What is the Re-Sale Value of My Bell Tent?

How To Calculate The Value of My Bell Tent

As bell tent manufacturers we would always keep a close eye on the on-line marketplaces for various reasons; checking for counterfeits, checking for new-comers and so on. We were often surprised to see just how well the bell tents held their value.

But how can you calculate the value of your used bell tent?

ebay

At the end of each glamping season, around Sep/Oct market places such as ebay would be awash with used bell tents that had been used for business use and that were now being sold off, likely to avoid care & maintenance costs along with storage hassles.

Ex-Business Use

A branded bell tent, used for business use for one full UK season (Mar-Sept) would easily sell for 50% of the initial retail price. We would see bell tent’s that required cleaning and re-waterproofing, or that were quite severely damaged, still achieve around 50% of the initial retail price. This always surprised us and remained true throughout the 15 years we were trading.

Ex-Personal Use

One can expect to pay a little more for a tent that has been used for personal use. It’s assumed that an individuals tent has not been used quite so intensively – maybe 3-4 times a year on average for a total of, say, 4-5 weeks maximum. It’s also assumed that the personal user would take better care of their tent than those hired out to the general public.

However, it’s hard to truly know a tents age, how it’s been used and how it’s been stored. These would be sensible questions to ask ahead of a purchase.

Ex-Personal Use tents tend to sell for a higher price just before the start of the camping season through to mid season (Feb-Jul/Aug) and can sell for as much as 65% of the initial retail price. Personal tents being sold at the end of the season however, alongside ex-business use tents, would sell for considerably less, as bargain hunters are more easily swayed by the half price ex-business use tents. In fact, it can be difficult to sell an ex-personal use bell tent at all at the end of the season when competing with the ex-business use market.

Checking The Age of a Bell Tent

To check the age of a tent, each tent should display the batch number. It is often a short burst of numbers printed onto a label and sewn into a seam – this can be checked with the manufacturer or retailer for extra peace of mind. The manufacturer or retailer should be able to advise on the location of the batch number, and tell the date the batch arrived at their warehouse.

In Person Sell-Off

A lot of glamping sites will offer a view before you buy at the end of the season, whereby potential buyers are invited on site to take a look at the stock while it is pitched, to select their tent and pay and leave with it the same day. Be assured, they sell very quickly!

This is all great news for anyone planning to set-up in glamping with bell tents because when you put together your business plan and get to considering the set-up and running costs, you can factor this re-sale value in. It means you can choose to start with fresh tents each season and so meet the high expectations of the glamping customer.

As a glampsite owner, it’s always a bonus to have somebody else take the tent down at the end of the season, and to pas on the burden of winter storage, care and maintenance.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that bell tents hold their value well despite the condition they may be in. The timing of the sell off is crucial though, in order to achieve the highest value possible.

As there are now a number of decent blogs on-line, showing how to deal with problem bell tents, buyers seem more willing than ever to have a go, to find a doer-upper and fix it.

Ex-personal use bell tents should be sold off before the start or during the main camping season to achieve the best price. Expect to achieve as much as 65% of the initial purchase price if the tent is in ok/good condition. Whereas ex-business use bell tents tend to be sold off at the end of the main camping season for around 50% of the initial purchase price if in ok/good condition.