Update 11/20/2015-- Amazon Payments is now live on Bonanza! Whether you are new to Amazon Payments or have an exisitng Checkout by Amazon account, you can sign up via this button:
With the holidays upon us, I wanted to take pause to get everyone up to speed on the bounty of features we've added lately to make this our best holiday season so far. Check it:
1. Productivity upgrade
We don't talk about them often, but our team of software developers is the secret sauce behind how we get so much done. Keeping bugs fixed and sales doubling every year doesn't happen by itself -- it requires the best talent in the world (that will move to Seattle). But, like many tech companies, we've had trouble growing our developer team as fast as you've grown your GMV. This has meant the delay of some features (e.g., our mobile app) as we struggle to keep the core product functioning smoothly during rapid growth.
Lately, the tide has turned in our favor. With three new developers starting this month, the size of our software team has now tripled in 2015, as has our customer support team. Listening to customer feedback, we've also found new opportunities to create team specialties that let us offer more specific, actionable expertise to maximize sales & repeat buyers, regardless of your business' size.
As the boss, I am exceedingly optimistic about how much more we can simplify sellers' lives & grow their sales in 2016, given a 3x bump in our productivity.
2. New Broadcaster / Bonanza Promotions channel
If you've visited the Advertising page lately, you’ve probably noticed our intrepid green shopper forging his way up Mount Salesmore:
What's new, in brief:
Broader range of commissions. With the level of competition for Google Shopping increasing, the new commission levels will allow our jewelry, handbag, and others with high-quality & high-margin items an opening to find their way back to page 1 of Google Shopping results.
Made it easier to unlock all of the channels. Now just click the channel to unlock it (w/ the corresponding commission level).
Bonanza Promotions channel. This channel offers a twist on the usual mode of “pay when you make a sale.” When opted into "Bonanza Promotions," we will feature your store in newsletters and advertisements that allow buyers to take a discount from an item's base price. The discount we provide buyers will be matched by an equal discount in the final value fee you would have paid. We expect to make no profit from this channel. The idea here is that by giving you 0% (or highly discounted) fees, we can get more buyers in the (virtual) door, and earn you repeat customers. A win/win. Though as with most things Bonanza, you can opt out by visiting your advertising page (My Store -> Advertise Items) if you're not intersted.
We are looking forward to seeing how these improvements will spike sales growth this November and December.
Aside: if you were at the 6% or 16% commission levels (removed from new UI for simplification), you can remain grandfathered into those levels for as long as you like.
3. Turbo Traffic in your stocking
Since originally launching Turbo Traffic more than a year ago, we’ve heard numerous anecdotes of sellers receiving 200-300% more sales (= GMV). But we'd never had the chance to formally review the difference in same-seller store sales, until now. Last month, we did the digging, and learned that the median seller earned 75% more in sales when Turbo Traffic was enabled. We noticed that about 25% of sellers got far more dramatic results, on the order of 200% increase or beyond.
Almost all sellers saw buyer pageviews soar when Turbo Traffic was enabled, but there was a high variance as to whether those increased views translated to increased sales. The difference seemed to depend on the type of item, the seller reputation, and the tidiness of the item description.
With the holidays dawning, we figure there's no better time to increase enrollment by 10x in our free Turbo Traffic starter program. This means that most sellers who have made 10 or more sales and have 95%+ feedback will see their booth automatically (at zero cost - this comes from our advertising budget, woo hoo) receive Turbo Traffic at some point during the holidays. Ho ho ho!
For sellers that want more Turbo Traffic or better control as to when it's active (Black Friday, anyone?) we'll soon be launching standalone Turbo Traffic packs, where you can prepay directly for buyer visits without being required to buy a renewing Bonanza membership. It's our goal to get this active before the crush of the holiday season. It will look something like this:
Coming soon - an opportunity for 300% more buyer pageviews and purchases
4. New rewards & referral bonuses
Anyone who has visited their Rewards page (My Bonanza -> Rewards) lately has probably noticed that, as of last week, we’ve doubled the number of available perks. You can now get free a month of webstores or Background Burner, dedicated time spent on optimizing your store, or even an hour of programming time to better optimize Bonanza for your needs.
Encouraging new sellers to join the winning team
The launch of these new rewards is meant to dovetail with our new seller referral program. Initially, this program will start by sending you 3,000 tokens any time a Google Shopper becomes an active Bonanza Seller after visiting one of your products (via a small blurb underneath product title, images, price, etc, like the one at right). If you wish to disable this referral bonus, subscribing members can do so via the Booth Settings -> Appearance tab.
We plan to make a larger announcement about our Seller Referral Program as we build more resources around it, but you can already start earning tokens today if you know of a friend who would be a good fit at Bonanza. Send them to http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=[your user id] and start collecting your loot. Oh, also:
To sweeten the pot, we also give your friend 3,000 tokens for signing up
If you're going to recommend Bonanza to your friends already, why not receive free perks for doing it? The full terms of this program will be posted soon (e.g., no referring an existing or duplicate user, bonus rewarded upon first sale) but we wanted to give an advanced heads up for those who want to climb atop the rewards leaderboard.
5. Mobile update: coming soon
We’ve been working feverishly over the past 6 months to release the next version of our Bonanza Sellers app, and we're optimistic its release will make its way to both App Stores by the end of this month.
The new version let you fully create or edit an item (price, shipping, traits, etc) from your phone or tablet. It includes some thoughtful features to make data entry as easy as possible from your mobile device. More details soon to come.
6. Amazon Checkout: coming (again) soon
We received word this week that Amazon Checkout has finally implemented the features we need to allow our sellers to migrate to Amazon's newer payments platform. This means that, in addition to Paypal and Direct Checkout, you will soon have the opportunity to sign up for Amazon Checkout as a payment platform for buyers. Anyone logged into Amazon can then buy your items without needing to re-login.
Given how many of our sellers try to avoid Paypal, this ought to be a much welcomed improvement. Cherry on top: the sign up process looks about 10x easier from our initial testing (was "fill out many pages of forms and copy/paste values back and forth," now "login, accept agreement, fill out less forms").
7. Webstore improvements abound
Several more themes, easier configurability, and "free domain registration on one year subscriptions" are just a handful of the new perks we've added to our Bonanza Webstores. If you haven't seen them lately, you should take another look. They're moving fast.
Here ends part one
With the rapid pace of our improvements, it's hard to keep pace on the blog, but we'll round up another list soon. We're especially excited to give more details on our new "Customer Center" that will let you track and market to your past buyers; this is the key to building a sustainable business at low cost, and a key aspect of what separates Bonanza from other marketplaces (they're your customers, not just ours!)
We truly appreciate having you as a Bonanza customer, so please keep your feedback coming via our Feedback Forum or directly at [email protected]. If you've somehow read all the way down to this sentence, your drive for success will take you far in ecomerce!
I have the drive to win. It is simply not an option for me to succeed. All the help you can give is much appreciated. I am still new here but have sold on another site for many years. We can do this.
Nope, still there. You should find the “Rewards” section between “My Profile” and “Background Burns” on the left side of My Bonanza page. Once you go to the rewards page, you can claim your daily tokens.
Every seller is free to choose a level that is appropriate to the type of items they sell. The lion’s share of these commissions go to Google Shopping to attract buyers on competitive search terms (an option not available at eBay). Once you build a stable of buyers, we help you make them into repeat customers, which reduces costs in the longer term.
Also consider: any buyer that purchases your items directly from Bonanza will only cost you 3.5%, so even for those that opt into the higher levels, the actual commission paid usually ends up being much lower than the selected tier.
It’s great to hear about these new features and that things are moving forward! Every company has its growth bumps on the road to progress. Excellence in communications and support, however, is key to the process. It reduces the level of stress and frustration for Bonanza’s customers, our customers, and potential recruits.
You should have kept advertising on eBay a separate level. I would probably increase my advertising but not when it includes eBay. I’ve been ripped off by eBay so will not advertise there but would advertise at the others.
Good news: It’s totally up to you which channels you want to publish your items on. If you don’t want your stuff on eBay, just uncheck the eBay box and your problem is solved!
Thank you for the updates. I am always appreciative for all the hard work coming from your office. You and your team working with the sellers on our constructive critism of what is working and what is not helps you all accomplish what makes Bonanza a wonderful selling site. Much more personal then Ebay. Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your staff.
Great question! This was a matter that we lobbied for pretty aggressively with Amazon, but so far their policy is that sellers will need to go through the signup process again (they say this is necessary because the terms and services are different with the new version of Checkout by Amazon).
The good news is that the new signup process is purportedly much simpler than the old one, so hopefully it won’t be too painful. We’ll release a blog with more details once we finish up the details on getting new Checkout by Amazon implemented.
Look’n GOOD!!
I have a question though:
“Aside: if you were at the 6% or 16% commission levels (removed from new UI for simplification), you can remain grandfathered into those levels for as long as you like.”
Since the 16% is missing now (I’m grandfathered) could you run by me what is included in the OLD 16% so I can make an informed decision to jump out and join in with the NEW set up?
Good question. The honest answer is that whether you pick 9%, 13%, 16%, or 19%, they all boil down to us running a mathematical formula around “if we earn X dollars per sale, and Y% of buyers make a purchase upon viewing the sellers’ items, then how much can we bid on their clicks and not lose (much) money?”
As a hypothetical example, if you had an item that cost $100 with 16% commission, we could afford to bid $1 per click if one out of every 16 visitors purchased an item upon visiting your store (6.25% conversion rate). If you moved to 19% commission, then we could afford to bid $1.18, assuming you kept the same conversion rate. Whether the difference between $1.00 and $1.18 matters to Google Shopping (and our other channels) really depends on the type of product you’re selling.
What I’ve seen most often is that buyers who choose the higher commission rates end up with results similar to those with Turbo Traffic – that is, they almost always get more buyer visits, but whether those visits translate to sales depends on how well the item is described and the reputation of the seller.
Sorry I can’t give a simple “yes or no” as to whether it’s a good idea to change your commission, but hopefully this helps you make an informed decision.
Bill!! It is so nice to see/hear from you on this blog. I began selling here when it was Bonanzle and in beta. I then had to shut down my booth for health reasons. In the next week or so I will be re-opening with new merchandise and cannot wait to try all the new upgrades and improvements you and your team have worked so hard to implement for your customers.
“Also consider: any buyer that purchases your items directly from Bonanza will only cost you 3.5%, so even for those that opt into the higher levels, the actual commission paid usually ends up being much lower than the selected tier”
……….So, trying to understand the fee’s, I did sell a couple of items here to members….One item was at the rate of 3.57% and the other was at the rate of 8.40% I was only charged .50 fee for each one. But if they both came thru bonz, why was one rate so much higher than the other?
That’s an excellent question to send to [email protected], who can help you track down the finer details of how those fees came about.
In general, the direct-to-Bonanza commission is 3.5%. If the buyer arrived through Google Shopping, the affiliate program, or some other advertising channel, then you’d pay a higher fee up to what you had chosen in Broadcaster.
Once support has the particulars of your situation I’ll try to remember to post an update.
Jumping in here to answer your question. Our minimum fee for a sale is $0.50. The Fee Rate shown on your statement is a % calculated from the Total Fee divided by the Final Offer Value.
3.5% of $5.95 is $0.21, which is less than our minimum. So rather than show the Fee Rate at 3.5% and the Total Fee at $0.50 – which would be confusing, because those numbers don’t add up – we show the actual calculated % for the most transparent reporting possible.
Can you estimate when the standalone Turbo Traffic packs will be available? I was waiting for it for a very long time. and you didn’t say anything about pricing etc?
I’m excited about all the new options, thank you. I’m worried though that they may not be implemented in time for this year’s holiday shopping. It seems to me that people are shopping earlier than usual this year.
Thanks Joyce! It does seem like sales have really kicked into gear early this year, doesn’t it? We expect that the new Amazon Checkout should be in place by the end of this week (days to spare before Thanksgiving). Getting the Turbo Traffic Pack ready before Thanksgiving will be more difficult, but members can already get those benefits like Turbo Traffic by signing up at the 19% or 30% broadcaster rate, or getting a Platinum/Titan membership
Looks good and thank you for being great eCommerce site , however Bonanza need some improvement on a) storefront customizing ( EBays custom pages ) every store should have it own unique feel and look including the store vertical navigation bar 2) Creating sub categories should be free 3) Provide some HTML integration to be used along Blogger shopping page ( like Ecwid )
Have you considered a webstore? Our webstores have much richer ability to customize the layout of the store. If you’re looking to build a store that highlights the uniqueness of your brand, you might want to give webstores a look.
I sell on Ebay and Etsy too and I gotta say that whatever you are doing to enable individuals to market wont help at all unless more people have heard of BONANZA! There just arent the number of buyers here as there are on the other sites. You need to get the name of the SITE out there so folks consider us along with Amazon and Ebay. I participate in threads over on Etsy and very few folks have ever heard of Bonanza – THAT is what needs to be promoted, not individual sellers.
It’s true, we do need to keep growing awareness of Bonanza as a brand. But the best sites don’t usually get built over night. Every year, we’ve approximately doubled the budget that we put toward marketing. As of this year, we have an on-site marketing team and a sizeable marketing budget. I think that the more time passes, the more buyers and sellers will learn about what makes Bonanza unique. As long as we build a great product, the network effects we enjoy will keep increasing.
I have been on Bonanza for 2 years now I don’t have a ton of sales. I look at it as an extra added perk when something does sell. I have my advertising set at 16% which from what I am understanding will be no more. There is so much I can give away before I am realizing a loss. Any advice on how to maximize my sales?
Thank you. Had a super quick look at your booth and would advise that you list more items. Without truly unique items, you will not realize more traction until you have at least 100 items listed (1000 is the best number of listings). Also make sure that you are not listing the same items on eBay for the same price. Your fees on Bonanza are less so make sure your prices on Bonanza reflect that so you are not inadvertently directing your advertising traffic to eBay.
When I added Amazon Checkout to my websites I saw an immediate increase in sales and many of my existing customers switched to the Amazon payment option. I’m hopeful for the same benefits here on Bonanza.
Something I really like about this site is the E-Z CSV upload or download with other sites. Most of my Bonanza related sales are items I entered here but then when eBay had a free listings special, I used Advertise Items to put them on eBay. For which your 1.5% is nominal. Also you have the best retail site photo editor. Now IF it had a color wheel to adjust that – I would send you a Christmas present!
Anyway Bonanza is working well for me thank you. Adding to your IT team can only make it better.
Also I can clearly see that someone there has a sense of humor, I expect it might be you.
Hi Bill,
I have a question about Referral Program link. The blog lists the link as http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=[your user id]
My user ID is 4 digits; I’m trying find out if the referral link should be http://www.bonanza.com?from_#### or http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=####. I’ve tried the second option and I got an error message. If I try the first option, the page will display but I cannot tell if it work properly. Thanks
The easiest way to test it is to open a browser where you aren’t logged into Bonanza, and visit http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=6797051. You should be redirected to the page to sign up as a seller, with a welcome message at the top (works when I tested it).
I’m guessing that the issues you noticed were due to currently being logged into the site. We’ll make sure to make that work more smoothly as we flesh out the referral program.
Sounds good but my eBay auctions still outsell Bonanza by 95% (items listed are the same). Would love to see Bonanza really take off as an alternative.
Thanks for believing in us @lim_consulting. If you removed the ALL CAPS in your title and got your listings up to 100+ then Bonanza may be able to lower that ratio for you. Feel free to reach out to our support team if you need additional tips or assistance.
Hi: Sounds great. I love Bonanza! Please do us all a favor, please do not become another e-bay. Keep up the good work. Bonanza is a great place to sell, and it is getting better all the time.
i learned something in my long-time research on Etsy.
i’ve opened a store ,recently; but, am really focusing on Bonanza , first.
But, what i learned , from a Seller called “La Creeperie”(Horror and other Vintage Paperbacks & a large array of stuff) . . . was i needed to
Open a Facebook Page for
my Business,here on Bonanza. i’ve “Liked” Her Facebook Page, and She is Frequently adding New Itmes to Her Etsy Store inventory. i ,also, watched a You Tube Video by an Etsy Seller that spoke of advertising through Social Media.
So, i have,also, reactivated my advertising & posting on Pinterest & (an image-sharing site i’ve been on for 5 years) “WeHeartIt.com”,which is mostly for Young People.
So, my main point is that i believe the Business,Facebbok Page will Help me , here on Bonanza.
i’d like to know if others,here on Bonanza, have a Facebook Page, and how do You feel if it’s been
Helpful, or not?
~john,San Francisco Bay Area
Sounds like a plan.
I’m guessing part of the new updates is the removal of the dashboard or whatever it was called at the bottom of the pages where we could get to our rewards, chat messages, etc.?
Correctamundo So that we can keep Bonanza pages clean and stick to our relentless pursuit of simplicity, we have to sometimes retire features that are no longer effective for the majority of our users. The good news is that we are adding new features at a quicker rate, and hopefully those features will benefit you even more.
I am one of those sellers trying to avoid Paypal. Amazon has told me Amazon Checkout is no longer available for SIGN UP.
So, is it now possible if you have not signed up for Amazon Checkout, are a Bonanza booth owner, you will now be able to sign up for Amazon Checkout? I am signed up for Amazon Payments. Will that now be an option to accept payments on Bonanza?
All sellers with a booth can take advantage of our advertising options. Our advertising programs are no risk, you only pay those fees when you realize a sale via that channel.
74 responses to Tis a Festival of Features
Thanks for the update! Sounds very exciting.
This is very great!
Fantastic stuff!
I have the drive to win. It is simply not an option for me to succeed. All the help you can give is much appreciated. I am still new here but have sold on another site for many years. We can do this.
Looks great! Thanks for keeping us in the loop with the improvements to Bonanza.
Not seeing the rewards section under “My Bonanza” as of yet (0320a EST). Nice updates.
Also-the daily token feature is gone?
Nope, still there. You should find the “Rewards” section between “My Profile” and “Background Burns” on the left side of My Bonanza page. Once you go to the rewards page, you can claim your daily tokens.
Keep up the good work. Good fruit is there for the picking.
the standard, superior and elite fees are all way higher than ebay fees. which is why most people left there and came here in the first place.
Every seller is free to choose a level that is appropriate to the type of items they sell. The lion’s share of these commissions go to Google Shopping to attract buyers on competitive search terms (an option not available at eBay). Once you build a stable of buyers, we help you make them into repeat customers, which reduces costs in the longer term.
Also consider: any buyer that purchases your items directly from Bonanza will only cost you 3.5%, so even for those that opt into the higher levels, the actual commission paid usually ends up being much lower than the selected tier.
It’s great to hear about these new features and that things are moving forward! Every company has its growth bumps on the road to progress. Excellence in communications and support, however, is key to the process. It reduces the level of stress and frustration for Bonanza’s customers, our customers, and potential recruits.
Great job. Love it !!!!
You should have kept advertising on eBay a separate level. I would probably increase my advertising but not when it includes eBay. I’ve been ripped off by eBay so will not advertise there but would advertise at the others.
Good news: It’s totally up to you which channels you want to publish your items on. If you don’t want your stuff on eBay, just uncheck the eBay box and your problem is solved!
Thank You all at Bonanza Central, Good to hear from you again, With a exciting message
Thanks for the update, Bill.
Good to hear you have some new people on board to help with the progression of features.
Thank YOU for sticking around with us so long, nothing makes me happier than seeing familiar faces from way-back-when in the blog comments
Thank you for the updates. I am always appreciative for all the hard work coming from your office. You and your team working with the sellers on our constructive critism of what is working and what is not helps you all accomplish what makes Bonanza a wonderful selling site. Much more personal then Ebay. Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your staff.
If I already have Checkout by Amazon, will it be converted over automatically? Thanks for all your hard work. Best wishes!
Hey RedbirdRidge,
Great question! This was a matter that we lobbied for pretty aggressively with Amazon, but so far their policy is that sellers will need to go through the signup process again (they say this is necessary because the terms and services are different with the new version of Checkout by Amazon).
The good news is that the new signup process is purportedly much simpler than the old one, so hopefully it won’t be too painful. We’ll release a blog with more details once we finish up the details on getting new Checkout by Amazon implemented.
Thanks, bharding-I’d been looking under the drop down.
Happy to help!
Look’n GOOD!!
I have a question though:
“Aside: if you were at the 6% or 16% commission levels (removed from new UI for simplification), you can remain grandfathered into those levels for as long as you like.”
Since the 16% is missing now (I’m grandfathered) could you run by me what is included in the OLD 16% so I can make an informed decision to jump out and join in with the NEW set up?
Thanks!!!
Hey SunflowerAntics,
Good question. The honest answer is that whether you pick 9%, 13%, 16%, or 19%, they all boil down to us running a mathematical formula around “if we earn X dollars per sale, and Y% of buyers make a purchase upon viewing the sellers’ items, then how much can we bid on their clicks and not lose (much) money?”
As a hypothetical example, if you had an item that cost $100 with 16% commission, we could afford to bid $1 per click if one out of every 16 visitors purchased an item upon visiting your store (6.25% conversion rate). If you moved to 19% commission, then we could afford to bid $1.18, assuming you kept the same conversion rate. Whether the difference between $1.00 and $1.18 matters to Google Shopping (and our other channels) really depends on the type of product you’re selling.
What I’ve seen most often is that buyers who choose the higher commission rates end up with results similar to those with Turbo Traffic – that is, they almost always get more buyer visits, but whether those visits translate to sales depends on how well the item is described and the reputation of the seller.
Sorry I can’t give a simple “yes or no” as to whether it’s a good idea to change your commission, but hopefully this helps you make an informed decision.
Bill!! It is so nice to see/hear from you on this blog. I began selling here when it was Bonanzle and in beta. I then had to shut down my booth for health reasons. In the next week or so I will be re-opening with new merchandise and cannot wait to try all the new upgrades and improvements you and your team have worked so hard to implement for your customers.
How cool is that?! Welcome (almost) back!
Looking forward to the mobile app for OS! We NEED it to handle the holidays better!
It’s nice to see Bonanza progressing along. It’s come a long way since the Bonanzle days.
Looks like you earned your “Old School” Bonanzle badge, nice work
Thanks for all you at Bonanza are doing. I hope to add new old stuff to sell soon
“Also consider: any buyer that purchases your items directly from Bonanza will only cost you 3.5%, so even for those that opt into the higher levels, the actual commission paid usually ends up being much lower than the selected tier”
……….So, trying to understand the fee’s, I did sell a couple of items here to members….One item was at the rate of 3.57% and the other was at the rate of 8.40% I was only charged .50 fee for each one. But if they both came thru bonz, why was one rate so much higher than the other?
That’s an excellent question to send to [email protected], who can help you track down the finer details of how those fees came about.
In general, the direct-to-Bonanza commission is 3.5%. If the buyer arrived through Google Shopping, the affiliate program, or some other advertising channel, then you’d pay a higher fee up to what you had chosen in Broadcaster.
Once support has the particulars of your situation I’ll try to remember to post an update.
Hi misskeech,
Jumping in here to answer your question. Our minimum fee for a sale is $0.50. The Fee Rate shown on your statement is a % calculated from the Total Fee divided by the Final Offer Value.
3.5% of $5.95 is $0.21, which is less than our minimum. So rather than show the Fee Rate at 3.5% and the Total Fee at $0.50 – which would be confusing, because those numbers don’t add up – we show the actual calculated % for the most transparent reporting possible.
I hope this answers your question!
Eric
Great features !
Can you estimate when the standalone Turbo Traffic packs will be available? I was waiting for it for a very long time. and you didn’t say anything about pricing etc?
$24.95, we’re hoping to have it in the next couple weeks.
I’m excited about all the new options, thank you. I’m worried though that they may not be implemented in time for this year’s holiday shopping. It seems to me that people are shopping earlier than usual this year.
Thanks Joyce! It does seem like sales have really kicked into gear early this year, doesn’t it? We expect that the new Amazon Checkout should be in place by the end of this week (days to spare before Thanksgiving). Getting the Turbo Traffic Pack ready before Thanksgiving will be more difficult, but members can already get those benefits like Turbo Traffic by signing up at the 19% or 30% broadcaster rate, or getting a Platinum/Titan membership
It’s so nice and great work. I really thanks for creating this bonanza web site.
good luck & keep it up
Looks good and thank you for being great eCommerce site , however Bonanza need some improvement on a) storefront customizing ( EBays custom pages ) every store should have it own unique feel and look including the store vertical navigation bar 2) Creating sub categories should be free 3) Provide some HTML integration to be used along Blogger shopping page ( like Ecwid )
Hi Tekno,
Have you considered a webstore? Our webstores have much richer ability to customize the layout of the store. If you’re looking to build a store that highlights the uniqueness of your brand, you might want to give webstores a look.
I sell on Ebay and Etsy too and I gotta say that whatever you are doing to enable individuals to market wont help at all unless more people have heard of BONANZA! There just arent the number of buyers here as there are on the other sites. You need to get the name of the SITE out there so folks consider us along with Amazon and Ebay. I participate in threads over on Etsy and very few folks have ever heard of Bonanza – THAT is what needs to be promoted, not individual sellers.
It’s true, we do need to keep growing awareness of Bonanza as a brand. But the best sites don’t usually get built over night. Every year, we’ve approximately doubled the budget that we put toward marketing. As of this year, we have an on-site marketing team and a sizeable marketing budget. I think that the more time passes, the more buyers and sellers will learn about what makes Bonanza unique. As long as we build a great product, the network effects we enjoy will keep increasing.
Awesome! Great work guys
I have been on Bonanza for 2 years now I don’t have a ton of sales. I look at it as an extra added perk when something does sell. I have my advertising set at 16% which from what I am understanding will be no more. There is so much I can give away before I am realizing a loss. Any advice on how to maximize my sales?
Thank you. Had a super quick look at your booth and would advise that you list more items. Without truly unique items, you will not realize more traction until you have at least 100 items listed (1000 is the best number of listings). Also make sure that you are not listing the same items on eBay for the same price. Your fees on Bonanza are less so make sure your prices on Bonanza reflect that so you are not inadvertently directing your advertising traffic to eBay.
Looking forward to it. Thanks for the updates.
Sounds exciting!
Sounds Great! Looking forward to increased profits $$$$$$$
When I added Amazon Checkout to my websites I saw an immediate increase in sales and many of my existing customers switched to the Amazon payment option. I’m hopeful for the same benefits here on Bonanza.
Thanks! Tom
Something I really like about this site is the E-Z CSV upload or download with other sites. Most of my Bonanza related sales are items I entered here but then when eBay had a free listings special, I used Advertise Items to put them on eBay. For which your 1.5% is nominal. Also you have the best retail site photo editor. Now IF it had a color wheel to adjust that – I would send you a Christmas present!
Anyway Bonanza is working well for me thank you. Adding to your IT team can only make it better.
Also I can clearly see that someone there has a sense of humor, I expect it might be you.
This is wonderful!
You’re doing a great job with the site. Looking forward to continuing the growth of my business here on Bonanza and generating a lot more sales.
Thanks for all the great stuff, maybe I can get up to speed by the new year.
Exciting changes and sure to drive business in. Looking forward to seeing what the future brings.
Thanks for the comprehensive updated
Hi Bill,
I have a question about Referral Program link. The blog lists the link as http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=[your user id]
My user ID is 4 digits; I’m trying find out if the referral link should be http://www.bonanza.com?from_#### or http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=####. I’ve tried the second option and I got an error message. If I try the first option, the page will display but I cannot tell if it work properly. Thanks
The easiest way to test it is to open a browser where you aren’t logged into Bonanza, and visit http://www.bonanza.com?from_seller=6797051. You should be redirected to the page to sign up as a seller, with a welcome message at the top (works when I tested it).
I’m guessing that the issues you noticed were due to currently being logged into the site. We’ll make sure to make that work more smoothly as we flesh out the referral program.
Sounds good but my eBay auctions still outsell Bonanza by 95% (items listed are the same). Would love to see Bonanza really take off as an alternative.
Thanks for believing in us @lim_consulting. If you removed the ALL CAPS in your title and got your listings up to 100+ then Bonanza may be able to lower that ratio for you. Feel free to reach out to our support team if you need additional tips or assistance.
Hi: Sounds great. I love Bonanza! Please do us all a favor, please do not become another e-bay. Keep up the good work. Bonanza is a great place to sell, and it is getting better all the time.
You got it Cunreno. Thank you for your kind words and for loving us!
i learned something in my long-time research on Etsy.
i’ve opened a store ,recently; but, am really focusing on Bonanza , first.
But, what i learned , from a Seller called “La Creeperie”(Horror and other Vintage Paperbacks & a large array of stuff) . . . was i needed to
Open a Facebook Page for
my Business,here on Bonanza. i’ve “Liked” Her Facebook Page, and She is Frequently adding New Itmes to Her Etsy Store inventory. i ,also, watched a You Tube Video by an Etsy Seller that spoke of advertising through Social Media.
So, i have,also, reactivated my advertising & posting on Pinterest & (an image-sharing site i’ve been on for 5 years) “WeHeartIt.com”,which is mostly for Young People.
So, my main point is that i believe the Business,Facebbok Page will Help me , here on Bonanza.
i’d like to know if others,here on Bonanza, have a Facebook Page, and how do You feel if it’s been
Helpful, or not?
~john,San Francisco Bay Area
Sounds like a plan.
I’m guessing part of the new updates is the removal of the dashboard or whatever it was called at the bottom of the pages where we could get to our rewards, chat messages, etc.?
Correctamundo
So that we can keep Bonanza pages clean and stick to our relentless pursuit of simplicity, we have to sometimes retire features that are no longer effective for the majority of our users. The good news is that we are adding new features at a quicker rate, and hopefully those features will benefit you even more.
I am one of those sellers trying to avoid Paypal. Amazon has told me Amazon Checkout is no longer available for SIGN UP.
So, is it now possible if you have not signed up for Amazon Checkout, are a Bonanza booth owner, you will now be able to sign up for Amazon Checkout? I am signed up for Amazon Payments. Will that now be an option to accept payments on Bonanza?
Only because you asked so nicely, Jordan has just added Amazon Payments to the site. You can sign up here: http://www.bonanza.com/site_help/booths_setup/amazon_payments_setup
Also, which of these services/improvements are available to sellers with booths only?
And, this improved staff.. do I still need to have a paid Bonanza account to access them?
All sellers with a booth can take advantage of our advertising options. Our advertising programs are no risk, you only pay those fees when you realize a sale via that channel.
Woohoo amazon payments. About 5 minutes and my CBA was converted. All done.
Very cool guys Thank you!!!
Thanks for all the great information provided in your latest blog; I’ll be taking advantage of this info.
When are other payment solutions going to be available who cannot offer Direct Checkout or Amazon Payments ??
Feel like I am left behind a lot of the time – even though the effort I put in is a lot.
Outside of PayPal, Amazon Payments, and Direct Checkout, we do not have immediate plans to offer additional payment channels.
You can vote for previously requested payment options (or suggest new ones) here: http://feedback.bonanza.com/forums/149038-bonanza-com
Amazon sign-in/up – Nope, didn’t work.
If you contact us at [email protected] we will do our best to turn your Amazon Payments frown upside down
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