Reservations: 65341 As Of 6/20/2017

[AriLea]

The hot ticket would be when they start rolling out; I can see the eBay ads now: For sale; reservation for first run Elio, face value $100.00 "Buy it now price" $<hidden> Current bid is over $X,XXX.00 Get your Elio earlier then your friends.

Your phone wouldn't stop ringing once they're rolling off the line.

It takes money to make money, possibly you get a bigger return on investment to convert to the $1k all in just as soon as you feel confident enough. The earlier placement in line is worth more I should think.

But of course timing is everything. Having a placement mature just when someone is desperate to get one is the key. That may be right up front or after they have seen a few on the road.

Seeing a few is a really odd exercise in population theory. The smart car had been selling 10k to 20k of them for years before I ever saw just one on the road. I still don't see more than a few each day. Between zero and two usually.

 

[Johnny Acree]

On the subject of flipping Elios. How should we configure them? What color will be most popular? Decked out with all options, base model or just AMT?
I'm hoping EM will let us buy with just a "Bill of origin" This would let us sell them as unregistered vehicles. I bought a motorcycle that way once. Saved me a few hundred dollars. I know when I bought my smart, the dealer charged me $500.00 to file for a title and tag. On the bike, I took the bill of origin to the tag office and they charged me $5.00.

 

[AriLea]

On the subject of flipping Elios. How should we configure them? What color will be most popular? Decked out with all options, base model or just AMT?
I'm hoping EM will let us buy with just a "Bill of origin" This would let us sell them as unregistered vehicles. I bought a motorcycle that way once. Saved me a few hundred dollars. I know when I bought my smart, the dealer charged me $500.00 to file for a title and tag. On the bike, I took the bill of origin to the tag office and they charged me $5.00.

IMHO;
All this only applies in the first half (more or less) of the reservation delivery.
So two routes, one is just flipping the reservation, one reselling the physical car. You can probably figure a way to flip the reservation, but there is probably less profit in that.
Since you want to make more money on the physical resale, and any buyer who also wants to save money won't like to pay much above retail, that one will likely not be your customer for the physical car.
The reservation resale is likely for someone who needs rather than wants. But of course a business may have a need that accepts a higher price.

So on the resale, that customer is less focused on low price, they like the novelty and won't wait, so common add-ons are a good bet. But some may want the manual mode, so get the Automatic only if there is a sport compatible manual mode, or you think they will want an auto (50/50 bet). Avoid add-ons that can be easily post purchase added. The key is don't go overboard. Colors are better for this customer, but again nothing out of character for them. Ladies like one color-pallet and men another, but men are probably the larger group of 'can't wait' customers.

That's about all I can figure on this, ticket scalpers may well have a better feel for this kind of thing.

 

[Doug McDow]

My guess is, Carbon Credits will definitely get Trumped. Hopefully that statement will not be a political foot ball starter gun.

The reasons that I purchased another reservation. I mainly did it because I wanted a backup . I will use my first Elio for a experimental vehicle. I am sure that there will be some changes made on my second elio. I would see if any of my 6 kids would want my first Elio.(not for a profit). I also want to help Elio reach there goal of 65K. My # 1 goal is to see Elio succeed, because if they succeed, we all succeed! (This is not fake news)

 

[AriLea]

The reasons that I purchased another reservation. I mainly did it because I wanted a backup . I will use my first Elio for a experimental vehicle. I am sure that there will be some changes made on my second elio. I would see if any of my 6 kids would want my first Elio.(not for a profit). I also want to help Elio reach there goal of 65K. My # 1 goal is to see Elio succeed, because if they succeed, we all succeed! (This is not fake news)

Oooo, I love research.
What R U going to do to it? Aero, Engine, Drive Swap, Style, . . etc, etc ?

 

[Ty]

The Elio will be a different animal to flippers. You shouldn't get hung up on add-ons as you could limit your market that way. Get the Automatic (larger audience) and then pick a color. Get it base with maybe carpet as I don't think you'll find anyone who wouldn't want carpet. Black carpet is probably the safest bet. Unlike buying a regular car where all the options have to be on the car when you buy it, Elio will have the options available to add on as you see fit later. you can do it yourself or (probably) have the Elio location nearest you take it to the marshaling center where they are trained in installation. Yup, options will not be important for resale. Transmission selection will be though. I may have the only manual in the state of Nebraska. I don't care. I think it'll be a hoot to drive.

 

[Marshall]

Much as I hate the idea, the best resale will be your first Elio, while it's fresh and hard to get. But if ya can't get $15k for it, I wouldn't sell. That's how I'd play that game. Most difficult to not drive it before selling it.
If you have 0100 or lower it might be a collector.

That won't be a problem. I'm just at the $500 level for #1 so that should put me at around 25,000 and #2 should be at around 65,000 assuming they lock in all reservations shortly for a place in line. At some point those with <$1K All-In reservations will get a SIL before new $1K All-Ins. Wouldn't they? I'm once again assuming that would be between reaching 65,000 and the beginning of production.

Once in production, I suspect demand to exceed supply for several years.

 

[Marshall]

On the subject of flipping Elios. How should we configure them? What color will be most popular? Decked out with all options, base model or just AMT?
I'm hoping EM will let us buy with just a "Bill of origin" This would let us sell them as unregistered vehicles. I bought a motorcycle that way once. Saved me a few hundred dollars. I know when I bought my smart, the dealer charged me $500.00 to file for a title and tag. On the bike, I took the bill of origin to the tag office and they charged me $5.00.

I plan to go with basic White and Automatic for #2 as the most popular color for vehicles. It also allows the wraps to be added easily for those who want something different.

I expect to take possession in order to avoid voiding the SIL by tranferring the reservation. That's the last thing I heard about transferring reservations. You can do it, but you lose your place in line. Taking possession eliminates that problem.

 

[Husker1]

The Elio will be a different animal to flippers. You shouldn't get hung up on add-ons as you could limit your market that way. Get the Automatic (larger audience) and then pick a color. Get it base with maybe carpet as I don't think you'll find anyone who wouldn't want carpet. Black carpet is probably the safest bet. Unlike buying a regular car where all the options have to be on the car when you buy it, Elio will have the options available to add on as you see fit later. you can do it yourself or (probably) have the Elio location nearest you take it to the marshaling center where they are trained in installation. Yup, options will not be important for resale. Transmission selection will be though. I may have the only manual in the state of Nebraska. I don't care. I think it'll be a hoot to drive.

You may have the first manual transmission in Nebraska, but I'm not too far behind you!

 

[Johnny Acree]

I just up graded to $1000.00 all in on #2. Then I checked the guesstimater. If Jan is start of production I'll get #1 in march and #2 in June.
I think I like that. If I get an early offer for #1 then it won't hurt to go ahead and sell, knowing it won't be very long till #2 shows up.
I have heard that EM won't be locking in the less than $1000.00 at the 65000 mark. They will continue taking reservations till the first year is sold out. So a $100.00 reservation might not be built till Dec!