Question
Have been looking closely at CA Pro and I wanted to hear from some of you that use it. This is the 3rd forum I've posted this in and so far, I've had replies from 2 people that use CA. Now I KNOW there have to be more than that out there.
Can ebay auctions/store listings be imported or do I have to move each one myself?
Is there a storefront with the PRO level of Channel Advisor?
IMPORTANT!!! Please bear in mind that I'm pretty computer illiterate when you answer the next question.
How bad is the learning curve? I've already ruled out MW and Zoovy just due to reading threads about how steep the curve is.
What about downtime?
Will it handle more than one ebay id?
Thanks for any and all information about CA.
Jo
Answer
Can ebay auctions/store listings be imported or do I have to move each one myself?
Yes, they can be imported.
Is there a storefront with the PRO level of Channel Advisor?
Yes, but not as good as others out there. CA focuses more on the auctions than on their storefront. Here is link to ours and WYSIWYG. The Bees Knees
IMPORTANT!!! Please bear in mind that I'm pretty computer illiterate when you answer the next question.
If you're pretty pc illiterate, then you may not like my answer.
How bad is the learning curve? I've already ruled out MW and Zoovy just due to reading threads about how steep the curve is.
I consider myself pc literate and found the learning curve simple. But then so did I with the other services you mentioned. So, I'm not sure my answer helps. Maybe others with less pc experience can share their view here. (I think that came out wrong and it wasn' meant as an insult to anyone.)
What about downtime?
Will it handle more than one ebay id?
Almost zero downtime, they announce in advance (on their site and in emails) all scheduled maintenance events. That however, does not impact your current running auctions/listings, just your ability access their site and work. These are generally done late at night to minimize inconvienence.
No, one user ID per account. But they support eBay, eBay Motors, eBay Motors Fixed Price, eBay Stores/Fixed Price, Overstock Auctions, Amazon Auctions, and Yahoo Auctions. So there may be a work around, but their support staff can better answer this.
Pictures you upload and use in auctions are maintained on their site and cannot be used for things other than the auction sites they support. (See above list.) They are not an image hosting company for other personal uses.
Here is a link to their discussion board and you'll find useful information there. I would recommend reading before you sign up. http://pro.channeladvisor.com/Forums/
Thanks for any and all information about CA.
Your welcome And we have been with them from the beginning (remember Auction Rover?) and were grandfathered in on the price fees, but their current rates are still good and beat out (some) of their competitors. While a few times they have been *trying* (you can find a few of our rant posts on their discussion boards), we feel for the price and features they can't be beat.
Note that other sites have more/less/different features, so you should make a list of what you want in a auction hosting company and go from there.
One of the common complaints I notice is that they have a limited number/variety of templates to choose from and have no plans (in the forseeable future) to add more. However, you can create your own and if you are pc illiterate that may be a major task. There are great peeps there that will help you create your own personal template(s), which you then save on their site and reuse when needed.
Here is a link to their enhancements thread. While long, it will give you an idea of what users are asking for and what their service lacks. Consolidated Wish List
They are great at answering support help emails, but they don't regularly monitor their discussion boards on the weekends. So use the email support feature when in a hurry for a reply.
If you have specific questions, we would be glad to answer them.
Answer
I too have been with CA since the old original days when they were free, and I also am grandfathered in at a reasonable price. I agree completely with everything beesknees said...but would emphasize strongly that CA is just about as reliable an online site as I have ever seen .... it's rock solid and has only been down once (that wasn't a planned maintenance thing) that I recall in more than five years.
Answer
Thank you both!!! That's really good to hear.
Bees, I finally called CA today and they told me they will NOT import my listings into CA if I use the Pro level. I'll have to do each one myself.
The CA sales rep also said there is no storefront with the PRO level.
Already have template made so that wouldn't be a problem.
The CA person I spoke with told me that the PRO only has email support. That's not an issue really if it's pretty quick support.
It's just me so I don't need a whole lot of hoopla, just a little more than I have now. I want to connect my merchant account so that ebay buyers can use it themselves rather than having to call me as they do now.
Still mulling this one over.
Appreciate the replies!
Jo
Answer
Thank you both!!! That's really good to hear.
Bees, I finally called CA today and they told me they will NOT import my listings into CA if I use the Pro level. I'll have to do each one myself.
Sorry, I must have misunderstood your question. By import I meant that when you have auctions/fixed price listings running on the sites they support, they do have an import feature to bring your auctions across and into their site (your account) to manage them from there. But as far as FTPing or CSVing files, no they don't have that feature.
Here is the feature they offer:
Automatic Open Auction Import
Select the checkbox if you want ChannelAdvisor Pro to automatically import your open auctions and fixed price auction listings. Every time you visit your Open Auctions view or the Fixed Price view, your auctions will be imported if at least three hours have passed since the last import.
You can then manage them from the CA Pro site as if you originally created them there from scratch.
The CA sales rep also said there is no storefront with the PRO level.
I have to beg the differ (or maybe we are using different terms here), but we have CA Pro and the link I provided earlier is to the storefront and auction gallery. Store front. You can purchase items and checkout from there. We currently offer PayPal, Money Orders, and Personal Check as forms of payment. You could have/offer the Credit Card option also. We did use ProPay, but that's a different subject for discussion.
Here is what that feature ofers:
What tabs do you want to display on your ChannelAdvisor Shop?
--- Enable the "My Auction Gallery" tab to show your open listings on the eBay, Amazon or Yahoo Auctions Marketplaces.
--- Enable the "My Store" tab so that I can post my own fixed price listings for buyers to purchase.
The CA person I spoke with told me that the PRO only has email support.
Yes, and their Discussion Board is a great FAQ resource and they also reply to questions and assistance asked there. But correct, the email support is their *proper* way to ask for assistance and what they prefer you to use.
Answer
At the risk of sounding like a cheerleader for CA Pro, I'd like to add a bit more detail about their email support - in more than five years I have only had to ask 2 questions through the support email system. That's how steady the site is. And, I got answers (that were responsive and professional) within 2 hours of sending both emails to them.
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I use them and have since the beginning -
Email support - only used a couple of times and they answered really quick. The had to talk me through something stupid that I had done and even though it was with email - it was easy and quick.
Downtime - they were down once in 2004 for a very short amount of time - I didn't even notice till they told me in an email) and they gave EVERYONE a credit for thier account.
As for the learning curve - I found most of it very simple and I am NOT good with this stuff. Anything that you need help with, the boards over there are great.
Or you can ask here
They give referral credits so if you learned about them from someone, it would be nice to go back and use a link from thier auctions to sign up - its only 5.00 but still.
Good luck with your decision.
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I've also been with CA since the Rover days. I agree with everyone else.
I find it very easy to use and especially like their invoices. I do not use their checkout and have noticed some complaints about the checkout on the discussion boards.
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I am a past user of CA and I did love it.
But, if you list lots of items it is very expensive. I didn't get the lower fees some had when I joined and to list 2000 items in my store and on auction each month (I sell one of a kind postcards and lps) it would cost over $100 and for the 5000 I will be running in a few months it would be triple that.
So, when the fee hikes were announced (going from $29.95 to over $100 per month for what I had at that time) I had to find an alternative.
I went with Auctionsage and have found it to be the easiest and best around.
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Bees, you and I are talking about the same things. Evidently the only one giving out bad information was the Indiana rep for CA! Now that's a shame! She let me know right away that she deals with the next level up and in a way, I kind of felt like I was the "cheap date" and she wasn't very interested in talking to me.
YOU have given me TONS more information than she did and based on what you're showing me, she hadn't a clue what she was talking about. Frankly, when I got done talking to her, the only benefit I could see from CA Pro was the cc integration. NOW that you've shown me all this other stuff, it's back in the running again. I had pretty much decided it wasn't going to be worth it because of all the time involved.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to show me all the stuff you did. I can't begin to tell you how I appreciate it.
And to the rest of you that responded, your replies are greatly appreciated too. Makes me feel a whole lot more secure than I did talking to that rep.
SCOTT WINGO? ARE YOU LISTENING OUT THERE??? Beesknees, may have just made a sale for you that your own rep lost.
Going to be out of town for a bit next week so I'm not doing anything until I return.
I'll never have thousands of items listed. Mine are all unique and it's just me so I will never take it to that level. But I can see some growth happening and hopefully continuing to happen. I can see maybe having to upgrade the CA somewhere down the road. Who knows?
But again, thanks to you all I feel much better about all this! And really glad to know that if I get into trouble (and I will. It's a given!) I can holler for help and get some here too.
Jo