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This review was written on 29th August 2007 and covers the versions of iSale 4.2.2 and GarageSale 3.3
eBay created Turbo Lister as a free auction management tool for Windows users, but there is no such eBay software for us Mac users. I asked the ebay helpdesk if they have a such software, but the response was negative. To get an off-line auction management tool, you have to look to third party software developers. There are basically two standalone auction management tools for the Mac, iSale and GarageSale. eBay recommends either of these products for use by eBay members that use Mac OS X.Both of these products are intuitive to use and provide a wide array of functions to create listings, manage auctions and support post sale activities. Both iSale and GarageSale have the familiar Apple iApp interface. Each of these applications allow you to download and demo their software for up to three eBay listings. I strongly suggest you try both products and see which one you like better - below find "my ebay links" to jump directly to the homepages of both companies.
Both iSale and GarageSale are fully integrated with iPhoto and you can directly import your auction photos into your listing templates. A nice thing within GarageSale is the possibility to save up to 10 free large pictures per auction. That works because you can use GarageSales's own ftp server. Within the demo software of GarageSale you may place three real ebay auctions, have full functionality of it and then must buy a license to stage more ebay auctions. Both of these apps come with a number built-in auction design templates. If you like to have pretty auctions, then this will save you 10 cents a pop. Both applications save your templates and you can organize them in any fashion that works for you. Next time you want to list an item that you've sold in the past, all you have to do is search for the template, make any updates or changes and post it to eBay.
As of this writing, the current version of iSale is 4.2.2 and the current version of GarageSale is 3.3. I demoed both iSale and GarageSale and found them both to be very good auction management tools. As far as user interface was concerned, I may have given iSale a slight edge over GarageSale regarding the look and feel.
But I decided to purchase GarageSale because it only costs US$ 29.99 (and you can buy it right on eBay with PayPal payment, check or wire transfer) and it works on my Apple Powerbook G4 Titanium notebook with only 16 MB videoram. The current iSale version 4.2 needs at least 32 Mb videoram, so I can't use the current version and can only buy the old version 3.2, but then can't upgrade anymore. iSale sells for $39.95; I didn't think the user interface was worth the $10 difference in products and then not to have further upgrades for my notebook too :-( !
Over the last few weeks, I have found that creating listings with GarageSale has really made my life a lot more efficient and the response of buyers is much better - ergo I get more bids as the auction itself look more professional and attractive. I can work on multiple listings, start one save it and start another, when I get ready, I can list a whole bunch of listings all at once. GarageSale also has a scheduled listing function so you can set a specific listing to activate at whatever day and time you would like. You no longer have to pay eBay 10 cents for the privilege of not starting your auction immediately. I suspect iSale has a similar function, but I didn't check it out when I did the demo auctions.
GarageSale supports all of eBays listing features (including listing upgrades). It doesn't presently support the auction upgrade where you can get gallery, subtitle and listing designer for 65 cents vs. 95 cents, but at this point I think it's only a promo on eBay. I get around this by only selecting either gallery or subtitle, and then I go into my auctions and revise the upgrades to add the other features and click on the promo button.
If you have an eBay store, GarageSale will download your store categories and you can assign your store categories for each of your auctions. You can also opt to make your listing only a store listing. As of this writing, GarageSale can't handle eBays new multi-tiered categories for eBay stores. I'm not sure if iSale can or can't handle the new structure yet, but I would evaluate that feature in both products. If you have an eBay store and have set up your categories in a multi-tiered format, then you might want to checkout if either of these products support the multi-tiered category structure. I'm hoping that a GarageSale update comes out shortly that will allow the multi-tiered structure. For now, I just went back to the single tier store category structure.
In summary, both iSale and GarageSale are good auction management tools for Mac OS X. They are both well designed and I only have the few minor complaints that I already stated. I can't really tell you that one is better than the other because I think they both rate the same scores for usability and functionality. Download and use the demo programs for both apps and figure out which one is better for your personal user needs. I made my decision based upon cost and hardware compatibilty, but you may dislike GarageSale's user interface and be willing to pay $10 for iSale.
It's just a shame that eBay doesn't have a free tool available for us Mac users. Although with the new Intel Macs, maybe eBay will buy up one of these tools and give it to the Mac eBay User community for free. If more eBay members begin using OS X, with their new intel Macs, then eBay will probably want to make its growing Mac user population happy. I won't be holding my breath, but stranger things have happened.
If you've found this guide to be useful, or entertaining, PLEASE VOTE on it at the bottom of this page. If you have any suggests, comments or corrections, feel free to send me an e-mail. I'm always interested in improving my guides and reviews. As always, make sure you have fun!
Useful links:
my eBay links
Guide created: 08/29/07 (updated 06/25/08)
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