House Brand RV’s: A CLEARLY deceptive practice in the RV Industry…
How to avoid purchasing a camper that exists for ONE reason: To make MASSIVE PROFITS for the dealer who is selling it
As I travel and share places I’ve stayed and things I’ve learned…
Many of my posts here on RV Across America detail a bit about places where my travels have taken me and my trusty Outdoors RV. My goal is to share my experiences along with the highlights of each region I visit. My focus is on RV travel and RV life.
In contrast, in this post, I share a serious topic that all RV buyers need to be aware of. Read on to learn about a highly deceptive and unethical practice. This practice is found in many industries, but my focus here will be the RV industry, although I will detail where and how I first learned about it. This practice, the selling of “private label” or “house brand” RV campers can lead buyers to make a very poor choice when buying the RV camper of their dreams. It also leads the dealer to (often) obscene profits. Allow me to elaborate…
I state emphatically that selling private label RV campers is one of the MOST deceptive and misleading practices in the entire RV industry. You may have seen private label products elsewhere as they are NOT limited to the RV industry. In fact, I first learned about private label products about 40 years ago. Here’s my story…
Learning a lesson from the Audio business back in the 1980’s
Decades ago, just after graduating college, I managed a relatively small, high end audio store in New Jersey. We did our fair share of business across Northern New Jersey. At that time there was a competitor who was the “800 pound gorilla” in the room. This “big player” owned and operated dozens of audio stores across our region. Their sales far exceeded anything our store ever conceived of doing. The retailers name? Crazy Eddie. Even today you can find his outrageous advertisements originally aired in the 1980’s on YouTube. Crazy Eddie (the retailer) is long gone (1989), but the damage he did lingers. (But the ads ARE quite entertaining!)
Crazy Eddie moved (sold) a lot of merchandise and he was a crook. Ultimately, the Federal Government prosecuted the owner, Eddie Antar, for several serious white collar crimes (felonies.) He ended up spending 7.5 years in prison. Many of his business practices in his stores were no more legitimate than he was. Among many sketchy business practices, “Crazy Eddie” sold private label audio equipment. Note: The selling of private label merchandise IS legal – though unethical.
I bring all this history up as I now see similar practices growing today in the RV industry.
Private Label (House Brand) Products
Private label products, regardless of the industry they’re found within offer the retailer a product they can make (often) an obscene profit when they sell it. The primary reason for this is the retailer (dealer) is the only place where the consumer will find THAT model or product. As a result, the consumer can’t “shop” a particular (in this case) RV camper between competing stores (RV dealers.)
In other words, the dealer has an exclusive. They can make virtually any claims they wish and the consumer can’t verify these claims. Further, any “reviews” are most likely “bought and paid for.” I would not trust any reviews on these campers to give you, the buyer an honest assessment.
In the audio industry, private label products took the form of stereo receivers, turntables (yeah, I’m THAT old), and speaker systems, just to name a few. They are often manufactured by a well known, name brand manufacturer. They resemble other products produced by that same manufacturer, but that model will only available from a particular retailer. In the RV industry, entire series of campers are found as private label products!
In summary, private label products take serious advantage of the consumer. You will NEVER see a legitimate review of a private label product. They exist purely to allow retailers (dealers) to sell without having to compete. Without the ability to price shop at competing dealers, the consumer ends up over-paying and often getting inferior quality.
The RV Industry TODAY and their own Private Label RV Campers
Over the past 18 months, as the overall economy continues to slide, many RV dealers are struggling to remain in business. More and more “mom and pop” family owned dealers are selling out to the giant corporate stores – and there’s an increasing number of them. I’m referring to companies that dot their name across the nation owning multiple (dozens or more) RV dealerships (stores) from coast to coast.
The larger these multi-store RV dealerships get, the more they can dictate to (and push around) RV manufacturers. In recent years, several brands have emerged that are nothing more than private label products (house brands) offered exclusively or primarily by one corporate dealership and not by other dealers.
Essentially these large corporate dealers get name brand RV Manufacturers (many of whom already make a substandard product) to make a line of RV Campers available only through that corporate dealership’s stores.
The end result? These campers can’t be “shopped” between competing dealerships. The consumer inevitably gets the raw end of the deal as “fair value” can never be established. Further, I’d bet these corporate dealerships push the RV manufacturers to cut (even more) corners to reduce the cost (and increase the profit) of these “house brand” campers.
Frustrated? I am too! I see too many of these poorly built, over priced campers in the RV parks I stay in and feel for the owners who spent tens of thousands of dollars to purchase one.
How to spot a Private Label camper
When you run across a brand name (manufacturer) you want to investigate, start by locating the manufacturers website. On the manufacturers home page, search for dealers who offer these campers. For example, look at a city, lets say Denver, and select a 200 mile radius to locate individual dealers. IF there’s exclusively or overwhelmingly ONE retailer where you can find them in that region, it’s effectively a private label. Now I’m not saying these are private label campers, but if you try this for Mallard and Coleman, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
RV Buying Support (and advice)…
When folks contact me to discuss my Concierge RV Buying Service, they often express concern over the wealth of camper choices available. The sad reality is IF your #1 priority is obtaining a well built, reliable, quality camper, there are VERY few good choices in each category (towable/motorhome, travel trailer, 5th wheel, Class A, etc…)
In an initial introductory discussion as I learn your “wants and needs”, we discuss the camper category that my work best for you. Once we narrow to a category (and budget), we then move to discussing who the “good guys” are in the rv camper category that best fits their needs.
RV Accessories
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