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Wait, if you could fit all your stuff in that van, you could have just shipped it all via ups? I consolidated whatever I had to 8 boxes (which would have taken

Wait, if you could fit all your stuff in that van, you could have just shipped it all via ups? I consolidated whatever I had to 8 boxes (which would have taken a fifth of the space in that van) and mailed it via usps from TX to NY for 400 bucks. It can’t get cheaper and reliable than that?

colechristensen 5y ago
Oh the van is packed to the gills. USPS will be somewhat more expensive than a moving company.
ehnto 5y ago
Could also rent a van. But it sounds like they want a van anyway, so a win all round.
- toast0 5y ago
  With the trends in vehicle prices being what they are, they might be able to sell the van on the other side of the trip for more than they bought it for.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Vans don't hold value because they aren't that convenient to daily drive, don't project the image a pickup does while screaming blue collar in a way that makes all the potential yuppie buyers head for the hills. Also the used market is chock full of them because of how vehicle depreciation on taxes works and the fact that all the premium businesses that cater to rich people and moneyed industries generally try not to be seen driving run down 20yro vans. Like every vehicle they reach a value floor based on condition.
    - ehnto 5y ago
      There are notable exceptions, but I would agree in general. Most of those exceptions are vehicles with cult-followings for "vanlife". Like sportswagons, vanagons, westfalias, even sprinters and transits hold a higher value floor than they used to. If anyone is reading this lamenting being priced out of the Sprinter market for their rad new van build, know that just about any van will do. Sprinters have an image premium, people buy them trying to not look poor while choosing to live in a van and that's bumped the price of the used market up.
      - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
        >Sprinters have an image premium, people buy them trying to not look poor while choosing to live in a van and that's bumped the price of the used market up. Yeah, rich people trying to not look poor while recreationaly doing something poor people do out of necessity tends to do all sorts of stupid things to markets when the goods in question are interchangeable between the use cases.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  An equivalent van rental is half the cost of what I paid for the van.

colechristensen 5y ago

Oh the van is packed to the gills. USPS will be somewhat more expensive than a moving company.

ehnto 5y ago

Could also rent a van. But it sounds like they want a van anyway, so a win all round.

toast0 5y ago
With the trends in vehicle prices being what they are, they might be able to sell the van on the other side of the trip for more than they bought it for.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Vans don't hold value because they aren't that convenient to daily drive, don't project the image a pickup does while screaming blue collar in a way that makes all the potential yuppie buyers head for the hills. Also the used market is chock full of them because of how vehicle depreciation on taxes works and the fact that all the premium businesses that cater to rich people and moneyed industries generally try not to be seen driving run down 20yro vans. Like every vehicle they reach a value floor based on condition.
  - ehnto 5y ago
    There are notable exceptions, but I would agree in general. Most of those exceptions are vehicles with cult-followings for "vanlife". Like sportswagons, vanagons, westfalias, even sprinters and transits hold a higher value floor than they used to. If anyone is reading this lamenting being priced out of the Sprinter market for their rad new van build, know that just about any van will do. Sprinters have an image premium, people buy them trying to not look poor while choosing to live in a van and that's bumped the price of the used market up.
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      >Sprinters have an image premium, people buy them trying to not look poor while choosing to live in a van and that's bumped the price of the used market up. Yeah, rich people trying to not look poor while recreationaly doing something poor people do out of necessity tends to do all sorts of stupid things to markets when the goods in question are interchangeable between the use cases.
colechristensen 5y ago
An equivalent van rental is half the cost of what I paid for the van.