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The radically new concept is extracting $28,000 for a lean-to design, then barely warranting it for five years. That's just insane. Depending on how swanky the

The radically new concept is extracting $28,000 for a lean-to design, then barely warranting it for five years. That's just insane. Depending on how swanky the materials, you can build one of these yourself with a couple truckloads of stuff from Lowe's for less than a quarter of that, including laying a polished concrete pad for it. Note that I'm not saying "hacker culture just compile your own," I'm merely trying to find where the additional cost comes from. They handle the contractor and the plans are already drawn and approved, so that's probably part of it. But still, $28,000? Is Japan that expensive?

ashark 10y ago
What the Tiny House and container living and related movements have taught me is mainly that people will pay a premium for small living spaces that aren't considered "for poors", even if they're worse than, say, a single-wide or a smallish a-frame.
- IgorPartola 10y ago
  It's the Soylent oven Ensure effect. Same product, different target market.
  - Gracana 10y ago
    Soylent and Ensure have different ingredients. They are made for different markets, yes.. But their price is similar. I think you should either rename your effect or rethink its meaning.
    - coldtea 10y ago
      I guess his effect doesn't rely as much on the price difference but on the artificial market differentiation (whether the price is the same or not) for what is essentially a very similar product.
      - IgorPartola 10y ago
        That's exactly it. It's not about the price here but about the fact that one product is hip and cool and one is not.
    - IgorPartola 10y ago
      Just like Toyota and Ford have different components. Ensure actually does have a very similar offering to Soylent even if the ingredients differ a bit.
tyingq 10y ago
Does seem kind of high. Pre fab small cabins seem to range from $3k to $8k here in the US. Not cedar, but if the expectation is a 5 year lifetime, that's not really needed. The price multiple for it being a bit more stylish seems steep.
aaron695 10y ago
> barely warranting it for five years Do cars or anything else often have warranties longer than 5 years? Does a regular house have a warranty longer than 5 years?
- jsmthrowaway 10y ago
  It's a hint that they do not consider the materials very survivable. Five years is an awfully low lifetime for a permanent living structure, particularly one a contractor had a hand in building. Better to just not offer the warranty than offer five years, in this case, since one wouldn't expect to have to rebuild their home's frame three times before their kids graduate high school. I get that the intent of this product is different, but not different enough to make the warranty not stand out.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Do cars or anything else often have warranties longer than 5 years? Yes, many products have lifetime warranties; cars typically have shorter "bumper-to-bumper" warranties (though, yes, some are longer, too) but very often have key-component warranties that are longer than 5 years.
- ams6110 10y ago
  Houses can come with warranties, more often they are called "maintenance plans" and are really just insurance. You pay for them if you have one, either directly or it's built into the price.
- kalleboo 10y ago
  IKEA has 25-year warranties for their kitchens (which I guess counts as part of a house?).
ams6110 10y ago
A product's price is mostly a function of demand, not the cost of its raw materials.
- twelvechairs 10y ago
  Well, demand is only there if they can differentiate from the cheaper options.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    You'd be surprised. Lots of the higher priced products have only marginal (if any) differentiation from cheaper options, sometimes only the brand being it. That's how you can have $400 plastic "brand name" glasses and $30 "non brand name" glasses that are made in the same chinese factory, with the same plastic materials and quality control, and both owned by the same parent company (e.g. Luxottica). And let's not get into clothing and wine.
coldtea 10y ago
>The radically new concept is extracting $28,000 for a lean-to design, then barely warranting it for five years. That's just insane. Not to people for which $28.000 is what $2000 is to you and me, which is the intended audience.
jedimastert 9y ago
My landlord had one guy make a 9x10x8 building like that in our back yard for about $2000. If there were insulation and drywall in there it'd be up to code to live in

ashark 10y ago

What the Tiny House and container living and related movements have taught me is mainly that people will pay a premium for small living spaces that aren't considered "for poors", even if they're worse than, say, a single-wide or a smallish a-frame.

IgorPartola 10y ago
It's the Soylent oven Ensure effect. Same product, different target market.
- Gracana 10y ago
  Soylent and Ensure have different ingredients. They are made for different markets, yes.. But their price is similar. I think you should either rename your effect or rethink its meaning.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    I guess his effect doesn't rely as much on the price difference but on the artificial market differentiation (whether the price is the same or not) for what is essentially a very similar product.
    - IgorPartola 10y ago
      That's exactly it. It's not about the price here but about the fact that one product is hip and cool and one is not.
  - IgorPartola 10y ago
    Just like Toyota and Ford have different components. Ensure actually does have a very similar offering to Soylent even if the ingredients differ a bit.

tyingq 10y ago

Does seem kind of high. Pre fab small cabins seem to range from $3k to $8k here in the US. Not cedar, but if the expectation is a 5 year lifetime, that's not really needed. The price multiple for it being a bit more stylish seems steep.

aaron695 10y ago

> barely warranting it for five years Do cars or anything else often have warranties longer than 5 years? Does a regular house have a warranty longer than 5 years?

jsmthrowaway 10y ago
It's a hint that they do not consider the materials very survivable. Five years is an awfully low lifetime for a permanent living structure, particularly one a contractor had a hand in building. Better to just not offer the warranty than offer five years, in this case, since one wouldn't expect to have to rebuild their home's frame three times before their kids graduate high school. I get that the intent of this product is different, but not different enough to make the warranty not stand out.
dragonwriter 10y ago
> Do cars or anything else often have warranties longer than 5 years? Yes, many products have lifetime warranties; cars typically have shorter "bumper-to-bumper" warranties (though, yes, some are longer, too) but very often have key-component warranties that are longer than 5 years.
ams6110 10y ago
Houses can come with warranties, more often they are called "maintenance plans" and are really just insurance. You pay for them if you have one, either directly or it's built into the price.
kalleboo 10y ago
IKEA has 25-year warranties for their kitchens (which I guess counts as part of a house?).

ams6110 10y ago

A product's price is mostly a function of demand, not the cost of its raw materials.

twelvechairs 10y ago
Well, demand is only there if they can differentiate from the cheaper options.
- coldtea 10y ago
  You'd be surprised. Lots of the higher priced products have only marginal (if any) differentiation from cheaper options, sometimes only the brand being it. That's how you can have $400 plastic "brand name" glasses and $30 "non brand name" glasses that are made in the same chinese factory, with the same plastic materials and quality control, and both owned by the same parent company (e.g. Luxottica). And let's not get into clothing and wine.

coldtea 10y ago

>The radically new concept is extracting $28,000 for a lean-to design, then barely warranting it for five years. That's just insane. Not to people for which $28.000 is what $2000 is to you and me, which is the intended audience.

jedimastert 9y ago

My landlord had one guy make a 9x10x8 building like that in our back yard for about $2000. If there were insulation and drywall in there it'd be up to code to live in