How do I price my MCI 8 that is for sale?

Oregonconversion · May 08, 2015, 06:21:17 PM

I'm sorry to say that I think it's time for my MCI to go up for sale. I am just not using her enough at this time. :-(

How do I go about finding a value for her and what is the best place to post a bus conversion up for sale?

Jon · May 09, 2015, 02:15:29 AM

You are looking for two things. You want to know how to price the coach and you want to know its value.

You have to research the market, look at everything that is out there and develop a range of asking prices for coaches comparable to yours. Then you have to be honest with yourself and price it according to how it stacks up against the others out there for sale. Price it too high and nobody will look at it. Price it too low and you are losing money.

As to value that is the hard question. The market for coaches is slowly coming around to a sellers market after it being a brutal market for sellers for so long. But a home built conversion is NEVER going to return the investment in time and dollars needed to duplicate it. When professionally converted Prevost coaches with far less than 200,000 total miles, never run as seated coaches can be bought for $50,000 or less it is clear the marketplace does not consider value, but only how cheap a bus can be bought.

eagle19952 · May 09, 2015, 08:49:37 AM

So Jon. would cash buy yours for that amount ? $50K ?

luvrbus · May 09, 2015, 09:07:18 AM

LOL 50K would buy the Crestron system on Jon's Prevost,but he is right about the prices on old buses

Oregonconversion · May 09, 2015, 10:16:53 AM

its just so hard to see busses with seats selling for ghe same price as busses with conversions.

Dave5Cs · May 09, 2015, 10:40:12 AM

Buses is the plural of Bus

Busses is the plural of buss. As in electrical buss. A place for multiple electrical connections.

To Bus, carry and clearing plates.
To Buss, to Kiss.
HTH

Scott & Heather · May 09, 2015, 09:56:04 PM

^ lol. So, personally I think once the new j4500 style coaches get old enough to be bought cheap, anything older will dump in value.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jon · May 10, 2015, 03:45:07 AM

Donald,

We can joke about values, but I learned long ago that whatever is spent to buy and maintain a bus has to be treated as lost money. If I get anything from the deal when I sell the bus it is nothing more than a bonus.

To put the losses relating to bus ownership in perspective, the depreciation on a brand new Prevost conversion is close to $1000 per day (PER DAY IS NOT A TYPO) for the first few years. Does that mean in three years that new, hardly used perfect coach has lost $1,000,000 in value when it might be virtually identical to a brand new one? That is just the marketplace determining the price, not the value.

luvrbus · May 10, 2015, 07:30:14 AM

There is no way to figure the value of a home conversion it's down to whatever people want to pay or what the seller will let it go for.The factory conversions are so inflated 1000 bucks a day depreciation on a Prevost I can see.Here is a example a Girard awning on a SS job will cost around 7500 bucks on a Prevost 15 grand for the same awning

The converters pay 400 to 500k for a shell depending on the spec,and they all tell you 4000 man hours to convert a shell then they roll one out with a list price of over 2 mil, no way can a 1.5 mil be justified with profit for a space less than 400 sf ft

eagle19952 · May 10, 2015, 12:44:44 PM

Jon.

My thoughts on figuring sell price point go something like this...
Purchase price minus a factor of cost per day of ownership.

I buy a jeep for 4000$, I own it for 4 years and put $1000 in it to maintain it (not accounting consumables, tire oil fuel etc).
$5000 divide by 1460 days = $3.42 per day...

did I get $3.42 per day of enjoyment...yes.

Residual value to me is zero. Make me an offer She said all she could afford was $800.... I sold that jeep for $480.00.

A Harley Davidson paid $11,000.00 Add maybe $2000.00 in upgrades...
divide 13K by 5110 days...$2.54 per day of ownership...same deal, it owed me nothing.
Sold that one for $2800. The guy offered me $3600.

An Eagle coach...I'm down to about $12.78 per day of ownership.
Who ever makes an offer on it is gonna get a hell of a deal...if I decide to sell.

I do not have an "I don't want to lose/make $$ mentality on my investment"...

So in answer to the OP, You gotta decide for yourself...no one knows what motivates the other guy.

Oregonconversion · May 10, 2015, 02:21:48 PM

I did this on 17K total so what is my depreciation?

Oregonconversion · May 10, 2015, 02:23:38 PM

Bathroom/shower (silver thing is portable AC)

busnut104 · May 10, 2015, 04:33:04 PM

A coupl of years ago I sold my MC8 or should I say I gave it away. I had over 150,000 in this I replaced every thing Engine -Transmission and air bags shocks windows you name it I replaced it. It was my hobby, Never really used it, spent almost 10 years on the rebuild. had it for sale for over two years and sold it for 40,000. and in the end I/m glad I got that. It was a hobby but a very expensive one.

eagle19952 · May 10, 2015, 05:38:01 PM

Quote from: Oregonconversion on May 10, 2015, 02:21:48 PM
I did this on 17K total so what is my depreciation?

Well...at least $1.00 a day since the title was signed over

PP · May 14, 2015, 02:40:02 PM

Quote from: eagle19952 on May 10, 2015, 12:44:44 PM
Jon.

My thoughts on figuring sell price point go something like this...
Purchase price minus a factor of cost per day of ownership.

I buy a jeep for 4000$, I own it for 4 years and put $1000 in it to maintain it (not accounting consumables, tire oil fuel etc).
$5000 divide by 1460 days = $3.42 per day...

did I get $3.42 per day of enjoyment...yes.

Residual value to me is zero. Make me an offer She said all she could afford was $800.... I sold that jeep for $480.00.

A Harley Davidson paid $11,000.00 Add maybe $2000.00 in upgrades...
divide 13K by 5110 days...$2.54 per day of ownership...same deal, it owed me nothing.
Sold that one for $2800. The guy offered me $3600.

An Eagle coach...I'm down to about $12.78 per day of ownership.
Who ever makes an offer on it is gonna get a hell of a deal...if I decide to sell.

I do not have an "I don't want to lose/make $$ mentality on my investment"...

So in answer to the OP, You gotta decide for yourself...no one knows what motivates the other guy.

Wow! And I thought I was a rare one. Or is it-'Great Minds Think Alike' I've always looked at it, the longer I own it, the less it cost me per day and when I'm done with it, I'm really done with it and anything I'm offered is a bonus. Will