know any better and bought the DEV, paying 6K (im sure for a bus that sold at auction for $1500).. nevertheless I ended up with a bus with an engine / trans with 85K miles on it.. though I did have bad tires..

now that I know better I can see howe the prices are crazxy high... but I think thats how they do.. *MOST* people here im guessing will only ever buy one Bus.. at least on a percentage basis only a few of us buy more than one.. so they figure if they can capitalize on that buyer who isnt educated and just wants a bus.. (Like I was).. they gain a sale.. ..

of all the dealers it seems Don brown and "occasionally" tampa bus market get some decent prices. Don Brown gets a lot of Busses on Trade-In or bought directly from schools.. so im guessing they pay next to nothing for their busses and can offer halfway decent pricing for a dealer..

some people are afraid of auctions .. a dealer offers a person the ability to see and drive a bus before committing to it.. for someone with Zero mechanical Knowledge it may be a decent option, it does cost though...

the flip side is if you buy a 2K bus at BGA for 10K, vs buying that same 2K bus at auction.. thats a lot of $$ you could spend on repairs and upgrades to that 2K Bus.. even a breakdown on the way home could be easily covered in that unless you flat out blew it up...

yeah being educated at this sure helps.. im glad for those that come here first and get their confidence up to bid on a bus.. and thoug hwe have seen failures.. for the most part the success rate of auction busses have been pretty high overall..

BGA recently sold a Bus just like EC's shorty for 12.5K!!

they sold one like RedByrd for over 10K without A/C.. its not even listed on their sold page...

-Christopher

I will throw Kerlin Bus in with Don Brown.
They get all the used busses they sell as trades from schools. They look them over and scrap anything that they think won't be dependable to the next buyer.
They are reasonable and they will come down on a price. I had a very good experience and the issues I had with my bus weren't something they or I could have seen when I drove it off.
It is still a good deal at 1900 for a 2002 bluebird all American.


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[cadillackid]

they have bought a bunch of cutaways all the sudden.. they never used to touch those..

but yeah honestly one of the reasons the DRV came from BGA was the fact they did it all up... serviced, painted, Tagged, all because I didnt know.. and even with a background of HotRodding, the whole thing of prepping and painting a commercial truck was scary..

and even with all that was done i still had a breakdown.. your idea of buying a bus, yanking the seats, painting it white, checking it over, etc then selling it for more... if you can get the exposure and foot traffic i think you could do real well with that. you could even convert the titles to MH, easily too...

Painting and yanking the seats seem to scare alot of people off..
-Christopher

 

[Dog Rescuer]

I agree Christopher - at first I was really worried about getting the seats out and the floor done - but it was so much easier than I thought it would be.
Painting the bus... well, that's the next project. I will have my floor down today - so next week I will be painting it. I think it will cost me about $200-$300 to paint... So I may go into business with EastCoast.

they have bought a bunch of cutaways all the sudden.. they never used to touch those..

but yeah honestly one of the reasons the DRV came from BGA was the fact they did it all up... serviced, painted, Tagged, all because I didnt know.. and even with a background of HotRodding, the whole thing of prepping and painting a commercial truck was scary..

and even with all that was done i still had a breakdown.. your idea of buying a bus, yanking the seats, painting it white, checking it over, etc then selling it for more... if you can get the exposure and foot traffic i think you could do real well with that. you could even convert the titles to MH, easily too...

Painting and yanking the seats seem to scare alot of people off..
-Christopher

 

[cadillackid]

I almost bought that bus for $12K - They talked a good talk - but after doing some more research, I found the exact same bus for $4k. I think I have a stronger engine.
If I were ever to get another bus - I would go the auction route - though I am perfectly happy with Tampa Bus Market - They saved me getting the bus down here- and have been really good about helping with any issues - or with spare parts.

Some of their buses may be a little higher - but most seem reasonable. Plus they don't charge the crazy "add on" fees that BGA was charging.

you got a better bus than the one at BGA.. the engine is the same but you got the nice 2000 series transmission, for a bus with that trans and engine and age, I think you did pretty decent at Tampa Bus Market..
-Christopher

 

[EastCoastCB]

I agree Christopher - at first I was really worried about getting the seats out and the floor done - but it was so much easier than I thought it would be.
Painting the bus... well, that's the next project. I will have my floor down today - so next week I will be painting it. I think it will cost me about $200-$300 to paint... So I may go into business with EastCoast.

Cool, I've got a commercial lot in downtown Leesburg.

 

[Njsurf73]

Cool, I've got a commercial lot in downtown Leesburg.

So, buy em cheap, pull the seats, coat of white paint and flip them at a decent price. That's a business model!
Oh and preference to Skoolies!

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[sdwarf36]

And dealing with like minded people that want a camper/tiny home rather than those in the trucking-commercial vehicle world (who for some reason seem to have a dislike of the general public). would be a big plus.

 

[deftone]

So, buy em cheap, pull the seats, coat of white paint and flip them at a decent price. That's a business model!
Oh and preference to Skoolies!

All joking aside....its something I have actually been considering and have talked over with my wife. Seems to be a great market if you undercut the big players (which really isnt hard)