Since we started in 2021, 1800 Salvage has dedicated effort to providing a fast and reliable way to sell less-than-perfect vehicles nationwide. With that in mind, we’re proud to have grown from an idea to a thriving online business that has served over 10,000 customers!
Thanks to industry-leading technology and a team of expert automotive buyers, we’ve gone from strength to strength. From the start, we were keen to establish ourselves as a premier car-buying company, and we believe this milestone sets us well on the path to achieving that.
We sat down with 1800 Salvage founder Josh Denys to hear more about reaching this milestone and what it took to get there. Read along to learn more about our journey and his thoughts below.
How was the idea of 1800 Salvage developed?
The idea got off the ground when I worked at a large accident towing company in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. My role was to assist customers in processing their insurance claims and, at times, when the vehicle was third-party only or uninsured, help these customers find the best price possible for their written-off cars.
I quickly learnt that selling "less than perfect" vehicles, as we like to call them, was arduous, whether mechanical or accident-damaged. You had to know the right second-hand dealers, wreckers, or recyclers for each make and model and have extensive knowledge of the current market to ensure you were receiving the best price.
After speaking with a few mentors in the industry, it was clear the best possible price you could get for vehicles in this condition was the unbiased result of a public auction. We then quickly had to address the issue of time-to-auction and time-to-payment. Customers understandably weren't willing to wait 3-4 weeks for funds to clear. So, we started a business called 1800 Salvage and offered these customers the fastest solution by purchasing the vehicles directly from them using instant OSKO payments. We based prices on recent auction results, so they were the highest offers available, and we took the risk of the auction performance ourselves.
From here, our business operated very much through word of mouth. Other companies in the industry approached me on behalf of their clients, looking for fast sales to make space in their workshops. Once we were licensed–and with the help of our friends at EngineRoom–we could roll out a fantastic digital marketing plan, build a top-notch website and attract our ideal customers Australia-wide.
What gap did you identify in the market?
We probably didn’t really identify the gap until we went live with our website, www.1800salvage.com.au. The volume we started to receive in the first few months was around 5x more than we had estimated in the build. It was clear to us that Australians were looking for a fast, secure pathway to sell their damaged and unregistered vehicles.
After surveying customers in our first few years, we found that a large part of their decision to use us was due to the cost of repairing and registering their vehicles for private sale. They said other options were uneconomical, and the vehicles were worth good money in their current condition.
Can you talk about the first few years of building the business?
Creating 1800 Salvage was actually a lot of fun. I had great people around me—smart people who knew the automotive and modern tech industries very well.
In the early days, I attempted to run 1800 Salvage while still working full-time at the towing company, but it became clear that once our website went live, it needed all of my attention.
With the help of our first buyers, Nino and Doug, who had a wealth of experience in the auction industry, we were off to the races - and we're now buying vehicles full-time.
What were some challenges you had to overcome?
We just had to overcome the same challenges as any new business. We were and still are firmly in a growth phase, and with that comes many stresses around general business management.
We overcome all these challenges by operating by a simple rule. The customer always comes first.
A service business is nothing more than the customers that choose to use it, so we treat our customers with a high standard of respect and transparency.
Can you recall a few highlights of the business?
In the early days, a great one for me was when we first bought 100 vehicles in a month! It was a big milestone and gave me confidence that we could go further. After that, moving into our head office in Clayton South, Melbourne. We took over a commercial warehouse and could shop-fit it with the office space that worked for us. More recently, we had a big one. That was receiving 3000 web enquiries for the month of October from Australians looking to sell their vehicles. The journey has not been short of highlights–hopefully, we can recall more soon.
What sets 1800 Salvage apart from competitors?
I believe it's the technology we have integrated into our business. Most of our business operations are automated, using the latest technology to simplify our customers' experience. We offer a 100% digital process, with desktop assessments, digital paperwork, payments and contactless collection.
I’d like to mention the team at Dashboard Magic, who have made many of my crazy automation ideas a reality. Their work allows our local team of buyers to understand the customer's situation, learn about the vehicle, and ensure we're submitting the most competitive price possible.
On another important note, we’re also set apart from our competitors through our team of dedicated staff, who work hard every day and believe in the project we’re undertaking. From our buyers to our accounts, admin and marketing staff, I think we’d have one of the best teams in Australia.
All these factors put us in a great position to integrate technology with industry-leading customer service, resulting in a product we’re proud to stand behind.
What does 10,000 customers mean to you/1800 Salvage?
I think 10k vehicles purchased is an amazing milestone. It’s very exciting to think we’ve achieved this in 3 years. We’re very thankful for all of the customers who chose to sell with us. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve in the next 3 years.
What is next for the business?
For 1800 Salvage, it’s business as usual. We’ll continue to maintain consistency with our service and aim to grow the business at a sustainable rate. We do have some exciting updates coming in 2025 which we’re looking forward to sharing closer to launch, so stay tuned!
