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The Best Amenities and Add-Ons

August 24, 2022
• GoCamp Success

If you want to be successful renting out your van, it pays to go the extra mile. Let’s talk in detail about amenities and add-ons. These features help make your RV stand out to renters. And they will ensure renters have a five-star experience.

The difference between amenities and add-ons

Your included amenities are the features of your RV that are most essential. Think a Dometic fridge or a plush memory foam mattress. Amenities always come with no extra charge.

Add-ons can be things, like a surfboard, or services, like making campground reservations on behalf of your renters. An add-on is something optional that renters decide to include as part of their reservation for an additional fee. Not everybody wants a surfboard. But those that do will be glad to know they can use yours for a fee.

How many add-ons to offer

Instead of overwhelming renters with too many options, lead with your top five add-ons in your RV’s online description. Then if you just can’t resist, reveal a longer list of options to renters once they’ve confirmed their booking.

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Renter Preferences and Industry Trends

Back in the pre-pandemic days, our number one requested add-on for camper van rentals was a bike rack. These days, the request for a portable toilet is the most popular add-on. Since the demand for this feature is particularly high, an RV owner could offer a portable toilet as an included amenity.

This makes it a part of the base rental rate, and marketing the porta potty as a feature that distinguishes the RV from others is a valid strategy. Alternatively, knowing they are in high demand, an RV owner could treat the portable toilet like an add-on. Essentially, you have to manually add it to your reservation and charge an extra fee for this request.

The second most popular request is pet-friendly rigs. And the third most popular add-on is delivery services. For example, for a fee, you can drop off your RV at the airport for a renter who’s flying in. So let’s pop the hood and look at these three requests individually.

Three Best Amenities and Add-Ons

Portable toilets

Portable toilets are self-contained, sanitary toilets that you tuck out of the way while on the road. And then they can be moved to a designated area for use when the vehicle is not in motion. The portable toilets popular for add-ons are different from a cassette toilet, which is permanently mounted to your camper van or RV.

When it comes to portable toilets, lots of RV owners love the Thetford brand, while others rave about the Camco brand. Check out this definitive guide to RV toilets from our friends the Russos.

Pet Friendly

If you plan to allow pets in your RV, we suggest you collect an additional fee through an add-on for vans that are pet friendly. And if the idea of a pet in your van isn’t appealing to you, then you can treat the fact that your RV  doesn’t allow pets as an amenity.

Creating “pet friendly” as an add-on to your camper van designates it as pet friendly in search results and attracts more renters. It also alerts you to the fact that renters are bringing a pet. Finally, it gives you additional financial resources to account for the extra cleaning you will need to do at the end of the rental.

Even though your rig might be pet friendly, we don’t recommend using photos of pets inside your van in your marketing. Not everyone loves or can share space with furry friends. So that your marketing photos appeal to as wide an audience as possible, show pets in the campsite, but not on the bed inside the van.

Delivery Service

Usually renters will want to pick up your RV directly from you. They’ll get dropped off at the pick up location (by a friend or a service), get the keys from you, learn the ropes of your rig, and then head off into the sunset as happy campers.

In other cases, if someone is flying in for example, offering to deliver the RV can serve as a key feature that helps remove perceived barriers for renters. RV owners that offer delivery services as an optional add-on typically price three different scenarios: (1) delivery for check out (2) pick up for check in (3) or both. You’ll want to factor in your time and the distance that you’re willing to go for delivery services when determining the pricing for this add-on.

So that you are not responsible for guaranteeing the safety of someone else’s vehicle, we recommend that you discourage renters from leaving behind a private vehicle when they pick up the RV from you. Encourage them to get a lift instead.

Find Success with these Best Practices for RV Owners

We’ve been helping van owners succeed in renting out their camper vans since 2017. Over the years we’ve facilitated 1,000’s of successful rentals and made it possible for van owners to earn tens of thousands of dollars. For more information about renting out your camper van, check out all the articles written for van owners. And if you are ready to list your camper van with GoCamp, head to the List Your Van page now.

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