Authentic
Items Mean Big Sales
Mark Rogers of
MRAKsports.com does a brisk 1.5-million-per-year
business selling Authenticator Pre-Certified (APC)
sports memorabilia. He and his wife Billie own their own
business, and with a small staff are able to process and
ship over 100 items a week and twice that during the
Christmas season. Browsing MRAK Sports About
Me page, you'll see Mark Rogers' personal scrapbook
of his meetings with sports stars including Muhammad
Ali, John Elway, Joe Montana, Patrick Roy, Todd Helton
and many others.
Rogers
approaches his business with an unwavering
integrity and honesty that makes him stand out in an
industry where fraud is a serious concern. It is this
integrity combined with action that got him involved in
the origins of the APC category. In collaboration with
eBay's Sports Category manager, his input and
suggestions helped get the program started.
How
It Began
Wanting
to be his own boss,
Rogers
left his prior job to start selling on eBay in 1998. In
2001, sales were at $300,000 and last year, his GMS had
climbed to $1.5 million. Knowing that fraud was a real
problem in sports collectibles, he made sure that his
items were authenticated and that buyers knew it. Every
one of his auctions includes an educational blurb titled
"Don't Get Scammed!" that includes a link
directly to PSA/DNA authentication services. Though the
service costs $7.50 per authentication,
Rogers
guarantees to eat the cost if his item is judged to be a
fake.
It's
not just that his confidence is high: it's also a matter
of his devotion to making sure that his buyers feel
comfortable knowing they are getting what they pay for.
"People thank us every week for educating them
about the scams out there," he says.
Only
on eBay
Now
that APC is its own category,
Rogers
lists all his items there. He attributes his 99.8%
positive feedback rating not only to the quality of his
items but also to the consistency of his customer
communications attributable to Selling
Manager Pro. He calls it an "indispensable
tool," as it handles payment and shipping
notifications as well as listing and tracking.
"That's why my approval rating is so high," he
says modestly.
Parting
Thoughts
"Making
the customer number one," is what
Rogers
cites as the main ingredient of his success.
"Handling communication, shipping and customer
issues with speed and integrity is the key to happy
customers, and a successful business!"
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