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Ran across this Ebay posting for one 19 x 9 1/2, 55 offset Gravana wheel :Saturn Sky Pontiac Solstice Gravana 19 x 9 5 Wheel Silver Brand New | eBay
So I sent the seller a message just to say how rare it to see Gravana wheels for sale anymore and he sent the following reply.
I would love to bring these wheels in again. With the factory's 800 wheel minimum, I would have to Pre-Sell at least 100 complete sets to justify the risk. Pre-sales are either a slam-dunk or tough. Sometimes, people commit early and then run out of patience and cancel, and the minimum is close, but never met. I ran pre-sales on wheels, hoods, body kits and other products that required large mold/inventory investments up front. I found a ton of people who said “Yes”, but many of those people would back-out when it came time to commit and pay.
Based on my recent experience with other aftermarket products, 3 months is the threshold. People are willing to pre-pay and wait 3 months to learn whether or not the deal will happen. It takes @ 3-4 weeks to produce the wheels, and 3 weeks in transit. However, it could take 6 months to get 100 sets ordered, and the people who commit first will not want to wait 7-8 months overall for wheels.
I sell many parts for the Solstice and Sky through my Accesspeed website, but I do not see the type of following that would lead me to believe that I could pre-sell 100 sets of staggered wheels in 3 months.
Now you have me thinking about this market again…
So I sent the seller a message just to say how rare it to see Gravana wheels for sale anymore and he sent the following reply.
I would love to bring these wheels in again. With the factory's 800 wheel minimum, I would have to Pre-Sell at least 100 complete sets to justify the risk. Pre-sales are either a slam-dunk or tough. Sometimes, people commit early and then run out of patience and cancel, and the minimum is close, but never met. I ran pre-sales on wheels, hoods, body kits and other products that required large mold/inventory investments up front. I found a ton of people who said “Yes”, but many of those people would back-out when it came time to commit and pay.
Based on my recent experience with other aftermarket products, 3 months is the threshold. People are willing to pre-pay and wait 3 months to learn whether or not the deal will happen. It takes @ 3-4 weeks to produce the wheels, and 3 weeks in transit. However, it could take 6 months to get 100 sets ordered, and the people who commit first will not want to wait 7-8 months overall for wheels.
I sell many parts for the Solstice and Sky through my Accesspeed website, but I do not see the type of following that would lead me to believe that I could pre-sell 100 sets of staggered wheels in 3 months.
Now you have me thinking about this market again…
