A couple of years ago Hollander and eBay Motors announced a partnership that promised to revolutionize auto recyclers’ ability to sell their parts to a wider market. According to Hollander, the partnership is going extremely well and is even having some unexpected benefits.
Currently, Hollander has 300 recyclers selling on eBay who account for over two million listings, says Kirk Monger, sales manager national accounts at Hollander. Monger told Collision Repair the feedback they’ve received from the sellers has been overwhelmingly positive.
“There was a very small number that were selling on eBay and some of our larger sellers have converted over from doing it on their own to having the integrated solution,” says Monger. He adds that the growing number of recyclers selling online has to do with numerous costs benefits and simplicity associated with the Hollander eLink program.
How the program works is recyclers use Hollander’s Powerlink Yard Management tool to keep track of their inventory. Any item in Powerlink automatically generates an eBay listing in Blackthorne, an eBay owned listings management tool. In Blackthorne, sellers can choose which parts they want to post online and edit those posts individually or as a group. Thousands of parts can be posted on eBay Motors’ website instantaneously.
However, Monger points out, the benefits of this partnership go beyond the ability to sell parts online, which anyone can do. Recyclers, as part of the Hollander program, do not have to pay for Blackthorne, can add subtitles to their listing at no cost, do not pay a listing fee, do not pay for an eBay store, and get Selling Manager Pro for free. The only fee for the recycler is a success fee for parts that are sold on eBay.
For Miller’s Auto Recycling – one of the largest Canadian users of the program with around 40,000 parts listed on eBay at any given time – the biggest benefit is the previously untapped market they now have access to.
“It’s opening up the world market,” says Evan Miller, noting that his company has been a part of the program for two years. “It’s great, we’re selling all over the world right now.”
As well, Hollander also conducts case studies to judge the effectiveness of the program, says Monger, and it noticed an unexpected benefit.
“The sellers will tell you that for every item that they sell through the eBay program, they’re selling one to two additional items that aren’t going through eBay,” he says. Essentially, Monger adds, eBay is acting as a marketing tool. Customers who have a positive experience will next time go directly to that seller’s shop or website instead of back to eBay.
Though eBay is now fully dedicated to the partnership – they have a team of account reps who deal solely with Hollander sellers – it wasn’t always the case.
“We had originally started talking to them several years ago and it took several years until we had an agreement,” explains Monger. “Initially eBay was kind of lukewarm to the whole idea and now they are so dedicated to our partnership.”
The dedication is paying off because the idea of selling parts on eBay is gaining traction in the industry, says Monger. He will be giving a presentation on the benefits and success of the eBay partnership at the Florida Auto Dismantlers and Recyclers Association Convention in July.
With an increased number of non-Hollander sellers showing interest and a very large untapped market, Hollander does not intend to slow the program’s growth. Particularly, Monger adds, Hollander is hoping to bring more Canadian recyclers to eBay.
Collision Repair Magazine by Michael Raine
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