Land Rover SUVs are legendary for their all-terrain ability, high performance and luxury. You get all of these great attributes in one package with these British imports. As the popularity of these vehicles have grown within the United States over the last several decades, there is now a large population of these vehicles on American roads. Inevitably, as with all cars or
vehicles, the longer they are in use, they will eventually need some sort of maintenance. As an entrepreneur, if you are looking to be a supplier of maintenance parts for Land Rovers, then the following offers a few tips in your online parts supplying endeavours.

Finding Parts

Finding parts is an important task. Simple search engine searches can yield many different parts suppliers beyond what you may have initially known. Continue to do periodic searches to keep your list of parts suppliers fresh and relevant. Sites like eBay and Amazon also provide excellent opportunities to find the Land Rover parts that you are looking for. Generally, you want to have a good group of suppliers so that you can keep your Land Rover parts inventory in good supply.

Ordering Parts

Ordering of your Land Rover parts is the next logical step after finding those same parts, as noted above. Factor in shipping of those parts to your overall cost calculation. (The same applies when you are shipping those same parts out as well; see below.) If you are
attempting to order parts and then quickly re-sell them, then you will want to know how long the delivery process will take so that you are not delayed in your sending out of those same parts. Too long of a delay will negatively affect your relationship with customers.

Selling Parts

As with any re-selling business, you want to offer quality parts for sale to the public. Offering quality parts has a twofold reasoning behind it. First, quality parts help build your reputation amongst your customer base. A positive customer experience means that they will be more likely to purchase from you again in the future. It also means that the same customers will be willing to offer testimonials and recommendations to other purchasers regarding the services and parts that you offer. The second reason you want to offer quality parts is so that you have fewer returns. Returned items ultimately negatively affect your costs because they are like negative sales revenues and even incur additional costs due to their double handling (i.e., shipping and handling charges plus labor costs when initially sending the part out and then these same costs when handling a part's return).

Shipping Parts

An important aspect of selling parts online is the 'next step,' which is shipping those same parts. Shipping can make or break your profitability on a given transaction. If you sell your part at a reasonable price, but do not factor in your true shipping costs, you will quickly find yourself having negative revenues. Know ahead of time what your shipping cost will be for a given part. Even factor in any transportation costs and time that you may incur getting the package to your shipper. Also, know how you will get to a given location to actually ship a particular part.

Depending on what part you are shipping, these are your four (4) main shipping company options:

1. United States Postal Service (USPS)
2. United Parcel Service (UPS)
3. FedEx
4. Independent heavy parts/freight deliverers (UPS and FedEx also offer freight
   delivery).

For smaller and more lightweight Land Rover parts, you can use either USPS, UPS or FedEx. But for larger and heavier parts, like a Land Rover engine or transmission, you will need the freight services of a company like UPS, FedEx or one of the independent heavy
parts/freight deliverers. Don't attempt to send a Land Rover engine through the Houston Heights post office Heights post office, or any other post office for that matter! However, for some of those smaller Land Rover parts that you may send through the USPS, the following information provides some of the more common postal rates you might use:

• First Class Mail - Letter (1 oz.) – Retail Post Office Rate, $0.50
• First Class Mail - Letter (1 oz.) - Metered Mail/Partner Rate, $0.47
• First Class Mail - Flat (1 oz.), $1.00
• First Class Mail - International Letter, $1.15
• Priority Mail - Express (0.5 lb., zones 1&2); $21.98 and up (this is overnight mail)
• Priority Mail - Regular (1 lb., zones 1&2); $6.35 and up
• First Class Package Service (1-6 oz.), $2.66
• Parcel Select - Ground (1 lb., zones 1&2), $6.55 and up
• Retail Ground (1 lb., zones 1&2) - Retail/Post Office Rate (Formerly Parcel Post and
  Standard Post), $6.70 and up
• Priority Mail Express - International (0.5 lb., zone 1), $40.38 and up (this is overnight
  mail)
• Priority Mail - International (1 lb.) - Canada, $31.35 and up (other countries are
  slightly more)
• First Class Package - International Service (1 oz., Group 1), $15.20 and up.

The following are some general tips to note when shipping the Land Rover parts:

• Opening an account with UPS, USPS or FedEx offers the lowest rates and makes it easier to track your shipments
• Opening an account with a USPS partner (like Stamps.com or Pirate Mail), or as a commercial account with USPS directly, will offer the lowest rates
• You will always get lower rates using a service when paying for your package versus the USPS retail counter price
• Always use a shipping method that offers a tracking number (this is for your internal records and you can use it to update the customer about their shipment as well).

There once was a commercial that showed a business going online for the first time and how quickly the number of visitors to their newly opened site jumped rapidly. Hopefully, that happens with your Land Rover parts business and the tips above help lead you to a great E-
commerce endeavor!