Forum

Auctane Shipping Manager Multiple Accts
 

Has anyone tried setting up Auctane Shipping Mgr with multiple ste*alth accts? I want to use this with multiple accts cause it is hands down the best shiiping tool but afraid it will link accts.

http://www.aspkin.com/forums/ebay-to...g-manager.html

Guess you might be a pioneer on here.

Auctane Shipping Manager | The Auction Software Review

Bottom line of the company's comments says 'use all your ebay accounts with one subscription'.
Not defined well enough to confirm/deny linking?
Hmmmm. Been around a few years too

I spoke to their tech and he says once you have all your accounts set up the sales get pulled down by their server from all acounts so there is no linking. Problem is when you add new accounts it has to switch over to the other account for login and verification. I sent them an email to see if there is a workaround. This is easily the best mail app for use in the states so I would like to keep using it.

Covers amazon as well.

Wonder what the snag could be?

Tries not to wear a pessimist hat.

:brushteeth:

Since this topic is new & you are bothering to explore options, I've stickied the thread.

Maybe we have a new tool to use

The snag is that when you want to add your multiple secondary stealth accounts the app has to log into each account and add the 3rd party authorization (in myebay... account, site preferences, general preferences, 3rd party auths). This is so that the Auctane server has the priveleges to pull the orders from each of your accounts.

So running it is not the problem - setting it up is since it tries to add the authorization by logging into the secondary acct FROM within the primary acct - hence both accts will be logged into under the same IP.

I have a call in with tech support if there is a workaround but it doesnt look hopeful.

I am still researching order processing/postage software but cant find any that 100% meets my needs... which are:

- one price for any # of ebay accts (of course)
- pulls all orders from all your accts
- must provide usps first-class international postage (eb/pp dont have this)
- displays pricing for each mail class in one simple view
- runs without linking ebay accts (stealth worthy)
- auto uploads tracking info back into ebay

nice to haves:

- upic insurance not lloyds of london bull**** insurance
- express1 deep discounted usps postage
- integration with Fedex and/or dhl
- pull orders from paypal, amazon, bonanza
- doesnt run like a slow dog on 3 legs
- no lag in pulling down new orders

OK so am having a look at Teapplix. They have a lite version as a built in ebay app called Teapplix Tship. I remember looking at this couple of years ago and was way more impressed with Auctanes ease-of-use. Doesnt do Fedex just usps and ups.

They also have a heavy duty version that has all the bells and whistles noted in the above post plus Amazon integration and other channels as well. Nice thing is it is easy on the wallet - only one license is needed for multiple channels as long as you keep it to under 1000 labels/mo (it does say 1000 - my gut tells me this is a typo and is prolly 100/mo.)


Of course nothing is perfect... the lowpoints are it uses Endicia Dazzle :eek: to format the labels which is the most God-awful software ever written. It briefly mentioned stamps.com so there might be a workaround which is good since I would rather go to the dentist than hassle with Dazzle.

Lastly it uses Lloyds of London Shipsurance which will age you rapidly if you partake. I dont get it since Endicia integrates with the better upic insurance. Oh well time to fire up the free trial and see what happens.

Sweet... don`t have to use Dazzle. :clap: It integrates directly with both Endicia or Stamps.com thru API to their server.....and Express1 as well. Setting up stealth ebay accts is a breeze. So only obstacle is the insurance but fortunately both Stamps.com and Endicia use upic so you can go directly there for those risky shipments to French Algerians. :thumb:

I have to get some orders now to put it thru its paces but so far I would say this is a clear winner. Forgot to mention... even has Quickbooks integration if you want to roll that way.

A very good friend of mine and EXPERT Stealther uses Teapplix Tship and he LOVES it, Raves about it

Been using Teapplix about a week now. Its powerful but very quirky. Things that were so easy and intuitive in Auctane are tedious in Teapplix. Seemingly simple things it cannot do easily. You can get things done but you have to know alot of workarounds. For instance I dont want to email the buyer with shipping confirmations from Teapplix since they get one from ebay anyway. Sounds simple, right? Cant be done! Workaround is to delete the email address in the order.

It was so easy to reprint labels in Auctane as they were just saved as pdfs. Cant be done easily in Teapplix. Get this - you have to issue an RMA in order to be able to reprint a label.

It doesnt show you the rates for all the services, you have to go into each service to get the rate. Auctane shows all rates together for a package type so you can easily choose the best rate.

So like I said before, there is no magic bullet for integrated order mgt/shipping software (at a decent price point anyway). Teapplix works but it will make you feel like taking a baseball bat to the guy that designed it. :smash:

So just a quick update to kind of summarize the findings:

IMPORTANT: There is no one app that has everything you want and of course everyones needs are different so do your own further research.

These are the major players I could find. If I missed one of your favs by all means please update us!

1)Auctane (ebay app)- DOES NOT SUPPORT STEALTH!
2)Shipstation - Qualified Best app. The reason is pricing. If you only have 1 sales channel (like only ebay, OR only amazon, OR only paypal, etc.) this is an unbeatable deal. $25/mo and includes a free endicia acct. This app is extremely intuitive and well-written. Their support is top-notch. Highly recommended for up to 2 sales channels (say ebay and amazon). The problem is the fee ratchets up quickly as you add more sales channels. So if money is no option and you have over 2 channels by all means take a look. I use 4 channels: ebay, amazon, paypal, google wallet. So for the volume I do the $85/mo fee would not be worth it. If you are a large player with multiple warehouses go for it!
3)Shipworks - NOT OPTIMAL FOR STEALTH!! The reason being that the order db is on your local PC. Therefore the client software must log into all your ebay accounts for example and pull your orders down. So either it is going to link you or else you have to change your ip and pull your orders one by one. No thanks.
4)Teapplix - Runner-up. Licensed by shipping volume not channels (unless you go over 1000 labels/mo) so it is the best choice for low/medium volume shops using many sales channels. So for $30/mo I can support my configuration of 4 sales channels. The software is quirky, not as intuitive or user-friendly as Shipstation but does integrate with Quickbooks if that is important to you.
5)Stamps.com/Endicia.com These are basic no-frills softwares for USPS only. At $15/mo for the lowest published fee this might be for you if you are on a tight budget or dont use other shippers. Anyway you will probably have to buy one of these services to integrate USPS postage into your platform of choice. I will say they are constantly improving the client software so in time it might be viable. Right now I dont think it is robust enough for anything other than very small operators. It often takes forever to see new orders show up in the listing.

Does Auctane offer the same price as ebay does for 1st class shipping? I know it says -20% then USPS and I hope it comes with free tracking on top of it.
(k screw it, not good with stealths I just read).

There was another website I read about on here that also lets you reply to emails to customers for $20 a month I believe.

So many services out there. I think Aspkin should just build a website for us all lol. That would be perfect for stealth accounts! :) Charge a flat rate and $1 per account per month. :)

Just saying....

ebay doesnt do first-class international as far as I know. Thats partially why I dont use ebay/paypal shipping.

I have 1st class international on ebay I just paid for it like 2 hours ago for a Canadian customer!

That might be Inkfrog? If so, I didnt review it as it is known mainly as a lister. If anyone can add info about shipping with Inkfrog it would be helpful.

Sign me up!! :clap:

No not inkfrog another company and they got some kind of a V3 and V4 system or something like that.

They do up to 20 accounts I think it was and you can reply and print. So it's good!

I read it on the forums here.

Ahhh... now I remember... you cant insure it thru them. And then I am positive paypal doesnt offer FCI. But to answer your question... you get slightly better discounts printing outside of ebay on most classes of priority and express mail because other software integrates with Express1. Average discount for like a 3 pound package is about .50 better outside of ebay (of course depends on class and zones). So depending on your volume the discounts can be sizable - especially if shipping is a profit center for you. ebay is trying its darndest to get their grubby hands on that profit thru the GlobalShip program - but thats another topic for another day.

Besides, unless things have changed, doing a return label on ebay was enough to make you look elsewhere.

Anyway, it might be a decent option for you if you only sell on ebay and dont mind logging into each account for printing labels. My label printer is hooked up to a pc that isnt stealth-worthy so its a non-starter for me. :ballchain:

Oh geez... PushAuction. It`s also basically a lister. Anyway, it`s a dead-end for stealthers since they charge $15 per ebay-id. So if you run 10 stealths it`s $150/mo. And support is non-existent (unless you speak chinese).

I do about 80 to 150 orders per month. If top rated seller then 125+ if not then 80 to 90 per month. I plan on getting 20 stealth accounts running.

I will get outlook for emails to check orders and know what accounts and so on but if it starts taking up too much time I'll have to get something else for sure.

Yeah, so like I said, there is no magic software out there that does everything you want. :smash: You have to pick and choose carefully taking your requirements into account.

Maybe that will change once Aspkin rolls out the integrated stealth assistant software version 1.0.

He should put it in the next stealth booklet! :)

Or he should start a website with everything we require! :)

OK, so here is an interesting tidbit. Was looking into Inkfrog today. Guess what? The `Smartshipping` function they have is actually Auctane integrated into their system.

This raises a couple of points worth mentioning.

1) Auctane is a REALLY user-friendly shipping software for USPS only. Somehow the Inkfrog integration avoids the accounts being linked when dropping your ebay tokens. I will have to see this in action on a trial account but I assume the tokens get dropped by the inkfrog server and not your client as happens when you use the real Auctane. So this is the workaround for avoiding linking when using Auctane!! AND it only costs $5/mo more and you get all the other Inkfrog crap thrown in. THIS IS A GREAT DEAL!

2) Of course there is no free lunches.... With real Auctane you get 1 master account with subs for your other ebay accts. This means you only fund postage into the primary and the subs feed off of it.

However, it appears in the Inkfrog version all the ebay accts are handled as separate Auctane master accts. This means postage has to be funded separately in each acct. For Stamps.com the minimum postage you can buy is $25 a pop. So for alot of stealths you could have alot of funds tied up in postage. If you dont need FCM or regional rate priority you could just use Express1 for postage which takes a $10 minimum deposit instead.

The other thing I dont know yet is if the Stamps.com account is free. :noidea: With real Auctane you have to pay $15/mo for the Stamps.com account. If it is free, this makes it an even better deal than originally thought. I will have to play with the trial and report back.

Oh man so many things to watch out for. Ebay should just let us have stealth accounts if we arn't ripping off people! And put like 30 day hold on the money with paypal. So there would be no risk really. Their rules are so lame, they only make money off of you with 1 account some on here got like 5 to 30 or 100 even. So ebay makes 5 to 100 times that money back. Why should they worry? They are so lame! I swear.

I had emailed you a way of doing it easier. :) Just read it and there you go.