| He started by posting a few golf clubs, and within eight weeks he'd emptied out the store's entire stock of used equipment. Leigh saw a huge opportunity, but needed more used equipment to sell than he received in trade. He created a valuation guide and approached retail stores in New England, offering to buy used clubs. These also sold quickly, and he couldn't supply the demand.
Then in 2000 Leigh hooked up with Alex Choi, a graduate of the School of Entrepreneurship at Babson College and employee of Titlest and FootJoy. Leigh and Alex put their heads together to find a way to scale their business on eBay.
3ballsgolf worked with the PGA to create a trade-in network with 6,000 locations. With this new infrastructure, 3ballsgolf had a ready supply of used merchandise. They also contacted manufacturers and secured a supply of new and old stock, samples, and demos they could sell on eBay.
3ballsgolf opens as an eBay Store
When eBay Stores was launched, 3ballsgolf was among
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"Our eBay Store has built our brand, rounded out our product offering, and helped us increase our add-on sales, upselling, and cross-selling."
3ballsgolf |
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the first to sign up. The Store offered a natural way for Leigh and Alex to brand their business and gave them features that helped boost sales even further. They chose the Anchor level for the most prominent placement and highest visibility on eBay.
They take advantage of the features that come with an Anchor Store, from Custom Pages to advanced Store Traffic Reports. 3ballsgolf created "specialty shops" of promotional merchandise with Custom Pages, such as their Stuff in the Ruff and Dollar Store pages. Their Custom Pages are very productive, and offer an easy way for customers to zero in on the items they want. Promotion Boxes at the top of their home page call attention to new arrivals, popular sellers, and special deals. Leigh and Alex view their Traffic Reports every day, tracking page and listing views, unique visitors, and bids. They constantly evaluate this data to inform their strategy. They use Email Marketing to increase exposure to items in their Store, from one-dollar to no-reserve Auction-style to Fixed Price listings. "We see a spike in sales every time we send out our newsletter, usually once or twice a month," says Leigh.
eBay Store sales surpass brick-and-mortar
The power of the eBay Marketplace has allowed 3ballsgolf to create a thriving nationwide business without investing much capital. "Our brick-and-mortar More >> |
