Vendio

Vendio Services, Inc. is an American Internet software as a service (SaaS) company that provides sales management software on a subscription basis. A majority of customers use Vendio for its eBay auction management program and eBay applications. Vendio also owns and operates Dealio, Widgipedia and Honesty.com.

History

Originally founded in 1999 as Auctionwatch.com, Vendio was a popular online auction aggregator that allowed visitors to search for items on multiple auction sites from one location. Soon it turned into a forum for sellers and buyers to discuss topics related to online auctions and selling strategies. As the site’s popularity grew, Auctionwatch.com leveraged the discussion topics to start developing online tools to help eBay sellers. In late 1999, eBay tried to block Auctionwatch.com from indexing its auctions. In response, Vendio took out a full page ad in The Wall Street Journal calling attention to eBay's tactics and launched a debate on the use of user-created content on the Internet, in which the United States Department of Justice eventually became involved.

As eBay became the dominant online auction site, Auctionwatch.com increased its focus on solutions for online sellers, and in 2001 the company changed its name to Vendio, which is derived from the Latin root “to sell.” Vendio continued to grow as it focused further on online merchants, and in 2006 Vendio bought a significant controlling interest in Andale, a popular provider of auction management and research services for eBay sellers. Most recently in 2009, Vendio released the Vendio Platform, which includes the increased functionality of managing inventory and sales across multiple marketplaces including eBay and Amazon as well as distributing inventory to comparison shopping engines Shopzilla, Google Product Search and Shopping.com. Vendio also launched a webstore that includes an online shopping cart and is completely free.

Vendio is currently headquartered in San Mateo, CA with offices in Romania and India. The company has been included in business lists, such as Inc. 5000, Forbes Best of the Web, and the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal’s Fast 50. Vendio’s founder and CEO, Rodrigo Sales, has also been a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Origins

Vendio was founded by Rodrigo Sales in 1999. It is currently backed by Lighthouse Capital Partners and MVC Capital. Vendio’s Board of Directors include Rick Stubblefield, Bruce Shewmaker, Reid Hoffman and Keith Rabois.

Technology

Vendio helped eBay develop its first API and subsequently was the first licensed member of the eBay API program, which was the basis for the eBay Developer’s Program and now has over 15,000 members.

Vendio acquired Andale’s research service in 2006 and has since updated it with a propriety and patented clustering algorithm that provides selling recommendations by analyzing and parsing eBay sales data. Vendio Research was awarded runner-up for Most Innovative Application in the 2009 eBay Star Developer Awards.