HELLLLLP! [eBay Listing Software]
I desperately need good eBay listing software at a reasonable price. I'm willing to pay for it - one time, preferably, but I will consider a monthly fee - as long as it isn't slow as molasses, doesn't underhandedly stuff script in my listings after I tell it not to, and actually works. I've been using TurboLister (eBay's own free listing software) for the last year and it's... well, I want to find whomever designed and set them on fire. It doesn't work with Windows 7, regardless of what eBay claims 1, and crashes on Vista every time you try to back-up or compact the database, which is one of the few things that can make it run faster than a slow crawl. The maintenance and upgrades to the program seem to be at a bare minimum.
I tried Blackthorne Pro - eBay's other listing software, this one with a subscription price attached - but it's really designed for those listing multiples of the same item versus many individual items (like antiques and collectibles). It also suffered some of the same performance issues as TurboLister.
Last night and today I've tried two of the larger, non-eBay-run listing services: Sixbit and Auctiva. Sixbit could possibly improve with further development, but at this stage of the game it was a nightmare to install 2 and the user interface is heavy on the shine and not so much on the actual usability. If it were a one-time charge for the software, I might still consider it given the piss poor options I've found so far, but not for a monthly fee.
Auctiva managed to actively piss me off within 20 minutes of signing up for a free trial. During the set-up process, it requested a eBay key, which, yes, it needs to fetch listing information. Shortly thereafter I set options to not include the Auctiva listings scroll thing, which adds busyness to the already busy eBay interface. I soon discovered that Auctiva had already inserted the script into each active listing and the only way to remove it was to do so manually, one listing at a time, by way of eBay's revise listing interface wherein I had to strip the script out of the HTML description. What?!
The kicker is that, even after I closed the 30 day trial and the account (complete with reason why, yeah, you betcha), I still had to go in and revise each listing in order to remove the script. Fortunately, we only have 17 items up this week, and 2 of them have bids so Auctiva couldn't alter them in the first place, but arrrrrrgh!
So does anyone have any experience or know of anyone using an eBay listing software that they're actually happy with? I'm looking at InkFrog right now, but haven't signed up. I would prefer a desktop application, or hybrid desktop/online type, but those seem thin on the ground. There are certainly a lot that come up when you run a general search, but the possibility of malware/spyware seems really high, so I've been perusing the results carefully. Help?!
eta: InkFrog would be fantastic, except the forums are riddled with reports of ongoing picture display issues and there's no way to use an external picture host, let alone eBay itself. So InkFrog a no go right now. >:(
1 In the forums...
Users: "Why doesn't this work?!"
eBay: "Our software is fully compatible with Windows 7."
Users: "No it isn't! See? Right here! Not working."
eBay: *silence*
Users: *waits*
eBay: *disappears*
Users: *indignant sputtering*
2 Vista install required SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Studio, which, fine, yay. Except the install hung, there were attempts to re-install, program removal, an attempt at manual install (figuring out which download to use at Microsoft, always fun), another removal via Windows this time, and finally a roll-back of the system to 6 hours earlier, re-downloading, and re-installing. Whereupon it hung again, but I was able (by luck) to end the right process in Task Manager without having to shut down Windows completely, and the install continued and, apparently, worked. As far as I could tell, anyway. By then it was past my bedtime, I'd had a headache most of the day, I hurt all over, and I was feeling mean.
Crossposted to Dreamwidth where there are
comments. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)
I tried Blackthorne Pro - eBay's other listing software, this one with a subscription price attached - but it's really designed for those listing multiples of the same item versus many individual items (like antiques and collectibles). It also suffered some of the same performance issues as TurboLister.
Last night and today I've tried two of the larger, non-eBay-run listing services: Sixbit and Auctiva. Sixbit could possibly improve with further development, but at this stage of the game it was a nightmare to install 2 and the user interface is heavy on the shine and not so much on the actual usability. If it were a one-time charge for the software, I might still consider it given the piss poor options I've found so far, but not for a monthly fee.
Auctiva managed to actively piss me off within 20 minutes of signing up for a free trial. During the set-up process, it requested a eBay key, which, yes, it needs to fetch listing information. Shortly thereafter I set options to not include the Auctiva listings scroll thing, which adds busyness to the already busy eBay interface. I soon discovered that Auctiva had already inserted the script into each active listing and the only way to remove it was to do so manually, one listing at a time, by way of eBay's revise listing interface wherein I had to strip the script out of the HTML description. What?!
The kicker is that, even after I closed the 30 day trial and the account (complete with reason why, yeah, you betcha), I still had to go in and revise each listing in order to remove the script. Fortunately, we only have 17 items up this week, and 2 of them have bids so Auctiva couldn't alter them in the first place, but arrrrrrgh!
So does anyone have any experience or know of anyone using an eBay listing software that they're actually happy with? I'm looking at InkFrog right now, but haven't signed up. I would prefer a desktop application, or hybrid desktop/online type, but those seem thin on the ground. There are certainly a lot that come up when you run a general search, but the possibility of malware/spyware seems really high, so I've been perusing the results carefully. Help?!
eta: InkFrog would be fantastic, except the forums are riddled with reports of ongoing picture display issues and there's no way to use an external picture host, let alone eBay itself. So InkFrog a no go right now. >:(
1 In the forums...
Users: "Why doesn't this work?!"
eBay: "Our software is fully compatible with Windows 7."
Users: "No it isn't! See? Right here! Not working."
eBay: *silence*
Users: *waits*
eBay: *disappears*
Users: *indignant sputtering*
2 Vista install required SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Studio, which, fine, yay. Except the install hung, there were attempts to re-install, program removal, an attempt at manual install (figuring out which download to use at Microsoft, always fun), another removal via Windows this time, and finally a roll-back of the system to 6 hours earlier, re-downloading, and re-installing. Whereupon it hung again, but I was able (by luck) to end the right process in Task Manager without having to shut down Windows completely, and the install continued and, apparently, worked. As far as I could tell, anyway. By then it was past my bedtime, I'd had a headache most of the day, I hurt all over, and I was feeling mean.
Crossposted to Dreamwidth where there are
comments. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)