RE: Where does the money go?
Folks, I realize that B's and truck campers are different. We have enjoyed taking our tc to off the path places, but as stated, we are getting older as well, and down the line, will need to replace our camper - lot of things about the B that I do like, realizing that it is different purposed. We will see.....
Point I was trying to make is that smaller sale units (both B nd tc match this, compared to A, C's and tt's) seem to have higher prices per unit for what you get, compared to the larger market. The OP's original question was why these things cost so much.....
I know that you pay MORE for a truck camper than a similar travel trailer, and it appears that the same is true of the B's compared to say a smaller C.
Maybe if our niche products were bought by more people, the price be more in line with the high volume types.
RE: Where does the money go?
We have a truck camper, have been reading the class B group as a possible future replacement....
Even in the small confines of a B, many of the assemblies could be crafted "outside the shell" then moved into the van for final install. But they do seem to be more "labor-intensive" than the bigger models.
Coming from the truck camper group, we complain about the same thing - the price of "our" campers are higher than comperable sizes of travel trailers!
I think both classes are considered niche markets (due to number of sales) and manufacturers can command similar niche market prices... (just my opinion...). And with less numbers sold, the design, tool, marketing, etc costs are spread over a smaller number of units, so costs per unit are higher.
If you have the time and skill, building your own could yield a better (for you) unit, but I don't think you would save money - save on labor costs, but you can't buy the "stuff" as cheaply as the manufacturers who buy in volume. And resale on a one-off would not be that good...
