154: 2018 eBay SHINE Awards Winner, Global Business Category - Bill Ingersoll

Bill grew up racing Motocross in New York. In 2008, he suffered a spinal cord injury during a race. The accident marked a turning point in his life, catalyzing his eBay career selling Powersports Parts and eventually winning the Global Business Category at the 2018 eBay Shine Awards. Interesting Notes Bill grew up in a rural area and possessed a good business sense. His grandfather is a typical American Picker who loves to buy and sell stuff. As a little kid, he was always with his grandfather. Together, they buy and sell as a hobby. That is how Bill got his knowledge about ATVs and dirt bikes. His times with his grandfather formed his business acumen. In 2008, he suffered a severe spinal cord injury, which confined him to a wheelchair. The adversity leaves him with no option but to have a business. He did not suffer a brain injury. And with a sound functioning mind, he believed that he could work on a business. He saw eBay as one of the avenues where he could still be productive. Being a fan of a Motocross enthusiast, he got an obsession with it from the early 90s until now. He knows most of the machines that they have made. He can identify the parts. He knows what are the things to look for and sell. So, he decided to work in a field where he is comfortable and in control. He believes that it is to his advantage if knows the market. In 2010, Bill started selling on eBay. His eBay store is a modern version of the auto sell junkyard. He used his passion for Motocross to sell ATV parts, Dirt Bikes and more. One thing he learned from selling on eBay is that if you don't have a storage for your stuff, you have to be selling it. His ingrained mind thinks that everywhere he looks, he sees money sitting rather than junks. Bill stores his eBay stuff in a building which is once a barn. He has shelves inside the building. He has two full-time employees and one part-time. He involves his employees in every aspect of his eBay business. Everything that they sell is one of a kind item. So, they assign SKU numbers, tags and labels on the box and shelved the items that way. Some items have many small pieces within. They put the pieces in a bag and have everything in the box together. They use padded envelopes and flat boxes for their shipment. With some of the used items, the condition varies a lot. They can have two functioning parts but their cosmetics vary enough. So they create unique listings so that their customers know exactly what they are buying. Their customer based are more of Do It Yourself persons. They are the ones who would pay a lower price and do it themselves because they know the mechanical side. On a normal day, Bill would sit on his computer, goes to a lot of auctions online, and see what is coming up. Then he would make his purchases online. Then he and his team would pick the stuff up. If the stuff is dirty, they would wash it and bring it to the shop. Then they will begin to disassemble the parts. If the parts need further cleaning then they will do it. After which, they bring the parts to the department which takes charge of taking the photos. If there are blemishes, they will mark the blemish part. After taking the photos, they assign an SKU number and list the parts online. Bill believes that photos are a big selling point. So his team have a photo booth and use a white background and a lighting to make their photos look professional. They take a lot of pictures. A lot of the customers want to inspect the parts themselves before they buy. His niche - Motorparts - is a small industry where everybody knows each other and works together. With the different models and variations, he finds it tough to always have what a customer needs in stock. If a customer orders 300 units, only three of those might be the same. So he resorts to buying from other sellers who have the same thing. In his niche, sellers dropship some stuff from each other if they need to. Everything Bill sells sells. He has stuff from 2014 that still sells. There is some stuff that after a while he would pull it off from the shelf and separate the scrap metal out. He would take it to the scrap yard and gets the money back. One of the interesting things he sold is an old three-wheeler from the 80s. He wanted to dump it. He did a research and found out that the thing is rare. He listed and sold it for $1500 within an hour of listing it. Bill won the 2018 eBay Shine Award winner under the Global Business category. eBay flew him to Las Vegas to receive his award. He got the chance to have dinner with the other finalists. It was his grandfather's dream to see Bill's business grow. He wished his grandfather seen him get the Shine Award. His grandfather passed away last June. Where he is now in his eBay business, Bill is happy. There is some smaller stuff that he wants to get into and sell on eBay. But for the time being, he wants to continue what he is doing now for the next three years or so. Advice, Tips, and Tricks Most of the customers don't care what you are saying in the description. They want to check and inspect the parts of an item through the pictures. So, give your customers the best ability to do that by showing them a lot of pictures. eBay is doable. Use your knowledge base and get into it small. Then see its growth potential and build your business from there. Test your business acumen and your appetite for business. Be sensible in the decisions you make. Then let it grow from there. Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and on what technologies are available. Be in the right market and source your products cheap. Quotes "eBay is a marketplace where it connects anyone with whatever they want to buy." "Everybody has their own way." "We all work together. Nobody is taking any food out of other person's mouth." "The better you know your market, the better your chances to succeed." "Automation is key to any business. The more you can automate, the better off you are." "A one-person show could make a good living on eBay just on your free time." Contact Information eBay Store: Bikes, Trikes and Quads LLC Facebook Page: Bikes, Trikes and Quads LLC Instagram: Bikes, Trikes and Quads LLC Sponsors Solutions4Ecommerce 3DSELLERS eCom Chicago Norila Digital Marketing

You can listen to 154: 2018 eBay SHINE Awards Winner, Global Business Category - Bill Ingersoll online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

154: 2018 eBay SHINE Awards Winner, Global Business Category - Bill Ingersoll is an episode from So You Wanna Sell On eBay by Ali Young & Ron LaBeau.

This episode is 32:51 long.

This episode was published on Aug 21, 2018.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from So You Wanna Sell On eBay when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.