How we Take our Family on Vacation for Free...and It's Not a Pyramid Scheme!

I know what you're thinking. Either we're selling something through direct sales (pyramid scheme), or we vacation at those resorts where you listen to an hour long talk about timeshares in exchange for a free stay. Nope and nope.  Okay, technically we don't vacation for free we do still have to pay, but we have found a way to make some extra money that pays for our two travel trailers, and gives us a little extra to take our family on vacation. So, in a very real sense we do vacation for free. Not only that, but it isn't overly stressful, and it doesn't take tons and tons of time. What is it that we do?

We rent our campers.

When we tell people we rent our campers they are usually kind of shocked, probably because they haven't really thought of someone doing such a thing. Others give a look of "Are you crazy?" Yeah, I probably am crazy - but not because we rent our campers. So, let me tell you our journey of camper renting up to this point.

It began as a simple question of, "how can we make our travel trailer pay for itself?" Here we had this huge hunk of aluminum, fiberglass, and furniture sitting in the yard and we hardly ever used it. Yet, we were paying a bank a hefty monthly premium for the privilege of having a huge piece of yard art. Something had to change.

Fortuitously, we live about 45 minutes from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Someone, I don't remember who, said "Hey I bet you could rent that sucker for race week and pay for your entire year's worth of payments." That did seem to provide a solution, so I looked into it. What I found was a series of websites that allow you to list and rent your RV for a percentage of the rental price - BINGO!

We began by using RVShare exclusively. It is a simple to use platform and they have insurance that covers the rental period so you don't have to worry about paying out of pocket if someone wrecks, or otherwise destroys, your camper. Later we started using Outdoorsy as well to hopefully boost our rentals. So far, we have covered all the payments, insurance, and maintenance for both campers for 2017. That includes, two sets of new tires, and a new AC upper unit on the KZ among other incidental maintenance items.

Q: Have people taken care of the campers?

A: Yes. For the most part people have taken very good care of the campers. Thus far, we have only had one problem that required us to adjust someone's damage deposit. For whatever reason the renter bent three out of four stabilizer jacks on the Salem. This really wasn't a big deal. I worked with the renter and RVShare and was able to put the jacks on myself in less than an hour. The biggest problem is people who don't follow the instructions about the toilet. This may be TMI but some people insist on using fluffy, cushy, two-ply tissue and it clogs the toilet and sewer tank. This has led to some real adventures on my part in trying to get it cleaned up but its all in a day's work as a camper-preneur.

Q: Do you have to deliver the camper, or do people pick it up?

A: Both. About half of the people will pick up the camper and drop it back off. I do offer to deliver it and set it up within 50 miles of our house for an additional fee, and alot of people have taken advantage of that. I deliver to the speedway area several times a year.  

Q: How much do you make on a rental?

A: The good news is, how much you make is pretty much up to you. You set the price for your rental. Now, both Outdoorsy and RVShare take a cut off the top as a commission for using their service. RVShare's percentage is graduated depending on how many RVs you list. The maximum that they take is 25% of each rental. However, if you list two RVs it drops to 20%, and three or more and it is only 15%. Outdoorsy take a flat 20%. So let's run some realistic numbers. One of our campers lists for $100/ night during the "high season." Remember, we are totally in control of the prices. John and Jane want to rent our camper for 3 nights. That is $300 for the three nights, less the fee percentage (for us that is 20% on both sites). 

$100 x 3 = $300 - $60 (20%) = $240 that we take home.    

Not bad for a little time spent cleaning and maintaining our camper. We do have "low season" and "high season" prices, and race week prices. We also offer discounts for extended rentals over a week. We DO NOT allow people to rent long-term, and believe you me - we've had people ask. There is also a fee if we are asked to deliver, setup, and retrieve the campers but that mainly just covers gas to an from the point of delivery.

One thing to consider when setting a price for your RV rental is that there is a trade-off. You are welcome to charge $175/night and have a laundry list of additional fees (I've seen people charge renters to use their hitch) and rent your unit once every couple of months. Alternatively, you can choose the route we've gone and keep the price reasonable and rent on a regular basis. As it stands now, we have taken in a little over $3,000 in six months of rentals. Most of that is from ONE camper.  

Q: How much time does this require?

As far as getting the campers ready for rentals it doesn't take much time at all. Probably the most time consuming thing is washing the sheets and towels. It usually takes less than an hour to clean the campers, since most people have taken fairly good care of them. We do wash the outside regularly which can be done while someone is cleaning the inside. Obviously, maintenance issues vary in the time they require. Typically, the most time consuming thing is delivering the camper if the renter requests it. 


I"m sure more questions will come up, and please make use of the comment section and I will do my best to answer them and keep this post updated as time goes on.