PowerSellers are independent by nature. The act of starting up a business on eBay is one they usually try to handle by themselves as much as possible. After a short time of juggling feedback, packing, and creating listings, they realize a software tool will help them work more efficiently and free up more time for the things that matter, such as customer service and sourcing merchandise. There are lots of companies that function as auction service providers; the following are a few examples used by some of the PowerSellers interviewed for this book.
Andalehttp://www.andale.comAndale provides a variety of tools for listing sales and researching items to sell. One of the best is the Price Finder ($3.95 per month), which provides you with far more detailed sales reports than eBay’s own Completed Items search. The basic version of the auction counters Andale provides is free. For hosting 3MB of images you’ll only pay $3 per month.
buySAFEhttp://www.buysafe.combuySAFE isn’t a software tool for managing auctions, but it does
provide auction sellers with a service. buySAFE’s service is a “seal of approval.” buySAFE places the seal on the auction sales descriptions of sellers who meet the right qualifications for customer service and who pay a 1 percent fee to buySAFE for each completed transaction. In return, according to buySAFE, you get more bids for what you sell as well as higher sale prices.
Ethical Technologieshttp://www.ethicaltools.comScott Samuel, who founded Honesty.com and invented the auction counters that are now used by Andale, founded Ethical Technologies, which offers a wide variety of sophisticated relisting tools, thank-you-for-bidding utilities, and software that you can’t find anywhere else.
Infopiahttp://www.infopia.comSeveral of the PowerSellers profiled in this book use Infopia’s software to create web sites and list sales on the Web and on eBay. If you sell products that can be customized, such as golf clubs, you can use Infopia’s Configurator to enable your shoppers to enter their specifications right in your sales descriptions.
Marketworkshttp://www.marketworks.comOne of the oldest and best-known auction service providers, Marketworks has tools that can help you find more buyers for your products. The company can help you sign up for pay-per-click programs that get your eBay Store listings better placement on search engines such as Google. If you want to outsource the work involved in listing items on eBay, Marketworks can create listings and complete transactions for you, too.
SpareDollarhttp://www.sparedollar.comI’ve only met one PowerSeller who has used SpareDollar, and that fact surprises me. SpareDollar is one of the lowest-priced auction service providers around. For a mere $4.95 per month, a SpareDollar account gives you the ability to post thousands of auction images, create formatted sales listings, track visitors to your auction, and streamline correspondence with your buyers.
Vendiohttp://www.vendio.comVendio, a popular service used by many eBay PowerSellers, primarily advertises itself as a web hosting service rather than an auction service. Nonetheless, its image hosting plans and “slide show” feature, which shows multiple items for sale, are perfect for eBay sellers. Plans start at $3.95 per month; a more full-featured plan is also available for $6.95 a month.
Zoovyhttp://www.zoovy.comAt least one of the sellers profiled in this book chose Zoovy after shopping around with many other service providers. Zoovy’s Auction Seller product helps you schedule and relist your sales, automatically process eBay order checkout, print labels and invoices, and many other functions.
