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Around three years ago we hit a major plateau in our reselling business. We wanted to scale our eBay store but couldn’t figure out to do it. We were already sourcing and listing what felt like constantly.
In reality, my wife and I were working far more hours on eBay than we had at our full-time jobs. Sure, the ability to set our own hours was great but not when we had to work 60 hours a week.
At the end of the day, it was eBay that helped us out. They gave us a 3-day listing suspension because they thought we had listed a fake Dooney & Bourke bag (it turned out to be real and we had just misspelled the name in the title).
During those three days, we realized that, if we wanted to do this reselling thing long-term we would either have to hire someone or automate a part of our business. We just didn’t have enough time to do everything there was to do.
The Solution To Endless Listing On eBay & Poshmark
If you’re looking for a cross-listing app I’m willing to be you’re in the same boat that we were in. You’re either looking to make more money or, protect your business by diversifying.
We decided that we’d accomplish both of those things by subscribing to a cross-listing app.
We’d get more eyes on our listings and if we were even suspended again (knock on wood) we’d still be able to make sales on other platforms.
When it comes to cross-listing apps for resellers there are really only two options: Vendoo and List Perfectly. Since they differ in cost, style, and abilities we thought that we’d test both and stick with the one we liked more. We ended up maintaining both subscriptions for a year or so before making a decision.
So which is the best?
For sellers who want to cross-post more than 25 items per month, List Perfectly offers a better value. They have a better listing flow, support more platforms, and excellent customer support.
Moreover, you can use our coupon code “Reseller” when checking out on List Perfectly to get 30% off your first month!
However, they are people who are firmly entrenched in each camp. So let’s look at how List Perfectly and Vendoo work and what a cross-listing app can do for your business.
What Vendoo & List Perfectly Do
Both Vendoo and List Perfectly are, at their heart, copy-and-paste machines. They are able to take the info from one of your listings on Platform A and transfer it into a new listing on Platform B (that’s an oversimplification as they both offer inventory management features and more but it will suffice for now).
The way that both go about it is rather different but the idea is the same. To expedite what used to be a manual process.
Before we tried a cross-listing app it would take us 2-3 minutes to crosspost one of our eBay items to Mercari. We would have to save each picture, copy and paste the title and then the description, and fill out the price, filters, and shipping. Laborious.
With List Perfectly the process took us about 1/4 the time. Vendoo was slightly slower.
I use the term “app” here loosely as neither of them is truly an app like you’d have on your phone. They are both technically Web Apps that use a browser extension to pull and fill data.
Because of this, neither of them is a completely automated solution (as bots aren’t allowed on any of the selling platforms) They still require your input to list items and to end them but just do it much faster than you could manage without them.
In the year we used them we figured that we saved around 100 hours of time and make thousands of extra dollars.
Obviously, your own results will depend on a variety of factors (and we’ll address those later) but most people will be able to grow their business by choosing one or the other.
Vendoo vs List Perfectly: The Conclusion First
We gave each option a fair shake and didn’t really dislike either of them. However, when we sat down to decide which one to keep, the results were fairly obvious.
This is how it shook out:
- Cost: List Perfectly
- Listing Flow: List Perfectly
- Glitches, Crashes, and Updates: Tie
- Customer Service: Tie
- Community: List Perfectly
Now, which one wins out for you will likely depend on your specific situation and listing style. However, most people we’ve talked to have come to the same conclusion (meaning they get List Perfectly).
The In-Depth Comparison
Now, before we dive into the specifics of each app, it’s beneficial for you to know exactly how we use them to know where we’re coming from (and if you’re from the same place).
We have been selling on eBay for almost 6 years (full-time for four years) and currently have about 1700 items active.
eBay is our main squeeze followed by Mercari and then Poshmark. We consider ourselves primarily to be eBay sellers and mainly rely on others to move old inventory, increase our daily sales, and not be totally reliant on the ever-changing gorilla that eBay has become.
We list 2-300 items per month and average $10-12,000 a month in sales.
Since we started crossposting our items onto other platforms we have sold almost 500 items on our “bonus platforms” (which is around 15% of our total sales during that time).
Despite our focus on eBay, we cross-post about 75% of our items. So, hopefully, cross-listing over 1,000 items with each app will give us a good idea of which is better.
Here are the areas we felt were important and how the List Perfectly vs Vendoo competition ended up for each:
Vendo/List Perfectly: Cost
List Perfectly and Vendoo have very different pricing models which make it difficult to compare them directly. The best way to do this (in my opinion) is to compare two levels: the base level you’ll need to get going and the set-up that we find most useful.
List Perfectly is the most straightforward and offers three levels: Simple, Business, and Pro.
Vendoo has some base levels and then several different “add-ons” which have to be purchased separately.
Best For Starting Out: If you are serious about building your store, the cheapest option on List Perfectly will set you back $29 per month. While you get way more for the price (unlimited posting, access to 11 platforms, etc) there is no doubt that is a bit more expensive than Vendoo’s lowest tier.
Best For Full-Time Sellers: For the majority of resellers we recommend the middle tier of List Perfectly. At a cost of $49/month, it’s worth it even for most medium-sized sellers. However, there’s no need to spend money if you don’t need all of the features it comes with. Here’s how the two compare at this level:
List Perfectly (Business) | Vendoo (Level 4) | |
---|---|---|
Cross-Listings | Unlimited | 600 |
Marketplaces | 13 | 10 |
Image Resizing? | Yes | Yes |
Image Hosting? | Yes | Yes |
Multiple Account Posting? | Yes | No |
Total Cost | $49.00 | $49.99 |
To get a comparable level of perks on Vendoo you could subscribe to their add-on package which would set you back $11.99/month. This would get you access to all of the platforms they offer, the ability to delist/relist, and the option to import your existing listings.
For nearly all full-time resellers, List Perfectly is more economical. The more listings you have, the more economical List Perfectly becomes. For example, 4,000 items per month would cost you either $49 or $69 on List Perfectly (depending on the features you want) but would be $149.99 on Vendoo (or $161.98 with addons).
Winner: List Perfectly
Vendoo/List Perfectly: Listing Flow
We had a very specific listing flow so it’s no surprise that we wanted an app that would fit in with what we were already doing.
While you can use either app quite similarly, here’s the most effective way we’ve found to use them:
Vendoo
All of the listings that you do on Vendoo take place within their website. You upload your pictures and item details into their catalog and then choose what platform(s) to post it on. Once you choose a platform it will ask you for additional details required by that platform. After entering the few things needed, you can hit list and your item will be posted. You can then choose the next platform to post the item on, all without ever leaving the site.
I don’t like it.
While some people appreciate this approach, it always felt very much like a bot to me and I would always go and check the listing after it was posted.
The other issue this brings up is that you need to import all of your existing listings into the Vendoo catalog. To do this, you’ll have to purchase the Import add-on for $4.99/month to get all of your current listings available to cross-list.
The advantage of having your items in a catalog is that it becomes extremely easy to end your items across multiple platforms or to delist/relist them (assuming you spend $4.99 for the Delist & Relist add-on).
List Perfectly
While List Perfectly does have a catalog to which you can add items, it is a bit more versatile.
We are extremely familiar with eBay’s listing flow and are fast with it. We have templates and typically copy and paste a good portion of the description. In other words, we just prefer to list on eBay.
Once we have an item listed we can click it and choose what platforms to copy the listing to. List Perfectly will then open a new listing on the other platform and copy over all of the information.
One of List Perfectly’s best features is the bulk crosspost feature. You can select as many listings at once as you want (as long as your computer can process them). We usually cross-list our items at the end of the day which means we select 15-20 at once and we haven’t had any problems.
Winner: List Perfectly (because it works with our flow)
Vendoo/List Perfectly: Glitches, Crashes, and Updates
Both Vendoo and List Perfectly are fairly new companies that are rapidly expanding. With rapid growth comes some snags and foibles. While both of the apps are fully functional, there are some annoying issues you might face.
Vendoo
While they seem to be getting rarer with every update, we’ve had past issues with Vendoo. Namely, we have timeout errors when trying to list something, and (twice) we’ve had items double-listed.
List Perfectly
Our main issue with List Perfectly is that we are somehow always signed out of the extension. Even when we try to get it to remember us. This necessitates visiting the website, signing in there, and then opening the extension again. Annoying but not a huge problem.
Both apps are steadily improving. However, as they both strive to add additional platforms and outperform the other I would expect additional issues to crop up (and be dealt with) in the future.
Winner: Tie
Vendoo/List Perfectly: Customer Support
I won’t throw either company under the bus here. Both List Perfectly and Vendoo really try with their customer service and social media and I haven’t had issues with either that remained unaddressed.
Some people have had issues with Vendoo, claiming that they have been slow or unhelpful but that hasn’t been our experience. They actively seek our feedback, regularly have giveaways and contests, and respond quickly to chats.
I’ve only dealt with List Perfectly’s customer service twice but both times my issue was solved within 24 hours.
The reality is, you probably won’t need customer service from either company. Their products will just do the job you need and most questions can be answered with a quick search of their tutorials.
Winner: Tie
Vendoo/List Perfectly: Community
We’re the type to just run into a problem headfirst and try to figure it out by ourselves. At least I am. My wife, not so much. However, most people (thankfully) aren’t much like us. If you’re the type that values a community and wants to work with like-minded people you might want a community around your chosen product.
Both Vendoo and List Perfectly offer significant support groups on both Instagram and Facebook. Which you find more useful is really up to you. However, we have found the most useful information and support from List Perfectly’s Facebook group (which is much larger than Vendoo’s).
List Perfectly Social Media
- Facebook Group (9.8k members)
- Instagram (24.4k followers)
- Alternative Instagram (3.6k followers)
Vendoo Social Media
- Facebook Page (4.0k members)
- Instagram (42.3k followers)
Winner: Tie
My Experience After Using Both
When it comes down to it, both List Perfectly and Vendoo will do what you need them to do. If only one of them was on the market I would use it and be content.
However, having used both, I prefer to use List Perfectly and that is the subscription I’ll be keeping.
I will say that List Perfectly has a three-day trial period during which you can cross-list 20 items and still cancel for a full refund. So, if you’re on the fence, start there!
Are Cross-Listing Apps Worth It?
I’ll just come out and say it, for most beginner sellers, cross-listing apps are not worth it.
If you are simply a part-time seller that isn’t actively trying to grow your business you might be better off saving your money and sticking with a single platform.
If you are trying to grow a large reselling business or have hundreds of listings, however, a cross-listing app can be a huge time-saving money-maker.
In my opinion, 100 listings active would be the absolute soonest I would consider investing in a cross-listing app. Any fewer than that and you probably won’t make enough money to justify paying for a subscription and dealing with multiple platforms.
However, if you are extremely committed to taking your reselling seriously and plan to build up to hundreds or thousands of listings, starting to cross-list from the beginning can save you a headache later.
You’ll have to decide what works best for your business!
Conclusion:
Whichever you choose be sure to take full advantage of the sign-up discounts that you get through our link and, if it’s not for you, be sure to end your subscription while you’re still within the free trial period.
–> List Perfectly 30% Off Your First Month
Whichever you choose, good luck and happy sales!