If It Was This Easy, Everyone Would Do It

credit of iStock/ Alona Horkova  

photo credit of iStock/ Alona Horkova 

By: Brian Bachand

As with purchasing anything online, it is buyer beware and supplier be prepared. However, with a focus on a few key intangibles, it is no wonder that more and more recyclers are listing their parts via online platforms. 

Words, Words, Words can mean as much as the time we put into crafting their order and mastering their meaning. Whereas a single well-lit, strategically positioned photograph can tell more about a subject in half the time it takes us to create a conditional description. So why then is it of the utmost importance that we pair prominent pictures with tenable, transparent descriptions, the best of both worlds, when selling used auto parts online?  

The answer is simple. To successfully list and sell more parts by maintaining strong inventory control and enhancing our brand, while potentially and significantly lowering our return rates.  

However, as anyone or any recycler who has weathered the world of e-commerce will let on about, there are more variables involved in online sales than your standard over-the-counter or yard-to-yard transactions.  

So, as with purchasing anything online, it is buyer beware and supplier be prepared. However, with a focus on a few key intangibles, it is no wonder that more and more recyclers are listing their parts via online platforms. 

The Pivot is On 

Online Marketplaces and the e-commerce industry as a whole are becoming increasingly pivotal to the auto recycling industry and the rest of the world. Recyclers are seeing the rise of new opportunities, allowing them to get their parts in front of and available to wider audiences and new customers.  

Associations and organizations are seeing the need to embrace them, and other entities are providing services that can price your parts or offer crucial digital security for these type transactions. Where once vehicle recyclers saw eBay as the lone powerhouse for online sales, we now see platforms serving B2B (Business2Business), B2C (Business2Consumer), and Export/Import and Wholesale/Retail markets.  

Now, eBay is bigger than ever and continues to grow through its alignment with aftermarket and auto recycling influencers. And new players are entering the arena, looking for a stake in the game, and allow recyclers to continue to sell their parts through different types of platforms.  

Leaders throughout the auto recycling industry, along with the used parts and aftermarket sectors, are coming together to provide feedback to these online platforms on how to grow, evolve, and sustain these new opportunities.  

Seeing the growth of additional revenue streams available to recyclers, such as the trending ShopEarl, Facebook Marketplace, PartsTrader, Car-Part, URG Parts Search, Hotlines, BParts, and Row52 platforms, what does this mean to those who haven’t yet embraced this shift? And why is it so important that, before getting involved with any of these entities, we review our own policies and operations?  

For those looking to understand more about this hot topic, the answers we find may not only be solutions to better position us for significant online gains, but also strengthen our standard operating practices (SOPs), inventory control, and our own Business’s Brand. 

Challenge of Online Parts Sales 

Why sell our parts online? For those out there who focus on the cons and/or potential challenges of this endeavor before even entertaining its pros, I applaud you. Do your research and get feedback from other reliable, comparable recyclers. Buyer beware is a cornerstone policy for anything that is sight unseen. Bottom Line: online sales are not to be taken lightly and may not be for every recycler.  

As I spoke with Chris Daglis of APS (Auto Partnered Solutions) fairly recently, he had a great quote that I feel everyone should hear when thinking about e-commerce. Chris said, “If you are not prepared and have not researched what it means to take on e-commerce, such as eBay, do not do it.” Chris went further into detail, stating that e-commerce, when done correctly and profitably, is a full-time job that requires proper resources, time, logistics, and reallocation and realignment of inventory. You cannot expect business to be carried out in the ways and means that your normal direct yard-to-yard, in-person, or previous-existing-relations sales seem to transpire.  

This challenge is just the start, for if you do think you have the ability to restructure your business operations to accommodate e-commerce sales, then enter the implementation challenge. What drawbacks or issues come with implementation, and once we go live, how do we navigate the cons that scare many, especially smaller recyclers, away from online marketplaces? These are the things we need to consider and address if we are to take on this new earning outlet.  

Asking ourselves what our online goals are in terms of sales, brand reputation, logistics, operations, and the dreaded returns is a must-consideration for how we plan to tackle the shift to and the variables of the online marketplace. So before we get to the usual cons and limitations of e-commerce, it is crucial to ask ourselves how we will coordinate this alternative sales prospect, and how we are prepared to deal with its variables, restraints, and prioritizing and restructuring of our own operations to fit them. Because if we do not have a strategic plan for success and readiness, then I wholeheartedly agree with Chris of APS that we should not enter the arena until we are fully prepared in every way. 

Launch Tips 

Let’s say you have researched, planned, and are ready to take on the world of e-commerce and want to know the best way to get started and the ultimate path to success. Unfortunately, the solution for navigating this additional revenue stream is not a one-size-fits-all. However, there are a few principles that, when applied, can help thwart or limit the cons that may have once been the red flags that had you steering clear of online sales.  

That being said, with online sales, communicating with and vetting the customer is absolutely essential. The need to be able to correspond, be it messenger, text, email, or even over the phone, before any part leaves your facility is an absolute must. Now I know this may be impractical for high-volume online used part suppliers. But for those out there worried about sending the wrong part, a not-needed part, a questionable condition part, or having a part returned, the need to confirm expectations is the best tool for success, and if able, it must be applied.  

Another necessity is to require a VIN from the buyer when they submit their order. Just like normal day-to-day business, always get a customer’s VIN so you can decode it and compare it to the part they have ordered. More often than not, the biggest online return will be from a customer who didn’t need the part (misdiagnosis) or who ordered it wrong (looked it up incorrectly). Protect yourself by getting the VIN and confirming before departure that it is the correct part they have ordered and that it is what they need.  

“Insert here”—a shameless plug for Vin Match Pro. By subscribing to their services or a VIN Decoder program, you can compare your inventory and the customer’s vehicle side by side to confirm that we are supplying the correct part and to double-check that we have the part or that our vehicle inventory is correct.  

Errors Can Be Costly 

Online marketplaces are not free, nor should they be. After all, capitalism wouldn’t be such a driving force in the world if more markets and things were free. But I digress.  

These markets require subscriptions and fees; the more you understand about them, the more you can act accordingly. Just like on SEO listings, the higher you are on the list, the greater the audience you are likely to be exposed to. Some of these platforms require certain qualifications, reviews, and certifications. For example, you cannot sell used airbags on eBay unless you are ARA Recall Certified. To be ARA Recall Certified, you must be an ARA Certified Auto Recycler (CAR) and a current member of the association.  

Other expenses may include sales percentages, rating scores, and advertising boosting expenses. All of these costs affect not only the profit you take from online revenue, but they also alter how you are viewed by online users. Knowing the costs and potential expenditures for operating online is quite important. But when it comes to the main ingredients for online success and sustainability, it’s all about sticking to the basics. Ones that are often overlooked, for they are the absolute game changers when it comes to sales potential. 

Pictures  

Prominent pictures paired with transparent descriptions translate to profitable subscriptions. This is true across all platforms and in every way we do business. Taking clear, well-lit, and direct pictures of the part you are listing is essential during our inventory process. Hiding stuff or misleading potential customers to squeeze blood from a stone is the devil’s work. Or just rather shady in my opinion.  

Be honest and true, for the time and quality of work you put into your inventory, pictures, and descriptions will always be a huge part of what keeps customers coming back. This may require going back and taking those precise photos of each part we plan to list online. Making time and planning to curate your listing and pictures of each part or part type you want to list is definitely needed.  

This may require reevaluating how you inventory a vehicle or the parts to be put on the shelf. Consumers want to see what they are buying to make sure it is the part they need. It is our job to step up our product presentation game and post professional photos of our parts that clearly show their current condition. Making sure they are cleaned and plugged, and that the photos show vital info like part numbers and any blemish or perceived discrepancy, goes hand in hand with formulating parts descriptions.  

… and Descriptions 

This brings us to transparency and accuracy of descriptions. Honest and best assessments of a part’s condition and description are always the best management practices. Including part numbers in our descriptions, as well as the ability to see our inventory’s VIN, is just as important as the consumer being able to see the part’s interchange and an accurate part type title listing with the correct keywords for searching.  

ARA Damage Codes are a must, and even having the ARA Damage Coder embedded somewhere in your listing is a great decoder tool for consumers. Having the correct information about the part you are listing without writing an entire novel on it is most professional and preferred.  

Making known any blemish, important observation of the condition or functionality, and any and all discrepancies for which such disclosure is needed is just good business. Strengthen your parts listing with transparency and sustain your sales growth. And in return, your business’s brand and reputation simultaneously will continue to evolve and expand. These important policies are guaranteed to help increase your sales potential while reducing your return rate across all platforms.  

Be Cool Online 

Using these guidelines to broach the trend of e-commerce is just the kickoff to your journey in the digital market. The point is that the cons still exist, and these platforms are working hard alongside leaders and associations of the auto recycling community.  

Whether you choose to enter the arena or not, the best way to prepare is to adapt these practices to your inventory. Do your research and never hesitate to get feedback from other recyclers.  

I know Brad Paisley may have said, “I am so much cooler online.” But without the proper tools, resources, planning, and reflection for our business, it is more likely that we will be catfished, hung out to dry, or waste money on something we are not equipped to do.  

So, take the time and reevaluate how you inventory, how you present your product, and what your operations flow looks like. Create a plan and make it happen. And even if you fail, be prepared to regroup, reevaluate, and rethink the best way for you to succeed in the e-commerce Arena.