Tesla Stops Cybertruck Resellers

Tesla’s Cybertruck is one of the most hyped vehicles in their roster - and with the first deliveries due to take place in about two weeks, early buyers have noticed that an extra protection against scalpers and resellers has been quietly slipped into the Purchase Agreement for the shiny new pickup truck.

The text itself is full of very specific legal language, but the gist is that if you are one of the lucky people who get an early Cybertruck, and you decide to sell it within the first year of you owning it, you could be sued by the company for at least $50 ,000.

The updated clause - which can be read on the company website - is the sort of thing that most companies write up to stop dealerships and scalpers from buying up the limited early stock of a new vehicle, and selling it for way more than they purchased them for.

As an example of this, when the Petersen Auto Museum in LA held an auction in October for an early VIN numbered Cybertruck, they closed at $400,000. That’s a hell of a markup, and it was a Tesla-sanctioned event to hype the Truck’s release!

So while it’s a little aggravating to be told what to do with a thing you’ve just spent a lot of money for, we can very much understand why Tesla is being more cautious with the release of their extremely popular new truck. At last estimate, there are potentially over 2 million pre-orders for the vehicle - which is a lot of incentive for some wealthy opportunists to make a bunch of money.

That said, Tesla isn’t being unreasonable.

Among some of the first lines of this clause there are details about an exemption for this rule should you have a legitimate reason to sell your new Cybertruck. There are probably a bunch of good reasons to need to sell an expensive new vehicle - so Tesla is willing to work with people who talk to them about selling first. And if your reason is satisfactory to them, you’ll be allowed.

Otherwise, you’ll have to wait a year before flipping your early VIN marked Cybertruck - which honestly doesn’t seem that bad. Last we heard from Tesla themselves, it’s going to take 18 months at most for the company to hit volume production of their new truck - so after a year of waiting, you’ll likely still be able to make a profit from selling an early Cybertruck.

There’s been no word on how long this clause will stay in the Purchase Agreement either - but unless you’re buying Lambourgini or some other elitist brand, rules like this don’t tend to stick around once the vehicle stops being so limited in number.

So maybe by summer 2025, this won’t even be an issue anymore.