Evaluating Auction Management Tools

When it comes to auction management tools, there's a lot to choose from. And, while it might be tempting to mix and match different tools from different providers (use this site's lister and that site's checkout), the better bet is to settle on a single service for all your auction needs. While mixing tools and providers is not impossible, at best it's awkward and at worst it's extremely impractical. For example, while you could use Ándale Lister to create your listings and Vendio Sales Manager for your post-auction management, these tools don't work well together. A much tighter integration is possible when you use tools from the same serviceusing both Ándale Lister and Ándale Checkout, for example, or employing Vendio Sales for the entire process.

Comparing these different services is a little like comparing apples and jelly beans. That's because some services offer their tools in a single package at a single price, while others offer a menu of different choices, with a la carte pricing. In addition, some services offer a flat monthly price, while others offer different tiers of pricingand still others offer variable rate pricing based on the number of transactions you make or the final selling price.

As you can see, the price you pay varies wildly from one site to another. Which service is best depends on the services you need, your expected volume, and the average price of the items you sell. In general, a flat-fee service such as ChannelAdvisor or inkFrog is best if you have a high volume of sales, while a variable-rate site like Ándale or Vendio is best if you have a lower sales volume or if your sales tend to vary from month to month. Watch out for those sites, such as Ándale, that price each of their tools separately; a few dollars here and a few dollars there add up fast.

Of course, you don't necessarily get the same level of service at each site, even if pricing is similar. Some sites are simply better than others, especially when it comes to handling large volumes of transactions. For example, while Auctiva is completely free and inkFrog is just $9.95 per month, their levels of service are somewhat Spartan when compared to a ChannelAdvisor or Vendio; it may not be up for the task if you pump through a lot of transactions.

For that reason alone, it pays to look at each service in depthand to use any free trial provided to get a feel for how each site works. I'll do my bit by detailing the top auction management sites separately, in the following sections.