| All of the tools mentioned so far perform similar functions, primarily the automation of end-of-auction customer communication. But you don't have to limit your communication with customers to that short period right after an auction ends; smart eBay sellers mine their customer lists to generate repeat sales from their auction customers. Have similar items to sell? Have a new product available? Having a big sale? Then email your previous customers and let them know ”it's a cheap and easy way to increase your revenues . After all, the customer names you have on hand are known buyers ; it's cheaper to sell more merchandise to an existing customer than it is to find a new one. Several companies have entered into the advanced customer management business. We'll look at three of these tools next . ndale Email Manager ndale Email Manager (www. andale .com) is a new tool that helps you manage all your incoming customer emails, store important customer information, and then use that customer information to generate future mailings . Email Manager is an email plug-in that is compatible with Microsoft Outlook; it automatically sorts your eBay- related correspondence into Outlook folders, and extracts and stores customer history information. It also includes reusable templates you can use to respond to buyers, or to generate future correspondence. Cost is $5.95 per month. Vendio Customer Manager Vendio Customer Manager (www.vendio.com) is similar to ndale Email Manager in that it filters and sorts all your incoming eBay-related emails. It also includes templates you can use to create bulk customer mailings. In addition, Customer Manager stores and tracks your customers' transaction history, including a generated "customer rating." It integrates with Vendio Sales Manager to better manage all your auction-related correspondence. Vendio Customer Manager is Web-based, so you can access it from any computer, at any time. Pricing plans are typically complex, starting at $3.95 per month for 200 outbound emails and going up to $39.95 per month for 10,000 messages. "Mike Sez"  | If you receive a ton of eBay-related emails (including end-of-auction notices), ndale Email Manager will more than pay for itself in terms of convenience, if nothing else. |
HammerTap BayMail Pro HammerTap BayMail Pro (www.hammertap.com/baymailpro/) is a unique program that lets you send email to any eBay user or group of users, even if you don't know their email address. It's a good program to check out if you intend to mass market your merchandise to other eBay users. As you can see in Figure 15.3, all you have to know to send an email with BayMail Pro is the user's eBay user ID. BayMail Pro automatically retrieves lists of user IDs directly from eBay. You can use BayMail Pro to create mailing lists of users, or to bulk email all the bidders in your current auctions. The program costs $14.99. Figure 15.3. Use BayMail Pro to send bulk email to other eBay members .  | 