2023 Pricing

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

To me that is just a ridiculous increase in such a short amount of time that cannot be justified despite supposed cost increases to produce.

Many products are sold at a very high mark-up, far beyond that of any Escape; that likely includes some RVs, such as Airstream trailers. Is that okay, as long as they consistently charge that high mark-up, because the rate of change is the issue?

ETI may indeed price itself out of a particular market segment, which is likely a mistake, but they don't need to "justify" anything to anyone other than corporate ownership.

[Selkirk]

At the end of the day, ETI will price their product at level that they believe the market will bear. After researching about a dozen different brands/models, I still think the price remains competitive with other alternatives on the market that offer comparable sizes, features, quality, and longevity potential.

It certainly hasn't been pleasant to see the anticipated price of my build increase about $15K in the year or so since I made the decision to proceed with the purchase. Sadly, these trailers are no longer the downright bargain that they once were. I've mentioned this before, but my biggest regret is not buying one 4-5 years ago when I first entertained the idea.

[Wig]

Originally Posted by Grasshog

wow you ordered your trailer after I ordered mine by a couple of months,,and you're already signing your build sheet ? I thought you sign your build sheet when you have a completion date coming within a few months am I missing something because I'm not expected to see my trailer for another year ,,huh does it matter if you order a different model yours a 21c mine of 5.0 thanks in advance

Hi Grasshog,
I’m waiting for a 21C, scheduled to be completed this December. I believe the wait for a 5.0 is considerably longer.

[yangstyle]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

While it is no doubt frustrating the cost increase of Escape trailers, has anyone checked into other brands new prices. I have a friend that was looking and blown away that anything decent was on a really long wait list and the price continues to go up regularly.

I think this is not just an industry problem, but the cost of so many things has really skyrocketed. My insulation contractors are paying twice for the spray foam product they did 5 years ago. My drywallers are paying near twice for product they did 5 years ago and delivery costs have gone from being included to pretty high numbers. Just saying that Escape is not the only company affected.

I am getting quite frustrated with the cost of many things. Prices continue to go up as my investments go down. Not fun, but hey, I will still enjoy my life.

I was talking to a local home builder last week and I asked him how he prices out homes with the cost of material going up so much and he said he agrees on an initial price with the customer and now he has a monthly meeting/call with the client and if the cost goes up a certain amount then that increase is passed up to the customer.
That never used to be a thing but with homes taking a year or more to build he has to now.
If I recall the cost of lumber went up %40 last year.

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

ETI may indeed price itself out of a particular market segment, which is likely a mistake, but they don't need to "justify" anything to anyone other than corporate ownership.

If Yogi Berra was alive, he'd say "Nobody buys Escape trailers, the wait list is too long!"

[yangstyle]

Originally Posted by JeffreyG

If Yogi Berra was alive, he'd say "Nobody buys Escape trailers, the wait list is too long!"

[Ooshkaboo]

The price of many things has risen, even doubled, Escape also has to deal with these increases. Cost are passed down to the consumer, its up to the consumer if they want to purchase the product. Who knows how this turns out for Escape.

I really like my Escape and especially the way it travels, it's the whole point for me.
I wouldn’t want anything to do with pulling a huge Bigfoot or an expensive Airstream.

So good to have choices…

[Don Flamenco]

Originally Posted by Ooshkaboo

The price of many things has risen, even doubled, Escape also has to deal with these increases. Cost are passed down to the consumer, its up to the consumer if they want to purchase the product.

Except that the price you end up paying is nowhere near the price you were told when you made the agreement--and the price goes up several times. And you're also subjected to a penalty fee if you balk & walk away.

Imagine you're buying groceries but before you complete your check-out, the prices of what you're buying goes up several times. By the time the total is due what started out at $100 has gone up to $150--but if you walk away you still have to $30.

Escape has more orders than they can possibly fill in the next 2+ years! There is NO reason they have to continue charging people for exiting their initial agreement when it's Escape who is changing the agreement in the first place! Particularly when there are numerous people eagerly ready to take the buyers' place.

[WillyB]

When we first started looking at Escape a couple of years ago, while I was going through chemo, the base price was something like $29,000. But chemo changed our thinking about life and we thought "let's go for it" and we placed our deposit early last summer.

Two price increases later we kept going and signed our Build Sheet in June this year. Sure it was more but we kept swimming upstream. Fortunately we were not impacted by the last two price increases. Truly fortunate!

On Oct 24th at Noon we are picking up our 21C in Sumas, WA. Sure, its' way too much money. But we are thankful for our timing as the new prices would have put us out of the Escape game.

I wish everyone the best on their journey.

[Don Flamenco]

Originally Posted by EscapingDan

Well that’s it for us, not going to buy an Escape. The prices are getting up towards Airstream, and Escape ‘ain’t an Airstream. Add a few options and for the same price you can get a AS Basecamp.

Sure inflation blah blah blah … trailers are about the most extraneous nonessential you can buy. The world economy is already in a recession and it’ll probably turn into a whale of one next year, good luck holding those prices and keeping the doors open.

RVIA August Report Shows 36% Drop in Monthly Shipments

Is this the best time to place a reservation? Escape raising prices (and a reservation guarantees nothing) and the industry will be going through a huge drop - everybody is expecting it after the Pandemic Panic Purchasing

I've been keeping track of RV's for sale; over the last 3 months more 1-2 year old RV's are showing up on the used market and are staying longer with much larger price drops.

Winter is coming and there will be MANY more for sale as people realize they don't want to spend another cold season on wheels.

If you can wait 6-9 months you'll find the used RV market will be massively over-saturated and sellers will be HIGHLY motivated.

Don't get suckered into paying these exorbitant prices.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by Don Flamenco

Except that the price you end up paying is nowhere near the price you were told when you made the agreement--and the price goes up several times. And you're also subjected to a penalty fee if you balk & walk away.

Imagine you're buying groceries but before you complete your check-out, the prices of what you're buying goes up several times. By the time the total is due what started out at $100 has gone up to $150--but if you walk away you still have to $30.

Escape has more orders than they can possibly fill in the next 2+ years! There is NO reason they have to continue charging people for exiting their initial agreement when it's Escape who is changing the agreement in the first place! Particularly when there are numerous people eagerly ready to take the buyers' place.

I myself can understand why Escape would need to keep prices flexible, economy and production cost can as we’ve all seen can change drastically.

I appreciate them updating as technology is improving, I would like to see them do more of it. The TV antenna may be good for some but it was useless for my Weboost instal.

So anyway, do you also have stock in Bigfoot or Oliver maybe, you don’t even own an Escape or plan on purchasing one, so why would you even care…

[Telescopist]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Sorry about your dream but don't leave. The moderators here do a pretty good job keeping politics/BS off this forum.

You are right. My BS/political comments have been purged at least a half dozen times.

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by Ooshkaboo

So anyway, do you also have stock in Bigfoot or Oliver maybe, you don’t even own an Escape or plan on purchasing one, so why would you even care…

AFAIK, all of the molded-fiberglass RV builders are privately owned. So even if we wanted to buy stock in them, we can't.

[Don Flamenco]

Originally Posted by Ooshkaboo

So anyway, do you also have stock in Bigfoot or Oliver maybe, you don’t even own an Escape or plan on purchasing one, so why would you even care…

Ad hominem? Really, Leo?

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by Don Flamenco

Ad hominem? Really, Leo?

Why you mad Bro…

You have some real hate for Escape going..

[Centex]

Just FYI an example of a price protection policy on an expensive long-lead item subject to all of the inflationary factors that undoubtedly plague ETI ....

• I placed an order for an F150 on 12/22/2021 with an MSRP of $57,225 (all are USD in this post).
• My truck was finally built on 5/12/2022.
• In that interim Ford implemented 3 different MSRP increases on F150s; some on 'base' price, some on the price of specific options / packages.
• As a result of those interim price increases the Monroney (window) sticker for my truck when delivered showed an MSRP of $60,860 (+$3,635 or 6.35% above the MSRP when I ordered); if my build had been further delayed the MSRP would have been even higher due to other later price increases.
• However, Ford's business policies provide Price-Protection to the dealer as long as the vehicle is sold to the original party placing the order. That allows reputable dealers to conclude the transaction with the party placing the original order at the originally agreed sales price.

In my case the originally agreed sales price was below MSRP at $51,919. Because the dealer was price protected by Ford and reputable, they honored that originally agreed sales price with no hint of doing otherwise when I took delivery of the truck ~5-1/2 months after placing my order.

The dealer paid Ford the exact amount they expected to pay when the order was placed, I paid the dealer exactly what I was quoted when I placed the order, the dealer enjoyed the exact same 'dollar profit margin' they expected to receive when they took the order. Ford corporate 'absorbed' the inflationary impacts.
________

Did Ford 'lose money' on this deal? Well, my truck probably sold to the dealer at above Ford's cost of manufacturing in spite of the inflationary factors, but Ford certainly didn't enjoy the 'profit margin' they hoped for on the transaction.

So how does Ford survive and keep shareholders happy while offering this price protection policy? Some speculation on my part ...

• Maybe they do 'eat' some fraction of the 'lost margin' as a customer-satisfaction / marketing strategy with long-term returning customer hopes (but they've got to balance that with shareholder expectations, too)
• Maybe they recover the loss on future sales; e.g. they make subsequent price increases sufficient to cover the 'loss' on previous sales of price protected vehicles
• Maybe there's some other way I haven't imagined

Some thngs I do know for sure ..

• Ford isn't in the business of losing money or minimizing profit
• Ford's policy provides 100% financial protection to their dealers
• Ford's policy allows dealers to meet customer expectations with regard to pricing in spite of inflationary factors occurring between order and delivery

Heaven knows Ford is far from perfect and in the same time of my order-delivery saga a lot of people were disappointed when Ford announced that certain options ordered simply would not be delivered due to supply-chain issues; folks hit with those unilateral reduction of options could either take the vehicle with reduced content (and a price adjustment determined by Ford) or opt-out of the deal completely with no penalty.

Yes, Ford is a much larger entity than ETI, with much larger financial reserves, much larger volume of sales, and a much greater likelihood of returning customers (if they keep 'em happy).

My point is, IMO there are likely ways that a company, perhaps even ETI, can protect both customers who have entered into a long-lead agreement with a certain price expectation and also protect the long-term health of the company itself. But that likely requires both motivation and creative thinking on the part of the company. Or maybe I'm totally off-base and only truly giant companies with deep cash reserves and/or patient stakeholders (public or private) can do such things.
_________

As a related aside, Ford extends this same price protection concept to Ford Financing incentives: When an ordered vehicle is finally delivered the customer has the option of taking Ford Financing (for which they qualify) at the rate/terms in effect at the time of order OR those in effect at the time of delivery (customer's choice). In my case that means I took Ford FInancing at 0-down / 0% APR / 36 months term which was offered at the time of my order; there was no '0% APR' Ford Financing incentive in effect at the time I took delivery.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

AFAIK, all of the molded-fiberglass RV builders are privately owned. So even if we wanted to buy stock in them, we can't.

Really, kinda missing the point-

If I’m so upset with a company or product I just move on, there are things you can’t control. Much easier to control the things you can control.

Hope you can find your way.

[MrLynn]

Alan E.: Very interesting and illuminating discussion. Yes, it should be possible for ETI to find ways of at least partly protecting customers, though of course ETI doesn't have the insulating layer of dealers (and those complex calculations), and is tiny compared to a giant like Ford.

My guess is that Ford has developed these policies over a long history of economic fluctuations. For ETI this level of inflation combined with high demand and long production times is doubtless new, and providing challenges they had not anticipated. My guess is that they're crossing fingers and hoping that things will settle down soon.

[Mike G]

The Ford purchase is an interesting comparison. They held the line despite a 6% price increase.

I could have handled a mere 6% increase in the price of an Escape, actually.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by Mike G

The Ford purchase is an interesting comparison. They held the line despite a 6% price increase.

I could have handled a mere 6% increase in the price of an Escape, actually.

My 2021 August Tundra price was held as set by the advertised price for that year, all available options hadn’t changed. They did however not leave room for negotiations on sticker price, first for me.

Escape is in many ways a custom made product, I see it as completely different from a auto manufacturer as buying eggs at the grocery store. They also don’t have the capability to absorb additional cost to them as a way larger business would.

I run a small business, if someone hasn’t had that experience it can be difficult to understand the way things happen. When I bought my first rental someone more experienced told me having one or two properties is hard, after you get to ten it gets easier.
At the time I didn’t understand…

A camper is not even close to a necessity, if the cost of owning one was in anyway causing me angst, I would pitch a tent before getting upset.