posted on August 11, 2003 07:25:25 AM new
I would love to get some feedback from current vendio users - especially from anyone that came from zoovy. I am really getting frustrated with the lack of responsiveness to the support folks at zoovy and it is clearly having a negative impact on my bottom line. Here are some of my specific concerns:
How well does the search engine integration work?
I have been using endicia for my postage and want to know if I will be able to do the same thing with vendio.
Any other thoughts or comments that might be pertinent would be greatly appreciated.
posted on August 11, 2003 05:53:53 PM new
Hello there, and welcome!
I just thought I'd jump in and address your questions from the perspective of a Vendioian...
We submit a daily feed to Froogle (a sub-service of Google which is still in beta.) If you are interested in search engine exposure, it is always best to sign up for a service such as Google Ad-Words, which should help you gain more significant exposure.
As for postage, you can export shipping data to Endicia through our system.
We have added several new features lately, including our custom template system which will allow you greater flexibility in creating a "look and feel" as well as the ability to add your own logos to your ads.
We always have improvements on the horizon and have a few in the works now (including support for eBay Stores.)
I hope this will help! Let us know if you have any other questions.
posted on August 11, 2003 10:54:45 PM new
Dear Frustrated Zoovian,
Diane is one of the many responsive support staff at Vendio.
From my perspective, Vendio is very responsive to problems we encounter as customers.
That does not always mean that everything everyone wants is going to happen instantly, but they use their resources to make things better all of the time.
If you want Post Sale Support, you have come to the right place.
Set up correctly, once you list through Vendio, and the customer buys, the receive a Winning Buyer Notification. They are then directed to the Vendio Checkout. There Vendio makes available address and preferred payment information, as well as the ability for the customer to combine auctions with other auctions for predetermined discounts. For the customers that bypass the Checkout, and pay by PayPal, ("Set Up Correctly" Vendio captures their address from the "PayPal Emails Sent To You" and puts the address information in Post Sale Checkout for your convenience. Either way if Paying With PayPal it lets you know when payment has been made, and automatically emails the customer and lets them know you received payment and will ship the item soon. If they had sent money order, you check the payment received box and it automatically emails them that you received payment and will ship the item soon. From here you can print a packing slip/ invoice if you choose. When you are ready to ship, you can relate the package tracking information to the auction. After I put the tracking number in the Post Sale and it actually ships, I mark that it has shipped and Vendio Post Sale sends the customer an email letting them know it has shipped and provides the tracking number and a link that tracks the package for them. If you please, you can check a box and Vendio leaves feedback for your customer.
All this, and you have not sent one email personally to your customer. At the same time, they have been responded to at every step, leaving them feeling like you are very responsibly processing their order.
All this said, and it is a great system, Vendio is not perfect. No service can be. They can not please everyone, and make complete functionality at every level, happen 100% of the time. So if a perfect world system is needed, keep looking, but for the best there is right now, it is my opinion Vendio is at the top.
They are currently working feverishly for Ebay Store Support, because it was a requested feature to support it. They plan to have that available by the End of August, or very shortly thereafter.
I am not sure what particular question you have about search engine integration. I suppose you are wondering about Vendio Stores??? If so, I am not to thrilled with the Vendio Store Functionality. It is alright, but leaves a lot to be desired.
It is my opinion, that Off E-bay Sales are not really where the action is. I think this must be why Vendio has not polished up the Vendio Store Functionality. For one, a buyer can not see how many of an item you have available, and does not show the shipping charges, unless it is specifically put in the description. Their Ebay Format Puts shipping in, but if you also add a quantity of the item to your Vendio Store the shipping is missing from the listing. There is no good way to see how much of each item I have in my store. It is very labor intensive to see how many of each item I have listed in the Vendio Store. That said, it does not affect me much since I do not rely on off Ebay Sales.
I also use Endicia for shipping. Vendio provides the address in a format that can be cut completely and dropped into Dazzle. Really quick and simple and works really nice. They do not automatically send any information into Dazzle. Any other information you need in there needs to be manually inserted. After shipping, you can go to Postage log in Endicia, to extract Delivery Confirmation to associate it with that auction.
Good luck in your search for an auction service to best fulfill your needs. You may have found it.
posted on August 12, 2003 06:25:30 AM new
Hello Frustrated,
Welcome! I started selling on Ebay last year. No experience - zippo. Sold three things and thought if I am going to do this right, I need some help so that I can make my listings and customer service professional and bring it up to "my" standards (which I assure you are very high!).
I looked over three or four auction service websites. Vendio (Auctionwatch) at the time was the best. I came on board and was immediately pleased with all the help and support I received from day one. No question is too stupid or problem too difficult for the customer support staff here. I have found a real sense of community with support also coming from the members here.
The team at Vendio is constantly working to improve the site and add features which make our life as sellers easier. I, like many others, sometimes get impatient for these improvements, but I think we Vendioians are spoiled, because eventually, Vendio always comes through. Actually, I appreciate the wait, because 9 times out of 10, once a new feature is launched it is good to go - they've worked out the bugs and tested all BEFORE launching the new features so that you don't spend your time correcting 99 problems.
My success on Ebay is due in large part to the post sale management capabilities of this service. They've got your customer covered in every aspect from close of sale to delivery of product and follow up.
The more my business grows, the more I appreciate Vendio.
Take advantage of the free trial offer - you'll never look back!
posted on August 13, 2003 06:15:58 PM new
I'm pretty happy with Vendio. I don't have a store so a search engine feature doesn't really appeal to me. I use plain ole post office online to do my labels so got that covered there and works great.
Other than that, I like that my customers are contacted every step of the way without me having to do a thing.
posted on August 15, 2003 12:49:36 PM new
I haven't used other sites to launch my auctions, but when I started selling 3 years ago I used Ebay. So so, but no really good customer service at all. The response you got from one of Vendio's moderators is typical of the response you'll get all the time, although the response time to one of my questions sometimes is only 15 or 20 minutes! I've never posted a question here without getting a prompt response from a moderator. I'm about to post one in a few minutes and am confident I'll get the help I need.
On top of that good customer service, the Vendio auction launching process is just wonderful and I've used it exclusively now for 2 1/2 years. I don't take advantage of all the bells and whistles in post-sale mgt. but am a hobby seller, don't sell too much to handle by myself--yet.
I've peeked at other services but don't like them as much. I signed on at Vendio for the deal which gives them a 1% take on my profit and gives me, in return, unlimited photos at no extra charge, which is perfect for me since I sell collectibles and frequently need at least 2 or 3, if not 5 - 8, in an auction.
You will not be sorry if you switch to Vendio! I'm sure it looks here as though a lot of us are on the payroll, but not true.
Take a look at the Ebay Outlook site here in Community. Someone started a thread called Who uses Vendio services? Read a few of those responses, too. Good luck to you!
Vendio captures their address from the "PayPal Emails Sent To You" and puts the address information in Post Sale Checkout for your convenience. Either way if Paying With PayPal it lets you know when payment has been made, and automatically emails the customer and lets them know you received payment and will ship the item soon. If they had sent money order, you check the payment received box and it automatically emails them that you received payment and will ship the item soon. From here you can print a packing slip/ invoice if you choose. When you are ready to ship, you can relate the package tracking information to the auction. After I put the tracking number in the Post Sale and it actually ships, I mark that it has shipped and Vendio Post Sale sends the customer an email letting them know it has shipped and provides the tracking number and a link that tracks the package for them. If you please, you can check a box and Vendio leaves feedback for your customer.