Actual build cost vs markup on US built off road trailers/teardrops.

80t0ylc

Hill & Gully Rider
12k seems to be the sweet spot . . . https://www.curbed.com/2018/8/22/17768844/camper-trailer-for-sale-teardrop-timberleaf

afterall, it's got, uh, something

View attachment 467666

clearance. it's got clearance and it's 12,000$. howzat?
Re: Tmberleaf Pika: Nice, but too small. While small is great for mobility & agility off road, it would be awkward for an extended overland trip. For $12k, rather have just a tad larger, like the Lead Dog Extreme 4x4. With the fold up bed that gives you a place to retreat during the day for inclimate weather, without trampeling on your bed. Also better suited for a 270* awning. The Pika would be nice for weekends away from the RV'ers, but not for longer trips, IMHO.
 

GB_Willys_2014

Well-known member
It is one of the most stressful professions that I can think of. No matter how meticulous or detail oriented you are, mistakes can and will happen. You'll misread something, or have a calculation error, or outside of that... Fuel costs will jump 20% overnight. (Canada sucks for that).

There are some projects out there that you quite literally cannot get paid enough to do. So when you can grab them for an obscene markup, it's a nice touch.
Really interesting thread.

I too do estimation, but for a completely different industry. Anyhow the calculation are similar.

A fixed/firm price project includes minimum ROI and risk calculations. Otherwise, it is just bad business.
 

battleaxe

Captain Obvious
Really interesting thread.

I too do estimation, but for a completely different industry. Anyhow the calculation are similar.

A fixed/firm price project includes minimum ROI and risk calculations. Otherwise, it is just bad business.

Definitely. At the end of the day, estimating is mostly the same. Just small differences that are industry/company specific.

With the fixed/firm price model, I wonder what their long term forecast is? Direct and indirects aren't static. I couldn't imagine providing a product or service at the same rate indefinitely.
 

capturecolorado

Hooray bikes!
So normally I try not to engage in these discussions, but I would like to weigh in a little bit on the cost to build a teardrop as a commercial production vs home built unit.

I can't make any assumptions about any competitors that I've seen mentioned here (Moby1, et al), but I know the exact costs in material and labor hours to produce our trailers at Timberleaf. We get snide comments on our Instagram posts all the time, "I can build that for $3k!" Etc etc, and it's incredibly difficult not to engage in that.

I understand the price tag of many of the teardrops on the market today seem shocking, especially when you compare them to traditional RV campers, but the cost in materials and cost of labor to produce these really does add up to quite a bit when it boils down to producing a quality product that you're proud to put your name on.

I won't go into detail here on how much our materials cost is per trailer nor how many hours it takes, I'm sorry but I don't feel right in being quite that transparent. But I do wish to chime in this little bit. Creating these trailers is a time-heavy process and using high quality materials with craftsmanship that will last takes time. I'm happy to say that we've gotten our efficiency fairly dialed and that allows us to turn a profit, but I often hear impressions that we must be raking in the profits given our pricing structure, please understand that isn't the case. Once you factor in shop time and bill of materials, trailer cost adds up fast.

I take pride in the excellent fit and finish of our trailers, and we refuse to compromise with subpar materials or finish quality to lower our price. Tremendous time and energy is poured into our products to make sure that we're producing the highest quality trailers that we can, that will last many years to come.
 

flipmachine

Adventurer
So normally I try not to engage in these discussions, but I would like to weigh in a little bit on the cost to build a teardrop as a commercial production vs home built unit.

I can't make any assumptions about any competitors that I've seen mentioned here (Moby1, et al), but I know the exact costs in material and labor hours to produce our trailers at Timberleaf. We get snide comments on our Instagram posts all the time, "I can build that for $3k!" Etc etc, and it's incredibly difficult not to engage in that.

I understand the price tag of many of the teardrops on the market today seem shocking, especially when you compare them to traditional RV campers, but the cost in materials and cost of labor to produce these really does add up to quite a bit when it boils down to producing a quality product that you're proud to put your name on.

I won't go into detail here on how much our materials cost is per trailer nor how many hours it takes, I'm sorry but I don't feel right in being quite that transparent. But I do wish to chime in this little bit. Creating these trailers is a time-heavy process and using high quality materials with craftsmanship that will last takes time. I'm happy to say that we've gotten our efficiency fairly dialed and that allows us to turn a profit, but I often hear impressions that we must be raking in the profits given our pricing structure, please understand that isn't the case. Once you factor in shop time and bill of materials, trailer cost adds up fast.

I take pride in the excellent fit and finish of our trailers, and we refuse to compromise with subpar materials or finish quality to lower our price. Tremendous time and energy is poured into our products to make sure that we're producing the highest quality trailers that we can, that will last many years to come.

Ha, thats awesome!!! when I first started building trailers I thought the same thing, I can build that trailer for 5k tops! it turned into a 17k build, if you like quality, it takes money, that 17k was just parts.. no time allocated in that, what makes a ferrari 200k over honda civic? alot of it is cost of the parts and being hand built... some times you gotta pay to play
 

opp

Observer
ba ba ba time is what cost .Most build the same crap. same way. There faster better way to build. Most trailers are built to last 5 years. if your lucky Sorry about the rant BUT it's take so long to build Olney have a hand saw in my $60,000 truck parked at my 1,000,000 house
 
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NatersXJ6

Explorer
It is worth mentioning that the level of defect acceptable in a home build is often far higher than that acceptable in a purchased product. I.E: if I cut a piece 1/16 or 1/8 short and fill a gap with weld or wood filler, or caulk, I know that defect, the opportunity cost of correcting it, and, in many cases I choose to live and learn. In a manufactured product, no matter the investment, I expect a high level of fit and finish and the manufacturer bears the financial cost of rework.

Rework is the most expensive work no matter what!

I believe that most people will accept a much higher level of defect from their own work than they ever will from a manufacturer, no matter what the cost is. There are ample threads on here complaining about non-structural or cosmetic failure and stating something to the effect of... I paid XXX $ and I expect better.
 

GkraneTX

Active member
Ha, thats awesome!!! when I first started building trailers I thought the same thing, I can build that trailer for 5k tops! it turned into a 17k build, if you like quality, it takes money, that 17k was just parts.. no time allocated in that, what makes a ferrari 200k over honda civic? alot of it is cost of the parts and being hand built... some times you gotta pay to play

But in a lot of the cases these 25-30k Ferrari's are made out of wood.
 

Grump E-Vet

Active member
I understand the price tag of many of the teardrops on the market today seem shocking, especially when you compare them to traditional RV campers, but the cost in materials and cost of labor to produce these really does add up to quite a bit when it boils down to producing a quality product that you're proud to put your name on.

I won't go into detail here on how much our materials cost is per trailer nor how many hours it takes, I'm sorry but I don't feel right in being quite that transparent. But I do wish to chime in this little bit. Creating these trailers is a time-heavy process and using high quality materials with craftsmanship that will last takes time. I'm happy to say that we've gotten our efficiency fairly dialed and that allows us to turn a profit, but I often hear impressions that we must be raking in the profits given our pricing structure, please understand that isn't the case. Once you factor in shop time and bill of materials, trailer cost adds up fast.

I think this was a gracious way of breaking it down @capturecolorado. Basically you are charging based off the concept of opportunity cost. People need to realize that because of the lower production volumes of most trailer manufacturers they are not able to really take advantage of economies of scale both for buying production materials or from more efficient mass production yet. So you have to pay closer attention to the supply and demand curves and know what he market will bear. Essentially, right now these trailers cost what they cost but as more consumers purchase them overtime prices should come down.

As far as building a trailer from scratch I have helped do two and the cost savings is not near what people think it is especially when you consider the amount of time spent that could be spent doing something else or some of the tools we ended up needing to purchase.
 

Sedonut

Adventurer
In anything you are willing to do for fun you calculate your time at $.05 per hour. There are lots of projects I do that I would be much better off having someone pay me my normal hourly rate.
I like learning new things and new skills. I would rather research a project than watch drivel on TV.

On a new product, you have to figure the owner worked for months not taking any salary and paying rent and staff. They hope to turn out a nice product and make a profit, hopefully build a business. A sad fact is 90% of small businesses fail. I put 2 years of free labor and many thousands into one. One of my key suppliers, General Electric, said they were no longer going to make a component, a small motor that cost $20 they had been making for 30 years. My product was designed around that motor. I could have another manufacturer tool up for that motor, they wanted a $500,000 initial order. I scrapped the company.

It takes skill, guts, persistence and luck to run a successful business. They deserve to make a good living and a profit.
 

The Artisan

Adventurer
Plus it all comes down to shop rates. Let say on the lower end of $100 per hour. Do the math on the labor on the build.
Kevin
 

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