We are publishing the stories behind the 2021 eBay for Business Awards winners and the winner of the eBay Pro Trader award is Austin and Taylor Eary and Yellow Ape.
In late 2019, Austin Eary and his brother Taylor, aged 24 and 25, set up Yellow Ape Limited selling second-hand electronics. The pair had aspired for years to own their own business, so took the plunge while staying at their parents’ house.
Lockdown was a challenging period, but the brothers decided to use the time to focus on their business. After operating from home they decided to relocate to a small section of their dad’s company’s warehouse and opened their eBay shop.
The brothers chose to not take a profit for the first year, instead re-investing straight back into the company. The second-hand electronics market is crowded so they knew they needed to offer something different to make the company stand out. For them they saw this as offering items at very competitive prices while also ensuring that their customers receive top-quality products – something evidenced by their positive feedback and status as an eBay top rated seller.
They hit a stumbling block in March last year and decided to remove their listings from other platforms to focus solely on eBay, where their success had begun. Their efforts were rewarded months later when they were accepted onto the eBay Pro-Trader programme. The business is growing incredibly quickly: turnover was £580,000 last year, and sales grew a staggering 94.3% in just 31 days earlier this year.
Due to this growth, the Eary brothers have needed to invest in a larger section of the warehouse and now employ a team of six. And they’ve got big plans to keep on growing.
“It was always our dream to run a successful business together as brothers and back in 2019 we decided to take the plunge and set up our refurbished electronics business, breathing new life into old tech while helping reduce the electronics that end up in landfill. eBay and the Pro-Trader programme have been an essential in helping us learn what we need to succeed. Winning the Pro-Trader Award is proof that you can build a successful business at any age. We want to encourage other young entrepreneurs who dream of starting their own business to go for it and never give up – anything is possible!”
– Austin and Taylor Eary, founders, Yellow Ape
