098: So You Wanna Sell On eBay - Mark Greene

Mark Greene is the producer and host of the Cars Yeah podcast, a five-day-a-week show where he interviews Inspiring Automotive Enthusiasts™, leaders in the automotive industry that have wrapped their passion in to their business and lives. Mark has a background in marketing, design, brand building, business development, and worked as a Creative Director for 11 years before joining a start and helping to build Griot's Garage where he was in charge of the branding, marketing merchandising, and he was their President for 20+ years. Mark's a passionate automotive enthusiast who created the Cars Yeah brand and has over 700 interviews in just over two years. You'll find the Cars Yeah podcast on his Cars Yeah website, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and all the major social websites. Mark has used eBay extensively to purchase and sell products to automotive enthusiasts. Interesting Notes Mark is a car fanatic. He has a picture of his self under 1-year-old sitting in a yellow Garton Kidillac pedal car. He is always fascinated with anything that rolls on a rubber. It is something he enjoys. He loves the mechanics. He loves the designs. He was 14 years old when he started his own car detailing business. He used to detail people's car. He got his license at 16. From there on he started to pick up cars and bring them to his house. At one instance, he brought home a brand new Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible. Mark's passion is automotive. He started his Car Yeah podcast over 2 years ago. 5 years ago, he bought his latest toy car, a 1987 930 Turbo Porsche, from eBay motors. He has also sold motorcycles, parts of a car, and automobilia on eBay. eBay Motors, for a car person, is a worldwide source of vehicles. Most high-end cars like Ferrari and Porsche have a reserve price. There are so many ways to transfer car these days. Either via plane or shipping companies. There are companies specialized in transporting motorcycles. 10 years ago, Mark sold a vintage race car for $75,000. It is a Louis 18 1960 Open Wheel race car. He sold it to a gentleman in England. They talked on the phone. Mark sent a lot of pictures. He gained the confidence of the buyer. The buyer wired him the money. Mark drove the car to the airport and have it load to a 747 British Airways Plane. The buyer got it the next day. Over the years of experience, he pointed out that eBay protects the buyer over the seller. Mark always goes to a Car Week in Monterey every August. Last August was his 26th year of going to such event. Last January, he had been to Cavallino Classic. It is a Big Ferrari event in Florida. He was on the race track and met a guy he had never met before. The guy tossed him the keys of a $3M 250 SWB Ferrari to take it for a drive. Mark is fortunate to drive a lot of people's cars. People trust him with their keys. He sold a whole bunch of his stuff on eBay. And in 3 months time, he made $45,000. He offers FREE USPS Priority Mail Shipping for everything he sells. The USPS brings the boxes to his house for free. He never leaves his house to ship his items. He ships the items thru eBay, PayPal, and USPS linked together. He only has to click the button "porch pick-up" and a guy walks to his front door the next morning to pick up the shipment. He does not offer free return shipping. He informs people that if they will return the items, they have to pay to ship it back. Mark's podcast is a career and automotive oriented. It aims to inspire all automotive enthusiasts. He interviews people who have figured out how to wrap their passions for cars into their careers. His guests are celebrities, race car drivers, authors, artists, auctioneers, people that run the museums, car dealerships. His goal is to get those folks who are not working in their field of passion but love cars to listen to his show and get inspired. He got listeners in 82 countries all over the world. On the day he was interviewed here, Mark has recorded his 730th show. His guest is a man on Istanbul, Turkey. If you do have an affinity towards cars go to Cars Yeah website. Mark will send you his Free Fill 'R Up Book - an eBook filled with cool photographs he had taken from all the events he had been to. It is also filled with inspirational quotes. Advice, Tips, and Tricks Beware when you are buying an old used car because there are so many things that could be wrong with it. How To Make A Purchase of Cars: 1. Contact the seller and find out the different nuances of the car 2. Look for a certified appraiser. Or, hire somebody in the neighborhood to go and look at the car for you. 3. Request the seller to take the car to a dealership or an independent shop to do an inspection on the car. Things to Ask before Buying a Vintage Race Car on eBay Motors: 1. About the delivery 2. Lots of detail pictures 3. About chassis number to make sure you are buying the car you think you are buying Things To Do to Make Your Listing and Pictures Look Like a Pro 1. Set up a photography system. On his part, he created a wide sweep. He got a big piece of heavy duty white paper. Tape it on the wall. Put it on the part of his house with a good natural light coming through. As an automotive seller, he takes pictures in his garage with some cool backdrop or tools in the background. This could make the whole picture look more crisp and professional. Take a little bit of time and get a quality, awesome pictures. Quality pictures get a bigger premium when you sell your product. 2. The cameras can capture down to the dust particles. Take a moment and clean the item that you would photograph. Wipe it off. 3. Write better descriptive copy. If you can't write and you are lousy with spelling, go and copy somebody else. There is always something sold that is like yours. Change it a little bit to fit yours. 4. If you buy something, keep the original box. Because you will have a better price point when you sell an item with its box on it. 5. Treat your buyers as customers. Treat them like you would want to be treated in any retail store you walk into. Be courteous. Be kind. Communicate with them. Answer their messages. Be very clear. If you have something that would go sideways, ask one question, "What would you like me to do"? and then do it. Quotes "There is so much knowledge nowadays. You just have to do your homework." "Car and motorcycles can be shipped just like lamps, tables, furniture, and anything else." "Trust is the key! But, you need to know the kind of questions to ask." "There is no excuse anymore to not having your own business and not to make money." "If you are not utilizing all these technologies, wake up! Because there is so much free." "eBay is a wonderful way to find unique things." "If you want to downsize your life, or if you have stuff sitting around that you have not touched in a year, turn trash into cash." "eBay is such a cool place. If you need to find a part for an old car or something very unique, you can find it on eBay." Contact Information Website: http://carsyeah.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carsyeah/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarsYeahPodcast Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/carsyeahpodcast Sponsors Premium DIY eBay Template