Ticket scalping is the act of buying up rare in demand access to shows and performances and then on selling those tickets for a higher than retail price after the event is sold out. Whilst not illegal, is considered unethical and frowned upon.
However the margins involved mean some people use this as a funds raising exercise for personal wealth. You may not know it but the same practice does occur in the motor trade with rare or limited release vehicles.
One such manufacturer is the Rolls Royce and the CEO knows buyers do this and is cracking down on it.
The vehicle in Question is the Rolls Royce Spectre, an all electric vehicle that is the first ever to be released by the manufacturer.
Rolls Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos states “any customer who sells or try to sell the Spectre will be blacklisted from buying a Rolls Royce for Life.
The act of flipping cars — that is, buying a limited or highly desirable model and then reselling it for big profit — won’t go unnoticed, or be tolerated, by Rolls Royce.
We are not just talking any car here. in order to be able to buy one you have to apply and qualify for it.
Speaking at the launch in California, Torston said: ‘I can tell you we are really sanitizing the need to prove who you are, what you want to do with the car – you need to qualify for a car and then you might get a slot for an order.” But those who violate the policy and resell the vehicle at a higher price are “going immediately on a blacklist and this is it – you will never ever have the chance to acquire again.’
What would one of these cost you? Base price in the UK is about $425,000.
This has not been received well by all parties, with one English based vehicle reseller claiming he already had deposits from two of his clients for the car. If the ban eventuates, he will have a hard time being Englands premium used Rolls Royce vendor.
”I do not think it is fair for carmakers to tell customers who have spent close to half a million pounds on a car what they can do with it,”
Rolls Royce are not the first to do this. Last year GM said it would ban flippers “from placing future sold orders or reservations if the vehicle is resold within the first 12 months of ownership.”
Other high end “rare” vehicles that come with a not to be resold tag are TheCorvette Z06, The Cadillac Escalade V and the All electric Hummer by GMC.
Famously Ford has previously sued actor John Cena who “flipped” a Ford GT, an act that was allegedly in breach of his purchase contract.
