NEWS: ClassAdLister is an Amazing Android App for Online Sellers
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If you sell on eCrater and EblueJay marketplaces, this Android App will make you happy?
As a re-seller of retro and vintage products on multiple marketplaces like eBay, Bonanza, EBlueJay, Etsy, Ecrater who is also a marketplace reviewer on YouTube and VidMe, helping both novice and experienced sellers to sell more and sell better; I am always looking for new ways to make that easier.
In the past, I had recommended ShopSeen, a paid service that connected Storenvy, eBay, Etsy and others for the purpose of sharing a single inventory online, which allowed subscribers to cross-list products for sale on multiple marketplaces at the same time. Unfortunately, for many sellers, the pricing structure of ShopSeen was more focused on higher volume, retail brick entities and not as well suited for lower profit margin sellers. So a void existed between 2016 and 2017.
Recently, someone gave me an Android device they no longer needed, and though I had explored BlueStacks the Android emulator in the past, I hadn't found BlueStacks efficient or powerful enough to replace my IOS IPhone.
Finally having an actual Android device to explore, led me to the biggest find of the recent two years; an application called ClassAdLister.
At first glance I wasn't very impressed with ClassAdLister, it's graphically appearance looks a bit outdated, and as someone with Graphic Design experience, a nice graphical appearance appeals to me.
Digging in a little deeper, I still wasn't initially impressed by its very simple layout, three or four navigation buttons, etc. I thought "This application can't be good, it looks really old, it probably doesn't even work." But, that's never stopped me from testing out potential tools that will save time and the repetition involved with selling the same products on multiple marketplaces at the same time.
I decided to give it a test drive since it included the only application or online tool that interacts with my EBlueJay.com marketplace ever made. I was shockingly surprised that after some initial trial and errors, I was able to get a listing to post from ClassAdLister to my EBlueJay store, and that sparked my imagination as I ponder the implications of what I was actually looking at with this simple looking Android app.
With guns pointed on Dr. Jones and his companions, the Villains, choose the most beautiful chalice of Gold with encrusted jewels, only to ultimately end up dying a horrible and dreadful death. Eventually, Dr. Jones was posed with the same question, "Which chalice is the Holy Grail"?. Dr. Jones picked up a very crude and plain chalice made of wood, the least likely to be the Holy Grail in terms of splendor and excellence. He chose correct, its was the simple, plain and least impressive chalice among all of the many, and that is what we have here with ClassAdLister. ClassAdLister is the Holy Grail of Android Apps.
So what makes ClassAdLister so great, is that it works with so many marketplaces, even marketplaces that ShopSeen had intended to implement like Amazon, but never managed to develop.
ClassAdLister works with the main ones, most sellers would want, like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook; but then adds icing with marketplaces no other app I have personally encountered can list products to like Ecrater and EBlueJay. But it doesn't stop there, you have lots of other options available also like Craigslist and several classified ad websites.
Unfortunately, ClassAdLister isn't available on Apple's IOS for Iphone, which I would of loved, since I enjoy IOS more than Android. But all is not lost.
My Android device is about half the size of my laptop computer, its not easily handled, its camera doesn't work the best, its great for an Android device, but when it comes to editing images and typing out product descriptions, I am looking for speed, device connectivity and the ability to connect to my computer, and while my Android Tablet can connect to my computer, can use a HDM monitor, and with a USB adapter or Bluetooth extend to an external keyboard, my laptop computer has a faster processor, more disk space and more ram memory. So the solution was to try out an emulator.
I tested several emulators, the first being GenyMotion, which I installed on Linux Mint 18.1. If you do not know what Linux Mint is, its an computer operating system like Mac IOS or Windows 10.
GenyMotion on Linux Mint 18.1 worked pretty well on my dual booting computer, but I decided I need a little more of a speed boost and easier access to my files. Linux is a fast and wonderful operating system replacement if you want to move away from Microsoft 10, which is ultimately my goal, but Windows computers, have a more modern and user friendly way to navigate to your files, and since I was already dealing with having to learn to navigate through an Android Emulator's virtual drive to access files, I felt, Windows might be a better option.
I tested GenyMotion on Windows 7 on an AMD Duel Processor with 4 gigs of ram, and wasn't seeing much improvement over my Linux Mint 18.1 OS on the same computer. So I moved to my laptop which has a faster quad processor and Virtualization features built into the computers Bios.
Since I was moving to a different computer, and felt the free personal version of GenyMotion had some limitations, I decided to install Andyroid on the Windows 10 Computer.
Andyroid, runs very fast on my quad computer with Windows 10, however while testing it out with ClassAdLister, which I was and am still learning to use; Andyroid suddenly popped open a large video commercial for a game app and took me by surprise because I was in the middle of a ClassAdLister test when it happened. Andyroid also automatically installed some commercial applications that suddenly appeared on the desktop without notifying me or asking me. That puts Andyroid, while an excellent Android Emulator, in what I consider hostile and potentially dangerous software, since it overrides administrative functions and installs software without notice or permissions. Its very possible that Andyroid also has built-in backdoors that could be exploited or accessed by its creators in Germany.
After a few more experiments, I installed KoPlayer Android emulator. I was hesitant at first with KoPlayer since it is developed and managed by a company in China. The US Government has blamed China for all kinds of exploits and hacking, and China's government requires software developers to build in capabilities that can allow them to access some forms of information upon demand. But, I decided to take the risk, since the emulation options are limited, especially for free Android Emulators.
KoPlayer runs ClassAdLister with ease, no problems. At first it seemed about half the speed of Andyroid emulator, then I remembered that some computers have a Virtualization option in the bios settings that can be turned on. I restarted my computer, and loaded up bios, turned on Virtualization and saw a 90% increase in speed, clarity of KoPlayer Graphic appearance and ease of use.
Michael, the creator of ClassAdLister Android App, recommends using GenyMotion in his videos, which allows different kinds of Android devices from phones to tablets to be emulated. Where as KoPlayer as far as I can tell, offers a single emulation device, but I do not see that as a problem. I've been able to install all the apps, I use, even ones claiming not to work with it, which installed manually.
If you do not want to mess with an emulator running on a computer, just use your android device.
My next goal after getting EBlueJay working on ClassAdLister, was to get eBay working. eBay was a little more involved to set-up to run, than the other marketplaces, mainly because I had to create a free eBay developer account, but Michael's videos on YouTube helped to some degree with the process. I wish it was a simpler process, but its a necessary step to make ClassAdLister communicate with eBay and maintain security.
One of the issues I ran into connecting ClassAdLister to eBay is not having enough detailed information or steps showing a walk through on eBay's side. I am pretty tech savvy, but found myself, "Winging It" trying to get it to connect to ClassAdLister, authenticate itself and ended up having to manually copy and paste the need "Token". It took me two days to figure it out and I am still not sure exactly how I did it.
After getting the authentication keys and token working with ClassAdLister, I had to authenticate my actual eBay account. This is pretty straight forward, if you have ever granted a permission on eBay before. If you sell on Bonanza.com and have it import your products from eBay to cross-sell on Bonanza, then you have already done it for Bonanza.
The next problem I ran into, was eBay creating an error within the ClassAdLister App saying there was no PayPal e-mail account associated with the eBay account. So I checked my eBay account and made sure it was "Linked" in my seller account to PayPal and it was. This error stumped me, so I contacted ClassAdLister's creator, Michael and asked him if my theory was correct, in that eBay expected my PayPal account to be the same as my eBay e-mail account.
Michael confirmed that I had correctly diagnosed the error and indicated, that I needed to go into my PayPal account and add my registered eBay e-mail address to my PayPal approved e-mail addresses. I personally prefer to use a different PayPal account e-mail address than the one I use to log into eBay, since that prevents eBay from giving out that information when customers ask eBay for my contact information. A minor compromise for that value of using ClassAdLister in my opinion, especially since I also use a different Security Token Key on eBay and PayPal that is required in addition to my password, to gain access into my accounts (See my YouTube Video about eBay and PayPal security)
Everything seemed like it should work, then I got an error code from eBay about the size of the pictures being to small. This is where the added value of running ClassAdLister on a computer using an Android Emulator like GenyMotion or KoPlayer comes in handy, since I was able to navigate to the original photos on my computer. Using the original photos which far exceeded eBay's minimum requirements, fixed that error and the listing went straight to eBay where it was listed.
According to Michael in one of his YouTube videos, Amazon and Ebay are the only two of the marketplaces in ClassAdLister that require going through the process of setting up authentication and tokens. So if you are intimidate from the idea of setting those up, first watch Michael's videos, and then give it a try. Michael has a Facebook page set-up for ClassAdLister where you can ask questions, and on the App Page of GooglePlay, his e-mail is listed at the bottom of the App Page.
While ClassAdLister will save you lots of time by only needing to create an original listing for a product, you will want to check each listing when you list to eBay for any other eBay specific fields that ClassAdLister does not fill in. For instance, while ClassAdLister lets you indicate the condition of the items, this condition appears in eBay's condition details field. However, ebay's actual condition defaults to "Very Good", so you will want to change that if what you are selling is only "Good" or "Acceptable".
The help information in ClassAdLister indicates you can create additional fields for use on some marketplaces, but I have not tested this option out yet, since I just finished getting eBay connected and working properly.
In the past, I had recommended ShopSeen, a paid service that connected Storenvy, eBay, Etsy and others for the purpose of sharing a single inventory online, which allowed subscribers to cross-list products for sale on multiple marketplaces at the same time. Unfortunately, for many sellers, the pricing structure of ShopSeen was more focused on higher volume, retail brick entities and not as well suited for lower profit margin sellers. So a void existed between 2016 and 2017.
Recently, someone gave me an Android device they no longer needed, and though I had explored BlueStacks the Android emulator in the past, I hadn't found BlueStacks efficient or powerful enough to replace my IOS IPhone.
Finally having an actual Android device to explore, led me to the biggest find of the recent two years; an application called ClassAdLister.
At first glance I wasn't very impressed with ClassAdLister, it's graphically appearance looks a bit outdated, and as someone with Graphic Design experience, a nice graphical appearance appeals to me.
Digging in a little deeper, I still wasn't initially impressed by its very simple layout, three or four navigation buttons, etc. I thought "This application can't be good, it looks really old, it probably doesn't even work." But, that's never stopped me from testing out potential tools that will save time and the repetition involved with selling the same products on multiple marketplaces at the same time.
I decided to give it a test drive since it included the only application or online tool that interacts with my EBlueJay.com marketplace ever made. I was shockingly surprised that after some initial trial and errors, I was able to get a listing to post from ClassAdLister to my EBlueJay store, and that sparked my imagination as I ponder the implications of what I was actually looking at with this simple looking Android app.
Had I just discovered the Holy Grail?
I'm reminded of one of the Indian Jones movies, in which Dr. Jones and a bunch of villains were in a large hidden cave full of all kinds of chalices. One of the chalices was the infamous Holy Grail, but which one?With guns pointed on Dr. Jones and his companions, the Villains, choose the most beautiful chalice of Gold with encrusted jewels, only to ultimately end up dying a horrible and dreadful death. Eventually, Dr. Jones was posed with the same question, "Which chalice is the Holy Grail"?. Dr. Jones picked up a very crude and plain chalice made of wood, the least likely to be the Holy Grail in terms of splendor and excellence. He chose correct, its was the simple, plain and least impressive chalice among all of the many, and that is what we have here with ClassAdLister. ClassAdLister is the Holy Grail of Android Apps.
So what makes ClassAdLister so great, is that it works with so many marketplaces, even marketplaces that ShopSeen had intended to implement like Amazon, but never managed to develop.
ClassAdLister works with the main ones, most sellers would want, like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook; but then adds icing with marketplaces no other app I have personally encountered can list products to like Ecrater and EBlueJay. But it doesn't stop there, you have lots of other options available also like Craigslist and several classified ad websites.
Unfortunately, ClassAdLister isn't available on Apple's IOS for Iphone, which I would of loved, since I enjoy IOS more than Android. But all is not lost.
Running ClassAdLister on a computer using an Android Emulator.
If you are a bit technically adventurous like many only sellers tend to be, you may like to know that ClassAdLister can be run on an Android Emulator for Windows, Linux and Mac Computers, which is where my imagination led me the moment I recognized the possibilities of this Android App.My Android device is about half the size of my laptop computer, its not easily handled, its camera doesn't work the best, its great for an Android device, but when it comes to editing images and typing out product descriptions, I am looking for speed, device connectivity and the ability to connect to my computer, and while my Android Tablet can connect to my computer, can use a HDM monitor, and with a USB adapter or Bluetooth extend to an external keyboard, my laptop computer has a faster processor, more disk space and more ram memory. So the solution was to try out an emulator.
I tested several emulators, the first being GenyMotion, which I installed on Linux Mint 18.1. If you do not know what Linux Mint is, its an computer operating system like Mac IOS or Windows 10.
GenyMotion Android Emulator
GenyMotion on Linux Mint 18.1 worked pretty well on my dual booting computer, but I decided I need a little more of a speed boost and easier access to my files. Linux is a fast and wonderful operating system replacement if you want to move away from Microsoft 10, which is ultimately my goal, but Windows computers, have a more modern and user friendly way to navigate to your files, and since I was already dealing with having to learn to navigate through an Android Emulator's virtual drive to access files, I felt, Windows might be a better option.
I tested GenyMotion on Windows 7 on an AMD Duel Processor with 4 gigs of ram, and wasn't seeing much improvement over my Linux Mint 18.1 OS on the same computer. So I moved to my laptop which has a faster quad processor and Virtualization features built into the computers Bios.
Since I was moving to a different computer, and felt the free personal version of GenyMotion had some limitations, I decided to install Andyroid on the Windows 10 Computer.
Andyroid Android Emulator
Andyroid, runs very fast on my quad computer with Windows 10, however while testing it out with ClassAdLister, which I was and am still learning to use; Andyroid suddenly popped open a large video commercial for a game app and took me by surprise because I was in the middle of a ClassAdLister test when it happened. Andyroid also automatically installed some commercial applications that suddenly appeared on the desktop without notifying me or asking me. That puts Andyroid, while an excellent Android Emulator, in what I consider hostile and potentially dangerous software, since it overrides administrative functions and installs software without notice or permissions. Its very possible that Andyroid also has built-in backdoors that could be exploited or accessed by its creators in Germany.
KoPlayer Android Emulator
After a few more experiments, I installed KoPlayer Android emulator. I was hesitant at first with KoPlayer since it is developed and managed by a company in China. The US Government has blamed China for all kinds of exploits and hacking, and China's government requires software developers to build in capabilities that can allow them to access some forms of information upon demand. But, I decided to take the risk, since the emulation options are limited, especially for free Android Emulators.
KoPlayer runs ClassAdLister with ease, no problems. At first it seemed about half the speed of Andyroid emulator, then I remembered that some computers have a Virtualization option in the bios settings that can be turned on. I restarted my computer, and loaded up bios, turned on Virtualization and saw a 90% increase in speed, clarity of KoPlayer Graphic appearance and ease of use.
Michael, the creator of ClassAdLister Android App, recommends using GenyMotion in his videos, which allows different kinds of Android devices from phones to tablets to be emulated. Where as KoPlayer as far as I can tell, offers a single emulation device, but I do not see that as a problem. I've been able to install all the apps, I use, even ones claiming not to work with it, which installed manually.
If you do not want to mess with an emulator running on a computer, just use your android device.
Getting ClassAdLister working with eBay was a little challenging.
My next goal after getting EBlueJay working on ClassAdLister, was to get eBay working. eBay was a little more involved to set-up to run, than the other marketplaces, mainly because I had to create a free eBay developer account, but Michael's videos on YouTube helped to some degree with the process. I wish it was a simpler process, but its a necessary step to make ClassAdLister communicate with eBay and maintain security.One of the issues I ran into connecting ClassAdLister to eBay is not having enough detailed information or steps showing a walk through on eBay's side. I am pretty tech savvy, but found myself, "Winging It" trying to get it to connect to ClassAdLister, authenticate itself and ended up having to manually copy and paste the need "Token". It took me two days to figure it out and I am still not sure exactly how I did it.
After getting the authentication keys and token working with ClassAdLister, I had to authenticate my actual eBay account. This is pretty straight forward, if you have ever granted a permission on eBay before. If you sell on Bonanza.com and have it import your products from eBay to cross-sell on Bonanza, then you have already done it for Bonanza.
The next problem I ran into, was eBay creating an error within the ClassAdLister App saying there was no PayPal e-mail account associated with the eBay account. So I checked my eBay account and made sure it was "Linked" in my seller account to PayPal and it was. This error stumped me, so I contacted ClassAdLister's creator, Michael and asked him if my theory was correct, in that eBay expected my PayPal account to be the same as my eBay e-mail account.
Michael confirmed that I had correctly diagnosed the error and indicated, that I needed to go into my PayPal account and add my registered eBay e-mail address to my PayPal approved e-mail addresses. I personally prefer to use a different PayPal account e-mail address than the one I use to log into eBay, since that prevents eBay from giving out that information when customers ask eBay for my contact information. A minor compromise for that value of using ClassAdLister in my opinion, especially since I also use a different Security Token Key on eBay and PayPal that is required in addition to my password, to gain access into my accounts (See my YouTube Video about eBay and PayPal security)
Everything seemed like it should work, then I got an error code from eBay about the size of the pictures being to small. This is where the added value of running ClassAdLister on a computer using an Android Emulator like GenyMotion or KoPlayer comes in handy, since I was able to navigate to the original photos on my computer. Using the original photos which far exceeded eBay's minimum requirements, fixed that error and the listing went straight to eBay where it was listed.
According to Michael in one of his YouTube videos, Amazon and Ebay are the only two of the marketplaces in ClassAdLister that require going through the process of setting up authentication and tokens. So if you are intimidate from the idea of setting those up, first watch Michael's videos, and then give it a try. Michael has a Facebook page set-up for ClassAdLister where you can ask questions, and on the App Page of GooglePlay, his e-mail is listed at the bottom of the App Page.
Other thoughts about listing from ClassAdLister to Ebay.
ClassAdLister lets you create a listing for a product within ClassAdLister, and then list it to different marketplaces. That being said, some marketplaces like EBlueJay.com for instance do not have all the same fields as eBay, which is why listing on eBay can be such a chore when creating listings on their website.While ClassAdLister will save you lots of time by only needing to create an original listing for a product, you will want to check each listing when you list to eBay for any other eBay specific fields that ClassAdLister does not fill in. For instance, while ClassAdLister lets you indicate the condition of the items, this condition appears in eBay's condition details field. However, ebay's actual condition defaults to "Very Good", so you will want to change that if what you are selling is only "Good" or "Acceptable".
The help information in ClassAdLister indicates you can create additional fields for use on some marketplaces, but I have not tested this option out yet, since I just finished getting eBay connected and working properly.
Final Thoughts
ClassAdLister is a simple looking, yet powerful tool for anyone selling online that wants to reduce the effort and energy that goes into the redundancy of copying and re-pasting and creating duplicate new listing information on multiple marketplaces.
If you sell on Ecrater and EBlueJay marketplace with your own store, then this app is like a gift from heaven and the first of its kind.
At the price of FREE, you will never find a lower price for an application or even software for that matter.
Unlike formerly reviewed services and tools like ShopSeen which automatically de-lists an item you are cross-selling on different marketplaces when it sells - with ClassAdLister you will need to manually adjust and change the quantity of the products as they sell out on a marketplace.
One advantage of ClassAdLister, is its ability to work with both Amazon and eBay. Both Amazon and eBay can be set-up if you sell on Bonanza.com to automatically import from Amazon and eBay into Bonanza.com. Bonanza.com is not an option in the ClassAdLister app, but if you have a Bonanza store and set-it up to import your products for free from Amazon or Ebay, then the Bonanza side of it is automatic.
Main thing to remember, especially on eBay is to check the listing once it is posted to make sure any extra fields or settings get checked, since ClassAdLister doesn't have fields for a few of eBay's extra's.
Watch the ClassAdLister videos available within the app when you first set-up it. Otherwise watch the videos on YouTube.
Don't forget to give ClassAdLister a good rating on GooglePlay, Michael has created an amazing tool and made it available to the rest of us.
If you have issues setting up ClassAdLister or have questions, and you have a Facebook Account, visit the ClassAdLister Facebook page.
Use ClassAdLister on a physical Android phone or tablet to easily post arbitrage products on location while shopping to Amazon or any marketplace.
As for Android Emulators (At the time of this article)
Bluestacks / Bluestacks 2 - I recommend avoiding BlueStacks which forces you to either pay a monthly membership fee or have applications automatically added to your android emulated device. While BlueStacks is the best known android emulator, it tends to be sluggish, can interrupt your listing processing with commercials and force installs applications frequently unless you pay a monthly fee.
AndyRoid - I recommend avoiding AndyRoid, despite is fast speed and stability. Unlike BlueStacks which is up front about its commercials and installing applications, AndyRoid does not disclose this up front, which places it into the category on being potentially a security threat to your computer. AndyRoid is really quick, but best for simple gaming. Similar to BlueStacks it will interrupt your listing processing with spontaneous commercials and unlike BlueStacks which gives you the ability to exit out or delay application installations, AndyRoid never notifies you either before you install this emulator, or while it is running that it will force install applications, Applications will simple randomly appear in your application panels mysteriously. This should not be a surprise, since when installing AndyRoid from the very beginning, it forces you to install a web browser search extension which authorizes extension to access all kinds of information most savvy and security conscious computer users would not want to authorize. Other parts of the installation process again attempts to install PUP into your computer. If you are not careful or not paying attention during the installation of AndyRoid onto your computer, you'll end up with PUP (Potentially Unwanted Programs) on your computer.
GenyMotion - Is the recommend Android Emulator by ClassAdLister's creator Michael. I found GenyMotion less user installation friendly, especially on Linux. While it offers a lot of power, it ran slower than the other emulators I tested with ClassAdLister. I personally do not recommend GenyMotion for the less tech savvy computer users. It was mainly created for Android App developers and so while it has many possible devices like phones and tablets that can be used for running ClassAdLister, it has some what of a learning curve, especially if you are used to software or applications that are very straight forward and easy to use right from the beginning.
KoPlayer - similar to AndyRoid is pretty quick when you first install it, assuming you have 4 megs of computer ram and a quad-core computer. It ran a little slow on my duo-core computer without Virtualization turned on in the bios. In comparison AndyRoid ran 300% faster on my duo-core than KoPlayer did. But on quad-core, KoPlayer beat AndyRoid in speed, once I turned on Virtualization in the bios. Virtualization is normally set to "Disabled" by default in the bios.
All the tech talk out of the way, KoPlayer, looks and acts like an android device right from the beginning, It is very quick, stable, a lot easier to install than GenyMotion (mentioned above).
The morning I began writing this article about ClassAdLister, a game app did appear on my application panel, however I am not certain if I accidentally triggered the installation while working on some of its settings. It does have a suggested games section when if you click one, they will install for you. So far I haven't seen any unsolicited or surprise commercials while using KoPlayer either.
ClassAdLister in my opinion worked the best on the KoPlayer Anroid Emulator, with the most Android navigation, appearance and easy of use. Therefore, I recommend KoPlayer.