After garnering hundreds of comments and over 150,000 views, bidding for a Tesla Cybertruck on Cars&Bids failed to meet the reserve. The highly publicized auction saw prices rise above MSRP quickly but momentum soon fizzled out. Now, the lingering question is what factors contributed to the unsuccessful sale and whether the market sentiment toward the Cybertruck is shifting.
Over the past week, this auction attracted over 500 comments but only received a total of 19 bids. Five days before the sale concluded, bidding had already reached $150,000, but in the subsequent days, it increased by merely $8,000. As the auction approached its end, only three bids were placed by two bidders.
Despite the final bid coming in at $158,000, a full $41,000 over MSRP, the seller wouldn’t accept it having set a higher reserve price. How high that reserve price was, is anyone’s guess. That seems to indicate a bit of greed on the part of the current owner who claimed to have an exemption from Tesla’s anti-flipping policy. If true, it would mean that they’re almost certainly turning down pure profit for no reason other than to do so.
More: Here’s How To Jump The Cybertruck Line And Get Early Delivery
It’s plausible too that many in the potential bidding pool on Cars&Bids simply weren’t convinced that the truck was exempt. The seller never gave specific details about how they managed to avoid the flipping clause. One auction commenter pointed out that if the seller is wrong, it could turn into a legal battle for the end buyer.
Photos Cars&Bids
In theory, if Tesla were to contest the sale, they could have pursued the profits from the seller, potentially limiting their ability to pay off the lien on the title. Consequently, this could have hindered their ability to transfer the title to the new buyer. Additionally, Tesla has indicated that it might attempt to block title transfers in certain Cybertruck sales.
However, as we’ve mentioned previously, no one has legally challenged Tesla’s anti-flipping policy to see if it holds up in a court of law, so those points might be moot.
Is The Market Slowing Down?
John Clay Wolfe, the President of the national wholesale dealer Give Me The Vin (GMTV), told us that his auction house has successfully sold five Cybertrucks over the past month or so. The first one made headlines when it fetched $244,500, eventually landing in a Porsche dealership’s hands, which then attempted to flip it for an even higher $290,000,though it ultimately sold for $249,498, according to their listing.
But here’s where it gets interesting. According to Wolfe, the next four Cybertrucks sold for $195,500, $189,000, $175,000, and $171,000 concurrently. “So for anyone paying attention, the market continues to go down on the Cybertruck,” Wolf said. This latest failed sale seems to indicate that he’s right.
