Question
I thought this subject needed a new thread.
From MR's return to eBay selling thread, the below quotes were entered from Empires, dmhcollectibles and Joan, respectively.
Then reboot. Poster Toaster would work good for you though. Nice program too. Free....
gosh, I've tried probably 2 dozen different listing programs/sites, and have never had a problem figuring any of them out ... EXCEPT for Poster Toaster. I just cannot get the hang of that thing, and I've tried several times. Other people say it's easy, so maybe it's a mental block or some such, but I just can't get it to list anything!
I'm so glad you posted that. I downloaded it this morning and spent way more time than I'm going to admit trying to figure it out, which I never did.
It is certainly not intuitive and their help FAQ is laughable. I have now uninstalled it and say good riddance.
So, for the people who use the Poster Toaster and believe it is easy, can you explain the process for the ones having a difficult time?
I'm sure we'd all like to know how easy this Free Lister is.
Thanks,
Elizabeth Dale
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Bumping this because I just downloaded it this morning and can't figure it out either!
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Just a word to the wise...
After trying ANYTHING from Auctiva you might want to check your ebay settings to be sure they don't still have authorization to access your account....
JMO YMMV - I think those quotes above just about sum up the Auctiva/Poster Toaster experience...
Toasts the Poster.
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Don't tell me I'm actually not the only one who can't figure it out! I've been on their boards - the people there say I must be an idiot it's so easy to use - I've pulled my hair out, I've tried several different versions over the last few years, I've spend more hours than I would like, but I just can't figure it out.
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Originally Posted by dmhcollectibles
I've been on their boards - the people there say I must be an idiot it's so easy to use
Here's something you could say back to them...
lol
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But seriously, it would be a good topic to discuss here except for one problem. If you stay with Poster Toaster and need help from the Auctiva folks in the future you may regret that you've done so.
When I was a paying customer of Auctiva, if I EVER posted a question about Auctiva on a public board (here at here) it was made very clear to me that I was NEVER to do that and that I was only to ask questions on their private board. Unfortunately, anyone reading those private boards soon learned NOT to ask questions there because of the tone and criticism by several of the owners(?) there.
In contrast, Ebay might have incompetent customer service people, but they aren't usually cruel.
This is just my personal opinion...
Elaine
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oh, I don't use Poster Toaster, I've never been ableto, lol.
BTW, Poster Toaster and Auctiva are not the same people - PT and Shooting Star are related (and I'll never say a word against Shooting Star - what a great program!)
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Originally Posted by dmhcollectibles
BTW, Poster Toaster and Auctiva are not the same people - PT and Shooting Star are related (and I'll never say a word against Shooting Star - what a great program!)
Can you tell me more about Shooting Star? Does it pull the buyers address at the close of auction or would I have to type that in on each buyer record? Can you use Endicia with it? Does it have a lister and how well does it work? Thanks for your help....
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Well, it's "lister" - in quotes cuz I can't get it to work - is Poster Toaster. So 'nuff said on PT already. Shooting Star is a great post-closing management tool. It's right in the middle of a big re-work (upgrading) that is said to add a ton of new features, although I'm just fine with the features it has right now. The new release is expected shortly but not out yet, so I can't give any details ... and the only people who can use the old version are the ones who already have it.
I don't use Endicia so I don't know how that works, but lots of people here use SS so I'm sure someone will wander by.
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I'm very happy to help you folks with the Poster Toaster. It is a little tricky to get started with, but once you get it, you'll never go back. And if I figured it out, I'm sure most of you can make it sing Yankee Doodle.
Where should I start? Are you trying to set up the FTP settings? Importing batches from TL? Start from scratch?
I think it's probably best to do one or two from scratch, then when you do your import you'll know what you're looking at.
First thing is to set up the FTP, which the manual explains pretty well. If you're only using eBay's free picture, then you can skip that step.
I guess the next step is to get familiar with how to move around in the program. When you open it up, there are 4 windows. You can toggle them on and off with the three buttons that are down in the lower left.
The big green oval button opens two windows - the tree on the far left, (where you can store your ads into various folders,) and ads in the highlighted folder, listed in the middle window. You can sort by clicking on headers in the middle window.
The red button opens and closes the window on the upper right. This contains all the "fields" where you enter all the bare essentials. Note it is simple to change user IDs here. And you can fill in all the fields in your template, because it is very likely that your city and stuff will never change.
Fields that are green will not appear in your eBay ad unless you put them in the text - they're for your use only. "Cost" and "Consignor ID" are examples of fields you might use but not want the whole world to see.
Note there are two tabs at the top. One is "Detail" and one is "User Defined Fields." Only worry about the "Detail" right now. UDF's are for later. I don't actually even use them, but I could if I wanted. My auctions are pretty simple though.
Finally, the actual listing is created in the lower right window, which is toggled on and off using the yellow button. There are two tabs at the bottom of that window. "Edit" is a WYIWYG editor. "HTML" is for those of you who do your own HTML.
Two very cool things here: If you host your own pictures, and use them in the the text of your auction, you can insert a picture from your hard drive using the yellow button at the top of the "Edit" menu. When you upload yor item to eBay, The Poster Toaster (TPT) will automatically send your picture to your webspace and fix the link so that eBay is linking to your webspace, and not your harddrive.
The other thing is that you can preview your listing by clicking the paper with the magnifying glass icon. I've used TPT for a year or so and I just found that out.
Is everybody with me? Is this helpful at all???
Wait wait wait - before you go setting up your templates though, you'll want to figure out "Template Tags." Those make inserting (and changing) your boilerplate text such a snap you'll be amazed.
I think I should do that in another post before this one gets too long though. Plus i want to be sure somebody is actually reading this.
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Originally Posted by goodworks1
Just a word to the wise...
After trying ANYTHING from Auctiva you might want to check your ebay settings to be sure they don't still have authorization to access your account....
JMO YMMV - I think those quotes above just about sum up the Auctiva/Poster Toaster experience...
Toasts the Poster.
Auctiva isn't related to The Poster Toaster. TPT is a step-sister to Shooting Star, which I've never used. I'm a garage sale seller, so it wouldn't behoove me to pay a monthly fee for an auction management service.
But I do miss the days when they were free.