In these days of high demand for RVs of all types, a lot of people have heard about RV Brokers but wonder just what does an RV Broker do? The answer is... a lot!

In Episode 345 of the RV Podcast, we talk to Dr. James Upham, a well-known RV broker with years of experience. He offers a very candid explanation of just why someone may want to use an RV broker to either help them find and buy the RV of their dreams or to sell their current model.

He also reveals some little-known insider information about a secret industry sales tactic that explains why some RV salesman may steer you towards a particular RV that pays them an under-the-table payment called a "SPIF" instead of recommending what may be the best choice for you.

Click the player below to listen to the entire podcast. And for a complete transcript of my interview, keep scrolling down.

Here is an edited transcript of the interview with Dr. James Upham of MyRVBroker.com:

What does an RV Broker do?

Mike Wendland: RVs have never been in higher demand. It's harder and harder to find what you want. And that's why I thought that you would make such a great guest. Tell everybody, first of all, what is an RV broker? What do they do?

James Upham: So an RV broker works much like an auto broker. Okay? So they work... The term is used often the middleman, but really the person in between so that it saves, hopefully,  saves money, time and it gets you the best deal. Exactly what you're looking for.

RV brokers are generally used to sell or buy or sometimes both, motorhomes. So if you're looking to get out of one, get into one, you don't want to deal with negotiation. You don't have time. Maybe that's an issue for you. You definitely want to get the best deal. You appreciate the whole sales process. This is where you would hire an RV broker to come in and do the work for you.

Why use an RV Broker?

Mike Wendland: So, one way would be to sell my RV. And of course, this is a prime time to sell them. You might just talk a little bit about that. So if I contract with you to sell my RV, what do you do? Why would I do that rather than putting an ad in one of the trade publications or put a sign out front?

James Upham: Well, right now, you hit it on the head, Mike, you don't want to do that. The market right now is such that it's amazing what some of these RVs are getting in the used market right now. I mean, I happened to spend a lot of my time helping buyers, new buyers, first-time buyers, especially.

And a lot of first-time buyers are looking into the new market. The reason being is that a lot of the used market, where, as before, you would save a substantial amount of money. In this market, you don't save a lot. So you really don't need an RV broker in my opinion, to sell your unit. Your best way to do that now is to go to Facebook Marketplace, saved Craigslist, some of these free sites that you would do it on your own.

Now, with that said, let's say that you still didn't want to mess with that and you wanted to hire someone like us in order to sell. What we would do is we would pre-negotiate some arrangement with you.

RV Brokers take a percentage of the deal

We would decide on what our fee would be, and then we would take it from there. So we would take all your pictures. We would list them for you. We do things a little differently for our services and what brokers generally do. But yeah, your big RV sites and such, they'll try to line up certain buyers for your motorhome.

But it may cost you five, 10% depending on what people are charging. And you just don't want to do that right now in this market, because you have a much better chance of selling it yourself.

Mike Wendland: I appreciate you being so honest about that because it really does seem to be a sellers market. So flipping it on the other side and the side that I think is of most interest right now, to so many new people who can't find that RV they want,