Why You Should Sell on eBay Motors & How to Optimize Sales

With today’s growing number of DIY and self-reliance trends, it’s probably safe to guess that almost every person who’s tried to fix a car has checked eBay for auto parts. And if you know a collector or bargain hunter, there is a high-chance they have at least considered purchasing a vehicle or any car parts on eBay. 

When eBay Motors launched in 2006, it was unheard of to use the internet to buy and bid on vehicles.

Soon, ordinary people and auto enthusiasts alike loved the idea of being able to sell auto parts and vehicle on eBay. Along with them, thousands of dealers joined the rush to sell cars online. 

With the expansion of the Motors App and vehicle fitment data for car parts, countless automotive dealers now use eBay and start to sell auto parts online.

Now, millions of mechanics worldwide use eBay Motors as a go-to source either to purchase car and truck parts for their repair services or sell auto parts; as well as other accessories for the garage and interior.

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How well does eBay Motors perform?

According to eBay statistics, 3 auto parts or accessories are sold every second. That’s 180 auto parts every minute — 10,800 purchases each hour — totaling to almost 260,000 eBay motors sales every day. 

When comparing eBay Motors and listing statistics, we find that eBay has almost the same yearly number of eBay motors transactions as they do motors inventory (which is roughly 110 million eBay motors listings). 

With the progression of the Motors app, these sales statistics are expected to rise substantially.

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Is eBay Motors a good place to start for new online sellers?

Considering the previous stats, it may be good for any new eCommerce seller to consider getting a share of the Motors market. 

In fact, many businesses start selling auto parts online with eBay due to eBay’s simple approach when it comes to selling auto parts and accessories online (and simplifying buying for customers via the eBay Motors App). Why? Because the customers are already there!

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What is the difference between eBay and eBay Motors?

eBay Motors site looks like a category on eBay.com, but behind the scenes it runs on its own version of eBay (like eBay UK, or eBay AU, or eBay US). 

You may notice this separation on third party eBay software when changing marketplaces or selecting an eBay site for your listing. 

Only eBay US separates “cars, parts & acc.” in this way due to title transfer laws across states. All other countries’ vehicle categories are directly integrated. So, the Motors marketplace should only be used for eBay.com listings, but the rest of this video still applies to all international eBay vehicles and accessories!

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How do I upload my inventory to eBay?

If you can export or save your inventory to a CSV file, then you can upload your inventory to eBay and save countless hours of editing.

Your first option to import a CSV is eBay File Exchange. But, very few sellers’ have used this since third party eBay tools made a user-friendly experience with better editing. So, although historically important, we aren’t going to spend time explaining this legacy eBay feature.

The second and most efficient option is to use an eBay listing tool like 3Dsellers. Unlike File Exchange, the column headers in your CSV do not have to match eBay’s. Simply upload, map, and import. 

Then, optimize your imported items and publish your eBay listings in bulk. Check out our CSV import video to see how it’s done!

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eBay Motors publishing checklist: 

Compatibility: 

eBay’s Vehicle compatibility feature lets you assure buyers that the auto parts will fit their car or other compatible vehicles they service. eBay shoppers can search parts by a specific vehicle and check your compatibility list on the item’s listing. 

Syncing with eBay Catalog also automatically adds vehicle fitments to a listing. 

You can add vehicles to a compatibility list by editing an item and entering compatibility parts. Or, on 3Dsellers, you can also copy entire compatibility lists from any listing!

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Item Specifics:

Always enter as many Item Specifics as possible. Item Specifics greatly affect search rank and buyer trust by confirming important information to buyers and search engines.

Alongside the MPN, UPC, and EAN, include particular characteristics about the item, such as Color, Material, and Manufacturer, and as many other details as you can. Buyers search by all kinds of details and keywords, and you want your Items Specifics to include those words.

Also fill “optional” item specifics as much as you can. Optional specifics are popular fields for searches and customer queries. 

And, you can even include custom Item Specifics. Don’t be shy to show item and package characteristics by using “yes,” such as, “Batteries Included: YES”

Catalog Item: 

eBay has an internal system, called eBay Catalog, that recognizes particular items sold across the global marketplace. eBay adds new items to the catalog through their own internal processes.

If the auto parts you are selling are listed in eBay Catalog, you have the opportunity to save time, and boost the listings’ search rank. 

How? Sync your listing to the “eBay Catalog item” to automatically import a compatibility list and Item Specifics. 

In addition to the time-saved from entering listing details, eBay Search Catalog helps  know exactly what the item is (which can help with eBay search rank and more!). You can search the item by entering the UPC, ISBN, part number, or the product name of your item in the listing search form.

Bonus: Syncing an eBay listing and Catalog item also enables reviews for the listing! 

You can easily sync a listing in 3Dsellers with the eBay Catalog button.

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How to optimize eBay Motors listings?

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Title and Description Marketing

The goal of the steps below is to make items appear in more search results to catch the attention of shoppers and increase your online sales. 

• In the Title, include all the main details of the item; such as the Part Number, Popular Compatible Vehicles, any Colors, and Manufacturer.

• In the Description, try to repeat the main words in the Title and Item Specifics 1-3 times each.

eBay SEO

While the previous title and description tips are also SEO related, you can go a step further with 3Dsellers and apply hidden code called “metadata” to your listings. Metadata is used by Google and other search engines to help know the contents of a web page. 

The SEO metadata you can include are a meta title, tags, and description, a custom eBay Mobile Description, and image alt tags. See our video about eBay SEO to learn more about this powerful feature!

Low Inventory

Keeping a low inventory on eBay listings does 3 important things: 

1. Boosts eBay Search rank
2. Creates low-inventory demand strategy (buyer thinks you’ll run out)
3. Keeps your total inventory below eBay’s selling limits

To display a lower quantity on eBay than what you actually have, use 3Dsellers to hide your inventory in a warehouse. Then, after each sale, the quantity on eBay is automatically restocked.

Kits & Bundles

Want to try a proven successful listing strategy for sell car parts online on eBay? Create auto parts kits and product bundles!

For example, if you have inventory like car battery jumper cables and automotive repair tools, you can combine items to create another listing for a “roadside assistance kit,” or “emergency car tools bundle”. 

When the bundle sells, process and ship the individual items together (or mention on the listing that you’re shipping the individual items separately).

However, there is a trick to doing this. If a bundle or individual item sells, it requires manual work to update the other listings, then check if the kit has enough items to stay in stock. 

But don’t let that get you down, 3Dsellers can automate the bundle inventory work! All you have to do is say which individual items are included in the bundle listing and 3Dsellers will handle the rest. Once set up, you’ll only need to restock the individual item quantities — the bundle inventory is automatic!

eBay Product Video

Products with auto parts videos are proven to sell many times more than listings with only photos. All shoppers can appreciate a personalized demonstration of the product, and a video provides the up-close experience that sells.

If your item’s manufacturer or supplier includes a video for an item, use 3Dsellers to upload the video to the eBay listing’s Photo Gallery. Buyers can then view the video next to the “buy” and “bid” buttons with your product photos, leading to greater consumer trust and more purchases. 

eBay Store and Promotions

An eBay Store subscription includes many benefits; such as listing discounts, marketing newsletters via eBay, and a storefront on eBay with custom categories.

Having an eBay Store is almost a necessity for any serious eBay seller, and sending newsletters to customers who have saved your store is definitely good for marketing. 

But one feature that can help assist with your sales is eBay Promotions. You can create campaigns to keep track of performance and use 3Dsellers to apply the promotions in bulk. What’s more, if you need to make incremental price changes

eBay Listing Template with Cross Promotions

When selling auto parts, the competition for many Motors categories can be high, so applying a unique design to your listing will help you stand out from other eBay Auto Parts Stores. Furthermore, eBay templates create brand recognition that encourages multi-orders and repeat sales.

In addition to the appearance of eBay design templates, you can cross-promote featured items that match the current listing’s category and any promotions or coupons!

However, some auto parts sellers and their buyers prefer a plain-text, or minimalist description. In which case, you can still apply plain-text content blocks to all your listings and cross-promote items with 3Dsellers.

Boost eBay Motors sales through customer service

A sure-way to grow your auto-parts business on eBay is with excellent customer service. You’ll increase buyer trust in your store while gaining positive feedback. Both of these results of good customer support will grow repeat buyers and increase new sales. 

Autoresponder

Reply to customer inquiries faster than your competitors for increased sales, better feedback, and a higher seller rating. The auto parts market is demanding, and keeping happy customers is key to repeat sales.

The best part is, you don’t need to spend any effort to build this amazing customer-service reputation. In fact, with the right autoresponder, you can even decrease the time you’d normally spend replying.

First, and probably the most popular auto responder is for out-of-office hours. This responder will send a reply to buyers and shoppers while your team is not at work. Let them know kindly you will reply soon and include a link to your eBay Store!

And since you’re selling car parts online, consider automatically replying to customers based on the words and text in their message. This will let you answer common questions quickly. For example, you could send tracking info automatically when a message contains “where is my order.” 

Or, consider answering questions from potential buyers about particular items. You can send them warranty information about the item automatically if the buyer inquires about a particular SKU, and if the message text says “warranty,” “does,” and “has or have”

Helpdesk

Whether you’ve been selling auto parts on eBay for decades or just started, we can probably agree that eBay Messages is not optimized for bulk customer service at fast speeds. 

Instead, you can use a helpdesk to transform eBay Messages into support tickets. 

Also known as an eBay CRM, the eBay helpdesk creates an inbox with chat-styled conversations that include all the order and buyer data you need. 

And, with 3Dsellers’ multichannel helpdesk, you can cancel, refund, and update tracking on orders without ever leaving the ticket.

Message Templates

Going hand-in-hand with autoresponders, you can save time replying to buyers by creating a message template that automatically personalizes the buyer’s info and order details. 

Use these for full messages or sign-offs, as well as for short snippets to save time typing repetitive sentences.

What’s more, with 3Dsellers’ Order Manager suite, you can send bulk messages with the templates. This can come in handy for relaying important info or shipping delays for particular items.

Automatic order messages

eBay already sends emails to buyers when they purchase an item. But, as an auto parts seller, it may be useful to also send your own automatic emails and eBay messages to personalize the buyer experience, and even save time.

For example, let’s say you sell customizable bumper stickers. If a buyer forgot to leave a note with the custom text they want, you can automatically ask the buyer to send the details. 

Or, send delayed messages that tell buyers the warehouse is packing their car parts. This extra assurance can relieve anxious buyers.

And, speaking of settling down anxious auto parts buyers, you can also send automatic live shipping updates from the carrier. If you send a tracking link, the buyer can view the shipping status, along with your other items on eBay. 

Then, consider automatically sending a follow up message to buyers who didn’t leave feedback. This is your opportunity to check on their purchase while encouraging them to leave feedback. Every positive feedback helps your store, and this strategy can bring a lot!

Conclusion

And that wraps up our overview! Now, you know the eBay requirements for selling auto parts and vehicles, as well as how to boost your Motors listings, and continue increasing your sales with professional eBay tools.

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