eSellerPro: £2m investment for US/EU expansion
eSellerPro have just announced that they’ve secured £2 million funding from investment fund Notion Capital. They say that they will use the funds to invest sales, marketing and customer service to drive and support demand across the UK, European and US markets.
This is interesting as up until now eSellerPro have been a company which gets on with business and doesn’t seek much publicity, relying instead on referrals and word of mouth to attract sales. From what I understand that’s because they’re working pretty much flat out and already attract enough business to keep their current team busy.
eSellerPro’s business is that of linking marketplaces such as eBay and merchants own websites with back office order management and finance systems. All online merchants eventually grow to need automation, and most start with eBay’s Selling Manager Pro before the need for more robust systems is driven by their expanding business.
Often merchants will turn to the likes of Tradebox to automate finance and Aimco Packing Partner to automate invoicing and packing slips. However as sales continue to grow, a comprehensive order management, stock control, CRM, shipping and finance package becomes essential.
The need for a single solution becomes more crucial when merchants start selling on multiple eBay marketplaces and add Amazon, their own website and Shopping Comparison Engines – each venue runs on disparate platforms making in house integration more complex.
eSellerPro was formed in 2006, today processes over £150M in annual sales for their merchants and say that they are currently growing at over 100% year on year. The news of their move into Europe and the US will give them access to rapid expansion, and doubtless they’ll be looking to recruit quality industry professionals to assist them in their planned growth.
Digby says
6:00 pm on 30/09/2010
That’s very interesting.
I had never heard of them (of course as I am only small so far)
John says
8:34 am on 01/10/2010
Great news. Notion add value beyond the cash as they will bring to the party some very valuable experience of fast expanding internet businesses to ESP.
Elvis says
11:17 am on 01/10/2010
“esp are expanding 100% year on year.”
That would explain why their customer service is terrible for current clients like myself. If you have a problem you need resolved or want a part of the system tweaked don’t expect it to be done in 3 days, 3 weeks or 3 months because it won’t be. You’ll just get the infamous “its been referred to a developer” reply whenever you chase it up asking why somethings not been done.
Or “I’ll find out and get back to you” and you never hear any more.
They are clearly far too busy and understaffed to look after the current needs of their current clientel.
I just hope they use this money to resolve their dire timescales in resolving issues, and to improve their communication systems.
The system would be excellent if it always fully worked and they backed this up with a helpful and prompt service with quick actions instead of waiting weeks or months.
Jack says
8:41 pm on October 2nd, 2010
I think Elvis just gave one.
John Pemberton says
1:47 pm on 01/10/2010
I really like eSeller Pro (I know someone who uses it). I am really keen to use it, but there is no reviews, or detailed info. I like to read up on things before I start using it. It would be good to do an analysis on them….
Jack says
8:41 pm on October 2nd, 2010
or rather, I think Elvis just gave one.
John Pemberton says
10:37 pm on 02/10/2010
Companies will always have disgruntled customers. I would like to see a full review of what the technology can do and what problems its resolves, rather than one persons moans (no offense to Elvis – as he clearly has some issues)
jimbo says
8:35 am on October 3rd, 2010
There are some customer “testimonials” here: http://www.auctionsoftwarereview.com/software/esellerpro.asp
Elvis says
9:34 am on 03/10/2010
Hi John, google “esellerpro review”
There area a few review sites out their which may give you extra help or info.
The costs are £400/month or 1.5% of your turnover excl vat (whichever is highest), plus imlementation fees.
Like I said, it is excellent when fully working but they do lack in being pro-active once you’ve signed up and been shown how it all works.
Elvis says
9:35 am on October 3rd, 2010
follow up…… they offer a live demonstration if you contact them through their website.
Cambridge_Blue says
12:43 am on 06/10/2010
So they would appear to be a competitor to Channel Advisor at those prices!
They are an order of magnitude more expensive than the Linnworks or Aimco solutions.
Can’t comment on Tradebox pricing – does any body know their approximate annual cost?
John Donnelly says
8:49 am on 06/10/2010
Tradebox pricing is on their website here http://www.tradebox.uk.com/products/finance-manager/buy/ – to connect a single sales channel to Sage 50, costs £480 initially with an annual renewal of £180, there are no additional costs or percentages of turnover to pay.
John
Cambridge_Blue says
12:17 pm on October 6th, 2010
Thanks John!
So they are in a similar pricing band to Linnworks etc although their actual solution is more specialised.
John Donnelly says
8:11 am on October 8th, 2010
Tradebox is there for a specifc reason, to integrate with Sage and therby do the accounting for all the users online sales. Whereas Linnworks does stock control, Tradebox does not as that is handled within Sage.
Whilst the Sage integration is still ‘the’ reason for anyone purchasing Tradebox, there are a large number of other features such as the ability to upload product details to eBay and Amazon as well as full integration with ChannelAdvisor who, obviously, are one of eSeller Pro’s main competitors.
John