posted on February 14, 2001 06:18:45 AM
It DOES look like that. Were you able to find a price for it anywhere? I don't like, and don't want AuctionPoster...
posted on February 14, 2001 06:26:24 AM
Yes & NO!!!
Their pricing schedule really befuddles me! Ya have tokens & passes & belly-button lint & FLOOZ, etc etc...
I sure can't make sense of it!
I am so ticked! I didn't mind paying the $19.99 every 3 mos for eBite-me...
BUT, I'm not going to pay for a program (ePoster) that I DON't & CAN'T use!!!!!
posted on February 14, 2001 06:37:05 AM
Well, that does it. I'll dump 'em. I was willing to pay the $40 a year when my subscription runs out...but not more. EBud is handy, but certainly not essential.
posted on February 14, 2001 06:55:15 AM
Well I have eBud, but since have procured Auction Tamer, with wonderful customer service, and I like it much better, and no problem with the attitude of Auction Assistant or eBud, plus my Auction Tamer works with many of the smaller auctions, too. I love my Auction Tamer, and they are being coming compatible for many of the eBay foreign markets too.
posted on February 14, 2001 07:11:22 AM
JWPC,
could you post the auction tamer web site/ url or email it to me?
I too have used ebud but will now be looking at all the other options. I like ebud as I can send personlized automatic email with out sending bidders to another site.I
my email address is [email protected]
Thanks!
Blessings from the wheatfields of Kansas,
Janet @ Lanetzliving
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/lanetzliving/
posted on February 14, 2001 07:48:28 AM
I'd like to know why anyone would be fool enough to contract with any of these outfits, now. There is no guarantee whatsoever that they won't change the price again next month...and you'll be out whatever money you paid in...unless, of course, you're willing to pay the new increased price.
posted on February 14, 2001 07:58:02 AM
Good morning toke
You’ve got that right!
I’ve been shopping around all morning for an ebud and eposter replacement. I think I’d like an ebud replacement that I can cut and paste into. No more updating to keep up with ebay changes. Have you seen anything like that around?
posted on February 14, 2001 08:03:07 AM
I have been all over their website the past half hour, and from what I can see, eBud is now called Auctiva Manager, and there appears to be no other way to purchase it except by buying Auctiva Pro (below) for the low, low price of $119.95 per year, if you order by March 31 (regular price- $144.95 per year, more if you pay monthly).
******
Auctiva Pro
Auctiva Showcase Pro a professional version of our popular virtual gallery of your listings on eBay, Amazon and Yahoo. Auctiva Showcase is already used in over 2 million listings a month! Drive traffic to your listings, help buyers find items faster, increase sales. More.
Auctiva Poster (ePoster) automates the process of creating and posting listings for eBay, Yahoo, Amazon Auctions and zShops. Create professional listings without knowing HTML. Automatically upload pictures and and add counters to your listings. Includes batch posting and scheduling! More.
Auctiva Manager (eBud) automates the process of tracking and managing your eBay listings. Send form-letter emails, track bidders, generate labels, invoices and reports. More.
WebPost Post auctions to eBay right from our web pages! This quick list allows you to upload images, select themes and even schdule your listings! More.
Picture Hosting solutions include Auctiva FastPix, our free, fast-loading thumbnail picture service, and Auctiva Pictures, our premium picture hosting service. Our pictures are hosted on an efficient fault-tolerant 24/7 network to ensure highest reliability. More.
******
I have emailed Auctiva about this (forcing users to purchase unneeded products in order to continue using eBud... er- Auctiva Manager), and I will be happy to post their response (if any).
edited to add...
Of course, I never received any email notification about this pricing change from Auctiva- I wonder when they were going to get around to telling us.
[ edited by mrpotatoheadd on Feb 14, 2001 08:07 AM ]
posted on February 14, 2001 08:42:35 AM
I just found that auction tamer at http://auctiontamer.com/
They seem to be very similar to ebud and only $19.95.
Looks to be promising.
Blessings from the wheatfields of Kansas,
Janet @ Lanetzliving
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/lanetzliving/
posted on February 14, 2001 08:50:41 AMlanetzliving...
With the behavior exhibited by eBud, AA, etc., you truly can't tell what the price will be next month...after you've put in your $19.95, in good faith. They'll have some cute little rationale...it's not an update...it's an upgrade...or whatever.
Bah. We'd better all figure out our own systems...that stay right on our hard drives... We shouldn't make ourselves dependent on the vagaries of eBay code...or the honesty of developers.
I emailed and asked if they were going to go the route of ebud and the others in charging but have not heard back yet ( I just sent it off an hour ago). I will post their response.
Thanks!
Blessings from the wheatfields of Kansas,
Janet @ Lanetzliving
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/lanetzliving/
posted on February 14, 2001 08:56:52 AM
Time to kick myself in the butt and learn a new program. Been thinking about it ever since ebud started messing up their sorts early this year. However, now it is essential. Hope Auctiva gets a good lesson in how not to do business! I hope they fall flat on their face!
Auction poster was always a pain to use and has never gotten better so why would we expect ebud to thrive in that atmosphere.
Hopefully I can make the change before this calendar year's records are scattered to hell and gone.
posted on February 14, 2001 08:57:11 AM
Thanks toke I'll keep looking also. Would you mind an email?
What I'm looking for is eBud without the refresh button. I already double check all the info already. So it's not much more to copy and paste the data.
posted on February 14, 2001 09:00:49 AM
As the dot.coms try to move toward profitability, I'd expect all of these companies to be revising their pricing structure in coming months. Those who continually pursue the Holy Grail of free software/services, they are likely to be ultimately disappointed.
That doesn't mean that there aren't bargains to be had. And the most expensive product/service isn't always best (in other words, you don't ALWAYS get what you pay for).
AuctionWatch's Auction Manager is currently free, and pretty well liked by many here on these boards. Worth a look. Won't be free for ever, though. You can take a look at OAUA's recent reviews of other web-based auction management systems (Andale, AuctionWorks, AuctionFlow, ManageAuctions, and GoTo)here:
Our product evaluation team is just getting started with a hands-on evaluations of client-side (home-based) auction management software (including Auctiva's ePoster/eBud-- now Auctiva Manager, Invenna's Auction Amigo Pro, Auction Tamer, Blackthorne's Seller's Assistant, EasyAuction, and several others). This report will be out in May. Pricing on these varies widely- most currently have a one-time fee, but a few charge monthly.
If you're looking for alternatives, OAUA has a fairly comprehensive list of auction management services and software on our links page:
posted on February 14, 2001 09:17:38 AM
Hi Steve...
I think I've learned my lesson. I guess what I'm looking for is some bookkeeping software that would be easy to use for auction management...plus the ability to print Priority labels and invoices.
posted on February 14, 2001 09:24:12 AM
I also need some basic bookkeeping in the software I use. Need to print monthly profit/loss reports. However, the auto email, labels and invoices are mandatory. Looked at auction tamer and didn't see much from a bookkeeping perspective. At least ebud let me do some basics in that area.
posted on February 14, 2001 09:28:10 AM
I received a pro-active technical support response from Auctiva yesterday, so I know they monitor this forum. I hope one of the Auctiva folks comes on here and responds.
It makes no sense to me as a seller to pay for software the puts advertising in your auction description and e-mails. This is common practice among the auction management software, I'm just not going to pay for it.
posted on February 14, 2001 09:30:17 AM
I started using eposter almost from the beginning and really tried to support Jeff's
work.
My subscription expires in a few days and I just went to look at renewing and find
the cost has increased about 340% from about $40 a year to $145.
I know this includes eBud too, but I stopped using eBud when John sold out. It just
never worked right. I am not renewing the subcription.
I can add this to the list to the software and services that I bought in good faith
believing that I owned the software and would be able to use it indefinitely, and
anticipated some increases for the posting service but not an unconscionable 340%.
I bought Blackthorne for about $30.00 when John still had his day job.
I bought eBud when that was first offered too.
I subscribed to ePoster (Auction Poster as it was known then).
I hope these guys are familiar with the adage "What goes around comes around."
So now I will go back to basics and use the eBay listing page. I hope I can remember
how to do it.
posted on February 14, 2001 09:49:32 AM
Hi toke and jadejim:
Since we're just starting with the home-based software evaluations, I can't say for sure which include basic accounting and label printing features. I know from experience that AA Pro (now SA Pro) does- but it's now quite pricey.
It's interesting that you both are most interested in the bookkeeping and label printing features. When we were developing evaluation tools for the web-based auction management system report, we found (perhaps we were wrong?) that these features weren't important to most users-- that these features often went unused on the web-based applications that offered them.
I'll see that we include these features in the table describing the home-based software.
posted on February 14, 2001 10:00:33 AM
Thanks, Steve. I want no more of these web-based programs where you keep paying and paying and paying. Just an auction management system where I can input the data myself, and not have to worry about eBay constantly diddling with their system. It's a shame...I really like eBud...started as a beta-tester.
posted on February 14, 2001 10:21:40 AM
Hello all,
I have had several emails from mike at auction tamer and found him to be very helpful and is very aware of this distrust that sellers have with the constant run a round they are getting now in this area,
However he says and has given me his permission to post it here
"We never plan on a monthly fee or even to charge for updates.
How can we do that?
Once you start AuctionTamer you will
see our Surf page. One this page we earn commissions from each of the people on this page. That's how we can offer
AuctionTamer for free for auction buyers. The token fee that we charge Sellers is for the extra support that they
usually require."
In what little I have browsed there site today It seems their email and bookeeping is very similar to ebud.
Hope this helps!
Blessings from the wheatfields of Kansas,
Janet @ Lanetzliving http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/lanetzliving/
posted on February 14, 2001 10:38:11 AM
Thanks, lanetzliving...that was nice of you to do that. Unfortunately, I just don't believe it.
"We never plan on a monthly fee or even to charge for updates."
I think the key word there is "plan." I'm sure circumstances beyond theircontrol will force them to, at some point. Seems to be the way the rhetoric goes......
posted on February 14, 2001 10:52:29 AM
And here is the 800 lb. gorilla that is creating the "circumstances beyond their control".....This is the publically available information about the fees that eBay is charging software developers for access to the API. This was taken from the Business FAQ on the "eBay Developers Program" site here:
What fees are associated with the Non-Public and Public Licenses?
Unfortunately, we are unable to give you speific information about the API pricing structure at this time. This information is considered confidential and is discussed only with licensed developers. We can tell you that there is a one-time enrollment fee, a monthly maintenance fee, and a usage fee based on the number of API transactions and the time of day. If your application is approved, a Business Development manager will contact you to discuss your stated plans and program pricing.
posted on February 14, 2001 11:00:13 AMpaperfan...
I'm not surprised...
How long has eBay been charging these fees? Auctiva raised rates as soon as they bought eBud from John about a year or so ago. I'd like to think I was wrong to cast aspersions on their honesty.
posted on February 14, 2001 11:04:08 AM
What came first, the "circumstances beyond eBay's control," or the "800 lb. gorilla"?
Are both the circumstances and the gorilla of their own making? And how many baby gorillas has eBay had in the past 3 months?
posted on February 14, 2001 12:12:56 PM
Lemme see if I understand this....
Services like ePoster now have to pay eBay for access to post auctions ?
I read about eBay converting to an API platform last Fall. Remember all of the rolling blackouts of various "functionality"? The article stated that part of the reason for the rolling balckouts was eBay converting to an API platform.
What I remember of the article is that eBay claimed API would allow other the sites
access to eBay. A example would be that you could search or bid from another site.
I'll try to find the article.
posted on February 14, 2001 12:24:09 PM
Dunno. What is odd, IMO, is that none of the auction services are talking. You would think they'd want to explain these amazing price hikes. If eBay were the cause, that is.
I was just discussing this with a friend, who pointed out the unlikelihood of eBay charging anywhere near $100 per Auctiva user for access to the API...which is actually somewhat less than the Auctiva price increase.
