Head image source: Stills from "Infernal Affairs"
"Transfer orders" and "earn the difference", the new energy track has opened a new world door to the "scalper" industrial chain.
The WEIO ET7 order, which was officially delivered on March 28, was transferred by more than 5,000-10,000 yuan at a higher price. For this behavior, Weilai customer service recently said: "It may be a scam, the company's policy does not support the purchase of third-party orders, not through sales or APP orders will cause problems." ”
But an insider Zhou Yu (pseudonym), who is familiar with Weilai's car sales, told the car market, "The transfer order is indeed a thing, but the price increase amount is not so high, before the first batch of ET7 orders, the owner of the transfer can earn 3,000 yuan, and very few can increase the price by 5,000 yuan successfully." ”
In fact, the "seller" resold the order placed a few months ago and charged a certain "transfer fee", which is not a new thing in the industry. Popular brands such as Tesla, Xiaopeng, and Nezha have transferred orders on major forums and second-hand trading websites.
The general transfer fee will be determined based on the pick-up time, and the earlier the pick-up time, the higher the transfer fee charged. Recently, with the crazy price increase of new energy vehicles, the income of paid transfer orders of new energy vehicles has been magnified, and "transfer orders" have become a more profitable business.
For example, for every Tesla order transferred, you can get a reward of 5,000-20,000 yuan, and even "sellers" charge consulting fees and teach "buyers" how to avoid lightning. "I have paid 1,200 yuan of 'tuition' to the scalpers, and the number of roads in it has been figured out, helping you to avoid detours." On a second-hand trading network, a seller said so.
Behind the chaos of single transfers, it seems that a "one-stop" industrial chain has been formed behind it, and more and more people regard it as a way to make money under the epidemic. For consumers, is the purchase transfer order reliable? Why do car companies clearly have regulations prohibiting the resale of car orders, and these orders can still circulate on the second-hand trading platform at high prices?
#01
"Hoarding" popular models, how profitable is it to resell orders?
Previously, some new energy vehicle companies in China cracked down on scalpers by restricting their rights and interests. For example, Weilai launched the "first owner's rights", which includes a large number of disguised benefits such as free service upgrades, and the sales contract will also stipulate that once the vehicle is resold, the above rights and interests will automatically expire.
But on a second-hand trading website, a seller from Shanghai said to the car market story, "After the transfer, you are the first owner, and there will be no loss of interests in the later period." "What the hell is going on here?
Although WEILAI officially emphasizes "non-transferable orders", in practice, IT can let Weilai's sales consultants (Fellow) operate secretly. "No matter how many Fellows have, someone can pick up the car, and the more orders there are, the higher the commission." Zhou Yu shrugged.
On various second-hand trading websites, there are a large number of "scalpers" in the transfer of orders, some of which are personal intermediaries to earn the difference, and others are professional second-hand dealers involved.
Compared with Weilai's "small wins and small profits", Tesla is a solid "wealth management product", which can be called the main force of scalper hoarding.
Since 2022, Tesla has raised the price of its products for four consecutive times. The first time was on January 1, model 3 and Model Y rear-wheel drive version rose by 10,000 yuan and 21,000 yuan respectively; from March 10 to March 17, Tesla increased prices three times in 8 consecutive days, model 3 high-performance version rose by 28,000 yuan, Model Y long-endurance version and high-performance version rose by 28,000 yuan and 30,000 yuan respectively, and rear-wheel drive version rose by 15,000 yuan.
CCTV Finance pointed out in a report a few days ago that a Changsha car owner who is reselling Tesla Model 3 orders said that he ordered a Model 3 order at the end of last year and could pick up the car in the past two days, but needed to pay 10,000 transfer fees.
CCTV News's report on such incidents (screenshot)
Another second-hand car dealer in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, said: "At present, it takes three or four months to order new cars everywhere, but if you buy it here, take a rear-wheel drive Model Y as an example, you can pick up the car in a few days, which is 18900 yuan lower than the current official price."
Not only Tesla, but also the purchase of other brands of vehicles in advance can also be profitable by reselling them now. According to incomplete statistics, since entering March, more than 40 electric vehicles from nearly 20 new energy vehicle companies have announced price increases.
Depending on the model, the price increase generally ranges from 3,000 yuan to more than 30,000 yuan. In addition to announcing the price increase of some models, Xiaopeng Automobile has also cut the rights and interests of car owners such as 1,000 degrees free charging. At present, only Weilai, Gaohe, as well as qingjie, Zhiji and other emerging brands have not yet expressed whether to adjust prices.
A car owner who is reselling Xiaopeng P7 said, "January 2022 order, the price of the year ago, a valuable subsidy of 7,000 yuan, send 3,000 kWh of electricity every year, compared with the price increase after the price discount of about 30,000, pick up the car at any time, now 8888 yuan transfer." ”
In fact, in the second half of 2021, the price of raw materials upstream of new energy vehicles has been rising, and industry insiders have long known that the price of batteries and new energy vehicles will rise.
Earlier, The Story of the Automobile Market wrote an article on the price increase of raw materials, "Lack of core is fierce than tiger? Raw materials: Have you asked me if the price can be raised? The price of bulk commodities has risen sharply, which has greatly compressed the profit margins of auto parts companies, and some products have been zero profits, and even lost money in production.
At that time, many car companies were waiting to see who would raise prices first. Some "scalpers" who predict the price increase of new energy vehicles are moved by the wind, and even order multiple new energy vehicles at once, first lock in a price, and wait for the appropriate time to sell the orders on hand.
With the vigorous development of new energy vehicles, more popular new cars will enter the market this year. The sales of a new energy vehicle company told the car market, "This is like a shopping mall doing promotions, if we have a large promotion effort, 5,000 to tens of thousands of yuan, some scalpers with quotas will earn more." ”
So it seems that scalpers have ushered in a "new spring"?
#02
Sales touch the "red line", the ban is useless?
The phenomenon of turning orders has a long history. For example, earlier, the Extreme Krypton brand allowed prospective car owners who had paid a deposit to open a "transfer channel" before locking the order, and transferred the vehicle to others.
In the fuel vehicle, there are also many currently tight models on the market, or some models with a long configuration of the car pick-up cycle appear on the second-hand trading platform, tank 300, tank 500 black samurai version, crown land release four-wheel drive flagship model, etc. are the target of "scalpers".
In order to curb the phenomenon of transferring orders, the tank brand once said in the "Announcement on The Abnormal Order of Tank 500": "For new orders, orders that do not match the actual consignee, and cannot prove the lease relationship between immediate family members or limited city license plate vehicles, are considered invalid orders." ”
At present, with the intensification of the phenomenon of single transfer, some new energy vehicle companies have indeed introduced relevant policies.
Recently, Tesla has circulated on the Internet requiring customers to sign a "commitment letter of non-resale". Since some users have placed orders to buy multiple Tesla cars at one or more times, and then resold to others after picking up the car to earn the difference, Tesla requires these users to promise not to transfer or actually transfer to any third party within one year after picking up the car, if the default must pay a penalty of 20% of the vehicle invoice price, otherwise Tesla has the right to restrict the default vehicle binding account change and supercharging and other services.
Despite the "strict order", Tesla still has hundreds of transfer posts on major second-hand trading websites. It is reported that if scalpers encounter difficulties in placing orders on the official website, they will turn to the owner of the car to buy orders. Although the acquisition cost is higher, it is still profitable.
Auto Market Story asked multiple sellers how to "transfer orders", and the answer given was "transfer". "I personally accompanied the transfer, I did not touch the car the whole time, and when the vehicle procedures were completed, I would transfer it to you again." A "scalper" on a second-hand trading platform said.
So since the "no resale commitment letter" was signed, can Tesla really not deliver the car? According to the analysis of relevant civil lawyers, this letter is legally invalid, from delivery to the owner of the car, the ownership of the car has been transferred, and consumers have the right to dispose of the goods they purchased. If the seller refuses to deliver the car, the consumer can sue Tesla to perform the contract.
"Tesla can't control the new car transfer transaction, and it can be 100% successful." A Shanghai "buyer" who has successfully transferred orders said to the car market story, "Tesla does not have the 'first owner rights' that is strongly bound to the first car owner, and many car owners operate like this." ”
But he also confided a lot of bitter water, "the process is too complicated, the shortcomings of the transfer are also obvious, can not be loaned, need to advance the car payment, the vehicle is regarded as a second-hand car, there is a certain transaction risk." ”
In view of the continuous rise in Tesla's price and the increasing time to pick up the car, although there is a certain risk, there are still many car owners who choose to take risks.
Even some car companies that have launched the rights and interests of "first car owners" cannot prevent the occurrence of transfer orders in actual operation. Zhou Yu said frankly: "The identification of the first owner relies on the car purchase invoice and the motor vehicle registration certificate to prove it, but before the car purchase invoice is issued, the transfer order will only be known to the first-line sales, and the order and rights and interests will not be affected before the lock order becomes a big decision." ”
Similar to the content of Weilai's statement, recently, Xiaopeng Motors also stressed that Xiaopeng Motors' product orders are all associated with the real name of the ID card, and the identity information needs to be verified before the contract can enter the delivery link. If the customer cancels the reservation for personal reasons, the vehicle order will be reintroduced into the unified management, and there is no possibility of private second-hand order resale.
However, when the car market Story visited, it was found that although the regulations were strict, there were also sales parties that would help transfer orders in order to maintain customers. A car owner who transferred the Xiaopeng P5 said to the car market Monogatari, "You can transfer, because my order is at the end of January, the sales commitment is not affected, it can be operated." ”
In fact, in order to complete the performance, some car sales imply that the order can be transferred when inducing users to place an order. When some media first explored the store this year, there were sales of Xiaopeng and Extreme Krypton, saying: Now orders can enjoy the last wave of preferential activities in 2021. Even if you don't want the car when you pick up the car, if friends and family need it, the registered name of the vehicle can be renegotiated, as long as it is a friend you approve, the order can be transferred.
Although the transfer of orders is regarded as a "red line" by car companies, the opportunity for black box operation is not without. An insider of another new energy vehicle company also explicitly said to the car market, "The official clearly stipulates that orders are not allowed, but privately we will not care." ”
#03
When is the buying and scalping closed?
On the one hand, under the direct sales model, car companies, as sellers facing consumers, implement a "differential system" for orders, and the sooner they make up their minds, the more priority rights they will get. Nowadays, a large wave of model price increases has provided more space for the original "scalper" transfer orders.
On the other hand, the "pay first and deliver later" model has led to the fact that after some popular models are listed, the production capacity of car companies cannot keep up with the growth rate of terminal orders, which in turn leads to an imbalance between supply and demand, breeding the phenomenon of "scalpers" reselling orders at a higher price.
"The popularity of new energy vehicle order transfer reflects the current chaos in the production order and delivery of new energy vehicles, which is caused by the shortage of upstream chips and the price increase of raw materials." Of course, it is not excluded that some car companies are deliberately creating an atmosphere of shortage of vehicles. Auto analyst Huang Bo (pseudonym) said.
According to the weekly analysis of the third week of March released by the Federation of Passenger Vehicles, some battery companies have changed the price negotiation rules this year, the price is negotiated quarterly, and there are price openings, so the pressure on car companies that sign new orders is very large, and they can only alleviate the cost pressure by increasing prices. It is expected that the market may have a price overdraft in the second quarter, but it will improve by the third quarter.
If the price of raw materials is controlled, Tesla's official price will also be lowered again, the profit space of scalping orders will be squeezed, and the phenomenon of scalper speculation will also be reduced.
However, the mark-up transfer order is, in the final analysis, a commercial act, and the key depends on the attitude of consumers. Once the transfer order is taken over, the consumer also needs to bear the corresponding risk.
Industry insiders analyzed several "extreme" situations for car market Monogatari, "for example, in the transfer, your money has been hit, but the car is nominally the seller's, how much risk can be imagined, if the seller suddenly repents, or asks for a price increase and so on." In addition, there will be risks of used car disposal explanations, which require consumers to be cautious. ”
For car companies, the phenomenon of scalpers hoarding will bring challenges to the direct operation model, and Tesla is naturally aware of this. "For a strong brand, maintaining pricing power is a very important symbol of brand power, whether it is price increases or price cuts. Behind Tesla's crackdown on scalpers is also its obsession with controlling the price system of new cars. Huang Bo pointed out.
In order to put an end to the phenomenon of scalpers reselling orders at a higher price and ensure the normal operation of direct sales channels, it is far from enough for car companies to simply introduce some "paper talk" regulations. Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, also expressed his own views, "Enterprises must have a clear attitude, strictly prohibit the occurrence of acts that break market rules, and if necessary, publicize the overall market." In addition, enterprises need various ways to protect themselves, such as introducing relevant management measures to adapt to the new situation and strictly managing the marketing system. Of course, a mature legal system can also provide great help to enterprises. ”
End
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