As part of its ongoing expert vlog series, eBay Motors recently featured Nathan Reid, President of uShip Logistics (a subsidiary of uShip, Inc.), on how eBay dealers and private sellers can receive first-class delivery services for their buyers and how uShip’s car shipping integration on eBay Motors can be a strategic advantage.
Below is a transcript of that interview with Reid:
What is uShip?
REID: uShip is an online marketplace where you can ship anything from cars, boats, motorcycles, and even furniture. We’ve shipped now for almost 15 years. We’re approaching our 3 millionth vehicle listing so we have a lot of experience in this space.
uShip works just like eBay in that it’s a marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. You can go on there and get competitive bids or select instant Buy-It-Now-like prices for your transportation needs. Many have called uShip the “eBay of Shipping.”
You’ll find your users will be very familiar with how it works. And just like eBay, we’ve got auction processes or fixed-price shipping options and we find it’s really easy for people to use.
How does uShip work with eBay?
REID: uShip works with eBay by providing fixed-price shipping options for vehicle listings. If a consumer is surveying a dealer’s listing and considering purchase, they can not only get an instant and guaranteed shipping quote for what that will cost, but when they’re ready, they can also go through with the transaction, pay at checkout, and book with the end-service provider that would handle the shipment.
Frictionless Shipping and Customer Delight
REID: A dealer can make sure they have an easy experience for both their customers and themselves by doing three key things:
First, Make sure the vehicle is ready for pickup so the first available picking date that is communicated to the service provider needs to be as solid as possible.
Next, I’d make sure your vehicle is documented at the point of pickup so that all conditions, any pre-existing damage, scuffs, mileage, all those conditions are noted at the point of pickup.
Finally, you can facilitate the transaction yourself by helping communicate with the driver and making sure they have as easy of an experience as possible, knowing that you know if there are any special hours for loading or any areas of the dealership they need to arrive in they know that ahead of time.
How does it work for the dealer?
REID: While the vehicle is in transport, you’ll be receiving status and updates for how far the vehicle is out and when the expected delivery is. When the vehicle arrives, it’s really easy. All you need to do is work with the driver to complete a delivery inspection. This will be something called the BOL (Bill of Lading). This is where you mark any conditions or damage notes that you may see on the vehicle and also sign-off that it has been delivered. Once that’s complete, the driver will be paid automatically and your vehicle is good to go.
Shipping, from a Buyer’s Perspective
REID: As a buyer, transportation really matters because it helps you expand your shopping experience. A lot of customers don’t necessarily want to stick to their local inventory at area dealerships and they want to be able to easily shop online and look at inventory that might be 500 miles away or even a thousand miles away. Knowing that they have easy shipping solutions and options really helps them work with dealers that might not be in their local footprint.
Car Shipping as a Competitive Edge
REID: For dealerships that are looking to use shipping as a competitive advantage, I would say they want to not only offer home delivery for their buyers, I think with e-commerce continuing to thrive and grow that’s something that customers will be demanding. So, whether it’s local or it’s a cross-country delivery, that’s something that dealers need to enable.
Additionally, I note that on the sourcing side for vehicles, dealers can leverage shipping as a way to get unique inventory into their local market that might have a better margin or might be more in demand in that local market yet is limited in supply. So, vehicle shipping can be a strategic tool to again both move vehicles out but also move vehicles in.
uShip’s Cost Savings and Strategic Advantages
REID: So, first of all, Holding Costs again are the daily expenses that a dealer incurs just keeping a vehicle in inventory. On average, this can be $40 for new vehicles or up to $85 per day for pre-owned. This includes financing, cleaning, depreciation costs, and opportunity costs. By using shipping to impact this, you can make sure that you have expedited pickup and deliveries to try to get vehicles off your books as quickly as possible. So when somebody is buying online you know if you can’t provide expedited shipping services this really helps get that vehicle delivered and paid and cleared from your books.
eBay + Dealer + uShip = Happy Customer
REID: I think the user experience is increasingly important because the industry is becoming so competitive with e-commerce and online buying accelerating you know the end-shipping solution is very critical. Additionally, really specific to eBay, you know the nature of eBay’s inventory involves a lot of passion purchases where people are buying their dream car sometimes. It could be that Corvette they’ve waited a decade to save up for or waiting for the kids to move out of the house. Whatever it is, it’s a very important moment for them.
So for dealers selling to them and leveraging transportation through eBay, you know you really want that end-to-end consumer experience to be tight and transportation is really the final touchpoint in that experience. You want a trusted and reliable provider that can make sure that the final handoff to the customer is as solid as the very beginning was. This ultimately keeps them coming back for more and are very satisfied with your service.
As an eBay dealer, you want a solution like uShip to really make your shipping life as easy as it can be. Because of the integrations we have, because of the robust market data and competitive rates basically, great transportation options are just a few clicks away and allow you to easily connect with great service providers at a great price to both enable your business but also to keep your in customers as satisfied as possible and make it a great experience A to Z.
