Tesla Cybertruck auction prices come crashing down to earth

Tesla Cybertrucks are no longer commanding over $200,000 at auction as more come to the resale market, with one wholesaler declaring "a market crash" Wednesday after selling one last week with a high bid of $244,000.

Tesla has a huge reservation backlog for the stainless-steel pickup that launched in November and U.S. dealers have been paying as much as double the sticker price for the Foundation Series Cybertrucks that are the first to be produced.

But Wednesday's Manheim auction in Dallas brought final bids of $195,500 and $189,000 for two Cybertrucks auctioned by wholesaler givemethevin.com, which sold the first Cybertruck at auction last week for $244,000.

"This is what I was afraid would happen in the Cybertruck market from last week," said John Clay Wolfe, president and founder of givemethevin.com, or GMTV. "Just absolutely crashed," he said Wednesday on Instagram.

"Why? People raced to be the first," Wolfe said. "Where's it going to settle? Don't know, but we deal in an open-market system and it is what it is." He also said a different seller got $191,000 for a Cybertruck at the auction.

In a press release, GMTV said it's adjusting its offers to Cybertruck owners who want to sell to the wholesaler, which said it has annual revenues of nearly $2 billion. "We've adjusted all of GMTV's offers on Tesla Cybertrucks based on today's market," Wolfe said in the release.

Wolfe said last week that he had purchased the first Cybertruck from a private seller for $210,000 before auctioning it for $244,000. The winning bidder, Porsche South Orlando, listed the pickup for $289,999 over the weekend. As of Wednesday, the pickup was no longer on the dealership's website.

Porsche South Orlando didn't respond to a request for comment.

On the CarGurus website, there were nine Cybertrucks for sale Wednesday, excluding the one at Porsche South Orlando that was no longer available. The nine ranged in price from $199,450 to $259,900. All were described as Tesla Cybertruck all-wheel-drive versions and not the higher Cyberbeast trim that has a distinct exterior logo.

The base Cybertruck Foundation Series awd has a sticker price of $102,235 with shipping, but the pickups are sold only through invitations by Tesla to reservation holders. The Foundation Series Cyberbeast is $20,000 more than the awd, according to reservation holders who have posted details of their orders in online forums.

Tesla has warned original Cybertruck owners that their sales agreement includes a clause forbidding resale within 12 months to prevent "flipping," or buying the vehicle with the intention of selling it for a profit.

Tesla's anti-flipping policy states that early resale of the pickup can incur a $50,000 penalty or more depending on the resale price. An exception for unforeseen circumstances requires the buyer to sell it back to Tesla at the original price, minus wear and tear. Tesla can also grant permission for a resale, the policy states.

Tesla has not said how many Cybertruck reservation holders are waiting in line, but unofficial crowd-sourced estimates put the number at more than 1 million, or several years of production.

On Cybertruck online forums, there has been speculation about why a dealer would pay such a premium for an early version of the pickup, given uncertainty over whether Foundation Series trucks will be rare and appreciate in value. Some suggested it could bring foot traffic to the dealership or be sold to a high-profile client to draw publicity.

Among the celebrities seen driving a Cybertruck are reality-show personality Kim Kardashian, pop star Justin Bieber, film director Spike Lee, tennis star Serena Williams and musician Pharrell Williams.