JD GUMBEE
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2018
- Messages
- 826
- Reaction score
- 18
I have sent a few messages on this forum and others about coming up with a mini-van design.
After asking the question over and over "why don't you have a camper/why don't you camp" I got the same result over and over again.
The newbies, who have no experience, do not feel comfortable making something to camp in. Buying an RV is too much investment that has piss-poor returns (lets be honest here, RV's have terrible depreciation rates) and building one is beyond most peoples abilities.
People do not trust sleeping in a tent. They are scared to drive a big vehicle or back up a teardrop.
So after communing with a few builders and retail people, we came up with an idea.
Lets build a few minivan "kits" and see what they think.
In fact...
Let us have a "contest" to see what we could come up with and show them, with minimal investment, what can be done for the hobby-camper.
So my idea is to make a one-click kit on Amazon or another online retailer/wholesaler that a person could purchase and build with a friend or two in a weekend with a few simple tools.
Lets make it simple. Paper templates to tape on the plywood to make certain you are cutting it right.
Send it with a USB drive, containing step-by-step video guide...so a couple or a "weekend parent" could build it with their pre-teen as a bonding project to take on a journey later.
You could give it as a gift to a young person. Sleep in your van after the party...saves lives AND DUI's
Lets use a vehicle and kit that would be under $10K all-in...and could be used as a daily vehicle that got good MPG.
The minivan "contest" thread here was born.
No matter how easy you make a kit, there will be people who will want a "turn key" solution.
There is plenty of $$$$ to be made from assembling a kit that someone can look at, reflect on, discuss...etc.
...but that is not the feedback I have been getting.
"Why are you going to give this away?"
"Are you crazy, JD? This should cost triple the price and you are cutting the throat of people trying to make a living..." (paraphrased)
"I have ideas, but I'm not giving them away on the Internet."
"Someone will build this and sue you after a wreck. They will blame the kit for getting hurt."
"Did you check with the businesses to see if you are violating copyright laws?"
"X" did this already and "X" is going to sue you."
:-/
Really, people?
Linux is my OS.
I like the spirit in which Linux has been developed.
For the private person, it's free.
Thanks Linus.
I would like this to be similar.
The kit itself, should not be the profit center.
Assembling it, modifying it, installing it is where the income would come from.
Think about camps where folks could come for a weekend and have help assembling...
They show up with a seat-less Caravan and leave with a mini-camper.
(Stranger things have happened.)
It is VERY unlikely that someone is going to get rich from selling these plans.
Meyer made money on the MANX dune buggy, but it was a different time and the Internet was not available then.
There are not nearly as many campers out there as dune buggy people during the custom car/van boom of the 60-70's.
Coming up with a high-profit situation from a high-dollar camper kit isn't going to happen.
The people who will make one of these will do so on their own regardless...unless the "one-click" situation represents a bargain.
Having to warranty and stock all the different parts is a headache that would outweigh the profit.
Let the marketplace do that.
The idea is to introduce people to camping on the cheap...and getting it to look and work decent.
College students who would never think about driving a full-sized van, would easily drive a minivan.
Everyone has driven a minivan.
The little touches, including the window dressing for privacy, would provide just enough "cool factor" to attract "weekenders."
That is the point.
(Not to mention the tired salesman who may just want a good place to nap in a rest area, making our roads safer.)
Withholding input because you "want to get rich" is sad. Price the thing too high and people will just not bother.
...or they will pirate the idea instantly and a hundred copy cats will release a leaner version.
A good handy man with a set of Ryobi battery tools and a little know how could easily make a few hundred dollars in an afternoon building out a camper kit.
The customer would not only be involved...but would be proud of the result.
So let this act as my answer to all the emails and explain the reasons why I feel like I do.
Someone who is losing their home, can usually sell their vehicle and buy a decent minivan...giving them more options than a blow up mattress under a bridge or a tent.
Europe is loaded with small sized micro-campers.
The ideas there are astounding. Have been for years.
You are not going to get wealthy by "making" with your 3D printer, folks. Not on this project.
Now, coming up with a mount for a small TV that uses the screws on the door of a Caravan might net you some $$$.
Offering a wiring harness that plugs into the ciggy lighter to charge the rear battery...combined with the electronic current-limiting device so the alternator does not try to blast 100 amperes through a small wire...THAT would make you a profit.
Same with a kit-specific USB charging station that uses the cabinet as a mount. etc, etc, etc.
The strength here is in the community.
Think Linux.
Lots of brains, working on a problem.
Think about how many people make $$$$ supporting Linux.
Installing it. Fixing it. Teaching it.
Why not participate in it, instead of acting like Gollum? (My precioooouuussss...)
Becoming the next Bill Gates is a billion to one shot.
I don't know about you, but Linus Torvald is worshiped and needs no security detail.
He lives in a normal house and raises his children in the open.
He goes to the movies.
People love him. He gave away his OS.
I'd rather be a Linus type, wouldn't you?
After asking the question over and over "why don't you have a camper/why don't you camp" I got the same result over and over again.
The newbies, who have no experience, do not feel comfortable making something to camp in. Buying an RV is too much investment that has piss-poor returns (lets be honest here, RV's have terrible depreciation rates) and building one is beyond most peoples abilities.
People do not trust sleeping in a tent. They are scared to drive a big vehicle or back up a teardrop.
So after communing with a few builders and retail people, we came up with an idea.
Lets build a few minivan "kits" and see what they think.
In fact...
Let us have a "contest" to see what we could come up with and show them, with minimal investment, what can be done for the hobby-camper.
So my idea is to make a one-click kit on Amazon or another online retailer/wholesaler that a person could purchase and build with a friend or two in a weekend with a few simple tools.
Lets make it simple. Paper templates to tape on the plywood to make certain you are cutting it right.
Send it with a USB drive, containing step-by-step video guide...so a couple or a "weekend parent" could build it with their pre-teen as a bonding project to take on a journey later.
You could give it as a gift to a young person. Sleep in your van after the party...saves lives AND DUI's
Lets use a vehicle and kit that would be under $10K all-in...and could be used as a daily vehicle that got good MPG.
The minivan "contest" thread here was born.
No matter how easy you make a kit, there will be people who will want a "turn key" solution.
There is plenty of $$$$ to be made from assembling a kit that someone can look at, reflect on, discuss...etc.
...but that is not the feedback I have been getting.
"Why are you going to give this away?"
"Are you crazy, JD? This should cost triple the price and you are cutting the throat of people trying to make a living..." (paraphrased)
"I have ideas, but I'm not giving them away on the Internet."
"Someone will build this and sue you after a wreck. They will blame the kit for getting hurt."
"Did you check with the businesses to see if you are violating copyright laws?"
"X" did this already and "X" is going to sue you."
:-/
Really, people?
Linux is my OS.
I like the spirit in which Linux has been developed.
For the private person, it's free.
Thanks Linus.
I would like this to be similar.
The kit itself, should not be the profit center.
Assembling it, modifying it, installing it is where the income would come from.
Think about camps where folks could come for a weekend and have help assembling...
They show up with a seat-less Caravan and leave with a mini-camper.
(Stranger things have happened.)
It is VERY unlikely that someone is going to get rich from selling these plans.
Meyer made money on the MANX dune buggy, but it was a different time and the Internet was not available then.
There are not nearly as many campers out there as dune buggy people during the custom car/van boom of the 60-70's.
Coming up with a high-profit situation from a high-dollar camper kit isn't going to happen.
The people who will make one of these will do so on their own regardless...unless the "one-click" situation represents a bargain.
Having to warranty and stock all the different parts is a headache that would outweigh the profit.
Let the marketplace do that.
The idea is to introduce people to camping on the cheap...and getting it to look and work decent.
College students who would never think about driving a full-sized van, would easily drive a minivan.
Everyone has driven a minivan.
The little touches, including the window dressing for privacy, would provide just enough "cool factor" to attract "weekenders."
That is the point.
(Not to mention the tired salesman who may just want a good place to nap in a rest area, making our roads safer.)
Withholding input because you "want to get rich" is sad. Price the thing too high and people will just not bother.
...or they will pirate the idea instantly and a hundred copy cats will release a leaner version.
A good handy man with a set of Ryobi battery tools and a little know how could easily make a few hundred dollars in an afternoon building out a camper kit.
The customer would not only be involved...but would be proud of the result.
So let this act as my answer to all the emails and explain the reasons why I feel like I do.
Someone who is losing their home, can usually sell their vehicle and buy a decent minivan...giving them more options than a blow up mattress under a bridge or a tent.
Europe is loaded with small sized micro-campers.
The ideas there are astounding. Have been for years.
You are not going to get wealthy by "making" with your 3D printer, folks. Not on this project.
Now, coming up with a mount for a small TV that uses the screws on the door of a Caravan might net you some $$$.
Offering a wiring harness that plugs into the ciggy lighter to charge the rear battery...combined with the electronic current-limiting device so the alternator does not try to blast 100 amperes through a small wire...THAT would make you a profit.
Same with a kit-specific USB charging station that uses the cabinet as a mount. etc, etc, etc.
The strength here is in the community.
Think Linux.
Lots of brains, working on a problem.
Think about how many people make $$$$ supporting Linux.
Installing it. Fixing it. Teaching it.
Why not participate in it, instead of acting like Gollum? (My precioooouuussss...)
Becoming the next Bill Gates is a billion to one shot.
I don't know about you, but Linus Torvald is worshiped and needs no security detail.
He lives in a normal house and raises his children in the open.
He goes to the movies.
People love him. He gave away his OS.
I'd rather be a Linus type, wouldn't you?
