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Comment by x86x87 | Hacker News Reader

This is probably done to deter people from buying it and flipping it immediately.

This is exactly what it is. Same thing other manufacturers have done with other high-end cars. Like the Ford GT for example. GM is cancelling warranties on some of their high end cars for the second owners as well to deter flipping.

https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/general-motors-penalizes-c...

Honestly, I think people who do this are huge dirtbags, as it keeps the vehicles out of the hands of enthusiasts who want the car for what it is. But at the same time, if some idiot wants to pay extra for no reason, let them part with their money.

> GM is cancelling warranties

is this even legal? Terrible precedent to sell a car without a transferable warranty.

But if it's worth more on the open market than what Tesla is charging, why don't they just charge more? (assuming the motivation for flipping is to make a profit)

same reason nike/gucci/every high end brand does the same. It creates anticipation/ exclusivity. Every brand has their own resale laws.

> Every brand has their own resale laws.

Nike / Gucci / every high-end brand has resale laws?

I've never heard of anybody threatening to sue their own customers for selling the product too early. Threatening to void warranties, yes. Threatening to refuse future sales, sure. But suing? No.

This just screams "don't do business with us".

High end brands enforce restrictions on those whom they do business with on the basis of maintaining an ongoing relationship. They don't try to contractually bind individual buyers. You are trying to "brand" this is normal and customary when it is unique and defective.

The same reason Sony didn't sell the PS5 for $1000 - it's a mass market product, with excessive demand probably created by manufacturing bottlenecks.

I genuinely do wonder what the outcome would be if a highly demanded (but ultimately unlimited supply) product was instead delivered by sorted bids? Like what if Tesla simply said Your position in line is relative to all bids, and at price $X you will certainly get one eventually...

The outcome is a really brutal society where rich people are preferred in literally everything.

Waiting in line for a chipotle burrito? Sorry, this guy is gonna put in $5 to cut you in line.

Even if it’s right or wrong, at the end of the day, your brand is gonna get outcompeted based on values because lots of ppl don’t want to patron business like that.

You just described buying a Rolex

Maybe. I don't know much about Rolexes. To some they are a status symbol. To other groups, they are an anti-status symbol.

If you want your business/society to be more like Rolex, then I guess implement this prioritization function.

It's only really worth more to a small select group of people. Those people had no way to jump to the front of the line when ordering.

Because they are trying to keep the price low? When announced, it was stated it would sell for $40k and it is going to stay be higher than that at release. Contrary to dealerships, they don’t seem to be participating in the act of jacking the price up higher and higher.

What if I get a Cybertruck, find out it really is as shit as I imagined it was, and want to sell it right away and get a 2001 Tacoma? Should be able to do that, I think.

Then you first offer to sell it back to Tesla, like stated in the contract.

Suing customers isn't a way to make friends, though.

They're not suing customers. Flippers are buying them, but they're not customers. They're marking the cars up, and immediately selling them to some sucker for more money. The second owner in this case is the true customer, who probably would have been happier with Tesla if they could have just gone straight to them and paid the actual price.

By that same logic, it's fine to make negative public statements about customers who died using your product, because they're dead and won't buy any more products from you.

Or is it to prevent people from flooding the market with deeply discounted, used Cybertrucks?

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