How to sell used auto parts online without selling the same part twice.

Most yards that try selling online start by copying parts into a marketplace by hand. It works for the first few dozen. Past that, the typing does not scale, prices drift away from the yard system, and sooner or later a part sells online that was sold at the counter that morning.

Where to sell

• eBay Motors

  The largest audience for used parts, and buyers shop by vehicle. A listing with complete fitment turns up for every vehicle the part fits; one without it barely turns up at all. See our guide to selling on eBay Motors.

• Your own online store

  A catalog under your yard's own name, on your own web address, where buyers pay you directly and can choose local pickup. It is where repeat customers and people who already know your yard go first.

• Facebook

  A catalog feed puts your parts in front of local buyers browsing Facebook, with each part linking back to its own page.

• The counter still counts

  Online channels add buyers; they do not replace the counter. Whatever you sell online has to stay in step with what walks out the door.

What a listing needs

Whatever the channel, the same four things sell a used part: compatibility that says which vehicles it fits, real photographs of the actual part, an honest statement of condition and mileage, and a delivered price the buyer can trust. Price is its own subject; our guide to pricing used auto parts covers it.

One inventory behind every channel

The costliest mistake in selling online is selling the same part twice: once at the counter and again on eBay, or on eBay and in your own store. The fix is not more care; it is structure. Every channel should list from the one inventory the yard already keeps, and a part that sells anywhere should come off everywhere else within minutes, automatically.

The same goes for price. Keep one base price in the yard system, apply any online margin deliberately, and let a price change there reach every live listing on its own. Two lists of prices kept by hand will disagree, and the buyer always finds the cheaper one.

Shipping and pickup

Heavy parts need freight worked out before they are listed, and a buyer compares the delivered total, not the item price. For buyers nearby, local pickup sells parts that would be uneconomic to ship at all. Buying labels on your own carrier account keeps your negotiated rates and puts the tracking number straight onto the order.

When an order comes in

An online sale is only finished when the part is pulled, packed and shipped. If the order arrives as an email someone has to retype into the yard system, the part waits, and the wrong part sometimes ships. An order that lands as a work order in the yard system, ready to pull, is the difference between selling online and coping with it.

Questions yards ask

Where should a salvage yard sell parts online?

eBay Motors for the widest audience, your own online store for buyers who already know your yard, and Facebook for local buyers. Most yards do best with more than one, as long as all of them list from the same inventory.

How do I stop selling the same part twice?

List every channel from the one inventory your yard already keeps, and have a part come off every other channel automatically the moment it sells anywhere.

Do I need fitment data to sell online?

On eBay Motors, yes: buyers shop by vehicle, and a listing without compatibility only turns up for the one car it came off.

Should I offer local pickup?

For heavy parts and nearby buyers, yes. Pickup sells parts that would cost too much to ship.

How should I price parts for online?

Start from what the same part has actually sold for, adjust for condition, and build shipping into the delivered price.