Speak to any retailer in the bike world about the various online selling options nowadays, and it seems like you’re guaranteed to hear a litany of woe. Put simply, problems such as bank and card fraud, high selling and payment fees, and an imbalance of power towards buyers rather than sellers mean online selling can be a real headache for many. Setting up your own e-commerce site is an option, but unless a firm has extensive resources, that brings its own problems too.
Now, one bike business operator has decided to take matters into his own hands to launch a bike-specific online selling platform to compete against the current market providers and give the bike trade another option. Steve Heneghan, ex-TT racer and owner of Reactive Parts, is setting up a new online market – ReactiveMART.com – and promises to make a real difference to the industry from top to bottom.
“Having been in the motorcycle parts and accessories business for more than 25 years, we’ve been getting feedback from dealers and sellers [about online selling], with complaints including increased costs, higher listing and final value fees and increased shop costs and reduced visibility for listings,” said Heneghan. “We’ve also seen the requirement for promoting listings and less customer data passed over, plus the exclusion of PayPal.”
So Heneghan has come up with a solution in the form of the new ReactiveMART.com online bike, parts, clothing and accessories selling platform. “Over the last 24 months, we’ve developed an entirely new focused sales platform, available to both trade and private clients, to buy and sell new and used motorcycles, clothing and helmets, parts and accessories online.”
Hertfordshire-based Reactive promises a no-nonsense approach to costs and aims to undercut its more mainstream rivals. It will offer auctions, as well as fixed price and classified ads, with zero listing fees for both auctions and fixed price ads, final value fees of 7.8%, and classified advertisements for just £9.99. Heneghan also promises there will be no hidden costs or promotion fees, with sellers only paying the final value charge when they sell. The site’s payment partner is PayPal, giving extensive security over payments for sellers and buyers. ReactiveMart.com can copy over a seller’s listings from other major online selling platforms they might be using.
“We do all the hard work,” said Heneghan. We can mirror your existing listings and set up your account. Additionally, we have a database of more than 250,000 contacts who we will promote listings to.”
The firm is planning a launch for the start of this season and is currently finalising the beta phase of its website, with Android and Apple apps also on the way. BDN was shown an early version of the selling site and saw a clean user interface that seemed intuitive and easy to use.
ReactiveMart.com
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www.reactivemart.com