At A Glance

Sean built his business outside the usual DTC playbook. Forget “most popular” listings and race-to-the-bottom pricing, he bet big on hyper-personalized shopping, MAP-busting bundles, and Facebook fights that lowered ad costs and launched new brands. His secret weapon? “Trust your instincts and play it out.”

Who is Sean Reyes?

Meet Sean Reyes, the Founder and CEO of Shock Surplus!

About Shock Surplus

Shock Surplus specializes in providing good pricing on shocks for a wide range of vehicles. The website is designed to both educate and transact–providing customers with all of the information they need to find the right part for them. Started out of a small LA apartment back in 2013, the brand has grown considerably and now offers more personalized services, including full shock rebuilds. 

Sean’s Journey

Sean didn’t set out to become an automotive expert, he’ll tell you himself, “I’m not a gearhead in the slightest.” 

A gamer and computer nerd at heart, Sean stumbled into the suspension space through his stepdad’s company during the 2008 recession. 

What started as a simple idea to build a better website led him to discover dropshipping before it was mainstream, and ultimately crack open an underserved niche. “Most people hear ‘shock absorbers’ and go, ‘that’s just something under my car.’ I realized I understood something a lot of people didn’t, and I could actually help.”

While the business hit bumps in the early days, Sean stayed focused on education as a growth lever. 

He created listings that removed the guesswork for customers, designing one-click bundles tailored to specific vehicles. “Of course now everyone sells the benefits, not just the features, but in automotive, that was revolutionary.” 

By 2019, his company, Shock Surplus, leaned into Shopify and scaled rapidly through content-rich ads, growing 800–900% in just four years.

Now with a dedicated following, Sean’s not letting up. His team continues to test, rebuild, and review products in-house, then translate all that expertise into digestible content across platforms. “Our mission is still the same as day one: how do we distribute all this information in a way that builds trust and makes people feel confident they’re buying the right thing?”

What Excites Sean About E-Commerce

For Sean Reyes, E-Commerce isn’t just a business model, it’s freedom. “If I can make a dollar on a chairlift at a ski resort, who doesn’t want to do that?” he says. 

What gets him fired up isn’t just selling shocks online, but the wide-open potential of the internet to let anyone, anywhere, build something. He sees earning money online as broader than shipping and logistics, it's about democratizing opportunity. “If you have Starlink and a phone, you can earn in the middle of nowhere. That’s E-Commerce to me.”

Sean’s not done scaling Shock Surplus, but what really excites him now is how far the space can still grow.

 From live shopping to TikTok hauls to creator-driven sales, he believes the U.S. is only scratching the surface compared to markets like China. “There’s still a long growth phase ahead,” he says. “Just hit record, say you like or don’t like something, you never know what’s going to blow up.”

Business Growth and Revenue Strategies

“Most popular” or “top recommended” products don’t cut it in Sean’s world, because what fits one vehicle often doesn’t fit another. From the beginning, Shock Surplus was built around the idea that the online experience should shift entirely based on the customer’s needs. 

“Once you enter your vehicle, the rest of the site is only tailored to you,” he says. That thinking drives everything, from website structure to macros in customer service replies.

It hasn’t always been easy. Sean’s clashed with developers who wanted to apply standard E-Commerce playbooks. “We’d get pitched ‘best sellers’ sections and I’d be like, that’s not going to work,” he says. 

But staying true to this philosophy has paid off. Shock Surplus isn't just selling parts, they're translating complicated, vehicle-specific data into a simple, one-click experience.

Innovation and Adaptability

Sean isn’t afraid to bend the rules, just not break them. “One of the ways we blew up early on was with bundling,” he says. “We’d take part numbers like 1234, 5678, put them together in a bundle, rename the listing based on the benefits, and suddenly it’s way more appealing to the customer.”

 That clarity, combined with what he calls “minimum advertised pricing arbitrage,” gave Shock Surplus an edge. By combining multiple MAP-protected parts into a new SKU and slightly undercutting the total price, they stayed compliant while grabbing serious market share.

This bundling mindset wasn’t just about getting around pricing restrictions, it was about knowing the customer better than anyone else. 

“If you know someone’s buying Solomon running shoes, you know they’ll want some darn tough running socks,” Sean says.

 “Throw them in or bundle them smartly, either way, you’re making it easier.” The strategy works especially well in a space like suspension, where the buyer often doesn’t know what they need. “A lot of them are just taking our advice,” he adds. That trust is what turns a bundle into a no-brainer.

Plans For the Future

Sean is steering Shock Surplus away from the noisy battleground of bottom-of-funnel Google ads. 

“We were built on Google Search and Shopping,” he says, “but it’s all just blue text versus blue text now, where’s the advantage?” 

With competition driving up bids and thinning margins, Sean’s team is going all-in on content, especially video. “Me and another Sean on staff, we’re just good at talking suspension. It’s natural. We treat the camera like we’re talking to the customer.” That shift has led them to lean heavily into Meta platforms, where video drives conversation, and controversy.

“We’ve unlocked this weird goldmine of manufactured controversy,” Sean explains. By pitting brand diehards against each other in the comment section, they not only drive down ad costs, but also surface new brands to curious customers.

 “Twenty-five percent of the market is open to switching if you show them something better,” he says. But the key is keeping the content basic, educational, and approachable. “We have to assume every customer is brand new, even if they’ve watched ten of our videos. We treat every $400 order like it might be a $4,000 one.”

Asked what advice he’d offer to other business owners, Sean’s recommendation is straightforward. “Trust your instincts and play it out. Most of my regrets come from not moving faster on what I already knew was right.”