Used utility trailers

Are you in the market for a used utility trailer, but not quite sure where you should look? Rest assured that used utility trailers can be quite easy to find and cost effective to buy, too.

Where can you find used utility trailers?

Classifieds are one good place to look for used utility trailers. The Internet is a great place to start your search as well. The online auction site eBay is also a good place to find these types of trailers. However, when you shop on the Internet, there are a few things to keep in mind as you're shopping for a used utility trailer. Here are some questions you should ask yourself when you're doing your shopping:

Is the seller local?

Oftentimes, you can search classified ads online or eBay ads by location. This will narrow down your choice of sellers so that you're not finding trailers for sale in California when you're in Iowa, as one example.

Check quality

A private sale is going to be a little bit harder to pin down, but many places online offer guarantees for their used utility trailer sales. When you buy a utility trailer from an online seller, make sure you get a guarantee or warranty if at all possible. Most reputable sellers online will guarantee their own trailers, although they may not guarantee trailers they've gotten from private sales if they handle those as well.

Check company or seller reputation

It's pretty easy to check the reputation of a seller on eBay, for example. When you go on eBay to look at used utility trailers, you should see the seller's feedback rating right on the page where the trailer is listed, oftentimes on the right-hand side. In general, a seller that has a 98% rating is good, and if at all possible, you should choose a seller that has been in business for a while and has handled a lot of sales. In addition, you can get detailed feedback ratings from other buyers on eBay, which can put your mind to rest when it comes to buying a trailer. Finally, eBay also offers you buyer protection, which other venues may as well. Check company websites to see what buyer protections and guarantees are offered to those who buy even used utility trailers.

If you find a good used utility trailer that you think you want to buy on a particular company's website, it's pretty easy to check for complaints even if they're not on an auction site like eBay. Simply go to a search engine like Google, type in the company's name and the word "complaint" or "review," and you should find any complaints the company has had in regard to service or quality. (Again, of course, you're probably going to want to base the company you choose on the fact that it's local, because a utility trailer isn't something that you're going to likely want a shipping costs for even if it can be delivered.)

Check trailer quality

One good thing about having to go and pick the trailer up yourself is that of course you're going to be able to see it firsthand before you buy. This isn't often true when you buy something off the Internet or even from a classified ad or auction site like eBay, but it's good that you can check it out for yourself before you plunk down your hard-earned cash. And even if, for example, the seller has gotten good quality reviews or the company itself has a good reputation, never feel obligated to buy the trailer if you get there and you find out that it's not what you want, either because it's in disrepair or otherwise of lower quality, or simply because it's not quite the trailer you thought you were buying and is of a slightly different type, bigger, smaller than you wanted, etc.

Check price

Although this isn't your first consideration, the price you pay for your used utility trailer should matter, too. The first thing you want to look for is a good quality trailer bought from a reputable company or private seller, and of course you want the ability to be able to go and pick the trailer up yourself locally. That means you want the seller to be local to you.

When it comes to doing price comparisons for used utility trailers, you can narrow down choices first by location and type of trailer, then by trailer quality, and finally by price. Doing your search in this way should give you two or three options at least that you can go and check out locally before you make your final choice.