Happy 20th Anniversary!

 How is it that twenty years can seem like a really short amount of time and a really long amount of time simultaneously? It was about twenty years ago that Vendio was born. The company was called AuctionWatch back then, and the original vision was to support the growth and expansion of auction marketplaces. Remember Yahoo Auctions? How about Amazon Auctions? Times sure have changed. We started with basic services like counters and image hosting, and then added the ability to list auctions through our service. Still called AuctionWatch, we even had an appearance on Oprah!

A few years later in April of 2003 we changed our name to Vendio Services Inc. and started adding additional services like customer manager and image watermarking. In 2004 we launched the Vendio Gallery, which remains one of our most popular services to this day. During this time (before Facebook had become the social communication method that most people used) the Vendio community message boards were busy. Sellers were rapidly trading tips and ideas with each other on how to succeed selling online, making friends, and in some cases arguing about politics. It was the frontier of selling online and the message boards helped a diverse group of people connect, vent frustrations, survive, and thrive.

In 2007 we welcomed the Andale customers to Vendio, and in 2009 we released a new version of our services. Auctions were still an important part of business for most sellers, but it was clear the focus was moving toward fixed price sales. With the new version of our services we started supporting Amazon and helping sellers with inventory management. Using the best parts of the old Andale and Vendio services, Vendio Platform was born. Once the new platform was live, we started moving sellers over from the Andale service. This did not go well. However we learned from our mistakes and made adjustments and improvements as quickly as we could. To this day many of our customers have been with us since they came over with Andale, where some had started selling many years before.

As the years went by we continued to update our services to help sellers navigate the ever changing landscape of selling online. Keeping up with eBay changes is difficult on its own, but we also continued to improve our other services. The Vendio store service was added for sellers that want more independence in their business. The ability to have inventory quantity adjusted across marketplaces when an item sells was a huge improvement. It opened up the doors of opportunity to selling in multiple channels without making endless manual adjustments while hoping to avoid overselling. We removed services where it was appropriate (does anyone remember Sales Manager Business Edition)? And added and improved on existing services constantly.

Through the years our parent company has changed. We are part of MoreCommerce now, with sibling companies as part of the family (Auctiva, Singlefeed, Storenvy, Dot&Bo, PickPerfect). This gives us the support that we need to set our customers up for success. We are lucky to be part of a larger family that supports us and understands our vision and the needs of our customers.

The vision of helping sellers easily sell across multiple marketplaces continues. Recently we added support for importing items from Etsy, and soon we will release full Etsy support. There are also more big new features in the works this year, but why ruin the surprise? We’ll announce them widely in time. Be sure that you are checking our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), reading our emails, and be on the lookout for more blog articles! (Did you know the Vendio blog was created in 2008 so that Andale customers could stay up-to-date on the integration of their accounts into Vendio?)

So many of our customers have been with us since the beginning (and many more since almost the beginning). The loyalty that many have shown us is the reward that pushes us forward to do more. This year Vendio celebrates our 20th anniversary. It is our customers (both old and new) that make it worth celebrating. 

Happy Selling!