CARS EXPORT
When you ask exporting companies why should we choose your company?
They will reply as follows:
- We are big exporter company and have a lot of offices around the world;
- We provide access to all Japanese auctions;
- We provide free auction sheet translations;
- We have big stock of available cars;
- We provide the inspection of the cars before purchase;
- We have an experience;
- We are reliable;
- We export high quality cars;
- We are number one exporter in Japan;
- Our customer satisfaction rate is high;
- We have large selection of low-priced vehicles;
- Our tariffs are transparent
Above could be applied to most of the exporters.
So, what makes Akebono different from others?
Akebono advantages come out from three basic principles:
1) We are small company;
2) We try to avoid outsourcing;
3) We are partner not seller;
WE ARE SMALL COMPANY
There are many companies in Japan exporting cars. Among them there are large exporting companies and not so much. Almost 70% of exports are accounted for by 6-10 large companies, the rest is exported by small companies. Big companies have a lot of advantages, but it's not always better to work with a big company than working with small companies like ours.
Let me tell you a story that happened some time ago.
Customer from Georgia visited our office. The trip plan included visiting two or three export companies and auto auctions. He came to our office, introduced himself, explained the reason for the visit. We met.
The customer explained to us that he first came to us, after our meeting, he will go to two more large companies in Yokohama and Tokyo. I thought, well, a potential client has left us ... As they say: "They meet by clothes." He saw our small office a small number of employees and us in jeans, ketahs and T-shirts. After us, he will go to big companies, see the huge offices of large companies, with a lot of ruffled employees in suits and ties.
While we were talking, other customers sent me bids on WhatsApp and I asked him to sit next to me, since it is more important for us not to miss the bids. He sat next to me, watched me work and asked questions along the way.
- Do you accept bids on whatsapp?
- We have an auction system for bidding, but if the client is not comfortable with it, we can accept bids on whatsapp and place bids for the client. Why not? We are a small company and we are flexible in this regard. We offer a more personalized and customized service, based on your needs. With large exporters there is often a “one size fits all”.
Do you accept bids 30 minutes before auction? Like this?
- Yes, why not, if there is a real opportunity to buy a car.
Well, they didn't accept mine...
- Yes, I understand that you worked with a representative of a large company, they have a clear separation of the sales department and the buyer’s department (purchase at auctions). Sales managers in large companies, for many reasons, do not have access to the original sites and they are not allowed to bid. And it doesn’t cost me anything to click a couple of times, why not.
- Do you warn that the auction is distant, that the auction is northern, that the tariff will be higher, that the cost when buying from this auction will be higher?
- Many do not know auctions so well, knowing in advance about the expensive tariff, customers can adjust their bids. Again, in big companies’ logistics team is separated from the sales team, so most sales staff don’t know the nuances of the logistics and cannot personally affect it.
- How do you have so many photos?
- As I explained to you, I have access to all the original sites through which we place bets, which managers of large companies do not have, where there are a large number of employees and, accordingly, it is very risky to give access to each manager. The original sites usually have more photos than the "mirrors" you see. You yourself know how important any additional photo can be.
- Well, they do inspections prior to purchase for me.
- We do the same, at those auctions where we have employees.
- What is this video?
- This is a 360 degree panoramic view of the interior of the car. You see, it is important for the client to see the salon, and the photos on the “mirror” do not show the interior
- Do all auctions have a panoramic view?
- No, not at all, but where there is, we provide.
- Do you also shoot video of the auction?
- Usually, no, but this car is important for the client, he asked for special attention and video. We provide a level of care and involvement that most big exporters can’t afford to provide. Like do you know the personal mobile number of your current sales manager? You don’t know right? You have to call to company number and ask for the sales manager.
- Wow you do bidding and showing the real online auctions to customer;
- Not always, but some customers ask us to do so. It is unthinkable in big companies, they have so many bids per day.
- So, you accept more than 5 bids in a group? Is there any time limitations between the auction time for of each lot in the group?
- Yes we do accept more than 5 bids in a group and yes we don’t have any time limits.
- That is, you give the client the choice of which carrier to send?
- Yes, we do not have a priority of working with a particular carrier company. We work closely with all companies. We don’t have agreements and cash backs from transportation and shipping companies as big companies do.
By this time I was free.
- Well, now let's talk?
- “It's all clear to me now. Only at your tariffs, what will you say?
- We are managers are decision makers and we can agree on agent fees, I don’t have to go and ask my Team Leader and Team Leader asks the country manager. We don't have that kind of bureaucracy. We are small that is why we are flexible. We don’t see our customers as a client, we see them as a partner. Our connections with our partners are deeper in nature than those from larger companies. We want to keep it that way. Big companies can not allow sales manager to do that, sales manager has to follow strict rules and company regulations. Even if any small claim occurs, they have to go through long process of approvals.
- Okay, thanks for your time.
- Thank you, would you like to see our auto-dismantling?
- Of course.
We went to auto-dismantling, I give instructions to the employee
- Do you know how to dismantle cars?
- Yes for 3 years worked out at disassembly, dismantled cars.
- That is, when you translate the auction sheet, you say the front cross member is distorted, do you understand what is at stake, not from a textbook, but live?
- Yes, most of the big companies white-collars, they don’t know what we car is, some of them even don’t have drivers license, they just sell pictures from auctions.
I showed him all our dismantling yard, he met with our boss, who at that time was driving a truck, on this truck. Then the customer went to our competitors, two large companies. A week later he returned to his country, made a $2000 deposit and started working with us.
WE TRY TO AVOID OUTSOURCING
Our company tries to eliminate outsourcing whenever possible. When using outsourcing, flexibility in work is lost. We use our car carriers to transport cars from auctions, we use our own yard to load cars into a container.
Having our own car carriers allows our company to find out about the car's problems, if any, the day after the purchase, when we pick up the car from the auction. Thus, they can make claim to auction within provided time range. By this we also increase the speed of delivery, in many companies that use other logistics companies, on average, delivery reaches 1-2 weeks. In our case it is the matter of 1 or 2 days. Plus, our logisticians remove the numbers from the cars immediately after the purchase, and not when the car arrives at the yard, which also increases the speed. It is also about the responsibility for the car during the inland transportation. It is easier to get compensation from us, rather than from companies which use outsourcing. Most of the big transportation companies in Japan are very strict about the rules. For example, such companies will not take the car from the auction if it has a broken rear-view mirror. It is necessary to fix it first and only then they will be able to transport the car. Our company is flexible on above issues. Finally, we can give our customers the best prices for the inland transportation.
Using our own container loading yard, we can fulfill different requests from customers. For example, additionally buy spare parts at Yahoo auction and put it as an inner cargo to a container or change wheels for a car and many other similar requests. That is, again, this is a convenience for the customers, which a company using outsourcing cannot provide. Finally, we have to consider the responsibility for the packing quality and costs. It is always easer for customers to work with the direct service provider rather than with the company who use the outsourcing.
WE ARE PARTNER NOT THE SELLER
Big companies can afford advertising during a Super Bowl match, but we can't. We can afford to teach our partner how to reduce costs and avoid mistakes. Big companies can never do this because they are obsessed with secrecy. All initiatives in them must first go through the leadership, and then overcome the bureaucratic delays. Learning is an area that they probably don't think about. They spend, they sponsor, but they don't teach ... Learning ties people in a way that fans of traditional marketing techniques never dreamed of. Let these companies invest in advertising in magazines and exhibition centers, we will teach you at this time how to cut costs in Japan an etc.
That is why we don’t do stock cars selling.
There are two ways how to purchase car from Japanese used car exporter: purchase a car from available stock of that company or purchase car by participation in used car auction. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. In case of stock cars: there are a lot of pictures ready, the final price of purchase is fixed, so you can calculate the final price in your country of destination, for the most of the stock cars export documentation preparation is usually faster comparing to the those purchased by your order from auction. However, among the disadvantages of stock cars is the car price. Since the exporter company freezes it money and take the risks of purchasing the car from auction and then re- selling it , the exporter company has to make more profit and the final car price goes high. They have to sell the car to you and the condition of the car doesn’t matter; they just have to sell it. In case of participation in used car auction by your order, exporter companies fix the low commissions for their services, since the risks for the car not to be sold are absent. Thus, in case you need to purchase car from Japan in car dealer low price and not the end user high price it is better to study about Japanese used car auction first and purchase the car you need from Japanese auction and not from stock. As your partner our company assist you on purchasing car from the auctions.
PARTS EXPORT
25 REASONS TO USE AKEBONO
Part 1. Purchase
1.1 Akebono is a small company, so we are flexible in the auction process. We don/t have a time limitation for accepting bids. Even 1 minute prior to the actual auction, we can accept bids.
1.2 We don't have limits for the number of cars in one bidding group of cars.
1.3 Response time, you will get a reply to your inquiry (such as auction sheet translation and etc.)by WhatsApp messenger within few minutes.
1.4 Unlike other companies, where you have only one manager, in Akebono two sales managers will be attached to you.
1.5 Our staff contacts you during the auction negotiations.
1.6 On your request we can make a live online translation during the bidding for your car.
Part 2. No out-sourcing
2.1 Akebono transports cars purchased from auctions of the Honshu area (the main island) to Toyama yard by its own car carriers. Thus, purchased vehicles will arrive at our Toyama dismantle yard. Most companies use logistics companies for inland transportation of vehicles, so it takes time and responsibilities issues arise.
2.2 Most companies will tell you they organize dismantling service, but actually, they will use the out- sourcing. We dismantle cars by ourselves, it is because we have got the license for dismantling in Japan. Direct contact with staff who actually do the dismantling is very important in this sphere in terms of responsibility and quality of cutting according to the customers' request.
Part 3. Fees
3.1 We don't charge 10% of the car price
3.2 Our inland transportation fees from auctions are cheaper compared to the transportation fees of other companies. It is because we are using our own car carriers.
3.3 Since our dismantling yard is located near the port of Toyama, the container transportation (Drayage) fee is cheaper compared to the dismantling companies located in distance from ports.
3.4 We don't charge extra charges for cutting the rear fenders, roof cut, or car sills.
3.5 We don't charge an extra fee for the total dismantling of the drivetrain.
3.6 We don't charge an extra fee for spare parts packing work and spare parts packing inside the container work.
Part 4. Dismantling yard
4.1 We are dismantling cars indoors, so the parts will not be damaged by rain or snow.
4.2 Simultaneously we can load two containers in our yard.
4.3 Once the car arrives in our yard, we make 25-30 photos of the car and video of the engine working.
Part 5. Work
5.1 Our staff dismantle car totally according to your request.
5.2 We provide all requested parts from the car to our customers, including the catalyst.
5.3 Akebono is the best company for spare parts packaging and loading them to the container. Please check the links with our shipped containers with parts and compare them to other companies' ones.
5.4 Our packing list is done based on really packed container parts: every single loaded bolt matches with the packing list.
5.5 Dismantling speed: daily our team can fully dismantle up to 10 units.
Part 6. Shipping
6.5 Every shipper has grades in the Japanese customs office. New exporter companies get grade 1, so we chances of inspection of the loaded container are increasing. Our company is working for 25 years, providing the required pictures of loading and all documentation. Thus our company has grade 5 in the customs office and our containers are bearly to be inspected.
6.7 Unlike other companies, which put only sawdust into the container, we lay a tarpaulin, and then fill the sawdust. By doing it, we decrease the chances of oil leaking from the container.
6.8 Our staff know the import regulations of target countries, so we follow the requirements, such as weight restrictions, we refrain from shipping prohibited by the country of the destination the spares and we provide proper documents for the customs clearance in the country of the destination.
AKEBONO CO.,LTD - used cars and parts from Japan
Web: https://akebono.world/
Mobile: +81-80-9345-0655 (whats'up)
E-mail: sales@akebonocar.jp
My blog: www.akebono-akb.com