Is your RV or trailer sitting in your driveway or storage unit, lonely and unused? Want (or need) it to start earning its keep? Keep reading to learn how to make money with your RV or trailer.

Now, most of us are staying home right now, so this may be something you save for later, when travel restrictions are lifted. However, if you’re willing, there are medical professionals looking for units to rent now (more on that in a minute).

If you own an RV or travel trailer or are thinking about buying one, you know that RVs aren’t a great investment. But if you’re like us, you have specific reasons for buying them and don’t mind the inherent loss involved. While we are careful with our budget, the financial loss (low gas mileage, depreciation, etc) is offset by the quality family time we gain. We like road tripping and camping, and having an RV or trailer (we’ve had both) for those trips makes them more enjoyable.

Why we have an RV when it’s a terrible waste of money

1. The main reason is ease of food preparation

Our daughter and I have celiac disease and there are very few restaurants we can safely eat at. We’ve planned entire trips across the country around those restaurants (seriously!), but they get old very fast and aren’t always conveniently located along our route. We’ve also used coolers to bring food along, but no matter what we do, food ends up soggy and questionably warm.

Since we bring our kitchen with us, complete with fridge, freezer, stove, and running water, meal times are no longer stressful and/or monotonous.

2. We like to have a flexible schedule when road tripping

Jeremy prefers to drive at night when there’s less traffic, then pull into a truck stop or rest stop for the night, several hours after the kiddos have fallen asleep in their car seats. No hotel reservations also means we can slow down and spend more time in one area or speed ahead and get to the next spot ahead of plan.

3. We live across the country from most of our family, so we’d have to either fly or drive when visiting

There have been times when we’ve flown, and there are advantages to that. But when camping with family is on the docket, it’s much more difficult to get all our gear out there. We also tend to consolidate our trips so that we attend reunions for both our families as well as doing some sightseeing (we love visiting national parks) with our kiddos. The RV just makes it all work out better.

4. It’s convenient when traveling with young children.

If you have potty-training toddlers or preschoolers who don’t have much bladder control, having a toilet a few steps away is priceless.

While RVs are a money drain, if it’s important to your family to have one, as it is ours, you can counter some of that expense by renting it to others. Use the money you earn to pay your RV loan, fund your next road trip, or whatever you need some extra money for.

6 Steps to Make Money With Your RV

Before you get started, make sure you go into this with your eyes open. There are some distinct pros and cons to renting your RV to someone else.

1. Consider why you should rent your RV to others

• There’s no charge to list your RV on RVShare or Outdoorsy.
• Make money with something that usually sits in your driveway or in storage.
• Meet new people.
• Help others. In our area, the closest big rental place (you know the kind, with their name plastered all over every RV) is several hours away in the big city, and several of our renters were very happy to find a local option, saving them a lot of time.

2. As well as why you shouldn’t rent your RV to others

• RVShare and Outdoorsy do take a percentage of each rental fee.
 Though they do provide a service (advertising, rental platform, etc), so I think it’s pretty fair.
• It can be inconvenient.
 Pickup and drop off times may not mesh well with your schedule, especially if renters are running late. Cleaning and maintenance can also be an issue if you have a tight schedule.
• Meeting location.
 Do you meet them at your storage lot? Do you meet them at your house? Will you meet them at a store parking lot? What do you feel comfortable with and have time for?
• Deciding on your availability can be problematic as well.
 Do you want the RV for your own trips? Do you need to make sure both of you are present for the pickup or drop-off?
  • Jeremy was out of town for our second pickup and I found a hole in our hot water heater 5 minutes before our renters arrived. We had accidentally winterized our RV after the first freeze, our first renters didn’t use the water, and it turned into a big mess with very bad timing. I don’t deal well with that kind of stress, and after that, we made sure that we blocked out any dates Jeremy was out of town. If an issue arose, he’d be around to help figure it out.
• 
There will be damage to your RV. Whether it’s normal wear and tear, accidental damage, or malicious damage, there will be damage. Are you prepared for that? If your RV is your baby, perhaps you shouldn’t rent it to others who might not treat it as you would.
• You will most likely have to change your insurance company.
 Most insurance companies will cancel your policy if they find out you are renting your RV to others. There are a couple insurance companies that will issue a policy if you are renting it, but you may have to pay a higher premium (that was the case for us). RVShare and Outdoorsy offer insurance for the rental period, but you must have another policy in place. This makes no sense, but it’s how the insurance companies work, so there’s not much to be done about it.

3. One more thing to consider before you rent out your RV

Are you worried about resale value dropping because of higher mileage, wear and tear, and damage? If so, this might not be a great idea. We plan to sell our RV soon (so we can buy an Airstream) and were concerned about the hit to our resale value, which is why we’ve recently stopped renting our RV to others. If we weren’t planning on selling it soon though, we would still be renting it out.

If you’ve considered all the pros and cons and want to move forward with renting your RV to others, keep reading.

4. List your RV

We listed our RV on RVShare and Outdoorsy, which are peer-to-peer rental networks, much like AirBnB, but strictly for RVs and camping trailers. Among other things, RVShare and Outdoorsy provide marketing, insurance, and a searchable database for people looking for an RV or trailer to rent. Both sites are easy to use, but you should do some prep work to get more bookings that go smoothly.

go here to read about how to have a successful RV rental experience

While now isn’t a great time for a road trip, there are medical professionals who need RVs and trailers to live in, either for temporary housing or to self-isolate in. RVShare and Outdoorsy are both facilitating these rentals. They also provide information on how to stay safe while sterilizing your unit after each rental.

You can find more info on Outdoorsy’s efforts here, and more info on RVShare’s efforts here.

5. Advertise your RV

RVShare and Outdoorsy run advertising campaigns, but you can also do your own advertising on FaceBook, Craigslist, etc and drive customers straight to your listings. Include affiliate links in your listings and you’ll receive a commission even if they rent from someone else. (more on that at the end of the post!)

6. Make it a side hustle

If you like renting out your RV, consider making a business or side hustle of it. You could purchase additional RVs or trailers cheaply and grow a small fleet. You could also take others’ RVs or trailers on consignment and manage the rental process for them, taking a commission in the process.

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Want to list your RV or trailer on RVShare or Outdoorsy? Use my links when you set up your account and I’ll earn a commission at no cost to you. You can then turn around and get your own affiliate links to share with friends, family, and future customers.

Don’t have an RV yet but you want to rent an RV or trailer for your next camping or road trip? Use my Outdoorsy link and receive $50 off a rental of $200 or more. There’s no RVShare discount available, but if you use either link I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Have any questions about how to make money with your RV by renting it to others? Pop ’em in the comments!