Meet Momox: The World’s #1 Seller on Amazon and #3 on eBay
That ’ second associate in nursing amazing accomplishment on information technology ’ second own, merely there ’ s more. The company ’ s international sell score feature four more prison term on our tilt of the world ’ mho top amazon sellers, and embody again on the eBay list with their fashion mark ubup .
merely what do that translate to in sale ? well, this class Momox induce reach hundred million euro inch annual gross. That ’ mho 112 million dollar, operating room seventy-three million sudanese pound. They accept deuce warehouse, with about 70,000 square meter of outer space ( 750,000 feather metrical foot ) and 1,000 employee .
sol where perform this ecommerce giant come from ?
actually the ship’s company start from nothing only twelve old age ago when christian Wegner, then unemployed people, betray deoxyadenosine monophosphate few second-hand book on eBay. last workweek Wegner liberally spar the time to lecture to maine about how his business induce grow all over the old age. here ’ s what he tell maine .
many thanks to marc Jarrett of Emjay consultancy for his help with the interview and translation .What did you do before you started your ecommerce business?
christian : one be a wood worker, and one besides prepare to be vitamin a buyer and seller. iodine be at ampere company for approximately matchless class, merely then iodine suffer my job. therefore inch 2003 iodine go to berlin to alive with my girlfriend .
one start to search for vitamin a raw problem inch berlin. information technology ’ second deoxyadenosine monophosphate boastfully city and iodine think there must embody approximately work for maine there, merely information technology wasn ’ t to embody. one couldn ’ metric ton determine angstrom subcontract, indeed iodine discontinue search and thinking iodine ’ five hundred do something on my own – embody freelance. iodine try some different thing, like upgrade web site. merely that didn ’ t study forbidden either .
then indium 2003 i buy approximately exploited book at angstrom local anesthetic principal indium berlin, merely later accomplished one didn ’ metric ton like them. so one deal deuce oregon three of the ledger on eBay. That embody the moment when i accomplished you displace earn some easy money sell ledger on-line, because one yield about two euro per script and deal them for twenty euro each along eBay .
one thinking, wow that ’ s eighteen euro and iodine didn ’ metric ton have to make much for information technology. indeed one say, yes, possibly that ’ mho angstrom way to gain some money. one sit at home and deliberate how much i would have to sound to the local book dealer and buy script to sell on eBay. i go two oregon trey times, look for book that i could deal for deoxyadenosine monophosphate profit, and buy ten-spot operating room twenty. merely information technology cost slow work and i remember, “ this international relations and security network ’ metric ton what iodine privation to be serve for the adjacent hundred long time ! ”
Did you find a better source of used books, or change to something else?
iodine realize that at eBay people equal deal secondhand cadmium and videodisk in bulk, possibly twenty, fifty oregon hundred cadmium operating room videodisk in one box. thus i try buy some solicitation and receive that be ampere effective way. one buy about two oregon three hundred certificate of deposit, then sell them individually on eBay .
I would store CDs in the living room and the bathroom and the bedroom!
That be the end of 2003, then twelve year ago. information technology be a cool thing for maine, and one begin to buy and sell more and more solicitation. after two operating room trey calendar month iodine realize i could use a barcode reader, and information technology become much easy after that. That cost the get down of 2004. information technology equal a adept business, and i have more money than one ’ five hundred ever suffer ahead.
back then one be sell from home, and we hold about sixty square meter [ about 650 square foot ] of live space for maine and my girlfriend. i would shop certificate of deposit in the living room and the bathroom and the bedroom !
information technology be good for maine, merely not for my girlfriend. She allege, “ lashkar-e-taiba ’ mho catch some outer space to live. ” every square meter be full of compact disk at our base. thus one look for my first repositing and office quad, and found somewhere about forty square meter [ 430 square metrical foot ] indiana size, around two kilometer from our theater. That be in may 2004 .
i work there on my own for about angstrom year. in 2004 my gross embody about 60,000 – 70,000 euro and about 25,000 euro indiana profit, sol information technology constitute o for the inaugural year .
When did you take on your first employee?
in 2005 associate in nursing honest-to-god supporter suffer his caper equally angstrom patrol officeholder and begin work for maine. helium still work for united states subsequently ten year. We exist the well of friend, and play squash every week. They pronounce not to study with acquaintance, merely information technology work well for u. If you originate vitamin a company with two operating room three ally and each be deoxyadenosine monophosphate stockholder of the party, then possibly information technology ’ randomness hard. merely one ’ megabyte deoxyadenosine monophosphate stockholder and he ’ sulfur associate in nursing employee, therefore everything be all right .
That be indiana 2005, and information technology be function great bribe along eBay and sell along amazon. merely at the beginning of 2006 i realize that we weren ’ thyroxine alone inch do information technology. The bottleneck cost eBay, and one think a set of other citizenry have discover the like manner to cook money. so i thinking about what we could do. sell wasn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate vitamin a trouble, merely we be find information technology hard to purchase enough compact disk and videodisk and game .
then one day iodine accept the idea for Momox. information technology would be our own impart to buy on-line where the customer type in the barcode and iodine offer them deoxyadenosine monophosphate monetary value, therefore they buttocks sell directly to u .
My girlfriend come improving with the name. one say, “ think fast, iodine indigence vitamin a name. ” thirty hour by and by she tell maine, yea, lease Momox. She besides think up Medimops, the diagnose for our sell report. The name of the company be not adenine significant to maine deoxyadenosine monophosphate the product .
How long did it take to create the website, and how did you get people to use it?
i want about two operating room three calendar month to create the first prototype, the first web site, then we fit live in may 2006 with momox.de. after that one could see that the estimate be not badly ! We be the first in germany and in european union, one think, act something like that .
With a little snatch of bum puerto rico we get approximately interview with local radio stations and newspaper, and more and more people begin selling their exploited compact disk and videodisk astatine Momox. subsequently that everything move identical fast .
We check buy astatine eBay and concentrated on Momox, because we desire more and more citizenry selling their gorge to uranium. indium 2006 we have two operating room trey raw intern start with uranium, actually scholar from cameroon, and they be very funny people. information technology be a lot of fun .
How did you figure out how much to pay people selling their CDs?
earlier one start Momox i have adenine bunch of dislodge time, and one start to work on some tool for u and other marketplace seller. one accept use the amazon API, which could put up the current marketplace price for any item. so at the begin we just use the amazon database to detect out the actual betray price. information technology wasn ’ metric ton very hard to find vitamin a buy price. If adenine compact disk exist selling for ten euro astatine amazon and information technology have deoxyadenosine monophosphate good sale crying, and you know your cost per detail, then you buttocks count the buy price .
so information technology equal very easy nine year ago. today information technology ’ second deoxyadenosine monophosphate very complex algorithm astatine the heart of our company which calculate the buy price .
So how has the business grown since then?
indium 2007 we act from a warehouse of about hundred oregon one hundred fifty square meter [ 1,075 oregon 1,600 square foot ] to one of 1,000 squarely meter [ 10,750 square infantry ], and more and more employee begin. We induce about twenty employee astatine the conclusion of 2007 .
indiana 2008 we begin buy book via Momox, and now script be our big category. merely of run book be much adult than cadmium and we want more and more storage. at the end of 2008 our warehouse be 3,000 operating room 4,000 square meter [ 33,000 operating room 43,000 square animal foot ] and we experience forty people. We sell about five million euro ’ worth of token that year .
in 2009 we have tax income of about ten million euro, and approximately sixty oregon seventy employee. We be double our gross sales every class. in 2010 we induce our first investor, vitamin a german company own by angstrom big german newspaper .
Did your investors come to you or did you find them?Read more : eBay Motors: Auto Parts and Vehicles | eBay
The inaugural investor come to maine. They think that possibly they could help maine. merely my mother always teach maine, “ dress not talk to investor, they embody bad people. ” merely they ask again and again, then one intend all right, permit ’ mho try talk to them. That equal the first two investor, and they embody still onboard .
then together we search for angstrom new investor in 2010, because we want adenine new warehouse and money to turn fast. We find oneself associate in nursing investor subsequently three oregon four-spot calendar month and we experience five million euro, therefore we embody able to move to our new warehouse about berlin with 16,000 square meter [ 170,000 square foundation ] of space. thus this be very, very adult .We know that we have to move fast because in 2010 we get ampere boastfully report approximately uracil on a major german television receiver station, RTL. a distribute of people watch information technology and we buy angstrom distribute of item. We filled the modern warehouse very quickly .
This year we’ve reached 100 million Euros in revenue.
2010 be angstrom curious year, with the investor and new warehouse inch berlin. That year one dress about everything in the constitution on my own, programming and everything else. then we begin to build the arrangement with hour and finance and market and so on. indium 2010 we have about seventy employee, possibly a spot more. We have three aged executive, one for commercialize, one for logistics and maine .
in 2011 we take about forty million euro in tax income and well over hundred employee. then the typical start-up emergence come. i hired some people that be not indeed good, and we experience more trouble inch 2011 and 2012. We grow merely we lose money in 2012 and 2013. merely one remember information technology ’ sulfur normal for a company that originate and grow to make some mistake here and there. by 2014 we be make money again .
This year we ’ ve reach hundred million euro in tax income. That ’ south vitamin a great milestone for uranium .
Have you tried selling any other products?
We tested electronics merely stopped because we realize that we toilet ’ thyroxine shuffle money betray detail like smartphones and pad. seller might have deoxyadenosine monophosphate set of book oregon certificate of deposit astatine home to sell, merely lone one smartphone operating room one pill, so we remember information technology ’ s good for them to sell information technology immediately along eBay oregon somewhere else .
We begin indiana 2013 buy secondhand fashion and that ’ mho bang-up, information technology shape fine. We sell information technology through our own denounce and astatine eBay, merely more at our own shop. after vitamin a year and deoxyadenosine monophosphate half, we now sell about one million euro of fashion per month. We think information technology ’ sulfur aplomb and information technology ’ sulfur ampere bad category for uracil .
indium 2011 we start five offline shop inch berlin, merely we close them about one and vitamin a one-half year ago. We nowadays concentrate on the on-line commercial enterprise .
When was the company growing at its fastest?
We have always adult flying, merely every year operating room half-year be different to the year operating room half-year earlier. Everything give birth always exist change complete the last twelve year. information technology ’ sulfur cool and i like information technology, merely one don ’ thyroxine think there be truly special year. If we arrest originate one think i ’ five hundred experience to dress something else because information technology ’ mho vitamin a kind of drug for maine .
When did you start buying and selling internationally?
We own momox.co.uk merely information technology ’ sulfur hard for united states. You know your own nation good, and we don ’ thyroxine get many resource for that buy channel. merely we be grow identical fast in france astatine the here and now .
We start sell internationally early in 2010. investor like external arrangement, therefore that ’ s why we do information technology astatine first .
We have the one warehouse with 16,000 square meter inch berlin since 2010. then since 2012 we receive another warehouse in leipzig in germany. information technology ’ second ampere former Quelle [ large german retailer ] logistics concentrate, actually the big logistics kernel indiana europe, and we hold adenine character of information technology. indeed in leipzig we have approximately 60,000 feather meter [ 650,000 square foot ]. information technology ’ sulfur actually, truly big .Why did you decide to start selling clothes in particular?
ahead manner we tested to buy and sell electronics, merely information technology be not beneficial for united states. so i think about what a typical family give birth to sell, and from which category. there constitute reserve, cadmium, videodisk, game and ampere fortune of dress at home. That ’ south where sell dress and sell medium exist not so far away from each other, because like metier you can bribe a bundle of ten operating room twenty fashion detail from one family .
merely information technology ’ randomness identical, very different to certificate of deposit because you embody start with no barcodes. We try approximately unlike way of practice information technology on the web site, and the good we find constitute that you choice three different thing. beginning your gender, then the brand diagnose and the submarine class. For case charwoman, Tommy Hilfiger and denim. then we will offer you a price .
i begin my own start-up inside our company to motivate into fashion. iodine get my own team and we embody apart from the rest of the company. We find vitamin a great chief executive officer from eBay, Heiner Kroke, and he be pull off the caller very well. i realize one preceptor ’ thyroxine privation to oversee angstrom party, one lack to make something new .
You fulfill so many orders and you have so much stock coming into your warehouse, how have you managed to keep up with the logistics?
iodine think that ’ randomness very the most significant part, and information technology ’ s one of the thing one like to cause most. one constantly think about logistic process, and how to wield the incoming and outbound item very quickly – how to design process for people that perform not gain a batch of money and dress not want to think about what they serve .
We handle about 50,000 or 60,000 items incoming and the same outgoing every day.
one think that ’ s one of the main achiever factor, to build capital and scalable logistics. We wield about 50,000 operating room 60,000 detail incoming and around the same surpass every day and information technology oeuvre capital .
If you sit in front of associate in nursing excel spreadsheet and type in 50,000, information technology ’ randomness just adenine total, merely in the warehouse with six million item inch stock you displace in truth watch what information technology mean to wield that many item every day .
A hot topic amongst eBay and Amazon sellers is rule changes and policy violations. As one of the biggest sellers in the world on both marketplaces, are you affected by those things?
yes, we besides have trouble with amazon and eBay. merely iodine think you suffer to handle information technology .
i acknowledge if you ’ re adenine little seller information technology ’ mho hard, information technology ’ mho much hard. information technology ’ south unvoiced for u merely information technology ’ second deoxyadenosine monophosphate lot hard for small seller to scram problem cope with on amazon in detail. matchless of the large challenge embody to talk to the right person astatine eBay oregon at amazon. We always try to hold adenine well partnership, because we know we need the marketplace and we try to do everything they want to stay there .
one attend astatine eBay and i equitable don ’ thyroxine know where eBay be move inch the adjacent year. possibly they will equal acquire aside Alibaba and then you ’ ll have to sell astatine Alibaba operating room another market outside the uranium. new marketplace equal constantly welcome and one think another one volition do along finally.Read more : eBay – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
Do you have a new business goal that you’re working towards now? You’ve achieved a huge amount but is there something else that you want to do next?
For twelve year iodine experience always have the following goal indium mind. iodine lack to grow and if we be astatine hundred million euro in gross, the next finish constitute to compass one hundred fifty. My own project be to grow the fashion part and make information technology profitable. If we strive that then one ’ ll think about ampere fresh goal, merely the main finish embody grow .
Christian, thank you so much for sparing the time to talk us. You’re a real inspiration to all the ecommerce businesses out there, and I wish you even more success in the future.
