About RVBidFind and how the numbers work

RVBidFind is a finder and a valuation tool for RVs at auction. It reads the public listings of more than forty auction sites, identifies each rig, and tells you what the same rig has been selling for — before you bid. It is not an auction house, does not take bids, and is not affiliated with any of the sites it reads.

Where the listings come from

Every half hour the site scans repo remarketers (CrankyApe, Repocast, Orbitbid and others), auction marketplaces (Proxibid, BidSpotter, GovPlanet, IronPlanet), the public catalogs of Copart brokers, the government surplus circuit (GSA Auctions, Public Surplus, state and county programs) and eBay Motors through its official API. Only public pages are read, under each site's robots rules, at a polite pace, with an honest crawler identity. Every lot links back to the site that is selling it.

How a lot is identified

Auction titles are messy: "#4069475 - 2006 KEYSTONE/COUGAR 5TH WHEEL, SALVAGE". A parser turns each into year, make, model line, floorplan, body style, length, mileage, slide count, fuel and condition flags (salvage, flood, non-running, no title). Where a lot page lists specs, those win over the title. Each parse carries a confidence score, and low-confidence fields are flagged on the lot page.

The comp value

The comp value is what rigs like this one are going for at auction right now. The engine finds recent observations of the same body style and make — the same model line where possible — within four model years, adjusts each for year, mileage, length and disclosed condition, weights recent and settled sales more, trims outliers, and takes a weighted median. When comps are thin the estimate is blended with a depreciation model and the confidence rating says so plainly. It is a hammer-side number, not a retail asking price.

Sold prices

Auction sites rarely publish hammer results. When a lot's clock runs out, the last bid RVBidFind observed becomes its sold price only if bidding was actually seen — a bid count above zero, or a bid that moved between scans. A lone opening bid is never called a sale. Sold comps are labelled and weighted above live bids.

All-in cost, max bid and deal score

The all-in figure adds the buyer premium (the platform's published rate where known, 13% otherwise), sales tax, a documentation fee, transport at $2.25 a mile and a reconditioning allowance to the current bid. The max bid works backwards from the retail reference less a target margin, capped at the comp value. The deal score maps where the current bid sits against the comp value onto 0–100, damped when the comps are thin. Every assumption is shown and adjustable on the lot page.

Retail asking prices

Classified listings from dealer and private sellers are tracked separately as retail evidence. They never appear as lots and never enter the hammer comps; when three or more comparable asking prices exist they replace the depreciation model as the retail reference, and are labelled as asking prices.

What the numbers cannot tell you

Whether a reserve was met, what the rig smells like inside, whether the roof leaks, or what your state will do with a salvage title. Inspect where you can, budget for repairs where you cannot, and read the lot terms. RVBidFind is a research tool, not financial advice.

Membership and revenue

Browsing every listing is free. Pro is $2.99 a month, cancel anytime, and unlocks the comp value, deal score, all-in cost, max bid, bid history and market pulse, ad-free. Free visitors see advertising and sponsored placements, and some outbound links carry affiliate tags at no cost to you.

Contact

Corrections, takedown requests from auction houses, and partnership enquiries: hello@rvbidfind.com.