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SELLING PARTS & ACCESSORIES THROUGH AMAZON & EBAY

With new car sales and collision repair declining, selling parts online can make up for dealership revenue loss. Selling online through marketplaces like Amazon and eBay is a great way to add new sales channels and revenue while reaching more customers. There is still plenty of opportunity for dealers not already online to join in on the increasing revenue gains through online marketplaces.

RevolutionParts Customers (Sold Online in 2019):

eBay:

$27,538,208

Amazon:

$11,148,093

So, what will it cost you to successfully sell parts and accessories on Amazon and eBay? We did the math just to show you how much time and money your dealership will save by partnering with RevolutionParts instead of doing it on your own.

THE CHALLENGES OF DOING IT YOURSELF

Managing Amazon and eBay listings effectively often requires additional resources. Relying on your Parts Manager to create and optimize listings, adjust shipping prices, and monitor sales will require a lot of time in order to be successful.

On top of managing all the existing orders coming in from the phone and the service department, it’s more than likely your Parts Manager is already too busy to dedicate the time required to list your entire inventory online.

Time Spent Creating & Managing Listing Items (DIY)

eBay:

2-4 listings per hour

Amazon:

2-4 listings per hour

If Your Inventory is 3,000 Products, It’ll Take You…

750

Hours

94

Business Days

19

Work Weeks

5

Months

Just to get 3,000 parts and accessories up on Amazon & eBay, it’ll take your Parts Manager almost half of the entire year, not including any holidays. That also doesn’t include changes to the listings, parts sold, or new inventory that comes in. At that rate, you could’ve sold thousands of dollars in parts and accessories with RevolutionParts.

With man hours like this, you might have to hire additional team members to manage your Amazon and eBay stores. But, hiring an additional salaried employee to take on the responsibility of these online sites could cost your parts department and dealership anywhere between $50,000-$70,000 a year. This cost doesn’t even include your listing fees on Amazon and eBay.

 

THE BENEFITS OF PARTNERING WITH REVOLUTIONPARTS

With RevolutionParts, you can do more in less time – and you’ll have easy access to essential information and customization options. Keeping all aspects of listing, pricing, and selling parts in a single spot will save you time and money.

The RevolutionParts dashboard houses everything in one convenient place, like our Bulk Inventory Upload feature. You’ll be able to download your inventory into a spreadsheet and upload it instantly to your Amazon and eBay store in a matter of minutes.

Time Spent Creating & Managing Listing Items (RevolutionParts)

Platform Dashboard:

Entire inventory in less than an hour

At RevolutionParts, you’ll also have access to premium features that would normally cost you more money. Not only are your listing fees waived, but you’ll have access to eBay’s Anchor Store Tier and professional listing templates – all features that help you stand out against aftermarket competition at a fraction of the cost and time commitment.

Getting more parts off the shelves and more money in your pocket is easier and faster than ever. Here’s the comparison chart of selling parts and accessories on Amazon and eBay with RevolutionParts versus DIY:

Download & Print This Chart

Dealerships using our platform are projected to sell over $53 million on Amazon and eBay in 2020. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to tap into this money generator and add thousands of dollars in revenue per month to your dealership. Get your parts department started on Amazon and eBay the easy way with RevolutionParts.

SEND YOUR PARTS MANAGER THIS GUIDE

Request a demo of THE #1 WAY FOR NEW CAR DEALERS TO SELL PARTS & Accessories ONLINE

REQUEST A DEMO

The post The True Cost of Selling Parts on Amazon & eBay appeared first on RevolutionParts - Sell Parts and Accessories.

Selling through online marketplaces is one of the best ways to move your obsolete and aging inventory while maximizing your gross profit. They allow you to open up your business to more potential customers, gain faster transaction rates, and maximize a higher sales volume. There are several ways to approach online parts sales. You can have your own dedicated dealership parts website, or you can utilize marketplaces like eBay Motors and Amazon.

READ MORE: The Parts Manager’s Guide to Beating Obsolescence

Amazon and eBay are often the first choice for people looking for auto parts and accessories. In fact, in 2023, dealers on the RevolutionParts platform sold about $60 million in OEM parts and accessories through Amazon and eBay. It’s clear that getting into the online sales business can spell serious bank for your dealership. 

So which platform should you use? What are the differences between them? What are their strengths? 

Here’s a breakdown of both Amazon and eBay, and how you can utilize each one to your advantage.

Amazon has over 310 million active users.

Is Amazon Right For Obsolescence?

Amazon is an online retail giant. In 2022, Amazon sold nearly $13 billion in parts and accessories and is projected to reach  That’s a pretty significant slice of the national market. The platform gives you the option to have orders fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or by the merchant (FBM), and choosing FBA helps guarantee inventory quality and quantity.

Customers on Amazon are price-sensitive, and they care most about the total cost. They’re interested in free shipping and an easy, convenient customer experience. They look for higher customer satisfaction ratings to feel confident before buying. They’re highly research-driven and the more information you can provide to them in a quicker time frame, the better. 

READ MORE: Successfully Sell Parts on Amazon: How to Win the Buy Box

While Amazon charges seller fees (12% in automotive generally, 10% for tires and wheels), the volume focus on the platform means you’re primed to sell more parts and earn an additional 5–10% back on your profit margins through OEM volume incentives.

In addition, Amazon’s vast customer base and sophisticated search algorithm mean that your products can be discovered by a large audience of potential buyers with minimal effort. The platform’s analytics tools allow sellers to track sales, monitor customer behavior, and adjust real-time pricing or marketing strategies to maximize sales.

Amazon’s platform also supports various pricing strategies, from competitive pricing to dynamic pricing models that adjust according to demand, competition, and other factors. This flexibility allows sellers of obsolete parts to maximize their profits by adjusting prices based on scarcity and demand.

Another key advantage of selling on Amazon is the ability to create detailed product listings with comprehensive descriptions, high-quality images, and even videos. This is particularly important for obsolete parts, as buyers often require detailed specifications and compatibility information before making a purchase. Providing this level of detail can significantly increase conversion rates for specialized auto parts.

eBay shoppers are interested in finding niche products and they’ve grown to trust the platform, so dealerships can piggyback off of that customer loyalty.

Is eBay Motors Right For Obsolescence?

On the other hand, eBay Motors is also a force to be reckoned with in the world of online auto parts sales, especially aging and obsolete parts. The website has around 135 million active users, and the eBay app has 599 million downloads — so it’s safe to say you’re working with a loyal customer base when you sell auto parts on eBay. 

Plus, eBay is considered the go-to marketplace for car enthusiasts and DIY-ers.

READ MORE: What Every Parts Manager Should Know About Selling on eBay

Customers who are eager to buy old and aging parts are out there; you need to make your dealership known to them. These buyers are interested in comparing the best prices and finding niche products. Plus, they’ve grown to trust the platform itself.

In addition to its large audience base, eBay Motors offers parts sellers a helpful Global Shipping Program, a Seller Protection Program, and Top Seller Status potential to build customer trust.

What makes eBay particularly appealing for the sale of obsolete parts is its diverse and dedicated community. Collectors, restoration experts, and hobbyists frequently scour eBay listings for rare finds that can’t be sourced elsewhere. This creates a unique market where sellers can command higher prices for parts that are in low supply but high demand.

Furthermore, eBay’s user-friendly listing process and the ability to set auctions allow sellers to let the market determine the value of rare or obsolete parts. This can be especially beneficial for items where determining a set price is challenging due to their rarity. The auction format can also generate greater visibility and competition among buyers, potentially leading to higher sale prices.

Bottom Line

Amazon and eBay Motors are valuable platforms to capitalize on the growing online parts sales market. Determining your business goals, parts inventory, and sales strategy can help you list the pros and cons of using either marketplace and decide on which one is right for you—interested in learning the secrets to turning your obsolete inventory into a strong revenue stream online? Check out our guide, “Turn Obsolescence into Revenue with Parts eCommerce,” for a full breakdown of how you can maximize your parts sales through different eCommerce channels.

The post The Best Online Marketplaces for Selling Obsolete Parts Inventory appeared first on RevolutionParts - Sell Parts and Accessories.

By selling OEM auto parts on Amazon, you can tap into 10 million car owners who bought parts and accessories online. And that was just in the last 6 months of 2016 (it’s grown since then)!

The Future is Online

Parts Managers who want to grow their department faster understand that they have to expand sales beyond the service and sales department. And the future is selling parts online.

This is your opportunity to take proactive steps to reduce parts obsolescence. (Amazon is FULL of searching, ready-to-buy shoppers)

When it comes to getting your parts online, it can seem like a shot in the dark. The online marketplace is increasingly competitive, especially with Prime shoppers expecting free shipping.

There are other Parts Managers having the same headaches and heartaches that you’re having, wondering how to understand the marketplace in terms of pricing and profitability. Today’s part shoppers have price transparency and it’s a valid concern that you won’t be competitive on pricing to make a profit.

But if you treat your online stores as a separate business, you’ll watch it grow.

So, Why Sell Auto Parts on Amazon?

This infographic highlights the huge opportunity to reach new customers online and provides tips for selling your parts inventory on Amazon.

The Tools you Need to Easily Sell Parts on Amazon

The tools on the RevolutionParts platform make selling on Amazon really, really easy for parts managers. You can create and edit thousands of listings in bulk. You can adjust pricing across the board, in just a few clicks. You can exclude certain categories, like hazmat or oversized, so you only sell what’s profitable for you.

Grab our free ebook to see exactly which tools you’ll need to easily and profitably sell OE parts & accessories on Amazon!

The post [Infographic] Why Sell Auto Parts on Amazon appeared first on RevolutionParts - Sell Parts and Accessories.

We’ve compiled a list of helpful resources for everything you need to be successful when selling auto parts on eBay Motors, from how to increase visibility to running an effective promotion.

Bookmark this page to have it all right at your fingertips!

6 Reasons to Sell Auto Parts on eBay Motors

Why should your parts department sell car parts on eBay? It’s a huge segment of the online parts market, for one, and a great way to get rid of obsolete and overstock parts. eBay is packed with millions of ready-to-buy customers… looking for the parts that your dealership sells!

Sure, there are enough dealers on eBay to see a bit of competition. But with so many parts for sale and a growing number of shoppers buying replacement and upgrade parts online, there’s room for your team to stake a claim in eBay Motors, too.

Questions to Ask Yourself before Selling Auto Parts on eBay Motors

To stand out on eBay Motors, it helps to go in with a strategy. After all, it’s a different marketplace compared to a standalone or plug-in parts website, so approaching your parts sales from a different angle just makes sense.

This article will break down the basics your dealership needs to figure out in order to sell car parts on eBay and come out with a profit.

7 Vital Keys to Success on eBay Motors

What does it take to run a successful eBay Motors store for your parts & accessories? Selling on eBay requires a different strategy from a typical parts website, so you need to be aware of the differences if you want to maximize your profits!

When you sell through eBay, keep these 7 keys in mind and you’ll set yourself up for success!

Top 3 Mistakes that New Auto Part Sellers Make on eBay Motors

Just starting out on eBay Motors? We all have to start somewhere, especially since selling on eBay Motors has some key differences compared to a regular parts website.

Sell car parts on eBay the right way by ironing out these common mistakes.

How to Run a Promotion on eBay Motors

Whether they’re online and offline, customers love a good discount. It’s no different on eBay Motors! You can sell more car parts on eBay when you set up sales and promotions to draw in shoppers.

This guide breaks down the basics of brainstorming a promotion and how to set up your eBay account to make it a reality.

How to Increase your Visibility on eBay Motors

On eBay, you’re competing with other parts sellers like you. But it’s not impossible to stand out and improve your visibility on eBay!

Here are some of the most reliable tips and tricks for attracting shoppers to your parts website, even if you don’t offer the lowest price. Even though price matters to shoppers when you sell parts online, it’s not the only way to make your parts website known on eBay!

How to Gain and Maintain Top Seller Status on eBay Motors

Top Seller Status comes with so many powerful benefits that make selling car parts on eBay easier and more profitable.

If everyone got Top Seller Status for free, it wouldn’t be quite so special. In order to keep the perks of Top Seller Status, you have to sell to a certain standard and keep your customers happy.

There’s always more to learn when it comes to best practices for selling car parts on eBay. After all, the market is still fairly new. Dealerships are always coming up with new ways to promote the parts they sell, and eCommerce solutions like us are constantly looking for ways to make selling even easier.

The industry looks optimistic for parts eCommerce, whether you’re selling on eBay or a standalone website. Don’t miss out on this chance to take parts sales to the next level!

The post eBay Motors Success Resource Masterlist for Parts Managers appeared first on RevolutionParts - Sell Parts and Accessories.

After all, shoppers on eBay are searching and ready to buy. As long as you can reach them and offer the part they need, they’re a sale waiting to happen.

Of course, selling on eBay is a little different than selling on a parts website or at the counter. If you want to maximize your success, you need to strategize and speak the language of the eBay Motors shoppers.

Here are 7 things you should definitely know if you want to make it big on eBay!

1. You don’t have to sell everything

Some parts managers are under the impression that you have to list your entire inventory on eBay Motors, but that’s not true!

More listings will certainly increase your chances of finding an interested shopper, but if certain parts end up cutting into your profits, don’t sell them. Only list what’s profitable.

Many dealers will exclude oversized or hazmat items, for example. The shipping cost for large, awkwardly-shaped parts just isn’t worth it.

On the other hand, some dealers will heavily focus on the fast-moving parts they know they can sell. By buying an entire pallet of windshield wipers or oil filters, you can get a nice bulk discount, then offer a lower price on eBay and still come out ahead. The competitive price attracts more buyers and helps you become a high-volume seller!

2. Shipping doesn’t have to be free

Free shipping is HUGE on eBay. Regardless of the item’s price, listings with free shipping will appear higher in search results than those without it.

Basically, offering free shipping will improve your visibility on eBay and help you sell more parts.

That said, it’s just not practical (or smart) to ship auto parts for free. You wouldn’t make any profit!

The trick is to bake the cost of shipping into the part’s price. If a part sells for $20, and shipping will cost $8, list the part as $28 with free shipping. This method, combined with strategically excluding certain parts and categories from your listings, will help you stay profitable.

The only problem with this strategy is finding a reliable way to estimate shipping. Otherwise, you risk undershooting the cost and losing money, or overshooting the cost and no longer offering a competitive price.

Luckily for dealerships selling with a RevolutionParts eBay Store, our software does that work for you. With just a click, you can have the estimated shipping cost added to the product price on your listing, and mark it as “free shipping.”

This way you get the visibility boost without letting shipping costs cut into your margins!

RELATED: 8 Tricks to Avoid Overpaying for Shipping

3. Add product photos

A product image can DOUBLE how well a part sells.

Shoppers love being able to see the part they’re buying as another way to confirm it’s what they need. It’s a much better alternative to simply displaying the brand logo.

Since taking photos of the parts you sell takes time, it’s no surprise that not many dealers do it. That means the majority of the listings on eBay just have the brand logo instead of an actual picture of the part.

If you try to photograph everything, you’ll only get overwhelmed. So make a list of your best-selling parts and photograph those first. If you have any custom products like key chains, hats, or T-shirts, definitely take pictures of those too. Not only will this help your listings stand out, it’ll also increase your sales.

Here are some tips for taking photos:

• How to Take Better Auto Parts Photos
• Top Tools for Taking Photos of Auto Parts Without Breaking the Bank

4. Account for the fees

eBay has several fee systems in place, and forgetting about them will eat into your profits. When you set the pricing margin for your parts, you have to account for the fees! Otherwise you might end up with smaller margins than you expected.

Fees include:

• Seller Manager Pro Subscription (Waived with RevolutionParts)
• Anchor Store Subscription (Waived with RevolutionParts)
• Listing Fees (Waived with RevolutionParts)
• Final Value Fees (Discounted with RevolutionParts)

Offering your shoppers a low price will make your listing more attractive, but it needs to be high enough that you still make a profit after shipping cost, part cost, and any applicable fees.

5. Take advantage of international shipping!

There’s a really cool feature on eBay that not all sellers take advantage of: easy international shipping.

With eBay’s Global Shipping Program, you can reach international shoppers without having to deal with expensive overseas shipping and customs papers.

When someone in another country buys your part, you ship it to eBay. eBay then takes care of the international shipping headache, like custom papers, and ships the part to the buyer.

If something happens to the part along the way, like it gets delayed or damaged because of eBay’s role in the shipping, any negative feedback your store receives will be removed. Basically, eBay won’t hold you accountable for shipping if they’re the ones who mess up.

Of course, some brands aren’t allowed to sell internationally. Make sure you CAN sell overseas before enrolling in eBay’s program.

6. Communicate as quickly as possible!

The better you are at keeping in touch with shoppers, the better—for more than one reason!

When you ignore a customer for several days, they’re much less likely to buy from you. In fact, by that point most shoppers have probably already placed an order somewhere else.

To some extent, shoppers expect slow customer service. So if you can reply to their questions within an hour or two, it’s a pleasant surprsie that improves their opinion of you. You can establish yourself as a credible source for information and someone they can actually get a response from. It becomes a way to build shopper loyalty so they’re more likely to buy from you next time, too.

If an issue arises, it’s recommended to try to sort things out with the buyer before getting eBay involved. If you take days to reply to every message, that shopper is much less likely to cooperate with you and work things out. eBay almost always sides with the buyer, so it’s worth it to stay on the buyer’s good side.

7. Take full advantage of eBay tools

eBay-specific factors like Top Seller Status can really make a difference online, since it boosts visibilty AND makes shoppers more willing to trust you. Even though you have to meet certain standards to gain and maintain it, Top Seller Status can be huge for your parts team.

There are other tools available to you too, like running an eBay promotion. Shoppers love a good sale! eBay promotions are fairly flexible, so you can set up a discount that fits with your pricing strategy and drives more sales without losing out on profit.

Finally, you can create guides or become an active member of the forums in order to build relationships and credibility among eBay shoppers. It’s a great way to leverage your dealership brand and get your name out there!

Conclusion

eBay Motors is a different audience than your standalone parts website, so it makes sense that you need to approach it differently, too. When your prices are displayed side-by-side with competitors, offering free shipping and competitive pricing is a huge deal. Shooting for volume sales and tighting up margins wherever you can makes a huge impact on your success.

But selling on eBay is worth it! Millions of people visit eBay on a regular basis, and usually they’re searching and ready to buy the auto parts they need. This is especially true for obsolete parts! eBay Motors a healthy and growing market to tap into, so you don’t want to miss out.

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Time commitment, budget, marketing strategy, and so on… the way you choose to sell can be tailored to your situation.

Not sure which selling channel is best for you? Check out this breakdown of pros and cons for each channel to decide which one you want to try.

Of course, many dealers decide to sell in more than one place online. There’s no rule saying you have to pick ONE selling channel.  That said, if you’re a first-time seller it might be best to try one channel first and add more as you get used to it.

Selling Parts on Marketplaces (eBay and Amazon)

Selling on a preexisting marketplace like eBay or Amazon is easy to get started, since the website and audience already exist. That said, you have to obey eBay’s rules when you sell.

Pros of Marketplaces:

1. It’s easy to get started

On eBay and Amazon, there are already millions of ready-to-buy shoppers looking for exactly the part they need. They came there to make a purchase, putting you in a prime position to be their buyer.

You also don’t have to worry about building and maintaining a website. Other than touching up your selling profile, the selling software itself is already set up for you.

When you decide to sell on eBay or Amazon, you should take some time to prepare a simple strategy. You don’t want to run into it blind!

RELATED GUIDE: 6 Must-Have Tools to Easily Sell OE Parts & Accessories on Amazon

2. No marketing necessary

For any other selling channel, you need to have some kind of marketing strategy to drive traffic to your store. With eBay and Amazon, the marketplaces do the marketing for you.

That said, there are still ways to help your store stand out. You might not need to invest in PPC advertising, but you certainly CAN use something like shipping inserts to get even more sales. You can also run promotions on eBay to get customers excited about a great sale!

3. Existing customer trust and communication

On eBay and Amazon, shoppers already trust the marketplace. Even if they don’t know a seller, they know the Marketplace is looking out for everyone’s best interests.

Basically, shoppers don’t have to worry about if you’re stealing their credit card info or trying to con them. eBay or Amazon will mediate if any problems come up, which is good for both you and your customers.

Cons of Marketplaces

1. More price competitive

Since it’s easier to get started on eBay, more dealerships will take advantage of that. Your prices are side-by-side with aftermarket options, so the margins won’t be quite as big.

Part of this is due to the fees. Amazon and eBay want to take a cut of your sale, and that, in turn, cuts into your profit.

But don’t be afraid! Margins will be smaller than what you’re used to at the parts counter, but you can still make money! eBay is a volume game. Even though each part is worth a smaller profit, the number of parts you sell will make up for it.

RELATED: Top 3 Surefire Ways to Increase your eBay Visibility

2. Must be Marketplace compliant

You have less freedom on a marketplace, since you’re selling on their platform. This means obeying certain selling guidelines, like replying to shopper questions and shipping out the order within a certain time frame.

Shoppers who exceed the selling guidelines are rewarded (like eBay’s Top Seller Status). But if you can’t meet their minimum standards, they might not let you sell with them anymore.

3. It’s harder to grow customer loyalty

Most of the branding on eBay will, of course, be eBay’s. Shoppers remember “I bought this from eBay” or “I bought this from Amazon” more than your parts store name.

This makes it more difficult to build up a following on eBay. Even though repeat shoppers are an invaluable segment of your revenue on other selling channels, you can’t really rely on that for marketplaces.

There are still techniques for building up your brand on Marketplaces, though. It just takes more effort!

Selling Parts on an Existing Dealership Website

Need something easy and low maintenance? A parts website plug-in embeds directly into your dealership website, so local customers can easily find and buy from you.

Pros of a Parts Plug-in

1. It’s quick and easy to set up

Similar to Marketplaces, there’s no need to build an entire website from scratch in this case. That makes the plug-in easy to set up and install. After you’re trained up, your parts team could be selling in just a few days.

On a related note, the simplicity of a plug-in website makes it inexpensive, too!

2. You already have existing local customers

Your dealership should already have a group of loyal customers, or at least shoppers who will visit because it’s the closest dealership to their location. That means you don’t have to go through the work of building up a customer base from nothing!

This also gives you an easy platform for any marketing you decide to do. For one, any visitors to your dealership website will have easy access to the parts website plug-in. You can also hand out coupons, fliers, or parts website business cards to people who visit your parts counter or service lane.

3. It’s a better customer experience

A basic parts request form gets the job done, but it’s not the best experience from a customer’s point of view.

With a parts website plug-in, shoppers can browse around and find what they need. They can see images and diagrams of the parts, for example, along with price and shipping estimates.

When a customer visits your dealership website to order a part, there’s a higher chance that they’ll go through with their intended purchase!

RELATED: 4 Ways to Prevent Shoppers from Ordering the Wrong Part

Cons of a Parts Plug-in

1. Limited by local area

It’s great that you already have customers visiting your dealership website, but since your dealership only focuses on local shoppers… it’s tricky to attract people who live father away!

This means your parts business is limited by a local market area, so you won’t get as many shoppers as another selling channel would bring you.

With other selling channels, you don’t have any physical limitations. You could very easily sell to parts shoppers across the country or even across the world. With that kind of reach, selling online is a great way to eliminate obsolescence.

Unfortunately, a plug-in parts website is unlikely to impact your obsolescence problem.

2. Hard to sell high volume

Easy, low-maintenance part selling? This might be the channel for you. That said, don’t expect to be swimming in parts sales.

When you’re limited by your area, you simply won’t get as many shoppers. By extension, you also won’t get as many sales.

In a way, this can be good. If you chose this selling channel for an easy, low-maintenance option, then it’s for the best. You’ll get some orders, but you probably won’t have to ship out dozens of parts every day.

But if you wanted to aggressively grow your online parts business, then this isn’t the best channel to bring in tens of thousands in part sales every month. You simply won’t see the same kind of traffic that marketplaces or standalone parts websites get.

Selling Parts on a Standalone Parts Website

The sky is the limit when you launch a standalone website. With your own parts website, you can set your own rules—design, pricing, shipping, etc—and aggressively grow parts department sales how YOU want to.

Pros of a Standalone Parts Website

1. High volume sales

If you want a channel that helps you aggressively grow sales, then this might be the one for you!

As long as you have a marketing strategy in place, you can attract shoppers to your website. Then you just need to convince them to make a purchase… and since you have complete control over your parts website, it’s easy to optimize until your chances are pretty good.

When you combine a solid pricing matrix with quality customer service, you can even start building a loyal customer base that comes back to shop with you any time they need a part.

And unlike selling on Marketplaces, you don’t have to worry about fees eating into your profits.

2. No geographical limits

You’re not limited to a local market area when you sell on your own website. It’s easy to take your parts business across the country—or even across the world!

When you expand your market reach to a national or international level, the number of potential customers multiplies tenfold.

With such an expanded customer base, this also makes a standalone parts website ideal for eliminating obsolescence. There’s a much higher chance that you can find a customer who needs those old parts on your warehouse shelves!

3. You get complete control

We’ve already touched on it in some of the other points, but we have to dedicate an entire bullet point to this one…

With a standalone parts website, you get complete control!

The website design, for example, is completely up to you. We can’t speak on behalf of other parts eCommerce solutions, but with RevolutionParts you have many unique website themes to choose from. From there, you can work with our design team to rearrange sections, set up new pages, create custom banners, and so on.

You also get control over how you choose to sell. You can set up unique policies for shipping, returns, and cancellations to best fit what your team can handle.

And, of course, you can set your own pricing and shipping strategies. Build a pricing matrix to balance out your prices, for example, and play around with different margins.

Even though you can build a pricing matrix on any channel, marketplace margins are more restricted by competition, and many plug-in sites will simply choose to match their counter pricing for parts. A standalone Web Store gives you more flexibility in pricing.

Cons of a Standalone Parts Website

1. Takes more time to set up

Since your parts eCommerce solution is building your parts website from the ground up, it takes some time to get ramped up.

There’s also more training involved in setting up and optimizing your store. While the design team works on creating your website, the customer success team will be helping you learn your way around the platform.

At RevolutionParts, it takes about 2 weeks on average to launch a standalone parts website. Some dealerships are able to launch in less time, but it’s really important to us that you’re properly prepared before your Go Live date.

Some eCommerce solutions just want to churn our new parts websites like a conveyor belt and push you out the door before you’re ready, which can be a frustrating experience for first-time sellers.

2. It requires marketing of some kind

In order to success on your parts Web Store, you NEED some kind of marketing.

Unfortunately, a lot of dealers think you can take a “set and forget” approach to running a parts website, but that’s not the case. Whether you do the marketing yourself, hire a marketing agency, or rely on your auto group’s internal marketing team, you must do SOMETHING.

From what we’ve seen, PPC advertising and SEO are the two main ways to drive traffic to your parts website. PPC advertising is something like Google search or shopping ads, which can get a bit complicated if you don’t have any experience with Google ads. We recommend leaving it up to your marketing agency!

As for SEO, a lot of factors can affect how high your parts website appears in Google search results. Some of the factors are technical and outside of your control, but you can write unique content (like car part descriptions) to show Google that your website contains quality content.

RELATED: How to Boost the Google Ranking of your Parts Website in 6 Easy Steps

And there’s so much more you can do, too! Here’s a short list of some other techniques you can try:

• Packaging Inserts
• Promotional Emails
• Promoting on Facebook
• Abandoned Cart Recovery emails

3. Must know some best practices to maximize success

We’ve said it before, but here it is again: a “set-and-forget” strategy just won’t cut it online.

After you launch the parts website with some default settings, you should take some time to learn about parts eCommerce best settings. Things like how to create a good pricing matrix, tips for saving money on shipping, and so on.

Currently, there’s still a lot of opportunity and room for growth in the only parts market. That said, as more dealerships get started online, it’ll be harder to take the “easy way” to success. You’ll have to hone your strategy and pick up tricks when you can to save time on eCommerce, boost profitability, and find more customers.

Since you’re reading this, you’re in good shape! The RevolutionParts resource center is the best place to learn the latest tips and tricks for parts eCommerce success. Stay posted for more every week!

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But even though eBay is fairly simple to get started on, there are some mistakes that new auto parts sellers tend to make simply because they’re new to eBay. Even if your dealership is already selling online, eBay buyers have a unique mindset that you have to adjust for, or else it could cost you sales. It’s an entirely different market, after all, and you need to adjust accordingly.

Learn about these common mistakes before you fall victim to them yourself.

Mistake #1: Not offering free shipping.

On eBay, buyers really like those two magic words: “free shipping.”

Even if your store’s price + shipping is lower, they’ll gravitate toward the listing that says “free shipping.” It’s the idea of getting something for free that attracts their attention.

And it’s not just in the mindset of online shoppers everywhere—it’s built into the eBay marketplace itself. Offering free shipping helps you stand out and boost traffic on eBay, since it ranks you higher in eBay search results.

So, it’s worth your time to TRY selling auto parts with free shipping to see if it boosts your sales.

Those of you currently selling online are already balking. Offering free shipping for auto parts can be incredibly costly, since expensive, heavy, and odd-shaped items can make shipping prices a bit steep.

But this doesn’t mean you have to eat the loss for shipping. With accurate shipping calculations, you can bake the cost into your pricing while still offering competitive pricing. Plus, there are plenty of tricks for reducing your shipping costs overall so everyone wins on the cost!

By the way, the RevolutionParts eBay solution takes care of all this for you! There’s no need to manually do the math for each and every listing—we’ll do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.

Mistake #2: Setting prices without accurate shipping estimates.

This seems like a straightforward thing to do, but many parts managers selling on eBay make this mistake simply because they don’t know how to fix it. But really, its a good idea to incorporate some (or all) of the shipping cost into the part price.

How do you calculate accurate shipping costs for the thousands of auto parts in your inventory?

Selling auto parts isn’t like selling cell phone cases. The parts you sell come in all shapes and sizes, so a lot of people end up guessing when it comes to how much it will cost to ship something.

If you estimate shipping too low, then you’ll end up eating the cost of shipping and potentially losing money on the sale. On the other hand, charging too much will scare away customers. It’s easy for eBay shoppers to sort listings by price, so low-priced listings will see the best conversion rates.

You could manually figure out shipping costs for the parts one-by-one, but no one has time for that.

Or, of course, RevolutionParts can help you out, since our eBay solution will calculate those shipping prices for you, based on the weights and dimensions of the parts you sell.

Mistake #3: Taking too long to handle customer questions.

Like all online shoppers, people on eBay have a wealth of options right at their fingertips. They might be eyeing your listing at the moment, but a number of things could make them change their mind.

One of those things is waiting for you to respond to their questions. Online parts buyers are less likely to return purchased parts than in-store customers, likely because they want to make sure they’re buying the right part. Buyer confidence is incredibly important for securing sales online.

If they have a question about a part, they expect an answer from you as soon as possible—ideally, in less than a day. If you can’t provide an answer quick enough, it’s an easy matter for them to buy from someone else.

These aren’t the only mistakes that we see from parts sellers on eBay, but they are some of the biggest. The eBay marketplace offers tons of advantages to sellers, but at the same time it’s a bit more competitive than your average parts store, so it’s in your interests to optimize your eBay store wherever you can.

For an added bonus, good eBay practices like that will help you reach your Top Seller goals, which can give you added benefits and make selling on eBay even easier. As long as you have a reliable way to calculate shipping and the dedication to give your customers quick service, you’ll be able to make even more money on eBay.

The post 3 Top Mistakes That New Auto Part Sellers Make on eBay Motors appeared first on RevolutionParts - Sell Parts and Accessories.

Want to know a fail-safe way to draw in customers? One word: sales.

Shoppers get excited about finding good deals and often end up buying more than they would without the discount. As a result, sales events and promotions make your customers happy and make you happy—everyone wins.

Selling on eBay is no exception. Since eBay knows all about the excitement of promotions, they’ve made it easy for your store to run one yourself.

These three steps are all it takes to get started:

Step 1: Come up with an idea

It all starts with some brainstorming. What kind of offer do you want to provide your customers? Think about where you want to focus on improving (Sales volume? Big-ticket sales? Mailing list?). Depending on where you want to improve, you can prioritize your promotion around that.

Not all your items need to go on sale. Sometimes it’s a good idea to put select items on sale or only have the sale apply when a requirement is met. Many of these ideas can apply to promotions on your normal parts store too, so keep that in mind.

• Specific item type: Pick out a category of auto parts (for example, filters), and have the sales event apply only to those.
  • All filters 5% off
  • Buy one filter, get another filter 15% off

• Seasonal Sales: Similar to the specific item type promotion, you can select certain parts to be discounted depending on the time of year.
  • Select winter accessories 10% off

• Related items: Which auto parts do customers usually buy together? Have these items work hand-in-hand to encourage customers to add more parts to their cart. This is a great way to increase sales volumes.
  • When you buy floor mats, add seat covers for 10% off

• Order discount: When a customer spends a certain amount, they are rewarded.
  • $5 off when you spend more than $50 on your order
  • 10% discount when you spend more than $100
  • Free shipping on orders over $120

Use holidays whenever possible to give yourself an “excuse” to put things on sale! For example, you can run labor day promotions. You can also use this opportunity to build your mailing list by only offering the promotion to customers with a promo code, which they can receive by following you on Facebook or signing up for your email list.

PRO TIP: You can mix up the percent of discount, too. Offer less expensive accessories at 20% off and only discount your more expensive parts at 5% or 10%. This way you can advertise the sale event as “up to 20% off” and draw in more customers.

Step 2: Prepare your eBay store

Once you have a plan, it’s time to set up this promotion on eBay Motors.

Some of the promotion types listed above are more complex to set up, such as the related items promotion, so it’s up to you to decide. You can always run a simpler promotion (specific item type or seasonal) the first time to better understand how eBay promotions work.

Creating a sale event:

1. To start, navigate to your My eBay account summary and click “Manage Promotions,” which appears below the Seller Tools tab.
2. Click “Promote a Sales Event.”
3. Fill out all necessary promotional details, such as how much of a discount you plan to offer and which items qualify for your sale. You can schedule your promotions to begin and end on specific dates to help you automate the process.

If you want to learn more, eBay has information tools available, such as this useful video and an interactive tutorial.

After that, you can create promotion boxes to highlight featured items and announce specials. These boxes are easy to create and are an efficient way to let visiting customers see what you have on sale. In order to create one of these, here are the steps:

Creating a promotion box:

1. Navigate to your store management page.
2. Under “Store design,” click the link for Promotion Boxes.
3. Click “Create New Promotion Box.”
4. A number of different box templates will appear. Pick whichever fits your needs. Generally, this will be the “Advertise Items” option, but there are other choices for making store announcements or providing links to other parts of your eBay store.
5. After choosing the box’s location on your page, you can select choose which parts will appear and how you want that information to be displayed. When running large sales, you can set your promotion box to rotate periodically though your sale items.

When your promotion is over, it’s a good idea to disable the box instead of deleting it completely. If you want to run the same promotion at a later point in time, you can simply reactivate the box without having to reenter the same information.

PRO TIP: Always write your promotions out in numerical form rather than written (i.e. 10 instead of ten). If anything is offered for free as part of your sale (shipping or an inexpensive part), write FREE in all caps.

Step 3: Spread the word

No one will take advantage of your sales if they don’t know about them! Send out a promotional email and announcements over Facebook and Twitter in order to promote your sales.

It’s best to announce the sale ahead of time so that customers have some time to prepare, and then announce it again the day the sale begins as a reminder. You can also send out an email the last day of the sale to remind your customers that they’re running out of time.

However, keep these announcements to a minimum! You don’t want to spam your subscriber list with emails for every day of the sales event. If you annoy them with too many emails, you’ll only end up hurting your sales and losing some of your customer base.

PRO TIP: Don’t be misleading when announcing your sales. Include all necessary information on the ad itself or customers will feel betrayed when their cart cost ends up higher than expected.

And that’s all you need to know to create your very own eBay promotion! With a little bit of forward-planning and preparation, you can create an amazing sales event and see a major boost in eBay traffic.

The post How to Run an Amazing Promotion on eBay Motors appeared first on RevolutionParts - Sell Parts and Accessories.