Tonneau install cost?

What's everyone paying for installs?
I slapped mine onto the truck and drove home; hardly a professional install.
Tools are packed up in storage,

am strongly considering having a pro/shop do it. Drop the truck off, shell is already on.
Then leave it to them to do things like:
-raise with forklift, apply sealing products, position it
-(hopefully do a good job) wiring up interior and third brake light; I imagine they'll try to tap brake light into left tail, and run wires from interior light to battery so it's hot/can be turned on any time
-centering adjustment
-MAYBE put velcro on my BedLiner but I'll probably have to do that myself

I can't really think of anything else.
*IF* they do a low quality job wiring, hopefully it at least functions, and I'll be able to see the wires path to fix or improve later on myself.
My SnugTop has this weird mostly rubber 3-pin connector hanging from it, not sure why. Previous owner's plugged in lower down then went into a hole drilled in the bedside.
Would be really awesome if I could then get the Matt Gecko overhead LED kit and wire that off of their wiring.
Not sure if that's something I should provide them now, or do myself later.
Obviously the more work you try and get a shop to do, the more labor and cost it is.

Granted, they charge less if you bought the shell from them.
But respectfully, why the hell is someone gonna drop $4k on a shell for a truck that's over 10 years old
vs. a fraction of that used

just wondering what any of y'all may have paid for an "install job"

So far I've heard quotes around $200-400 locally. Thought it might be cheaper, but fuck it, I get it. It's a lot of work; I know from even getting my shell on to drive home.
Minimum 1hr labor. Which, to put in perspective, dealers charge around $200 per hour just to do an oil change with a marked up filter, despite the actual mechanic doing the work getting 10% of that.

 

Are they hard to install? Thought it was just a few clamps.

 

-200lb. Very odd shape to be lifting that high. You have to lift it to get underneath access to the bedsides it sits atop of, in order to apply whatever sealing products, such as foam insulation, to keep water out
-electrical wiring, to make 3rd brake light (required by law) work, as well as interior dome light
-adjustment, centering, whether that be the shell or anything else, so that it sits properly, symmetrical, looks good, keeps and directs water out, allows tailgate to open and close without hitting anything
-IF you have a bedrug, requires velcro strips that get stuck all over the plastic bed tray, that keep it down in place

I mean, the time I had put into it already
both swapping it onto the truck,
and trying to do only some of the above later on myself (adjustment) was definitely not a 5min job.

I went around, both by eye, with a ruler, and measuring with fingers, with it loose
trying to set it centered front/rear, left to right, etc.
A shop told me they do have some flexibility that can need adjusting

I know in my case, when I did the above, I even had it hit the tailgate. I suspect my bed is off. The fix may be to loosen all 6 torx bed bolts, and adjust the bed (shell) as I think the tailgate bolts to the frame, independent of the bed.
Because my tailgate would hit into my shell.
But what I did at the time (faster) was shove a pole jack in the bed, pressing slightly outward to one side of the shell (half loosened) then hold it in place while tightening

there's more to proper install than "just a few clamps"

My buddy's truck, sure. Maybe he got lucky. Newer different model truck, came with a plug and play harness connector kit. But we'll see if he gets any water inside.
Whether you camp in it, or carry cargo you care about at all; keeping water out would be nice

 

O wow, I guess I never thought about all of that. Might be worth $200 to make sure it's 100% done right. Then if it leaks, they get to fix it.