Defunct teardrop companies

[RexMason]

Hi, I've spent weeks researching teardrop manufacturers and I've been amazed at how many companies there are. Yet....I'm even more amazed by how many seem to have gone out of business. I looked at this older website:

http://www.campingearth.com/teardrop/

Almost all the builders listed are gone. Hunter, dakan, freedom trailer, gasoline alley.... And those are just the first few. I think Hunter got bought up by Little Guy? I could see people be worried that if they gave a builder a deposit they'd go out of business before their teardrop was completed!

So...why did so many of these fail? If Camp-Inn has a six month wait, there must be a market for people who can't or don't want to home build...

[pilky01]

Bad timing. Much like the firearms industry 5 years ago companies were dropping like flies. Last year anyone in business had a wait list months long. Timing is everything.

[grant whipp]

In the vast majority of cases, building teardrops commercially is mostly a labor of love, because in the end, there's not much profit to be made for the amount of work required. Now, with the advent of CNC and other high-tech pieces of expensive machinery, that amount of labor (and related cost) is reduced, but in the end (just as back in the '40s, '50s, & '60s) it all boils down to the return on your investment in time & effort. IMHO (and, I've been at this for over 30 years!)

CHEERS!

[RexMason]

Thanks Grant! That's good info. With all the time and materials there probably isn't a lot a profit, expecially in base models.

[wincrasher]

Well periodically we also have a thread come out asking if the manufactured units are "worth it". Usually a lot of lively discussion with a majority saying no, they are too expensive. Probably because this forum has a lot of home-builders on it. So the market for trailers like Camp-Inn is very limited. They are beautifully made, don't get me wrong, but there are very few folks willing to shell out $20 grand for a teardrop.

It's really amazing that Little Guy is doing so well. Their products would best be described as middle-of-the-road in price, quality and features. Plenty good enough for me and alot of other folks. But certainly not "cheap". Maybe there are just making it work on volume.

There are some cheapies out there : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Escape-Trailers/537758826309830. Bare-bones and not much money. Will they survive?

[Silvrzuki77]

Funny, i had sold my offroad teardrop on 35's to a awesome older couple. All they say is every time the stop some where they get asked who made it and how much to buy it. Yet I was worried it would never sell for my time and investment. I think I would have seriously thought of making more if the market was there.

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