Goose Gear Ranger Rear Set Up

[OFC Ranger]

I just figured from the look and the price that the GG one was steel. The fact that it's just plywood was kind of disappointing.

Wait, the GG one is plywood?

Holy shit the markup on that must be like 5000%

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[D Fresh]

Wait, the GG one is plywood?

Yep. According to the advertising guy's "review" it's "yacht quality" plywood and spray on bedliner.

 

[OFC Ranger]

Yep. According to the advertising guy's "review" it's "yacht quality" plywood and spray on bedliner.

Thats funny, I am assuming "yacht quality" means some water sealing properties.

Uh... that is what the bedliner is for...

 

[D Fresh]

Thats funny, I am assuming "yacht quality" means some water sealing properties.

Uh... that is what the bedliner is for...

Betcha the hardware is "surgical stainless."

 

[OFC Ranger]

So loots like the average 8x4 sheet of marine grade plywood is $150.

I'm guessing it takes 2 sheets for their product, so $300 - I am also guessing there is a small amount of scraps left over from every 1 kit to apply to the next kit (smaller parts like doors, partisans, etc etc) which more or less gives them 1/2 a kit for free every X amount of kits constructed.

Keep in mind the $150 is walk in the door pricing, not bulk.

I could be completely wrong, but my best guestimation is price per unit if $400-500 or less and they sell to the public for 300-400% markup. Give or take a few bucks for labor.

Their design is in fact nothing more than Gucci status, as long as the top coat is applied properly there is absolutely zero reason to use marine plywood. Its a vehicle INTERIOR piece of furniture.

Status symbol only; "Yea bro, my rear seat delete kit is made from yacht quality plywood".

 

[Colo_Ranger]

No offense intended. I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it might get when literally every story about any piece of gear ever is, "money must be exchanged for goods and services?! Won't someone think of the children!"

You can read more about ethics in gear reviews here: https://wessiler.substack.com/p/lets-talk-about-ethics-in-gear-reviews

You have to be able to see the irony here. You post that article every time someone asks you if you paid for the gear. I get that its a perk of being in the industry, and I am not even hating on you for that. What I can't understand is how you can call people cheapskates for not wanting to spend $2,000 on something you didn't pay $2,000 for but say its worth it. I am not doubting that your review is accurate on the product, but if you didn't pay for it, that changes the dynamic of the conversation.

 

[OFC Ranger]

You have to be able to see the irony here. You post that article every time someone asks you if you paid for the gear. I get that its a perk of being in the industry, and I am not even hating on you for that. What I can't understand is how you can call people cheapskates for not wanting to spend $2,000 on something you didn't pay $2,000 for but say its worth it. I am not doubting that your review is accurate on the product, but if you didn't pay for it, that changes the dynamic of the conversation.

I'd also be a betting man, had it not shown up for free, he wouldn't have opt'd to buy it as a consumer for $2,000. I honestly think he is smart enough as a consumer to laugh at $2,000 plywood. I can't think of any logical person who would buy this type of product for that price point unless they just had a vast amount of, "F you money" as we call it. That or credit card debt...

God knows there are a ton of off-roaders and overlanders who are enjoying their hobby on a steep interest rate.

lol

 

[Wes Siler]

You have to be able to see the irony here. You post that article every time someone asks you if you paid for the gear. I get that its a perk of being in the industry, and I am not even hating on you for that. What I can't understand is how you can call people cheapskates for not wanting to spend $2,000 on something you didn't pay $2,000 for but say its worth it. I am not doubting that your review is accurate on the product, but if you didn't pay for it, that changes the dynamic of the conversation.

I think the entire point is that focussing on whether or not I paid is the wrong question, as elaborated on at length in that link. Suggesting freebies sway editorial conclusions is to devalue the entire purpose of all media. It also ignores the very real issue of confirmation bias, which is where someone feels the need to justify an expense by failing to think of it critically.

The right question to ask is: Does a person reviewing a product have the necessary experience and perspective to report on it accurately?

Again, I didn't intend "cheapskate" to be an insult. If you want a really, really nice part for what's admittedly a lot of money, then this thing is for you. If you think you'd be happier saving money, and building something yourself, then that's cool too. I have less time than I do resources, and I have a taste for the nice shit, so this delete was right for me.

This is my truck. I paid for some of it, some of it I got for free, some of it I got a discount on. It's my express job to treat all of that equally when writing about it. If I wasn't able to do that, I wouldn't be where I am.

https://decked.com/blogs/decked/build-of-the-month-wes-silers-danger-ranger

 

[Wes Siler]

Oh, and here's a photo of my pups:

 

[dano42]

Oh, and here's a photo of my pups:

Like the pup on the left.

 

[Wes Siler]

I could be completely wrong, but my best guestimation is price per unit if $400-500 or less and they sell to the public for 300-400% markup. Give or take a few bucks for labor.

This ignores several factors.

Let's take that $400 in cost-per-unit as a starting point. How do we get from there to $1,895 before shipping? Additional factors are going to include labor, shop space, tools, marketing, insurance, taxes, R&D time etc. Goose also sells through retailers, so they must bake in not only a margin for themselves, but the 30-50 percent margin retailers need to stay in business.

So, 30 percent of $1,895 is $568.50. Which gets us down to $1,326.50. To stay in business, a small company like Goose needs to be like 10-20 percent profitable. 10 percent of $1,326.50 is $132.65, that takes us to $1,193.85. That's less than $800 more than that estimated parts cost. This is assuming parts are actually that cheap and the company and its retailers are operating on the slimmest margins possible. Goose Gear employs something like ~40 people, in SoCal. If those employees are earning living wages with benefits, that's probably like $3.4mm a year in staffing costs. They also have an industrial facility, liability insurance, etc. There's also going to be a cost per customer acquisition that's probably around $100-200 per unit sold (this is ads, marketing, staff for such, etc).

This is how companies work. And ultimately it's the reason we all have jobs and can afford our trucks.

 

[Wes Siler]

Like the pup on the left.

That's Bowie (like the knife, not the Jones who couldn't pronounce his new name properly when he changed it). Husky/GSD mix that was a failed attempt at creating a Pomsky. Got him for free when he was 8 weeks old as a result. He's pure evil.

 

[OFC Ranger]

This ignores several factors.

Let's take that $400 in cost-per-unit as a starting point. How do we get from there to $1,895 before shipping? Additional factors are going to include labor, shop space, tools, marketing, insurance, taxes, R&D time etc. Goose also sells through retailers, so they must bake in not only a margin for themselves, but the 30-50 percent margin retailers need to stay in business.

So, 30 percent of $1,895 is $568.50. Which gets us down to $1,326.50. To stay in business, a small company like Goose needs to be like 10-20 percent profitable. 10 percent of $1,326.50 is $132.65, that takes us to $1,193.85. That's less than $800 more than that estimated parts cost. This is assuming parts are actually that cheap and the company and its retailers are operating on the slimmest margins possible. Goose Gear employs something like ~40 people, in SoCal. If those employees are earning living wages with benefits, that's probably like $3.4mm a year in staffing costs. They also have an industrial facility, liability insurance, etc. There's also going to be a cost per customer acquisition that's probably around $100-200 per unit sold (this is ads, marketing, staff for such, etc).

This is how companies work. And ultimately it's the reason we all have jobs and can afford our trucks.

Heres how companies also work: get as much money as possible the market will bear.

Also that company makes multiple products, so all those employees and resources are not funneled into one single product. They are dispersed out among many many many products.

I'm sorry, you'll not convince me the pure profit intake from $2,000 plywood rear seat delete is not astronomical.

Its a gucci product marketed to the gucci wallet crowd, or the gucci credit card crowd.

Also R&D? I'd love to see the R&D on this product.

Reminds me of everyone arguing for after-market crash bars if you remove the stock ones for larger tires/wheels. Those products have zero R&D and should probably be a product that does...

A lot of companies operate off table top theory R&D and just hope for the best.

 

[SigOris]

I think the entire point is that focussing on whether or not I paid is the wrong question, as elaborated on at length in that link. Suggesting freebies sway editorial conclusions is to devalue the entire purpose of all media. It also ignores the very real issue of confirmation bias, which is where someone feels the need to justify an expense by failing to think of it critically.

The right question to ask is: Does a person reviewing a product have the necessary experience and perspective to report on it accurately?

Again, I didn't intend "cheapskate" to be an insult. If you want a really, really nice part for what's admittedly a lot of money, then this thing is for you. If you think you'd be happier saving money, and building something yourself, then that's cool too. I have less time than I do resources, and I have a taste for the nice shit, so this delete was right for me.

This is my truck. I paid for some of it, some of it I got for free, some of it I got a discount on. It's my express job to treat all of that equally when writing about it. If I wasn't able to do that, I wouldn't be where I am.

https://decked.com/blogs/decked/build-of-the-month-wes-silers-danger-ranger

I’ll ask the same question a different way: if the product was provided free of charge and not to be returned to the OEM after the review, some could question the objectivity of the review. I wonder how many freebies would be provided if “ scorch the earth “ reviews were written and published?

FTR: I’m not questioning your journalistic integrity. I’m like like many who have lost faith in the integrity of our media either print or electronic.

 

[D Fresh]

I’ll ask the same question a different way: if the product was provided free of charge and not to be returned to the OEM after the review, some could question the objectivity of the review. I wonder how many freebies would be provided if “ scorch the earth “ reviews were written and published?

FTR: I’m not questioning your journalistic integrity. I’m like like many who have lost faith in the integrity of our media either print or electronic.

This is where I come from on the matter.

The fact that he WILL NOT answer the question regarding specific products tells me all I need to know.

Any good review will provide full transparency. And will discuss value as it's important to us all.

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