Chrysler has reached a partnership with eBay to market over 15,000 of its dealers certified pre-owned vehicles.

Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands will be initially offered on the eBay Motors site. One could wonder how long it will be before dealers entire inventory of used cars will be included in the deal?

The announced agreement follows General Motors stunning coo last February to list all of its dealers inventory of certified pre-owned cars from over 3,900 GM dealers on eBay.

GM said on Thursday that its listings are now live on eBay.

As a small non-affiliated used car dealer competing in this Internet landscape has become more important than ever. Initially it was the small local dealers who utilized online selling through places like eBay. Now the big three are doing more than looking at these small local dealers successes, they are joining the fray in a big way.

Chrysler's eBay showroom presents consumers a view of its used vehicles within their local area within a classified listings format. eBay motors is not just for bidding on used car auctions anymore.

Chrysler's certified pre-owned vehicles cover models from 2003 to 2008 with less than 65,000 miles and are reconditioned to meet the automaker's standards. They carry an eight-year, or 80,000-mile powertrain warranty, roadside assistance and rental car allowances. A great deal if your shopping for a used car...

Chrysler sold more than 122,000 certified used cars in 2007, up 5 percent from a year earlier. With this announcement and eBay affiliation the used car sales should grow at a higher rate. The auto company's used car sales are up 8 percent so far this year, new vehicle sales have dropped more than 20 percent in the same time frame.

How will local non-affiliated dealers compete with the likes of GM & Chrysler?

The entire U.S. auto industry has been hit hard by reduced demand for gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs. Finding new and innovative ways to market used vehicles is a key to economic survival. Check out All Business Auctions Auto Dealer programs on our main website, we have some very interesting programs designed to equip local dealerships with an eBay "storefront" which will engage the buying public more than simply listing a vehicle in the middle of hundreds of thousands of Chrysler or GM certified used cars.

About 43 million used vehicles were sold in the United States last year, well over double the 16.2 million new vehicles sold. Used car profit margins are also generally better than they are for new vehicles. eBay is a good place to be for small used car dealers. The big car makers are trying to help thier dealers survive with these eBay deals. Small dealers have an edge and if they want to keep that edge we suggest investing in online and eBay marketing programs.

Dealer Blogs Part of the future of used car marketing?

A dealer blog could be a very effective method of lead generation. Under utilized until now but certainly an area to explore for any dealer of used vehicles. A blog will outperform any web 1.0 static or flash website when it is measured head to head in terms of traffic generation. Enticing the buying consumers interest is the name of the game and on the Internet, pure content is king. Blogs are ideally suited to tell the story of a dealership.

Ideas for blog development at an auto dealership include:

• Meet the sales manager - Special articles from the sales manager about his job, his family, his time selling cars and why it is important to buy from an honest dealer.
• Owners Corner - the dealership owner is usually the face of the organization - give him a voice as well
• Service Managers Shop - Open up the world of service to the consumer, let them know the many reasons why the best service is found at the best equipped dealer service organizations.
• Car of the Day or Car of the Week - Pick a car of the day or week and completely describe the features of that car. Photos, video, and text... Attract buyers with information.

If your local dealership is
searching for innovative ways to compete in this new Internet sales
landscape give the good people at All Business Auctions and iBusinessLogic.com a call, new web 2.0 methods of lead generation like social media marketing blogs and websites are our specialty.

Scott Pooler - CEO iBusinessLogic Corporation

Tags: chrysler, ebay, car dealer, used cars, social media marketing, auto dealer ebay store, auto sales on the internet,

 

Free for Readers of this Blog and The Trading Assistant Journal

 

We asked our design team at iBusinessLogic to create this five star service eBay customer service for our own eBay Store because rather than plant negative ideas or images in our customers minds about feedback on eBay, we would rather have them thinking about the 5 Star DSR ratings we hope to earn on each and every transaction.

As a service to our clients and our readers we would like to offer this logo to eqach and every one who sells on eBay for your use under a creative commons license. This means you can use it, as long as you refer back to us when asked where you the logo came from. The logo is hosted on our Flickr account and the code is available there, but we will paste the actual code in a box below.

Please use this free 5 Star eBay customer service logo for all of your listings! (remember - you will have to remove any links from your eBay listings before the end of next month).

Contact us if you are in need of web, blog, eBay Stores or graphics design...

http://iBusinessLogic.com

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"Learn to bear bravely changes of fortune".

It looks to me like further signs of the "Amazonation" of eBay.

Higher closing fees for items posted in a shopping format at lower listing fees driven by DSR performance. The happier the customers the more exposure you get and the more increased FVF eBay will reap.

I think eBay is also attracted to the way Amazon reigns supreme over their sellers and has a "at our pleasure" attitude about if you sell there or not. This is a reversal of the last 5 or 6 years of eBay's campaign tactic of driving sellers to the platform, they took the buyer for granted and focused their marketing on "you to can make a living on eBay, everyone is welcome come sell here". They were at trade shows and any event that had a large group of potential sellers pounding this message. Well look what they got, an unscrupulous unmanaged International den of thieves destroying their name and platform while we the sellers that made them who they are (and many who left along the way) took the brunt of the problem.

At the same time Amazon took another approach, the opposite approach, customer's are gold and sellers offer goods here at our pleasure in a very regulated system. They pay little upfront and share a bigger piece on the back end and they will make buyers happy or they will be gone and no unhappy buyer will be left in the lurch, you will resolve. This is not the "we're the asphalt at the swap meet and you buy and sell to each other and work it out if you're screw each other" kind of a strategy.

Guess where I shop?

eBay knows whats wrong and they are desperately trying to fix and create a format buyers can use. I think I understand the strategy and direction of this new plan. To little to late? Executed ineffectively?

I have my concerns.

Louis Palafoutas - PeSA Member

and vintageroadshow.com, Louis also sells under the eBay names wjoutlet and vintageroadshow

eBay no longer wants certain types of sellers on their site... Where to Go?

With all of the recent turmoil in the eBay community, mainly derived from comments expressed by the "new" powers that be within eBay, it is no wonder some long-time sellers are expressing more than a little angst over the quick use of terms like "retail experience" and "buyer experience" in conjuction with new performance-based discounts tied in with detailed seller ratings and feedback. It is not as though they were minor adjustments which should be obvious to everyone involved with using the eBay site for the last 10 years or so.

Lorrie Norrington - President of eBay Global Marketplaces - recently stated in a keynote speech: "....However, if you cannot, or will not change business practices to provide a great customer experience, then eBay is not for you."

Good sellers recognize the value of the bargain image that eBay nurtured for many years. In contrast, high volume sellers appreciate the retail experience language, while low volume or one-of-a-kind & consignment sellers have a harder time with this particular message. Is there a place for everyone to be comfortable? Apparently it is no longer going to be eBay.

Mr. Donahoe, who has been running the company since his appointment to the top spot was announced in January 2008, wants the company - the Internet’s largest eCommerce site - to operate less like an unruly flea market and more like a strip mall where buyers are guaranteed to have a comfortable and predictable shopping experience. See NY Times Article

If this message of change is affecting your online business plan or if you are unaware of other venues available to sell the types of goods you feel eBay was built upon (yet now seems to no longer want), we have assembled a short list of alternate venues for your to explore. Some of these marketplaces offer a venue for your online sales of unique and one-of-a-kind items and others could be more appropriate for the types of inventory no longer wanted on eBay.

1. OnlineAuction.com - Fixed flat rate yearly or monthly price to sell , 13 million listings live on the site.
2. eBid - $49.95 lifetime price to sell, international sites. Less active listings than OLA but growing.
3. Etsy - Free to list, 3.5% transaction fee if items sell, dedicated to hand-crafted & arts merchandise. Etsy has 870,000 registered users with 160,000 individual artists listing 1.5 million hand-made creations.
4. Yahoo Stores - Not an auction venue, but a great place to set up an online store if you do not want to build your own website with a shopping cart. $39.95 a month + 1.5% transaction fee for the basic package.
5. BuyitSellit - Buy It Sell It is an Ink Frog product. Many eBay sellers will be familiar with the Ink Frog eBay listing software solution. The BuyItSellIt basic package is free, but there are upgrades available including a digital delivery option for $9.95 per month. BuyItSellIt offers to also feature eBay listings alongside the shoping cart listing created in a merchant's BuyItSellIt Store.
6. Amazon Webstore - While the fees are higher here - $59.99 per month plus a 7% transaction fee - Amazon Webstores provide the Amazon experience to buyers and allows merchant specific branding. In addition, the merchant may operate multiple niche-specific Amazon Webstores all under one account for no additional fees.

Amazon Webstores Details

All credit card processing and transaction fees. There are no other hidden fees such as hosting, payment gateways or merchant accounts.

Payment Fraud Protection for you. WebStore by Amazon uses sophisticated fraud detection tools in use on Amazon.com. This allows you to benefit from Amazon’s world-class fraud protection services and experience.

Purchase protection for your customers. Customers who shop on your WebStore will feel more confident buying from your site knowing they are protected by the same A-to-z Guarantee that protects shoppers on Amazon.com.

Creating multiple WebStores within your account. Each WebStore can be a customized and independent Web presence for no additional monthly fee.

The option of adding Amazon products to your WebStore. Offer items from Amazon.com through your WebStore and the Amazon Associates Program allows you to collect a referral fee when such items are sold!

Every merchant must make his or her own choices when it comes to multi-channel selling. Using a multi-channel listing service which can feed inventory to many venues is also an option. This option is often the most expensive way to get product online and many small businesses cannot take advantage of the services of a ChannelAdvisor or Infopia multi-channel management solution. But if convenience and automation are your goals these are the types of services you should look into. Merchant Advantage is another service worthy of investigation if you have a large inventory and are interested in placing it in multiple online venues.

The point here is that there are multiple options to explore. eBay is not the only marketplace, yet it is also not a marketplace to be ignored or abandoned. Using eBay in a smart and informed way is the best solution. Doing that while exploring the other solutions mentioned above (or many more) is a smart business plan for the future.

Diversify, reduce costs, raise efficiency. These are not just terms for large corporations - they will apply to any business. See what you can do to make them apply to your business.

Scott Pooler

Is eBay messing with your seller experience!

• DSR's getting you down?

• Best Match Confusing?

• Has your eBay Seller experience gone "As Expected"?

You are not Alone!

eBay has initiated numerous radical changes in the last several months and you are not the only one trying to keep up! The good people at PESA and ECMTA (Professional eBay Sellers Alliance and E Commerce Merchants Trade Association) discuss matters like this with the members of the two associations on a regular basis. They figure that many members trying to find a clear path forward is more productive than one eBay seller trying to do it on their own. Continue Reading