DISQUS

Cliff Aliperti · 9 months ago

Oh man, so many choices now! Was this long-awaited? I honestly never heard of it til I got Ina's AB newsletter tonight! I'd been awaiting the Auctiva eCommerce platform, until, well, until recently I'll say. Then there's Inkfrog's platform, which if I recall is free too.

What you write here is exciting though. I really want to see a detailed comparison of all of the new platforms, and hell, throw in some of the oldies too like Yahoo Stores.

My concern is so much is coming at us at once, how do we know where to go? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? How do we know something better won't be along in two weeks? It's really thrown me into a long phase of trying and testing and never settling. Just when I think I like this platform, well here comes another one and it might have a feature I was specifically looking for. I'm usually quite decisive, but this is one area where the sea of choices pulls me underwater.

Personally, my concern here, the only reason I temper my excitement, is that I'm using Inkfrog to list on eBay--I have a feeling that's probably going to complicate any import I want to try with Vendio. Though I've found with Bonanzle, and previously my own standalone site, that probably the best way to go is start from scratch with your listings.

Taking a deep breath and awaiting more buzz on this.

Thanks,Cliff

Helen · 9 months ago

Thanks for a great write-up. We hope your readers will test out the beta site and drop us a note with feedback(feedback@corp.vendio.com). And in case anyone didn't get it - your title (which provided a nice giggle) is from this awesome one-hit wonder group, The Buggles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtHEmVjVw8

Whitlow Unique Collectibles · 9 months ago

Sounds like a much needed alternative. To what we have been offered and promised in the past.
Very Well may be a great thing. For Sellers ready to take the bull by the Horns !

Jeff Stannard · 9 months ago

" Been there, done that…got BURNT…NOT OVER IT Yet. "

John you totally struck a nerve with that line. Love it.

bleumoonsattic · 9 months ago

Thanks for the 'non' review, John. This certainly sounds interesting and maybe just what I've been looking for.

Renagade · 9 months ago

It DOES sound good...and I am looking into it now. But will it replace Bonanzle? Doubt it. For Bonanzle has a great team and good platform. Athough the thought of having your own stand alone storefront may be good for some, the traffic that can come from a marketplace still is a plus to many.
I see Vendio doing well...but I still feel Bonanzle is here for the long haul and will still be a shining star in the ECommerce world.

Hillary · 9 months ago

I have been on my soapbox before how the "next eBay" is never going to be another site like eBay but people going off to their own webstores. This sounds like a brilliant idea since they are making it an add on/extension of the big boys (Amazon/eBay) with your own webstore attached. I am very excited to play with this.

Henrietta · 9 months ago

Why would a Vendio Store be a Bonanzle killer? It is a tool. Many Bonanzle sellers also have a presence on eBay and or Amazon, or have their own website, I do, they are not mutually exclusive propositions. In fact Bonanzle both allows and encourages sellers to link to their websites, always has.

Other than that I was simply blown away by the simplicity and workability of the Vendio Stores concept! In a word, "Dang!"

colderice · 9 months ago

Hey Henrietta, Bonanzle just fits in the title better LMAO. The story is not really built around Bonanzle at all. It is all about marketing YOU in 2009 and that is how I came up with the title and story.

NOW if, this is a marketplace challenger, and I do believe it is, then by default, the smaller will feel the pinches first. Other than that, it is just a catchy title :-)

MARIA · 2 months ago

Hi,

I was just on Vendio's site, and was surprised that so many items and features are not only NOT free at all, but they also add significant amounts to your monthly expenses. It is true that they do not charge anything to set up and host your own online store, but that may not be the main objective of many ebay and Amazon sellers. Other than that, the only things that are included for free in the $20 monthly fee they charge for 1 EBAY AND 1 AMAZON accounts are ONLY THE FOLLOWING THREE FEATURES, as per their site: counters, gallery, and customer appreciation. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, if your listing is on your ebay or Amazon page, THEY CHARGE A PERCENTAGE OF YOUR SALES AS COMMISSION, AS YOU CAN SEE BELOW, in their own words!

"Vendio Platform marketplace selling... simple pricing
Extend the Vendio Platform beyond a free store and sell on the Internet's leading marketplaces, eBay and Amazon, and pay only $10 per month*(This seems to be the fee for EACH, but I am not sure). From there, Vendio only makes money if you do. Vendio earns an incremental fee based on your monthly marketplace sales volume.
Marketplace pricing
Monthly
Sales Revenue Marketplace
Success Fees**
your first $1000 - 1.95% of sales
$1,000.01 - $2,500 1.75% of sales
$2,500.01 - $5,000 1.5% of sales
$5,000.01 - $25,000 1.2% of sales
$25,000.01 and above 1% of sales
Listings Only Available based on volume.
Please contact Vendio Sales
Sales through your Vendio Store are always 100% FREE


The individual retail store is free, but they have fairly high charges for everything else for eBay or Amazon, like for instance $1 for EACH zoomed-in image, which means that the capacity to zoom-in with Zoomstream becomes expensive if you want to provide your buyer with a couple of good images per listing and you have several listings. Notice also that: "A Vendio Image Hosting subscription is required to use Zoomstream" (see Image Hosting prices I listed above). Zoomstream fees are:
$1.00 PER image for first 2-week storage period
$0.50/image for each 2-week renewal

Their ebay research tools sound really good to check up on the competition, and they cost $20 per month. Their Vendio Reviser "makes it simple to change your live auctions, and make changes to your product listings", but the Reviser costs $20 per month.

Anyway, I do not have the time to review all their other paid features, but I can see how all this can easily add up to what one of your readers said, where he signed up for $20 but then received a bill for way over $100.

So, my advice is check their whole site carefully, do not just notice the free stuff, because the paid items might be the ones that are really vital to your business, and they can add up really quickly. Good selling!

vendio · 2 months ago

Hi Maria,

Thanks for your feedback. The Vendio Platform is item, order and customer management plus an online store completely free. You can list an unlimited number of images, products and it's not ad-supported. There is no other comparable online store offering available today. We're very proud that we can literally give away the store.

Our Marketplaces Plan enables eBay and Amazon sales automation. I'm not sure where you got read about the $20 a month, but that's incorrect. The cost is $10 a month for 1 eBay account AND 1 Amazon account.

We think that overall, as more sellers go multi-channel, the Vendio Platform's free store offering in conjunction with the ability to use the same set of inventory across eBay, Amazon, Google, your store and other CSE's is worth the $10 a month plus small success fee.

I'd be happy to discuss this with your further.

Best regards,

Helen Fang
Marketing Manager
Vendio.com