How are parts departments dealing with their obsolete parts?

[Mustafa Mustafa]

Hello everyone! I would to like to know how Parts Managers/Directors and Fixed Op Directors deal with their obsolete parts? I am familiar with selling them to Vintage parts.

Has anyone successfully created an ecommerce strategy to sell them online?

 

[Alex Snyder]

eBay.

 

[Mustafa Mustafa]

Thank you Alex, I was looking for a more detailed response. I am familiar with automotive parts e-commerce as I created the first Alfa Romeo online parts catalog, something Revolution Parts and Simple Parts have yet to achieve.
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The reason I asked that question was to see what actual strategies Parts Departments used, eBay is oversaturated.

 

[craigh]

The reason I asked that question was to see what actual strategies Parts Departments used, eBay is oversaturated.

We have an all-purpose marketing tool and we use it to help a handful of dealers in this way.
It really depends on the parts, but we can often run a campaign to a small group of people who are qualified for that part and at least get some movement. Beyond that, eBay or other online solutions are the way to get rid of them.

From a marketing perspective:
- Some parts can be tied to an Op Code and there is a report that shows customers who needed that work but declined it
- Accessories can be marketed as "clearout" to only customers who drive a fitting car
- We bonus the BDC to book appointments related to parts that we're overstocked with

Aside from that, eBay and Facebook Marketplace.

 

[Mustafa Mustafa]

Thank you for the explanation Craig. I'm currently working with a dealership client in regard to streamlining SOP management to prevent future obsolescence and getting BDC to get them in the door ASAP.

Another problem we are facing is getting rid of the "forgotten" stock pile of obsolete parts, we can upload them on eBay, but their introductory monthly limit and high fees make it counter productive.

Our only option is uploading the list of obsolete parts to my online parts platform, divide them by brand/vendor and create targeted ad campaigns.

I will definitely have to reach out to you in regards to what ad campaigns would work best.

 

[silviarusu05]

I'm selling to Eminia Trading , Germany ....
They take care of everything and the delivery too....
Best contact is [email protected]

 

[Carsten]

Your company or do you just work there?

 

[Ryan Everson]

Just a word of caution to any dealers considering making a significant investment to sell parts online...

With a few exceptions, the parts website providers are typically the only ones who end up making money when a dealership sells parts online.

Parts are a commodity, leading to a race to the bottom with the lowest price. Customers will just buy from the cheapest seller they find on Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay, etc.

As a result, margins are razor-thin, and you have to spend money on shopping ads to generate sales, further cutting into those margins. And don't even get me started on the amount of long-term SEO investment and commitment that would be required to forgo paid ads.

And then you have the hassle of dealing with fraudulent orders, credit card chargebacks, and more.

You also need to pay someone to pack and ship the parts, manage customers with unrealistic delivery expectations (thanks Amazon Prime), and handle returns when customers order the wrong part or claim it’s defective.

Many manufacturers now offer parts buy-back programs, which help mitigate the issue of obsolete parts.

To be fair, there are some success stories such as Flow Chevrolet's GMPartsDirect.com, Suncoast Porsche's SuncoastParts.com, and a handful of others.

Dealers can also succeed if they are active in online forums dedicated to specific makes and models and build a strong reputation among members.

But case in point - Mustafa's parts website, which he was promoting last January has already been taken offline.

 

[Mustafa Mustafa]

Just a word of caution to any dealers considering making a significant investment to sell parts online...

With a few exceptions, the parts website providers are typically the only ones who end up making money when a dealership sells parts online.

Parts are a commodity, leading to a race to the bottom with the lowest price. Customers will just buy from the cheapest seller they find on Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay, etc.

As a result, margins are razor-thin, and you have to spend money on shopping ads to generate sales, further cutting into those margins. And don't even get me started on the amount of long-term SEO investment and commitment that would be required to forgo paid ads.

And then you have the hassle of dealing with fraudulent orders, credit card chargebacks, and more.

You also need to pay someone to pack and ship the parts, manage customers with unrealistic delivery expectations (thanks Amazon Prime), and handle returns when customers order the wrong part or claim it’s defective.

Many manufacturers now offer parts buy-back programs, which help mitigate the issue of obsolete parts.

To be fair, there are some success stories such as Flow Chevrolet's GMPartsDirect.com, Suncoast Porsche's SuncoastParts.com, and a handful of others.

Dealers can also succeed if they are active in online forums dedicated to specific makes and models and build a strong reputation among members.

But case in point - Mustafa's parts website, which he was promoting last January has already been taken offline.

Dealerships can be profitable by selling parts online. However, it requires a lot of work and self learning which parts managers aren't too keen on.

The reason I can say this because I was recruited by an OEM to run and grow their complete online parts operations (300+ dealers).

Have been working with the two eCommerce providers to make it more profitable and easier for dealers to sell parts online.

Another reason why my parts platform was taken offline, took on a bigger challenge

 

[Ryan Everson]

Disagree with the points made Ryan.

Dealerships can be profitable by selling parts online. However, it requires a lot of work and self learning which parts managers aren't too keen on.

Yes, my point exactly - 99% of dealers will just sign up with one of the parts website providers and expect instant success and profit.

That's far from the truth, as you know. It requires a significant time and financial investment, and even that doesn’t guarantee success.

There are 4,000 GM dealers across the country, all with the same parts catalog, all shipping nationwide, and all able to launch a parts website overnight. If a dealer thinks local SEO for their dealership website challenging, national eCommerce SEO is even tougher, as they’ll be competing against hundreds or thousands of other dealership parts websites selling identical part numbers.

I can't even imagine the churn rate these parts website providers must experience.