Holy heck, you guys! We’re Platinum winners!!
Earlier this month you probably heard our exciting news: eBay named us as one of eight finalists in their Shine Awards for Small Business. The Shine Awards recognize excellence in online entrepreneurship, and the work small businesses do to build their local communities.
eBay let the public rank their favorite sellers by voting online – and you guys really delivered. We snagged enough votes to earn the Platinum prize at the eBay Open conference in Las Vegas!
This is more than just a token of your appreciation. The Platinum prize comes with some pretty hefty bonuses, like:
- A $10,000 cash prize
- 1 year Anchor store subscription and Concierge service
- VIP experience at eBay Open
- $300 in eBay shipping supplies
- $150 in promoted listings
- A store banner makeover with winner badge
- Professional photo shoot and video profile
With an estimated value of $33,900, these assets are a huge windfall for us — and we learned a lot over the last month!
We are endlessly grateful for your support, and we are ready to give back to you. As of this post, our weary Vegas travelers are still resting and recuperating from their journey – but stay tuned for an announcement in the coming weeks about our plans to use the money we won!
Learning and Growing at eBay Open
Over the years, eBay has become pivotal to how our charity supports itself. By selling rare and vintage bikes online, we’ve gone beyond the traditional income models of donations and grants.
So our time at the eBay Open this year meant a lot to us. We networked with other eBay sellers around the country, and learned a ton about how to improve our sales and streamline our processes. We met a ton of inspiring sellers — like a previous Shine winner, Denise from Al’s Snowmobile Parts, who’s used eBay to expand what would otherwise be a seasonal, local business into one with international reach.
We’re also pleased to see that other people are doing eBay-funded charitable work that’s very comparable to our own. For instance, we met Laurie Wong from Reflections of Trinity, a thrift shop that funds a food pantry and outreach agency in Powder Springs, Georgia.
We had a terrific time in Vegas and we look forward to staying in touch with everybody we met! The connections we make are invaluable to us.
Is Your Bike Grumpy?
Brakes loosen up. Wheels get out of true. Bikes get grumpy. It’s part of nature.
If you or your bike are feeling a little sour, drop by our brand new Grumpy Bikes class, every Monday at 5 PM. We call it Grumpy Bikes because our instructor Levi gives it to you straight, no chaser: what your bike needs, how good your build is, where your mechanical technique needs work, and so on.
If you’re a mid-level to advanced mechanic, come by to receive some tough love!
New Faces at Freewheel!
As we’re expanding our offerings and preparing to move into the new space at the Judge Doyle Center, we’re welcoming a lot of new mechanics to Freewheel. Kate (she/her/hers) is both handy and delightful, and has been adjusting quickly to helping out at our off-site tuneups. And Oliver (they/them/theirs) has been a mechanic for four years and a rider for far longer, and is currently teaching our Tuesday night Women, Trans, and Femmes (WTF) mechanic classes.
Scheduled Donation Pick-Up Times
We know bringing your unwanted bikes across town to our shop can be a pain. That’s why we’re planning regular donation pick-up times every Wednesday afternoon, from 12-4 PM. Give us a call at 608-251-2453 to schedule a pickup, and one of our mechanics will be by soon!