Essex born and bred Dave Verney is a man with a passion for classic car parts. Named Specialist Seller Award Winner at the eBay for Business Awards 2020, Dave started his first car parts business 20 years ago before selling it in 2008 to fund Classic Trim – a business born from Dave’s struggle to find specialist parts for his own car restorations.
Founded from home while Dave was still working full-time in marketing and sales for Ford, Classic Trim began life selling parts at trade shows. But in 2013 Dave discovered eBay, allowing him to say goodbye to trade shows and spend more time with his family, running his business from home.
Unlike other businesses in the car parts market, Classic Trim specializes in just one make of vehicle, the Ford Escort, making it the very definition of a niche supplier.
In fact, Dave believes Classic Trim is “the only company in the world where you can buy a complete interior for the Escort Mk1”. This dedication to a niche market was a key factor for award judge Chris Dawson, who commented: “Anyone with three decades of experience devoted to one brand has to win the specialist award!”
As well as sourcing spare parts David also manufactures new products for the market and has recently invested in tooling to reproduce classic car parts to Original Equipment (OE) quality.
He still runs the company on his own, dealing with all aspects of marketing, sales, inventory control and distribution, and has become a bit of an eBay expert in the process. He particularly loves the offers tool, which he used daily during the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown, with daily and weekly discount offers of up to 10% increasing his sales exponentially. With his award prize money, Dave now plans to expand the business by taking on staff and focusing on his strategy for growth.
