If you trade in your camper for a brand-new RV at Camping World, the dealer could make more money on the one you leave behind. Last quarter, Camping World averaged $1,122 more in gross profit on a used RV than on a new one.
That helps explain an answer CEO Matthew Wagner gave on the company’s November 3 earnings call. An analyst asked about profits on new RVs. Wagner said he’d like to get customers “back into the cycle of trading in their assets every three to four years,” something he said used to be common.
What Camping World makes on a used RV
A returning customer can give Camping World two sales. The dealer sells you your next RV, then has a chance to sell your trade-in to someone else. From July through September, Camping World sold 17,176 used RVs and 15,126 new ones, according to its third-quarter results.
| RV sold | Average selling price | Average gross profit |
|---|---|---|
| New | $42,239 | $4,298 |
| Used | $30,187 | $5,420 |
Buyers paid about $12,000 less for the average used RV, yet it earned the dealer more before overhead. Camping World reports financing and insurance income separately.
How old are the campers coming back?
Wagner said the average RV coming in on trade is about 7½ years old. He’d like to see that closer to 4½. An owner who buys a five-year-old trailer and trades it three years later is already on his preferred schedule, even though the trailer is eight years old when it comes back.
A 2025 Go RVing survey asked 3,000 RV owners how long they keep an RV before replacing it. Of those surveyed, 62% said two to five years, 23% said six to ten years, and 7% said more than ten.
Why some pandemic buyers have waited
For some people who bought between 2020 and 2022, the sticking point has been the loan. Wagner said some of those buyers owed more than they could get for their RV and needed more time to close the gap. He’s now seeing more of them willing to trade.
If you’re weighing a trade yourself, compare the dealer’s offer with a payoff quote from your lender. Say the dealer offers $25,000 for your camper and it takes $30,000 to pay off the loan. That leaves $5,000 on the old loan before you’ve put a dollar toward the next camper.
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