If you’ve not heard of the Auction Software Review website then you’re missing a trick. Whilst Tamebay’s own eBay & Ecommerce Tools & Services guide is a comprehensive guide to the utilities available, the Auction Software Review also carries user ratings, a forum, and a newsletter dedicated to the latest ecommerce software on the market. Today Andy Geldman tells how he founded the Auction Software Review and what it has to offer you:
I started selling on eBay in 2001 – mostly stuff cluttering up the house, although I also experimented for a short time with selling for profit. I have a background in software development and soon realised how important management and automation tools must be for volume sellers.
Originally I considered writing my own software and started researching the marketplace, but was surprised at just how much was already available – and this was back then in 2003, before even eBay had their own solutions directory. So I decided that rather than jumping on the bandwagon with another piece of software, there was more value in cataloguing and exploring what was already out there.
So the Auction Software Review has been running since 2003 – although it doesn’t feel like that long! For a short while it was a paid membership site with a CD of software sent out to new members – this was in the days when dial-up was still common so a CD was useful back then.
I soon realised it made more sense to be a free site supported by advertising, so made that change and scrapped the CD. A newsletter and forum were added later, and the directory has expanded and changed shape a great deal. But overall, the site has the same purpose as when it started – to help people selling at online marketplaces research and select the right software for them.
There’s a lot to choose from and different sellers have different needs, so the site can’t always make it easy, but I think it offers a lot of relevant information about software for selling on eBay, Amazon, PlayTrade, Etsy and others all in one place. Personally, I won’t be quitting the day job (still working in software!) but I enjoy running the site and watching this industry change and develop.
