A Tesla Cybertruck sold at auction for $244,000 – more than twice the retail value of the electric pickup truck.
Before turning its reservations into orders, Tesla tried to take precautions against early buyers flipping the Cybertruck for profits.
However, there are limitations when it comes to enforcing these things. After all, you should be able to do what you want with a product you own, including reselling it for a profit.
That’s why I’m not surprised to now see an early Cybertruck being sold to auction for $244,000.
A Cybertruck was marked as sold to Porsche Orlando on Cox Automotive’s Manheim auction platform for $244,000 (via Cybertruck’s Owner’s Club):
Porsche Orlando, a Porsche dealership, is reportedly listed as the buyer. It’s unclear if the dealer plans to resale the vehicle on the lot or bought it for Porsche.
It is common for other automakers to buy new Tesla vehicles when they come out in order to reserve-engineer them and learn from them.
Some other early Cybertruck owners are also claiming that they were able to flip their trucks for more than $200,000, but only this transaction is confirmed so far.
Electrek’s Take
The Cybertruck, Foundations Series or not, won’t be a collector’s item. Tesla plans to build 250,000 of them a year and likely tens of thousands of Foundations Series.
It won’t be rare enough to be a collector’s item.
Therefore, those willing to pay a premium right now are doing it for the privilege of having the truck sooner than others. 144% is a big premium for that in my opinion.
We have seen a bunch of celebrities, like Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian, in the Tesla Cybertruck. Somehow, I doubt that they were first-hour reservation holders, which are the ones primarily getting delivery of the Cybertruck right now. They would be candidates for Cybertruck flips.
I think other automakers are going to be the top buyers of early Cybertrucks for premiums.