Friday, August 3, 2007
...used auto parts on the web? Millions!
I love stories like these!
Just a year ago, Philip Schaffer was wondering what he could do to energize his going-nowhere business, Action Auto Wreckers. With the economic boom stimulating new-car sales, the Long Island, New York-based Schaffer suddenly found himself sitting on a glut of junked autos, with fewer and fewer customers to take them off his hands. "It seems like everybody around here is driving a new car or a leased car that they don't have to work on themselves," Schaffer says with a sigh. Many people in his shoes would have waited patiently or closed up shop. Schaffer did neither. Instead, he decided to reinvent his business by shifting it onto the Net, where he opened the used-parts site Action Auto Wreckers.
The result? He has found himself overwhelmed by orders from body shops, hobbyists, and do-it-yourselfers attracted to his vast inventory and low prices. "I've shipped motors to California, parts to Chicago, Hawaii, even Guam," he says. For one cybercustomer from Iceland, Schaffer drained the oil from a wrecked Pontiac Sunbird, boxed up the parts needed to fix it, and shipped the whole thing out by air.
The bottom line, Schaffer says, is that the Net has given him a new lease on life. His annual sales now top $1 million, with half of that business done online. "The potential is there," he insists, "to do $5 million or $10 million over the Internet. It has put the fun back into coming to work."
The full article is at
http://www.adobe.com/v1/handlers/index.cfm?ID=14662&method=full
Just a year ago, Philip Schaffer was wondering what he could do to energize his going-nowhere business, Action Auto Wreckers. With the economic boom stimulating new-car sales, the Long Island, New York-based Schaffer suddenly found himself sitting on a glut of junked autos, with fewer and fewer customers to take them off his hands. "It seems like everybody around here is driving a new car or a leased car that they don't have to work on themselves," Schaffer says with a sigh. Many people in his shoes would have waited patiently or closed up shop. Schaffer did neither. Instead, he decided to reinvent his business by shifting it onto the Net, where he opened the used-parts site Action Auto Wreckers.
The result? He has found himself overwhelmed by orders from body shops, hobbyists, and do-it-yourselfers attracted to his vast inventory and low prices. "I've shipped motors to California, parts to Chicago, Hawaii, even Guam," he says. For one cybercustomer from Iceland, Schaffer drained the oil from a wrecked Pontiac Sunbird, boxed up the parts needed to fix it, and shipped the whole thing out by air.
The bottom line, Schaffer says, is that the Net has given him a new lease on life. His annual sales now top $1 million, with half of that business done online. "The potential is there," he insists, "to do $5 million or $10 million over the Internet. It has put the fun back into coming to work."
The full article is at
http://www.adobe.com/v1/handlers/index.cfm?ID=14662&method=full
Labels: Passionpreneur Profile, Sideline Business Tips, Story of the Week
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