As an online seller, there are a lot of things that you have to keep on top of, and one of the most important is making sure that your listings on eBay are optimized for success. To do this, you need to have the right tools at your disposal, and two of the most popular options for managing your eBay listings are Vendoo and Auctiva. But which one is right for you?
In this blog post, I will provide my unbiased (brutal) opinion on Vendoo vs. Auctiva and help you choose the best eBay listing software for your business.
Key Points:
- Auctiva has an outdated user interface and outdated resources
- The "unlimited listing" in Auctiva is misleading
- Vendoo is the winner when it comes to user interface, listing functionality, support, and price
What is Vendoo?
Founded in 2017, Vendoo is a relatively new player in the eBay listing software market. It offers a comprehensive solution that includes listing creation, inventory management, and more. With its clean interface and user-friendly design, Vendoo is a favorite among small to medium-sized eBay sellers who want an easy and efficient way to manage their listings in multiple marketplaces.
What is Auctiva?
Auctiva has been around since 1998 and is one of the oldest and most well-established eBay listing software options. It offers a range of features, including bulk listing creation, inventory management, templates for designing listings, and more. Auctiva also offers the ability to crosslist on Amazon and 12 other marketplaces through MoreCommerce.
Table of Contents
- Onboarding
- User Interface
- Listing Functionality
- Support
- Price
Vendoo vs. Auctiva Onboarding
One of the first things to consider when choosing a listing software is the onboarding process. This refers to how easy it is to set up and start using the software.
Vendoo and Auctiva have relatively simple onboarding processes, with step-by-step instructions and helpful guides to get you up and running quickly.
FYI: Vendoo offers a live Q&A with one of their Product expert every Wednesday at 9 PM EST.
However, Auctiva does have a slight edge in this area, as it imports all of your eBay listings automatically and sends you an email notification.
Winner: Auctiva. BUT, keep reading…
User Interface
(Image source: Auctiva)
One of the first things I notice when comparing Vendoo and Auctiva is the difference in their user interfaces. Vendoo has a modern and minimalist design, while Auctiva's interface can feel cluttered and overwhelming at times.
Cluttered is an understatement - Auctiva's age definitely shows in its outdated interface and the many times I've been staring at the "processing" loading page only to wait for an error message. When it comes to user experience, I don't know if Auctiva's goal is to be as confusing as eBay's.
On the other hand, Vendoo's clean and intuitive design makes it easy even for beginners to get up to speed with the software quickly.
Winner: Vendoo
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Listing Functionality
(Image source: Auctiva)
This test is based on how quickly I can add a new listing to Auctiva and Vendoo via desktop. As a clothing reseller, I have to enter all product information manually into Auctiva since I do not have a barcode or UPC to scan.
I'm harping back on Auctiva's terrible user interface here: there are 6 steps (7 steps if you want to include having to toggle the eBay button) to complete one listing, and arguably, this is more frustrating than having to list directly on eBay's platform.
Vendoo requires two steps: their Vendoo form, which is to input the details about the item, and the marketplace form, where you input specific information for that particular platform.
Winner: Vendoo
You might also like: Crossposting: Importing Listings vs. Listing on Vendoo
Support
After clicking around for 10 minutes, I finally stumbled into a page where I could cancel my Auctiva account. Common sense tells me that I should find the cancellation page under "My Account" or "My Billing," but nope, I found the cancellation page under the FAQ.
FYI: You must put a credit card down to try Auctiva out for 30 days.
(Image source: Auctiva)
Not only does their live support (chat or phone) page look like I've transported back to the early 2000s, but this "premium" support is only reserved for Pro and Enterprise users.
Vendoo, on the other hand, it doesn't matter what membership tier you are in; you can easily live chat or message them 7 days a week. Vendoo does not offer phone support, but does it really matter if you're getting your issues resolved almost immediately via chat?
Besides, I am a millennial; I hate having to call and wait.
Bonus Points: For introverted resellers like myself, Vendoo has a wealth of resources on their website, social media, and Youtube channel!
Winner: Vendoo
Price
When deciding between Vendoo and Auctiva, it is crucial to take pricing into account. You can find the pricing details for each platform on their respective websites.
(Image source: Auctiva)
Auctiva boasts their $24.95 per month plan, which comes with "unlimited" listings and 2GB image hosting. After carefully reviewing the FAQ, it becomes clear that the distinction between "listing" and "SKUs" is not adequately explained. The term "unlimited listing" is particularly misleading and requires further clarification.
"Each listing has the ability to contain a SKU. If a listing does not have a SKU defined, our system assumes this a unique SKU and will count it towards your plan’s limit. On the contrary, if you have a listing on eBay and a listing on Amazon that contain the exact same SKU, that would only be counted as 1 active SKU."
In plain words, if I have 1,000 active items in my inventory, I have to upgrade to their Standard plan of $49.95.
FYI: You do not have control over your listing when you opt-in for MoreCommerce (to sell on 12 different marketplaces). There is a 15% commission fee, and you only get paid twice a month.
Vendoo's pricing structure is clear-cut. They only charge you for the new items you add monthly. Therefore, if I am not planning to thrift one month (i.e., not list anything new), then I can essentially pause my subscription for that month but still actively delist/relist my items.
Bonus Points: Vendoo has a FREE FOREVER PLAN; every month, you get 5 items (aka listings) for free that you can list to 3 marketplaces of YOUR choice. How cool is that?
Winner: Vendoo
You might also like: 10 Things You Can Do With A Vendoo Free Plan
It is abundantly clear that Vendoo is the undeniable winner here. I've been using Vendoo since 2020, and they've been consistently enhancing their platform, customer service, and offerings to ensure a seamless user experience for us.
Vendoo is a company that truly cares about its customers, and I'm not saying this because I am their customer and writing this blog.
Action speaks louder than words, and in this case, Vendoo provides up-to-date educational resources (to help you sell more), is active in the reselling community, and is not afraid to ask for customer feedback.
Auctiva, on the other hand...well, here's the link to their "how to" resource.
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