Online marketplaces have been steadily gaining in popularity because there is a win-win situation for everyone involved. Auto parts sellers get the chance to sell their products to an established audience without a website setup, while customers enjoy competitive pricing and better service quality. Many buyers begin their online journey from online marketplaces, such as eBay or Amazon. According to these stats, online marketplaces accounted for 57% of global online retail sales in 2019 (and the numbers for 2020 are even higher because the COVID-19 lockdown had more people making online purchases).
eBay was founded in 1995 and is one of the first online marketplaces in the world. One part of the platform, eBay Motors, is dedicated to helping people buy or sell vehicles and automotive parts and accessories. It is rapidly gaining space in the online automotive market as a sales channel for spare parts and replacement parts for any vehicle. As long as you can reach the buyers and offer the part they’re looking for; sales are waiting to happen.
Selling car parts on eBay is slightly different from selling at the counter or on a parts website. Are you wondering how to increase sales for eBay Motors parts? Take a look at these excellent strategies that will help you boost your sales for eBay Motors parts.
7 Strategies to Help You Increase Your Sales for eBay Motors Parts
- Communicate
Your sales will go up once you manage to build and maintain a relationship with your shoppers. That usually comes down to keeping in touch with them and communicating quickly. A potential customer is less likely to buy from you when you ignore them for a few days. They’ve probably ordered their part somewhere else (by that point). Shoppers often expect slow response time from sellers, so If you can reply to their messages within a few hours, it will be a pleasant surprise that improves their opinion of you as an eBay seller. That helps establish yourself as a reliable source of information, which builds loyalty with your shoppers. In case of any issues, we advise you to try to sort it out with the buyer before eBay gets involved. It is worth staying on the buyer’s good side because eBay almost always takes the buyer’s side.
- Don’t try to sell everything
Having more listings will help you reach more shoppers and increase your eBay sales. However, not all parts will end up adding to your profits – some of them will cut into it. Online car parts and accessories retailers usually exclude hazmat and oversized items because the shipping cost for large parts is not worth it. Some retailers will focus on the fast-moving items that they know they can sell. If you buy a pallet of oil filters or windshield wipers, you can get a bulk discount and then offer a lower price on eBay Motors. Having competitive prices helps you become a high-volume eBay seller because they attract the potential buyer.
- Embed the cost of shipping into the item’s price
For over a decade, free shipping has been one of the most popular online sales promotions. Today, it has reached a point where it’s not a bonus but an expectation for consumers. Instead, a shopper will buy a $20 item with free shipping than a 15$ item plus $5 shipping (it’s called the decoy effect). Like any other online marketplace, free shipping is vital on eBay because listings with a “free shipping” tag will always appear higher in search results. In other words, you will improve your listings’ visibility by offering free shipping, which will help you sell more aftermarket parts.
However, if you ship your items for free, it will eat up your profit. The trick is to put the shipping cost into the price of an auto part. If a part costs $40, and shipping will cost $6, list the part as $46 with free shipping. This strategy will help you remain profitable, and the only problem you might bump into is shipping estimation. You will have to find a reliable way to do it or you’ll risk undershooting, or overshooting the cost.
- Go international
Thanks to eBay Global Shipping Program, sellers can sell and ship car parts internationally without dealing with customs papers and expensive overseas shipping. When a shopper from another country buys your car part, all you need to do is ship it to eBay, and the company will take care of everything from papers to sending the part. In case something happens to your shipment (such as damage or delay), and you receive negative feedback, eBay won’t hold you accountable, and will remove the feedback.
Basic International Selling
Basic International Selling is when you create one listing that is displayed across multiple international websites. The price of your listing will be converted to the local currency, but the listing won’t be translated into the local language (which can affect your conversion rates in international markets). Also, remember that buyers will see auto parts from their own country list. To maximize your item’s visibility, you can buy the International Site Visibility upgrade.
Advanced International Selling
Advanced International Selling involves creating listings on eBay’s international websites, such as eBay.com, eBay.co.uk, or eBay.fr (you need to create separate listings for each site). The benefits of Advanced International Selling include:
- Your listing won’t be shown as an international listing but will appear in default search results.
- Being able to translate your listing into the local language.
- Being able to set pricing to the specific market.
When it comes to fees, eBay will charge you the rates appropriate for each country. With an Anchor Shop or Featured subscription, you will pay a discounted insertion fee for your equivalent shop subscription level in a particular country. In many cases, this means no insertion fees.
- Calculate the fees
Don’t forget about eBay’s fee systems because that can severely cut into your profits. Always account for the fees when setting the pricing margin for your auto parts and accessories. eBay fees include:
- Listing fee
- Anchor Store subscription
- Seller Manager Pro subscription
- Final value fee
Understanding your fees will help you set the pricing right to make you a profit while appearing more attractive to potential buyers.
- Make your listings rank
eBay attracts auto parts sellers thanks to its ready stream of traffic, but that traffic comes only if your listings appear in search results. And the higher the search result, the more likely people will click to check it out. The search results on eBay are controlled by its search algorithm – Cassini. Be sure to understand how Cassini works and what it takes for your listings to rank higher in search results. It will help you know how people search on eBay and how it determines eBay listings’ relevance.
- Use fitment compatibility data
eBay parts compatibility or fitment data is among the most essential tools offered to sellers of auto parts and accessories. It helps eBay to accurately match buyers with the right auto parts they’re seeking. The old process of creating multiple listings for the same part (because that one part may match several different vehicles) is now redundant, thanks to the introduction of auto parts fitment data. Due to recent changes in the Cassini search engine algorithm, eBay now provides increased exposure to listings utilizing its parts compatibility lists structure and compliant sellers. They do this to decrease the clutter of redundant auto part listings.
With fitment data, you will:
- Increase your exposure and sales (because of your listings going higher in ranks)
- Reduced time and money spent (utilizing fitment data and eliminating redundant listings will bring a lot of savings to the table)
- Reduced product returns and more positive feedback from buyers
eBay also has a motors parts compatibility tool designed to help vehicle and auto parts sellers save on insertion fees and maximize their search exposure. With a comprehensive eBay catalog supported by accurate fitment data, you’ll have no problems reaching potential customers and start winning in the online auto parts industry.
myFitment is always up-to-date with the latest changes introduced to the eBay online marketplace and changes to auto parts and accessories compatibility. With myFitment, you can upload parts compatibility data in bulk to existing or new listings. Thanks to a centralized dashboard and database, you can pull data from multiple sources and upload it to eBay via Excel spreadsheets. Besides eBay, you can upload fitment data to your Amazon listings and different eCommerce platforms. We will ensure that you always have accurate fitment data to help your buyers know that the parts you’re selling fit their specific vehicles.
Feel free to reach out to myFitment, and we will help you build your brand, save time and money, and increase sales for your eBay Motors parts.
