First to Fly Mooney Acclaim Auction - July 11th

[Seth]

The current bid is $586,000 and bidding closes tomorrow.  Just over 32 hours to go.

 

All proceeds will go to the Mooney Museum and you get the first brand new Acclaim.

 

Only registered bidders can continue to bid at this time - should be fun to watch (I am NOT bidding nor am a registered bidder).

 

http://www.mooney.com/first-to-fly-auction/

 

 

 

 

-Seth

[Jeff_S]

Not to be too pessimistic or anything, but if they can't raise $699K in a charity auction for this airplane, how many are they going to be able to sell at that price? Believe me, I want them to sell a lot, but if there is a ready market for the plane I would think this auction should get at least close to the normal asking price. Perhaps the final bidders are there lurking with their fingers on the "send" button, waiting for the deadline.

[smccray]

I'm sorry- I'll say it.  Who in their right mind would buy the first plane off the line after it's been shut down for 5 years?  I'm sure this plane was one of the planes that was sitting in the factory left incomplete when they shut down, but never in a million years would I want to own this plane.  Frankly, I wouldn't want to own a "new" Mooney until 2017 at the earliest.  Get the new production staff in and re-learn how to build airplanes.

 

It's probably fine, but if I'm going to spend $600K I wouldn't want to risk it.

[Marauder]

I'm sorry- I'll say it. Who in their right mind would buy the first plane off the line after it's been shut down for 5 years? I'm sure this plane was one of the planes that was sitting in the factory left incomplete when they shut down, but never in a million years would I want to own this plane. Frankly, I wouldn't want to own a "new" Mooney until 2017 at the earliest. Get the new production staff in and re-learn how to build airplanes.

It's probably fine, but if I'm going to spend $600K I wouldn't want to risk it.

Same for a car or truck built on a Friday or Monday -- especially worse after a holiday!

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[kmyfm20s]

I believe it was actually the last complete airframe built in 2009, so no rookies built the airframe. Engine, avionics, paint and interior might be a different story.

[FloridaMan]

If it doesn't go up, they need to bid it up themselves. 

[Danb]

It will go up I only wished I had registered.....

[Mcstealth]

$603,000

 

10:15pm Thursday

[aaronk25]

I'm sorry- I'll say it. Who in their right mind would buy the first plane off the line after it's been shut down for 5 years? I'm sure this plane was one of the planes that was sitting in the factory left incomplete when they shut down, but never in a million years would I want to own this plane. Frankly, I wouldn't want to own a "new" Mooney until 2017 at the earliest. Get the new production staff in and re-learn how to build airplanes.

It's probably fine, but if I'm going to spend $600K I wouldn't want to risk it.

Glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty???

[Marauder]

$603,000

10:15pm Thursday

I suspect like all bidding situations, the final activity is yet to be seen...

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[Mcstealth]

$611,000

 

Friday 9:25am

[chrisk]

I was the high bidder at one time, but that was $500K+ ago....    I'm guessing it will end in the $850K to $1M range.

[Mcstealth]

14 hours left

[Mcstealth]

$625.000

 

Four hours left

[Mcstealth]

Still $625,000

 

Two hours left

[FAST FLIGHT OPTIONS LLC]

So here is what Mooney just did as I see it...they demonstrated a market sustainable price for a brand new Acclaim Type S is less than 650K. Furthermore, this little auction will now cause one to assume the price for a factory new O3 should stand somewhere south of that 650K price point. Why would you auction a plane without considering the winning bid could be substantially less then your normally price point? If this was considered then someone must have thought about the repercussions of how this demonstrated price will effect future sales? Why not just sell the first plane at "normal" price with the intention of driving the money to the museum or whatever the funds are supposed to be going towards?

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[chrisk]

I was the high bidder at one time, but that was $500K+ ago....    I'm guessing it will end in the $850K to $1M range.

Looks like I over estimated:  $ 646,000.00

[Marauder]

Looks like I over estimated: $ 646,000.00

Darn, I thought I had it for sure at $1.99. You know we are Cheap Bast$&ds, but we had to try.

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[Marauder]

So here is what Mooney just did as I see it...they demonstrated a market sustainable price for a brand new Acclaim Type S is less than 650K. Furthermore, this little auction will now cause one to assume the price for a factory new O3 should stand somewhere south of that 650K price point. Why would you auction a plane without considering the winning bid could be substantially less then your normally price point? If this was considered then someone must have thought about the repercussions of how this demonstrated price will effect future sales? Why not just sell the first plane at "normal" price with the intention of driving the money to the museum or whatever the funds are supposed to be going towards? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It actually may be a very smart market analysis move. Who really states in a market survey what you would pay for a new Acclaim? I would love a new Acclaim, but not for more than $300,000. This bid may actually help us on the lower end of the buying spectrum. What this may show Mr. Chen is that you have two ways (ok three ways) to approach this market. Sell high end machines to the select few who can afford them, realizing you aren't going to sell a lot of them. Maximize profits by driving cost out. Sell a lower end offering at a price point where you open the market up to more potential buyers. Again, you need to drive cost out to keep the price within the range of your target market. Oh yeah, the third way to approach this market -- give up on selling new planes and concentrate on selling upgrades, retrofits and parts sales. The problem with this market is the demographics. How many people are there out there who can afford a $750,000 airplane and are also pilots? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PMcClure]

I guess it was more about getting cash out of inventory and giving people something to do than market approach. I wonder when the engine was made and if it sat.

[DaV8or]

So here is what Mooney just did as I see it...they demonstrated a market sustainable price for a brand new Acclaim Type S is less than 650K. Furthermore, this little auction will now cause one to assume the price for a factory new O3 should stand somewhere south of that 650K price point. Why would you auction a plane without considering the winning bid could be substantially less then your normally price point? If this was considered then someone must have thought about the repercussions of how this demonstrated price will effect future sales? Why not just sell the first plane at "normal" price with the intention of driving the money to the museum or whatever the funds are supposed to be going towards?

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Another answer could be, they naively thought people would get really excited, competitive and drive the price way over asking. That happens at a lot of auctions. Maybe the factory considered this Mooney to be more special than it is. Anyhow, as you pointed out, they did learn a thing or two about their MSRP.

[aaronk25]

I guess it was more about getting cash out of inventory and giving people something to do than market approach. I wonder when the engine was made and if it sat.

I bet the engine was just built because if they had a engine they would have sold it when mooney needed money.....

[chrisk]

It actually may be a very smart market analysis move. Who really states in a market survey what you would pay for a new Acclaim? I would love a new Acclaim, but not for more than $300,000. This bid may actually help us on the lower end of the buying spectrum. What this may show Mr. Chen is that you have two ways (ok three ways) to approach this market. Sell high end machines to the select few who can afford them, realizing you aren't going to sell a lot of them. Maximize profits by driving cost out. Sell a lower end offering at a price point where you open the market up to more potential buyers. Again, you need to drive cost out to keep the price within the range of your target market. Oh yeah, the third way to approach this market -- give up on selling new planes and concentrate on selling upgrades, retrofits and parts sales. The problem with this market is the demographics. How many people are there out there who can afford a $750,000 airplane and are also pilots? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I like the idea of selling a lower end offering at a more moderate price.   I would hope Mooney could hit a $300K price point for a well equipped plane.  I came up with this number by using the Vans cost estimator for a VFR RV10, with a constant speed prop and IO540.  This came to $124K. 

[Piloto]

I will go next time they have a Bingo or a raffle on an Ovation at $1 per ticket. If a $1 Lotto ticket can get you $100M  why not on an Ovation.

 

José

[gsxrpilot]

How many people are there out there who can afford a $750,000 airplane and are also pilots?

I've often wondered how large this demographic is?  And of course, of this group, what percentage are wealthy enough to fly MUCH more expensive aircraft such as jets or turbines such as the Pilatus.  I'm certainly a Mooney supporter and fan, but I also make my living in Sales, and the market seems to be very small for new Ovations or Acclaims.