why are rooftop tents so expensive?

[ttengineer]

lol, love the justifications based on R&D as well as other full business model costs. want me to pay your rent also?

the only this that matters is cost and profit margin. how much do they cost the seller and what is his/her profit margin?



...i'm guessing the profit margin on rtt is justttttt a we bit higher then ground tents.

I worked in outdoor retail through HS, College, and a little after to keep my prodeals. Around 15 years total, and even was a general manager for a store at one point during the down turn when my degreed work was slow.

I tell everyone this, because I think it should be shared.

The price a retailer pays for an item, aka wholesale, is usually 40%-50% of MSRP. ie a Mountain Safety Research (MSR) tent that has an MSRP of $500 retail, was bought from the manufacturer for about $250-$300, depending on the retailers buying power.

The manufacturer made AT LEAST 50% on wholesale, so in this example the tent probably cost less than $100 to design, make, ship, and import.




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[NudeLobster]

wait until yall learn how much consumer electronics, clothing, or the vehicles you overland costs to manufacture...

 

[Bayou Boy]

lol, love the justifications based on R&D as well as other full business model costs. want me to pay your rent also?

This is literally exactly how a business works. Rent comes out of the price you pay for the things you buy. As does every other business cost. The cluelessness about how businesses work amongst the general public today is astounding.

 

[grampswrx]

Or just buy a simpleoutdoors skyloft for $1400. They have a single color, single style, single size and it's made of plastic not fiberglass. I will report back on how durable it is. I just installed it last night.

 

[opp]

simpleoutdoors skyloft for $1400.
The guy on e bay when from $2500US down to $695 to dump them. made of plastic thin that will fail in a few years

Door on wrong side of screen .Biting bugs like it

 

[Lownomore]

This is literally exactly how a business works. Rent comes out of the price you pay for the things you buy. As does every other business cost. The cluelessness about how businesses work amongst the general public today is astounding.

Thats funny !
Always fun how people react when its said businesses dont pay taxes either....

If it was easy to run a business everyone would do it. Like building your own RTT.

I work for a small business (11 employees including the owners) and I know the amount of work the owners put in to keep the wheels turning.

I worked in outdoor retail through HS, College, and a little after to keep my prodeals. Around 15 years total, and even was a general manager for a store at one point during the down turn when my degreed work was slow.

I tell everyone this, because I think it should be shared.

The price a retailer pays for an item, aka wholesale, is usually 40%-50% of MSRP. ie a Mountain Safety Research (MSR) tent that has an MSRP of $500 retail, was bought from the manufacturer for about $250-$300, depending on the retailers buying power.

The manufacturer made AT LEAST 50% on wholesale, so in this example the tent probably cost less than $100 to design, make, ship, and import.

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As someone that has worked in retail most of my life and works in the automotive/outdoor business now that is a blanket statement that does not apply anywhere near universally, especially when you consider that most of the places that sell overlanding equipment are not huge retailers but smaller businesses. It also is often less true the higher the price of the item. Smaller ticket items usually get marked up more than large ones.

Most items in the offroad world run in the 20-30% markup range, which by the time you figure in all the costs associated with running a business isn't a huge amount. To get better than that you have to be moving a large volume of product or selling the cheaply manufactured mass produced stuff.

Being in the Northwest I also know quite a few people that have worked/do work for REI and I know their margins on most items is not that high.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Having been self-employed for most of my life a small business is super easy to run with huge profits if you have never done it.

 

[dcg141]

lol, love the justifications based on R&D as well as other full business model costs. want me to pay your rent also?

the only this that matters is cost and profit margin. how much do they cost the seller and what is his/her profit margin?



...i'm guessing the profit margin on rtt is justttttt a we bit higher then ground tents.

As a business owner that has to be the single most astonishing thing I have ever read or heard.

 

[Thinman]

then post the profit margin

 

[The Artisan]

then post the profit margin

Depends what the business wants to make after paying overhead. Same could be said about any product in the marketplace. Look at auto shop rates, avg rates say$125 per hr. A waterpump might book at say 6 hrs. A good mechanic might do it in 2 hrs. You will pay that 6 hour book time. Labor cost always far outweigh material cost be it a one man shop or a shop of more
people. Only difference is that one man shop will make more if he/she is doing all the work.
Kevin

 

[LD5050]

Welcome to capitalism. I hope you enjoy your stay.

 

[robert]

To add a helpful reply, there are several people who have posted threads on building their own, on here as well as other sites (tacomaworld comes to mind). Several of them have materials lists and all, with several of them using 80/20, one I recall used a cargo box as a start (looked claustrophobic to me), one I saw used a ground tent as a start, etc. It's certainly not out of the realm of the average person with a little skill, access to some equipment and the space to do it.

ETA- This guy has a series he does on building his.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I meet these 3 guys from Germany down in Baja. They built their RRT in the parking lot of Home Depot using material & tools from HD in Nova Scotia.

 

[The Artisan]

I meet these 3 guys from Germany down in Baja. They built their RRT in the parking lot of Home Depot using material & tools from HD in Nova Scotia.

View attachment 532152

It all comes down to what quality you want. Some would be happy with that others would say what a piece of.... Different strokes. If others are complaining about price I would say go out and build one. Most important and expensive part would be the sewing of the tent, quality of materials, seam tape, Quality auto grade plastic for windows along with home grade mosquito netting and double stitching for durability with sun guarded thread. This is coming from someone that specializes in auto upholstery.
Kevin

 

[jacobconroy]

I worked in outdoor retail through HS, College, and a little after to keep my prodeals. Around 15 years total, and even was a general manager for a store at one point during the down turn when my degreed work was slow.

I tell everyone this, because I think it should be shared.

The price a retailer pays for an item, aka wholesale, is usually 40%-50% of MSRP. ie a Mountain Safety Research (MSR) tent that has an MSRP of $500 retail, was bought from the manufacturer for about $250-$300, depending on the retailers buying power.

The manufacturer made AT LEAST 50% on wholesale, so in this example the tent probably cost less than $100 to design, make, ship, and import.




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Amen brother. Any person that has ever worked in retail knows this (except those that are paid to mop floors...maybe).

So, and this is the real question...do you think that the person or business that is selling you an RTT bought and imported for 2K deserves the extra 1.8K markup that they are collecting in the U.S.? What are you getting for that markup? It had better be EXEMPLARY customer service. Say, about $1800.00 worth of customer service. Think about it. Just how much customer service is that? Do they answer your calls? Do they return your messages immediately? Do they send you a card at Christmas? Do they know your middle name? Have they asked about your kids? Or dogs?

Many are quick to defend their ridiculous profits. Hard to blame them. I have to admit that I'd like to fleece the general public too. Just haven't found a good platform to work with. That, and I just don't want to spend my life screwing people over for money. I'm too lazy, and money isn't worth that much to me.

Disclaimer...I'm not saying that anyone in the RTT business is dishonest. Business is business. Everyone want to make money. American way and all.

@Mike S It seems like you do not remember the interaction that I went through with Autohome USA some years ago. After chasing you and your staff around for several weeks I purchased an RTT from a competitor. You and yours just couldn't be bothered with me. I had too many questions. I requested too many details. I wanted answers. It might be suggested that I expected $1.8K worth of customer service.

Though it is impressive that you've purportedly spent 1/2 million to accommodate the masses....let me know when you & your ilk can figure out how to return emails and VMs in a timely manner. I might be willing to hand over 1.8K to you for your trouble if all that happens to pass.

Well, no, I won't. That ship has sailed. While I don't feel confident in offering any public opinion as to your "****************** status", let's just say that I know where Autohome USA sits in my list of priorities. It's somewhere south of hemorrhoid surgery. Vasectomy would be a close second.

Keep your eyes on retailers such as Costco. When they decide to begin importing the same Italian, French, and/or South American RTTs (etc.) in bulk at negligible markups, existing RTT import businesses will simply die and customer service will improve.

This WILL happen.