Will EasySale Reinvent the eBay Drop-Off Store Concept?
(FranchisePick.Com) Thanks to Franchise Pick reader Josephine Baker who pointed out this fascinating story published by the Dallas Morning News in her comment on our controversial iSold It post.
[Photo: EasySale Inc. ]
According to the story by Maria Halkis (Ex-CEO bids for a comeback), the RadioShack Corp.’s chief executive who resigned under pressure last year is launching “a service that will pick up people’s valuable junk and sell it for them on auction sites like eBay.”
Just when the eBay drop-off store discussion on Franchise Pick was starting to get (in the words of industry leader Ralph) “boring”… and my calls for fresh ideas continued to go unheeded… up steps Dave Edmondson with a bold new approach and a fleet of bright yellow trucks!
The Rapid Rise & Fall of Dave Edmondson
Unlike the melodious Dave Edmunds, Dave Edmondson is no mellow fellow. Ms Halkis reports “Only months after being promoted to the $2 million-a-year position as CEO at Fort Worth-based RadioShack, Mr. Edmondson, a former Baptist pastor, resigned in February 2006 when his exaggerated résumé was revealed. ”
A man distinguished by action and efficiency, even his downfall was on the fasttrack. He got a divorce. His father died. His sentence for drunken-driving sentence had him cleaning up after the homeless at highway underpasses and disposing of pet waste at an animal shelter. It was an ordeal that would drive most of us to the south of France to unwind, which is exactly what he did.
He’s Back… And Ready to Reinvent the eBay Drop-Off Store!
The south of France must have recharged Mr. Edmondson’s batteries faster than a RadioShack Mach 1 Alpha Speed Charger, because he back in the spotlight with a bold plan to reinvent the eBay Drop-Off Store concept. For starters, he’s eliminating both the Drop-Off and the Store.
According to Ms. Halkis, Edmundon’s new venture – called EasySale - is a service that will “pick up people’s valuable junk and sell it for them on auction sites like eBay.”
He’s hired more than a dozen loyal, laid-off colleagues from RadioShack for the new company, including his former senior vice president Stewart Asimus, who is also Mr. Edmondson’s financial partner in the new venture. She reports they’ve spent $600,000, mostly Mr. Edmondson’s money, to launch EasySale Inc.
The EasySale Inc. Concept: Easy Money?
From the Dallas Morning News:
EasySale is a service that picks up items worth at least $50 each from homes or businesses, appraises them, professionally photographs them and sells them through online auction sites such as eBay.
EasySale keeps a percentage, which Mr. Edmondson says is less than what similar eBay stores and consignment stores charge.
He said the biggest difference between EasySale and eBay drop-off stores – an industry that has grown to $1.5 billion in annual business and 2,500 locations – is the convenience factor of picking up items from “very busy people’s homes.”
“EBay went from zero sales to $60 billion after 11 years,” he said.
He’s hired 65 people and plans to increase that number to 100 by the end of this month.
Two employees will arrive at customers’ homes wearing crisp uniforms and booties over their shoes to protect carpets as they haul off items. He said he’s signed a contract with a service to have the trucks cleaned every two weeks.
The warehouse has the latest monitoring systems, and security is tight, with all employees going through criminal, driver’s license and credit checks, he said.
“We’re sending a message that we will take care of your stuff,” he said. “We’re catering to the do-it-for-me, affluent customer.”
EasySale Convoy To Take Dallas by Storm!
A former preacher, Mr. Edmondson obviously takes the Bible’s passage about The best defense is a good offense literally. The article explains:
Mr. Edmondson is emerging from his scandal with a public display of chutzpah in the form of guerilla marketing.
Known for his salesmanship, he will lead 25 yellow-and-red EasySale trucks on a 100-mile procession through Dallas-Fort Worth today to build brand awareness.
The procession will begin at 7:30 a.m. at American Airlines Center in Dallas and go against traffic on major highways, including North Central Expressway to LBJ Freeway, Interstate 35E and Highways 114 and 360. The caravan, which will stop at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and end at EasySale’s distribution and processing center in Arlington, will have a motorcycle escort.
“I wanted to do something entrepreneurial. I just needed to find a space with a need,” Mr. Edmondson said. “It was a tough year. I had worked hard, and then my career imploded.
Will the $6 Billion Dollar Man Put the FUN Back into Dysfunction?
Obviously taking a cautious approach initially, Edmondson is developing the Dallas - Fort Worth market first. He estimates the potential for that market alone is $6 billion – based on an average of $2,200 worth of “auctionable items” in each of the region’s 2.5 million households.
Mr. Edmundson’s combination of marketing bravado, cautious development and vision may just be what this struggling industry needs. It seems that he’s determined to put the FUN back into this dysFUNctional concept.
“I’m a positive person. I’m having fun hiring people and putting them to work,” Mr. Edmondson said. “There was no such thing as an eBay store 38 months ago.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT & SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS. IS EDMUNDSON GOING TO BE THE ONE TO REINVIGORATE THE STRUGGLING EBAY “STORE” CONCEPT?
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12 opinions for Will EasySale Reinvent the eBay Drop-Off Store Concept?
FranchiseBrief.com
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Honnestly, I think there is no way a business can be successful selling stuffs on ebay. eBay is a place where you have to either find a niche or sell massive quantities to make money. The margins are so low that I can’t even understand why people would open an eBy drop off store in the first place. My advice is that if you want to sell on eBay, do it from your house, ask friends to give you stuffs they want to get rid of and sell them on eBay.
I sold my share of things on eBay and I have to admit I was pretty successful and was able to make a living out of it but I gave because it requires too much time (I was spending 5 hours a day packing products…)
brent
Jun 9, 2007 at 8:41 am
Mr. Edmundsund’s background with Radio Shack gives him experience with JUNK, so he may be walking down a familiar alley. DO NOT GIVE HIM ANY OF YOUR MONEY!!! Put pencil to paper. 2 guys in booties $125 day each 1 truck $50-100 day - GAS (the gorilla in the closet, hiding with the junk) 200 miles per day (10 miles per gallon $3.50 gallon) $70 day - insurance, maintainence, repair, tags, permits, etc ??? day - warehouse space (that can the cost of well negotiated retail space $1 sf vs $1.60sf straight lease no triple net. 2 guys? Planning on picking big items - to sell on ebay?? 15-35% doesn’t sell - SHAKE YOUR BOOTIES AND REDELIVER!!! Starting to look like a FedEx truck - starts full returns half full. Be careful items may/will be damaged in transit - did you sell them the insurance - doesn’t matter - they will be pissed off. Truck $1500 mo - gas $2100 mo - Bootie bandits $5000 mo(not including health ins, soc sec, workman’s comp, vacation) - Truck ins/misc $600 Total $9200 month - AND WE HAVE NOT INCLUDED FACILITY COSTS AND THE COST OF PROCESSING THE ITEM. A real moneymaker - just like that company down the road in Houston ………….Enron ! BE AFRAID - BE VERY AFRAID
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John
Jun 22, 2007 at 10:57 am
I bought a King bedroom suite from them off Ebay and drove to Arlington to pick it up. WOW, huge place, huge fleet of trucks, pretty impressive.
They are really going for it. They will have to sell tons and tons of stuff to make a profit. It’ll be years before they could come close to making a profit.
Josh
Jun 24, 2007 at 1:57 am
Looks like his snake oil is already starting to wear off. Not too sure, but looks like there might be shill bidding going on at his outfit. jdedmondson123 is bidding on items… auction number 130126033414. Looks like his is either bidding up his own items or trying to get a good deal off of his own bad listing…
Vendelo
Jun 26, 2007 at 8:42 am
I still can’t believe they started this venture without having a better domain name like “EasySale.com”.
Hugh Walter
Jul 25, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Hahahahahahahah! LOL, thanks Sean, needed a lift, it’s been a crap week, it’s almost like one of the popular themes in British comics of the 50/60’s the little boy with the miniature private army/zoo/aliens/talking robot etc… in his pocket!
Ooh, I’ve had a bad year, I know I’ll have fun giving out jobs and getting people to run about for me? And the truck looks like a toy!
Priceless, just pity the workforce in 6 month’s time, still, by then they will know enough about eBay selling to get a job with the next messiah - sorry: drop shop operation, to come along!!
Are all these companies run by hubris steeped fools??
gardener
Sep 26, 2007 at 8:24 am
Just for kicks, I did a Terapeak 30-day search on seller id ‘easysaleincdfw001′. The numbers aren’t bad: $90K sales (not including motors, which is presumably minimal), avg. $138 sale price, and 89% sell-through.
Of course, with their space/trucks/staff overhead, that’s probably not close to cash-flow positive, but if it grows from there, they may be on to something.
Vendelo
Sep 26, 2007 at 11:27 am
Gardener, check out this Feedback tool: http://toolhaus.org
Enter any Ebay id and it will show you only neutral and negative feedback for that user.
I did a search on ‘easysaleincdfw001′ and found out most of their negative and neutral feedback is because they are trying to ship all kinds of merchandise via freight. A lot of those items look like Craigslist local pick ups to me.
Marc
Nov 30, 2007 at 3:37 am
Quote from article:
“A former preacher, Mr. Edmondson obviously takes the Bible’s passage about The best defense is a good offense literally.”
Which Bible passage would that be?
Don
Dec 11, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I think this company wont last a year. Give it a year or 2, its dead.
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