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What started by selling a stamp collection on eBay over 20 years ago has grown into an impressive import business today. Wilhelmus Kronenburg has achieved great things with his company and demonstrated what sellers can achieve if they're willing to take the right risks at the right times. Continue reading this success story to learn more about the history of this flagship business.
The right idea at the right time
At the end of the 90s, Wilhelmus Kronenburg had one of many good ideas, which would shape his company in years to come. He began selling collector's items on eBay. At first he sold stamps from his own private collection, but he soon began selling limited edition coins too. Since his own private collection was shrinking fast, he needed to find a way to restock. He began buying new items on cheaper foreign markets. Thus began a B2C and B2B commercial enterprise that has yet to meet its match.
B2B: solar lamps, poker chips and hammocks
Kronenburg's product portfolio never stopped changing and evolving - in part thanks to Wilhelmus Kronenburg's keen business sense. The story of Kronenburg Handel is full of interesting anecdotes about clever business ideas and strokes of good fortune. The solar lamps are just one example. Wilhelmus Kronenburg sold them on eBay during the holiday shopping season, despite warnings that traditional summer items wouldn't sell well over the winter. To everyone's surprise, his lights were a big hit in southern Europe. Kronenburg Handel was hugely successful during the holiday shopping season due to a lack of competition.
The poker chips were even more successful. When James Bond – Casino Royale came to German theatres in 2006, Wilhelmus Kronenburg anticipated the hype and added poker supplies to his product portfolio. Everything went according to plan. The film was successful and poker rapidly gained in popularity. Kronenburg saw a massive increase in orders.
Nowadays, Kronenburg Handel mainly sells garden, leisure and sporting goods. They sell everything from pull-up bars to hammocks and gazebos on major online marketplaces. They mainly sell to German end customers but occasionally the company will also sell B2B and help clubs, organisations and enterprises who place bulk orders.
The Frankfurter Gruppe led to plentymarkets
When Kronenburg Handel learned that its multi-channel software would stop being developed, the company began looking for a practical alternative. Kronenburg had been a member of the Frankfurter Gruppe for over 10 years and was happy to learn about plentymarkets through the group. Together with other group members, Kronenburg switched to plentymarkets in 2016. He's amazed by everything the advanced e-commerce ERP can do: "I think it's great that we can make changes to eBay listings while they're running. It's something our previous software couldn't do and it's incredibly helpful for our day-to-day business!"
The right software to efficiently run a business
Wilhelmus Kronenburg knows that it's important to run his business as efficiently as possible. He cleverly outsourced time-consuming jobs to competent partners, allowing him to run Kronenburg Handel with just 8 employees.
It's no wonder he decided to use plentymarkets. The software allows him to link his business to a wide range of online marketplaces, which is particularly important for Kronenburg Handel's business strategy. It also helps him automate many of his business' most time-consuming tasks. This frees up his employees so that they can fully concentrate on making sales on various shopping platforms instead of being held back by routine tasks.
We wish Wilhelmus Kronenburg all the best for the future. We're excited to see where his good business sense will take him next and we're honoured to help his company on its journey!