posted on February 25, 2006 11:21:25 AM new
I have finally decided to open a store. For lots of reasons not the least of which is I need more sales!I have been looking at stores this morning of some of my favorite dealers and a few that have links on these threads. As a store dealer why have some of you chosen to use ebay turbo list or Andale or why have you chosen to stay with Vendio? I have used Vendio for years!!!! I am very comfortable with it. Is the additional cost of using Vendio worth it for you? I certainly don't have the "fanciest" pages on ebay... but they are professional and understandable. I don't relish the thought of changing everything over to a new service but $$$ is $$$. Any thoughts and hints about using stores and what I should consider will be gratefully appreciated. BTW I am going to wait until they get this new set of upgrades completed... and I get back from Round Top next month.(If that matters in terms of your responses.)Thanks very much Bonnie
posted on February 25, 2006 11:31:22 AM new
I use Turbo Lister because it doesn't cost me anything so all I'm paying for is hosting fees. I have space available for photos with my DSL service so I may end up having the photos hosted there. Anything to save on fees! I have my own tracking and bookkeeping system (I use QuickBooks Pro) and I design my own templates in FrontPage.
Cheryl
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
posted on February 25, 2006 12:13:47 PM new
I've used TurboLister and liked it. I now use Vendio to list auctions because I don't have to pay to schedule them, I can have additional pix without charge and they don't automatically resize my picures. On the other hand, Vendio does not have the ability to bulk edit unsold auctions to store format and add gallery in bulk, so I use eBay's Sales Manager (free with an eBay store) to relist and relist as store items. I also use eBay's Sales Manager for post-sales management. I'm very concerned about Vendio's preparation to support 300 store categories.
posted on February 25, 2006 02:34:58 PM new
I also do the same as pixiamom. I have thought about using vendio to do my store listings only for image hosting. I looked at Blackthorne but there is a host of problems with it. I could possibly switch to that though if they ever get the bugs out because it is a lot cheaper.
posted on February 25, 2006 02:52:42 PM new
i no longer use vendio for anything other than participating in this forum. i host my own pictures at my website and use a template that i just plug into my listings which will hold as many pix as i want it to. everything goes into my store first and when i get ready to auction something, i just launch it from there.
posted on February 25, 2006 03:15:11 PM new
Hi
I use Auctiva, which is FREE you can do just about everything you do with Vendio but its totally FREE, lots of pic. storage too, also I use a few Ebay IDs for selling and you can sign up separately for each ID you use.
They also support Ebay Motors which I use alot.
vendio was costing me 75.00 to 90.00 a month which was way too much, Now I don't pay a penny. I left Vendio over a year ago,
posted on February 25, 2006 03:49:11 PM new
tonimar1 - This is going to sound like dumb question but how can they offer their service for free? They have to get something out of providing the service don't they? Are there fee's for different service plans? How much storage space do they give you for pictures? It just sounds like one of those to good to be true deals. Inquiring minds want to know
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on February 25, 2006 03:58:41 PM new
Mike, Years ago I have Auctiva and I paid for it ......the listing programe was called Mr. Poster......they still have that program.
But now they have offered Auctiva free and you get more space then you will ever use for pcitures..........and I use lots of pictures.
The best thing for you to do is go into one of my auctions and click on the Auctiva link and read what they offer, ........they also have pictures service that is great, the click able pics get real big, depending on how you crop the pictures, but they are great.
Auctiva mentions that they are into Insurance ........and thats how they are able to offer this program free.
posted on February 25, 2006 03:59:18 PM new
Maybe that's their long term plan then. To get the users hooked and then start charging for the service sometime in the future. I am alway's a little leery of "free" thing's, there alway's seems to be a catch.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on February 25, 2006 04:06:30 PM new
When Auction Watch was free I used them...when they started charging I left and went to Auctiva Mr. Poster,...the cost was better then Auction watch......
but then they started charging for pic space and I left them and came back to Vendio, which was ok until they wanted to be my partner........So I Left
and went to "Spare Dollar" which was free at the time.....after being with them for 6 months then they started charging 8.95 for a month.
I left them and came to Auctiva Where it is FREE.......and so far it has been working good for me..........I know its not easy changing horses but a little at a time and before you know it your into the new program.
posted on February 25, 2006 04:27:03 PM new
tonimar1 - I know the feeling, Vendio's not my first auction service tool program I have ever used. I just signed up with Auctiva and might try doing a couple of listing's through them and see how thing's work. You never know, I may switch everything over to them. I did notice that they have a Stores inventory system in the works. That might come in handy as well. I have been thinking about enlarging my store and with vendio I would have to sign up for both services, SMME for auctions and SMIE for store inventory. Would be nice to have a system where I can manage store and auction listing's all from one place.
By the way, your listing's look nice. Very well layed out. I'm also going to have to check into the Store Credit program I saw at the bottom of your listing. Have you had many people take advantage of this? Looks like a nice promotion to drive sales up.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on February 25, 2006 04:49:54 PM new
I hope you like the program Mike, just do like you said, slow and easy until you know which program you want to be with, thats what I did.
My store credit is free for 30 days so you can test it out, so far I would say less then half of my buyers did sign up but only one was repeat business. I only have My store credit for less then 30days.
With Auctiva you can set your profile with all your information that u use in each listing plus you can make more then one master profile but I didn't do it that way I resigned my other IDs,separately it helps me to keep track of each ID better
posted on February 25, 2006 06:36:56 PM new
BJ - I use Vendio to do it all. The problem with Vendio Merchandising Edition is that it is not easy to change format on items in bulk. I understand the Inventory Edition has this capability but also understand it is designed for people (like Mike) listing quantities of the same item over and over. I think there are probably work arounds using the Inventory Edition for listing unique items (mine are all unique postcards) but I haven't mustered the courage (or been willing to invest the time) to give it a try. I have over 6,000 items listed in my store and manage quite well with Vendio except for the changing format issue. I use one of the variable pricing plans that does not charge a listing fee but does have a small FVF (recommended for those who list more than 300 items with sales prices less than $30). I can use up to 10,000 MB image storage without paying anymore than my listing fees and ordinary FVFs. I think if your sales are about $5,000/month, you end up paying Vendio $100 for the "works" (not gallery). I can have as many images as I like in my listings, I never delete images and have full use of listing and post sales features.
Mike it is my understanding that you either use the Merchandising Edition OR the Inventory Edition. You can't use both with the same ID. You can use SMIE to list both auction and store items and manage both in post-sale at the same place.
-------------------------------------
posted on February 25, 2006 09:55:51 PM new
I recommend that you sign up and read some of the comments on Community bulletin boards of the free sites before you start switching your business to them.
Activa is having some serious brandwidth problems that may or may not be repaired this week.
The problem I have seen with all of the sites which are (or recently were)"free", they are seriously buggie. Unless you understand html pretty well, you will stay frustrated all of the time.
In addition, "free" may be costing you more money in long run. The additional time it takes to create a listing, serious issues with missing images, long auction dowload times for your customer's views. You need to assess if you are losing business by using the "free" sites.
I was using another free site but dropped them when they started charging for their service because their software was full of bugs and not worth paying for.
No matter how expensive you may think Vendio is, they pretty much pay for themselves in easy of use and reliability.
posted on February 25, 2006 10:06:31 PM new
Oh, I do not plan on jumping ship yet. I'll try a couple of store items and auction listing's with Auctiva and see how easy it works. One reason I like vendio so much is it's nice to have everything through one provider, and vendio is very easy to use. But it can't hurt to check out the competition. My monthly vendio bill only runs between $80-120 so it's not a huge amount, but money is money.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on February 26, 2006 07:05:53 AM new
Lt, I have been happy with the reliability for the past 6 months and only once there was a problem because they were upgrading there picture server, personally I find it to be easy to use and I find it reliable.
Each one needs to find whats best for themselves, as for me, well I'm very happy with the program........I was also happy with Spare $$ but they started to charge so I came to Auctiva, I did not drop spare $$ till I was sure I wanted to stay with Auctiva.
Plus, there customer service is the best I have ever seen, Auctiva has been around for a long time. You don't need to use there program completely, you can just sign up for the Gallery which is great!..It's FREE...lol
I find lately with Ebay that you very seldom make a large profit on your items when they sell so sharing what profit you do make leaves you with very little after Ebays fees, and paypal fees,.... plus 2 Ebay stores
That's why Auctiva Works for me.......its FREE.......lol
toni
[ edited by tonimar1 on Feb 26, 2006 07:08 AM ]
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein