THE REAL SCOOP ON AUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

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sellthemoon wrote:

Interesting comments and I applaud your obvious passion! You are absolutely right - all of the packages have issues, but don`t forget that an issue that is fatal to one seller may be trivial to another.

It doesn`t matter how brilliant / powerful/ reliable a system is if people struggle to actually use it.

Channel Advisor was a non starter because it is one eBay ID only - jugular to us but perhaps irrelevant to most users..

I'm confused, but intrigued by your postings, I read somewhere you dont think the drop shop business model will work - but here you obviously need software that is networked, perhaps we can help each other?

btw: on the car things and the poor fuel consumption - I may have something for you on this also;-)

Jim.

Seller1 wrote:

You are correct. They are the best web store as far as ecommerce websites out of eBay. We actually thought Zoovy would be great to bring all stores together into one place: Amazon, our website, and eBay. It does fine for amazon and our website, but I'm not fully impressed. Syndication works poorly and it's hard to control the numbers. Zoovy and every ecommerce software company keeps promising to sync up with Quickooks. So far none can do so and the exports don't work for Quickbooks as well.

I also recommend people use mass mailers to send out newsletters. I have found that all these ecommerce software companies are 10 years behind when it comes to customer management, newsletters, etc.

I'll check out eSeller, but I doubt I will ever find a company that can support all storefronts at once. For now, I'll settle with a few companies that in my opinion don't do the job that they should.

How did you get on with eSeller Pro??

Jim.

I'm going to be testing them out today to see if they can beat other companies. I don't like that they are from the UK, but they seem pretty sharp so far. I demand a lot out of our system so we'll find out. Thanks!

I'm confused, but intrigued by your postings, I read somewhere you dont think the drop shop business model will work - but here you obviously need software that is networked, perhaps we can help each other?

My view is - and always has been - that the drop off model doesn`t work unless you have deep pockets. Take Auctioning4u for example- if I understand it they have just secured £2.2m in venture capital ( and congrats for achieving that, I know it takes some doing).It is clear - even from a distance -that Christian and his team have approached their business in a very professional and planned manner. In reality I suspect most of the rapidly expanding Drop Offs are simply fattening up to sell (and theres nothing wrong with that!). We have an entirely different business model and yes you`re right we need fully networked systems. I have seen eSellerPro and whilst I am wary of judging software before actually using it, it appears almost as powerful as Marketworks but with a clean fresh interface. The staff learning curve would be minimal. In many areas it is way ahead and the modular design means they should be able to develop it further without clutter. The other key point is that it is UK software!
You mention helping each other - what did you have in mind ?

[Last edited: 9 Jun 2006]

We'll all find out how good they are at eBay live. I like a lot of the features. But, until I see it in action I won't comment on it.

Marketworks is pants. Serious big grey Y front pants. I have voted with my feet and killed my marketworks account. Its bad in so many ways. I am now a channel merchant person and its SO MUCH CHEAPER! I was under the impression channel was expensive but they go on GMS and not fees for every little thing, its easy to understand.

Kyousotuoosus or whatever is bad avoid. I have heard good report of SpoonFeeder for smaller traders.
No auction software is absolute, but marketworks does not have the reliability. Nothing works properly, but the support will always indicate thats its your fault and to go away you stupid user. Many of the good people at marketworks have left, the ones that remain populate forums such as these with pro marketworks posts, damning the competition. Soon as they have you, the set up will take you 3 months really for any business, then all that work goes to pot as the software fails and you fear moving and disrupting your business. The marketworks trap.

Beware my fellow auctioneers...beware!

I'll agree with you on Kyozou, this is a system that is best taken into the backyard, put to sleep and burried. We are a very high volume seller as well and have experienced serious loss in business do their systems numerous bugs which management continually neglets and blames on the users. We had to keep employees around for hundreds of extra hours troubleshooting messed up orders, improper checkout, double payment.. etc.

Prior we were using Zoovy which was far more stable and with excellent tech support. However we outgrew Zoovy within a year of use. Their system is not meant for people with hundreds of SKU's... good for the small to mid level seller though.

Currently we are using ChannelAdvisor Merchant. This is vastly different from their basic product and is far more powerful. We are experiencing excellent stability, high configurability, and superb tech support. Our team now spends less than 1/10th of the time doing customer support because we and our customers expereince none of the technical problems Kyozou had.

In short, get your education in Zoovy, graduate to ChannelAdvisor Merchant or something comparible, but at all costs avoid Kyozou!

Poppygirl wrote:

Many of the good people at Marketworks have left

Sad, but true.

so:
1:
seller1, what was the conclusion on the e seller demo (see above?)
2: at the risk of opening up a real can of worms, in a nutshell, what is wrong with Selling Manager Pro? How come no-one mentions it here?
3: anyone used Hungry Gopher for eBay.com listing who can comment?

I have a lot to say about eSeller Pro and I'll try and keep it somewhat brief.

Frankly, I think that all other ecommerce companies should be pretty scared. I know a lot of them are curious as to what this new company is going to do to their business. I would encourage every company to start learning and adapting this stuff. But, it all starts with the right attitude to constantly push the boundaries for efficiency and features. Only E Seller Pro has truly impressed me with regard to attitude and openess to new features.

For too long auction management software companies have been getting away with not fully going all the way. I know there are many other people like us who require more than just auctions posting and simple second chance offers. I don't think it's asking too much to have some simple accounting things added, integrating all marketplaces, etc. After all, this is how some people make a living. And we are supposed to be an advanced society pushing ecommerce to the next level. All the stats point to more and more people buying online. Why can these other companies not follow and have the same philosophies as ESeller Pro? Why is it that I'm not fully impressed with other companies? Could it be because I am so difficult to deal with? Based on the fact that so many people are expressing the same opinions on other companies I'd say the problem is coming from the other end= Auction Management Software companies

It is as if other companies can't even get just the simple bugs figured out. As a business we spend 25% of our time fixing problems that aren't our fault.

So, that brings us to E Seller Pro.

I'm impressed that it brings all markets together...website, eBay, etc. In theory I think E Seller is completely correct:

1) bringing all marketplaces together
2) proper accounting and sync with Quickbooks
3) great prompt customer service (which is what we're experiencing so far with them). Other companies have been good to us as well, but this is more personal and adapting to our business. Also, I'm aware that bugs will come up and nothing will be 100%. E Seller Pro seems more prepared to deal with this than other companies. I could be wrong or dead on right.
4) programs that concentrate on advanced functionality...not on cheesy graphics and interface. In any case, I like the E Seller Pro interface more...it looks like a Windows application
5) marketing in mind- customer care and management is very important. Why has no company synched up with email campaigner or other mass email services? At least ESeller Pro has that in mind.
6) TOO MUCH TO MENTION

There are just too many positives to write down about this company. I love the ideas and have got to say that I was completely blown away. I'm just anxious now to see if it fully works. While I have never seen a program this advanced and thought out, I have heard of companies claiming they can do a lot...and then it never gets down how you wish it would. I don't think this is the case for E Seller Pro, but I'm going to be cautious to see how it develops. I've got my fingers crossed.

Bottom Line: Very advanced and well thought out software that hands down does more than any other company out there. Because other companies have claimed to be really good and then turned sour, I'm cautious yet positive. I would love to see this thing in action.

I recently had a 45 min demo of eSellerPro, and have to say I was very impressed. So much so infact that I am just awaiting on the install to take place

As Seller1 said above, it just looks like you are using a Windows app and the whole layout of it just seems to work - I can't wait to get started with it as I reckon its definitely going to change the way I do things for the better.

I have obviously only experienced their customer service skills so far in respect of the sales side of things, but hopefully any support issues that arise will be treated with the same response speed and the willingness to help as I have encountered so far - none of this waiting 3 or 4 days for a Marketworks response that seems to be the norm these days.

If you haven't already lined up a demo of this thing, maybe you should, just to see how it compares to what you currently use. I really think these guys are on to a winner with what they have produced here.

Intergrated with Marketworks API? This e-seller pro? Why would you want that? It this not a complete solution or do you have to have a marketworks account? That would defeat the object surely?

These guys are new and all new companies have the best of intentions...I am sure marketworks also had the best of intentions, but they grew to fast without the hardware to back up the expansion. I shall stick with my ChannelAdvisor account, until e-seller pro stands the test of time.

[Last edited: 21 Jun 2006]

While eSellerPro might be in progress just the ideas alone are attractive. Working with them in their early stages might not be bad...especially since they can help develop their software around YOUR needs.

But not any one elses? One business is so different from the rest. Its better to be more generic rather than specific.

Hello-

I have been watching this discussion with interest and PoppyGirl had a good question. What does it mean that it is integrated with Marketworks? Doesn't it perform the same functions? Do you need to use MW to use ESeller Pro?

Thanks,

Jaade