Insurance Auto Auctions Drives Record Returns for Its Customers

by Lance Groom

Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc., a leading provider of automotive salvage and claims processing services in the United States, today announced record vehicle returns during the second quarter. IAA's dual bidding strategy has continued to drive more buyers to the Company's auctions than ever before, resulting in increased bidding activity and higher vehicle returns for its insurance company suppliers. "Combining the feedback we have been receiving from our customers with our internal data, we believe our vehicle returns were the highest in the industry during the quarter, which we feel is a direct result of our dual bidding platform and improved levels of customer service," said Tom O'Brien, CEO. "On average, our returns have increased more than $300 per unit compared to 2003, providing a significantly better return for our insurance company suppliers. Our live auctions, most of which feature Run & Drive(R) auction lanes, are supplemented with our state-of-the-art Internet bidding capability, giving our growing customer base the flexibility to see and bid on our vehicles up close or through the Internet from anywhere in the world in a real-time setting. Enthusiastic buyer support of our auction model is clearly evident from the increase in buyer participation we have experienced, both at live auctions and via the Internet. By encouraging more buyers to come on to our bidding platform than ever before, we believe that during the quarter we were able to generate more bidding activity and the highest vehicle returns in the industry." Commenting further on the Company's recent operating performance, O'Brien said, "We haven't missed a beat throughout the organization since the close of the Kelso & Company acquisition in late May. The transaction has allowed us to focus even more of our time and energy on improving our operations and service levels to our customers, translating into much higher returns for our suppliers and higher profits for IAA. The Company generated revenues of $71.9 million in the second quarter, compared with $60.0 million in the same quarter of 2004. Gross profit margins improved to 26% in the second quarter, up from 22% in the same quarter of last year. We also continued to strategically expand during the quarter, specifically in Jacksonville, Altoona and Charleston, providing IAA with a greater geographic reach to meet the needs of our current and potential customers. Going forward we will continue to target new strategic opportunities that will further increase our buyer base and maintain our momentum of generating significantly higher returns." S-4 Filing: Insurance Auto Auctions also filed an S-4 today that provides supplemental financial information to the results provided herein. Please refer to this document for additional financial information about the Company and its quarterly results. About Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.: Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc., founded in 1982, a leader in automotive total loss and specialty salvage services in the United States, provides insurance companies with cost-effective, turnkey solutions to process and sell total-loss and recovered-theft vehicles. The Company currently has 80 sites across the United States. Additional information about Insurance Auto Auctions is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.CarLackey.com http://www.AutoLackey.com http://www.RichLackey.com Please Help Hurricane Katrina Victoms below: Visit "RED CROSS" by using the link below... http://www.redcross.org/ Victims of Hurricane Katrina are attempting to recover from the massive storm that is still making its way across the Mid-Atlantic States. American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina's destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. http://www.redcross.org/ About the Author My name is Lance Groom and I am formally from the Hit TV Show "Making Money", also past board member for "Susan Powter" health fitness, and Infomercial guru. In 2001 I led one of the largest advertising campaigns in over 6,000 newspapers. This campaign resulted in over 25,000 sales all over the world creating "Classified Millions".

Tips on internet auction titles

by Shawn Sellen

With the millions of auctions that are on eBay and the thousands of similar products, you have to find a way to set yours apart from the others. You can spend extra money on listing features, but this cuts into your profits. One thing you can do that costs nothing is to have a good title. Remember that when a potential buyer is looking for something specific they will type in their search just like you would a search engine looking for websites of your interest. It is important to have a good title that will contain the keywords of what you are selling. Let's say you are selling a Widget Plus. You would want to make sure that in the title contained both the words widget and plus. The word plus in the product would indicate that the widget plus is an upgrade from the original widget. You also want your potential buyers to know that you have a widget plus and not just a plain widget. I will show a few examples of less than desirable titles: Cheapest Widgets on eBay! (Are they really? It does not have all of the keywords. Too cliché.) ***Widget Plus*** (It has the full name of the product, but the added asterisks to draw attention are annoying) WIDGET PLUS! (This one is similar to the one above. This is like yelling, very annoying.) Keep in mind that your intention is to draw a potential buyers eye without looking cheesy or cliché. In my opinion the best way to do this is the direct approach. Use a title that is professional sounding. When you use a format like this you are showing your potential buyers that you are confident in your product and describing it accurately without having to "pad" it with annoying font tactics. Here are a few examples of good tittles: Widget Plus. Unopened Widget. (What I did here was indicate the product I had and that it was still in the box. This is Important to state in the title if you have an unused product on auction. Buyers will want to see what kind of deal they can get on a new one. I also indicated just widget at the end instead of widget plus to catch the potential buyers that just typed widget in the search box. Widget Plus. Like New Widget. NR! (I did the same as above except that it is a slightly used widget in excellent shape. I also indicated that I have no reserve on this auction. Most eBayers dislike reserve auctions because they feel like they are not getting a deal. Make sure you are accurate in your description. Do not indicate that your item is in better shape than it actually is. I always capitalize the first letter of each word. I believe that this draws attention without looking like the all caps example above. If you use an abbreviation like NR, make sure it is in caps. Nr just does not look good. The exclamation point on the end of this title is totally acceptable because if the widget plus is a good item NR! Is indicating a special deal. Widget Plus. Free Shipping On Widget! (If you are able to, free shipping is a good way to attract potential buyers. If you have an accessory to throw in for free by all means do. This is also a great way to draw potential buyers. Make sure you watch your cost on the freebies, you don't want to lose money. Tittles are one of the most important things in an eBay listing. If they are done properly you can increase the number of potential buyers that will stop and take a look at your auction. If the title looks like the title to a spam email the buyers will go on to the next seller. In the competitive world of eBay you have to use the best title possible to bring the eyes of the buyers to your auction and not another seller. Author information: Shawn Sellen is the owner of http://www.auctionreel.com/ An Internet auction information website that also offers free downloads. About the author: Author information: Shawn Sellen is the owner of http://www.auctionreel.com/ An Internet auction information website that also offers free downloads.

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