TUCSON -- Ahwooga! It's the car horn battle cry made famous in 1927 with Ford's Model A, and a sound that's endured through the decades. Now, a new Ahwooga battle cry has emerged with the launch of an upstart online swap meet site.
Ahwooga.com has grown in seven short months to offer more than 100,000 new and used RV, auto, truck, motorcycle, boat and airplane parts, as well as tools and technical manuals from a wide variety of sellers. The site is also a hub for vintage and restored car and RV buffs who sell, or are in search of, rare or difficult to source parts.
Founders Joe Chirco and Don Wiggins, auto industry veterans and car buffs, conspired to turn sites like EBay and Amazon on their heads. Their combined strengths translated into a site that offers e-commerce and classified advertising with no "big Internet guy" intervention.
"Each seller manages his or her own 'store,'" said Wiggins. "Contact information is listed so buyers can call or e-mail sellers for more facts and photos. The transaction can be completed between the two parties on the phone or, for those who prefer using the web, on our secure website. You cannot find this friendly interaction on other similar sites."
Ahwooga.com does not dictate payment or shipping methods. It's all up to the seller. "Unlike other sites, the seller doesn't pay a transaction fee to Ahwooga," Wiggins added.
The site also offers visitors the following benefits:
- Online and offline support
- Import tool and bulk uploading
- No final sales fees
- Open communication between buyers and sellers
- Various memberships levels
Chirco, who began selling auto parts in swap meets on the West Coast during the '70s, is satisfied that the site has reduced the endless hours and headaches commonly associated with sourcing quality auto parts. For example, a buyer in search of someone who specializes in 1968-1972 Airstream parts can search for and locate those sellers on the site. A conversation can then take place to determine if the part is exactly to specification, and if so, complete the transaction immediately on the site or over the phone.
Chirco and Wiggins say in recognition of a tough economy, they created a business model that allows sellers to keep the money they make. Membership plans are straightforward: non-members pay $1 per listing. Members can choose a variety of plans that begin at $25 for 75 listings and go up to $250 for up to 5,000 listings.
Not in the mood to buy or sell? Chirco and Wiggins invite car buffs to come to the site, sit back and enjoy the ride. "We offer a wish list for buyers to identify and organize what they need and what they might want to purchase later, "Wiggins says. "It's all done in the spirit of the original 'Model A: Make it easier for people to connect and do business with one another."
For more information, call 520.261.0044, e-mail ahwooga@gmail.com or visit www.ahwooga.com.
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