Buying and Selling Existing Campground Memberships.

When you are looking to purchase a campground membership you can often save 25% to 50% or more when you choose to buy once from a private party.  However, when you are dealing with that private party you need to make sure you are buying what you believe your are buying.  You don’t want to be the next victim of a scam.  Most sellers are trustworthy and will disclose everything, but with everything in life there are those sellers that are dishonest. 

When buying a membership you need to know the following at a minimum:

1. Cost of the Membership
2. Cost of the Transfer Fees
3. Whether the Dues are Current or Past Due
4. Amount of the Dues per Year
5. What the Membership entitles you too:
   1. Which Parks – can you stay in just the home park or are there several parks in the system that you can stay in.
   2. Maximum Number of Nights – you are typically allowed a certain number of nights each year in each type of program.  However, in most cases you will only be able to use a certain amount of nights in a row.  With a lot of these memberships you can stay for 14 nights and then must leave the system (or at least that park) for 7-14 nights before returning.  This will all be in the contract.
   3. What Costs you are Responsible for – per night fees, pet fees, electric fees, etc.
   4. Transferability of the Membership – make sure that the membership can be transferred to you and also that you can sell it again at a later date.

When you are buying a second hand membership you will have the following types of costs:

1. Transfer Fee – can be paid by buyer, seller, or split among buyer and seller.
2. Dues – all dues must be brought current and you will be responsible if they are not.  You may have to pay a year’s worth of dues up front.
3. Cost of Membership – This is the price you and the seller negotiate on.  If you are dealing with a seller long distance you may want to use an escrow company or an online service such as escrow.com.

Once you make an agreement with the seller you will need to fill out the paperwork (transfer docs) and you will be issued a new membership number and card once all the fees are paid for the transfer and to the seller.

To verify all of this information you will need to get the first and last name of the member as well as the member number.  You can take this information and call the corporate headquarters to check out the details of the membership.  There is a list of phone numbers and web addresses below.

There are basically two types of campground memberships:

1. Private Campground Memberships:  These memberships allow you to stay for a free or discounted rate at all of the parks in that system of campgrounds.  In most cases you will have a park that is designated as your “home park” and you may have more privileges at the home park.  Then you have the other parks in the system that allow you to travel and stay when you want a change of scenery.  Common types are Western Horizons, NACO, Leisure Time, and K/M.  When looking at buying any of these types of memberships you want to review the contract in detail.
    
2. Reciprocal Campground Memberships:  These may be private or public campgrounds that will allow you to stay in their park even though you are not a direct member in their park but recognize your outside membership.  Again you will want to review the contract in detail and see if you have reduced fees and other limitations.  In some cases you must have joined a membership campground before you can add on the reciprocal membership.  Popular types or reciprocal memberships are Coast-to-Coast, Passport America, Happy Camper, and RPI.

Another type of campground affiliation would include the KOA system and the Good Sam’s Club.  These campground affiliations will typically allow you to receive a discounted stay if you are a member.

Sellers:  Make sure that you have all the necessary information available for you buyer.  The more prepared you are in answering questions and providing documentation, the better the experience will be for all involved.

To a Successful Transaction!

Here are some quick links:

Thousand Trails (Naco, Leisure Time, Mid Atlantic, ELS Park Pass, Outdoor World) - (800) 205-0606

Western Horizons - (970) 641-5387 ext 1

Coast to Coast - (800) 368-5721

Resort Parks International - RPI - (800) 635-8498

Outdoor Adventures - (888) 871-9953

Adventure Outdoor Resorts - AOR - (800) 934-3443

Travel Resorts of America - TRA - (800) 644-8068

Colorado River Adventures - CRA - (866) 217-8111

Sundance Meadows - (888) 933-6033

KM Resorts - (800) 392-5722