Vendio and Andale are marketpalce mangement companies which help eBay sellers sell more effectively through eBay. Both companies also have storefront products to help sellers drive sales outside eBay and work with our friends at Froogle, Yahoo! Shopping, Shopzilla, etc. Andale is also known for its research tools and claims “as an exclusive eBay Data Licensee, we have the only comprehensive research solutions available, enabling you to get all the information you need to make smarter decisions for your online business.” With the launch of Mpire, I’m not sure if Andale is the only player with this information, but it’s one of Andale’s selling points. Vendio is the owner of the Dealio Toolbar, a downloadable app which automatically displays deals from Vendio clients and Shopzilla as you hit product pages across the web.

Funny side note - both Vendio and Andale have booths here at eBay Live…if only they had worked out this deal 8 months ago, they could have saved a couple extra dollars.

From the press release:

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work more closely with Andale,” said Rodrigo Sales, CEO of Vendio. “Vendio and Andale have complementary strengths that have helped us collectively lead the industry as the two largest sales management providers with the most innovative applications for online merchants. We look forward to sharing the knowledge and relationships we’ve gained managing our profitable, growing business over the last four years with the Andale team. From economies of scale and category and geographic expansion to new services and technologies, this deal will result in a host of lucrative new opportunities for both companies and the customers they serve.”

I’ll try to get in touch with both companies later today to get a bit more information. Rodrigo explained there are many back end efforts being duplicated right now - such as keeping up with eBay changes. Teaming up will help to cut down on time spent in these areas and free up the companies to work on innovative solutions for eBay sellers.

As for why there wasn’t an outright acqusition? No comment from Rodrigo, but I’d guess this deal could just be a first step.