Different marketplaces treat data in a variety of ways. For example, eBay allows parties to see the sale price of items. Some third-party sellers on Amazon (i.e. sell- ers who are selling directly on Amazon themselves and not as a supplier to Amazon) complain that Amazon competes with them by using their marketplace sales data to sell their top selling items directly thereby keeping the majority of the opportunity and reducing the opportunity of direct sellers.

Recalls and VINs

Recall information is another hot industry topic. The OEMs have detailed part and VIN information that, if provided to auto recyclers in a standardized electronic format, would greatly help recyclers automatically lo- cate recalled parts from their inventories and simplify the process of removing recalled parts from their in- ventories (not inadvertently selling them). The OEMs and/or those collecting recalled parts on behalf of the OEMs typically have information whether the recalled VIN has a recalled part that was remedied. If this were provided to auto recyclers in a timely, standardized electronic format, it would increase the overall safety of the automotive replacement parts industry (of which we are a part) and it would allow recyclers to proper- ly sell remedied parts that were in recalled vehicles/

VINs. The ability to resell remedied parts would help shorten the sometimes-long cycle required to remedy recalled parts, and contribute to overall industry safety. Recyclers have data regarding which recalled VINs were crushed and which were sold before the recalled VINs were crushed (often, parts were sold before a re- call and then a recall occurs after the recalled part has been sold). This data could help OEMs to recover re- called parts and meet NHTSA required remedy rates. It is Car-Part’s opinion that the best arrangement for the overall replacement parts industry (both recyclers and OEMs) would be for both sides to share the infor- mation in a way that was useful to the other party with the correct data protections in place. If you are pro- viding recall information, it is good to know how your data is being used, what protections are in place, and how useful is the information you are getting back. We have worked with OEMs and government agencies to help recyclers sell recalled or potentially recalled air- bags to them, but we only provide information from recyclers that have provided us with consent to share their information with those parties.

Jeff Schroder is CEO of Car-Part.com. He has been an active member of CIECA for 16 years, as a board member, and on the BMS Parts Procurement, and Recycled Parts, and Salvage Committees.

AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING • January-February 2019

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