Bonanzle was getting big buzz yesterday so I decided to try it out for myself. Just like any of the new auctions sites, a few people immediately twisted up their panties and decided it was the ultimate eBay killer.
Let me kill the suspense for you right off the bat. While there are a few things to like about Bonanzle, it has a very long way to go before it approaches the customization or the usability of eBay. I’m not saying that maybe in a few years it might be something great, but, sadly, right now, it isn’t that much different than everything else out there already.
I know I am probably going to make someone at Bonanzle cry by saying this but the interface, process and style of Bonanzle is very very similar to the failed Overstock auctions. Even stylistically they are similar though, to Bonanzle’s credit, they do have one or two things that give them an edge.
I listed some items today, played around, customized a booth and here are my Day 1 observations:
Right off the bat, the marketplace is much more similar to Craig’s List or Amazon’s marketplace. In other words, though you can add a feature similar to Best Offer that allows buyers to negotiate prices, everything on the site is fixed price, no auctions. This right here is sort of a deal breaker for any of us that make our living selling collectibles where the auction format and the demands of the day are the profit kings. That said, if you are mainly a Buy It Now seller, this may be interesting to you.
There are no insertion fees, only final value fees. Also, just like Amazon. The final value fees are also rather low which makes me wonder how this model is sustainable, but, hey, I like no listing fees! The good thing about this is that you can throw a lot of stuff up right from the start with no risk. From this page:
| Final Offer Value 1 | Fee |
| Less than $10 | $0.50 ($0 if registered during beta) |
| Less than $50 | $1 |
| Less than $100 | $3 |
| Less than $1000 | $5 |
| $1000 or more | $10 |
They accept money order, cash, PayPal and Google Checkout. Accepting cash is such a dangerous thing for all parties it seems like a terrible idea to offer it but, overall, no complaints here. The site lends itself mostly towards the Craig’s List/Pick-up crowd so I suspect that is why cash is an option. Some people will love the Google Checkout option.
They offer eBay and Craig’s List importing services that allow you to import both listings and feedback from the other sites. I tried to import my eBay feedback and, while it said it worked, nothing ever showed up. I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe it takes more than the hour I waited. I do like this feature, provided it works at some point. I mostly sell auctions so I didn’t bother to import everything over from eBay, I just manually set up a few Buy It Nows on Bonanzle. I would love to know, from those who did do the process, whether it lets you pick and choose which listings during import.
Every seller gets a store (sorry, a “booth”) right from the start with Bonanzle power (Markdown Manager copycat). Since eBay makes you pay a heft fee for a store, this is a big plus. The booth itself is extremely similar in look and functionality to the Overstock Auctions stores. It’s great to be able to have all your items at a glance, be able to show your branding and have a place to direct buyers without having to shell out the extra money (like eBay makes you do). I also like how you can specify “favorites” which are basically featured items within your listings. A lot to like there. Secondly, their version of Markdown Manager, having a Bonanzle, as they call it, gives you several options for discounts and other specials which is a great idea. The only downside is that it is store wide, instead of customizable like the eBay version. But overall, all good stuff there.
You can give away free stuff! This is cute little idea that many sellers on other sites were doing anyway, so its nice that they made it official. You can specify items as “freebies” and then set rules such as “once a buyer has purchased 1 item they can have unlimited freebies” or limit the number of freebies per person. I usually throw free stuff into my listings anyway around the holidays so letting the buyer pick their freebie is a fun idea. I imagine buyers would love it!
Much less rules! To me, it feels like all the auctions sites start out this way until they realize that if they give us an inch, we will run wild. So I expect rules aplenty to crop up in the future but, for now, many less restrictions on link usage, fee avoidance, etc. So if eBay was cramping your style (or your favorite questionable tactic), you can set up shop again here.
The list your item page is very short. This is a plus to some people, I know. For me, it just irritates me. It means that I need to cram all my info into the description since they don’t provide a place for me to specify. I suspect that, like the rules above, as they realize all the issue associated with sales, they will add more to this page as they go.
The site is rather buggy at the moment and is lacking a few niceties. For instance, if you click on delete, it sometimes registers this as duplicate. While this is not as big an issue as the opposite would be (I would be really annoyed if it deleted the item I just made when I clicked duplicate) once you are in the duplicate screen, you are stuck watching their flash animation come to completion with no option to cancel out. This is just one example of a problem all over the site where they won’t let you cancel out of processes that you never started in the first place and where clicking one thing yeilds a different link’s result. OK, they are new. Slack cut.
In the same way, error messages are, in many cases, non existent. You upload a picture and then the picture simply isn’t there. No message telling you why or what the issue is with the picture, just no picture so you have to guess and check at the issue and edit the picture until it appears. Same thing with an item that you are posting, etc. You just get a big red or yellow dot and no indication of what needs to be changed. I am a busy seller. I don’t have time to play the guess and check game. Just tell me what is wrong.
Bonanzle handles shipping very awkwardly and there are several big problems. There is no capacity to add a handling fee and domestic and international shipping must be set at the same time. If you want to offer free shipping (an option called Seller Pays Shipping which may not immediately be clear) then you are forced to offer free shipping everywhere, instead of free shipping for US, paid shipping international. You also do not get to pick with methods of shipping you wish to offer, though they do offer calculated shipping. Not having sold anything yet, I am not sure how this will play out but I do not like this limitation.
- Is the system “smart” about what to offer Media Mail on?
- Priority Mail is much cheaper for sellers to use than Parcel Post, why can’t we specify that we prefer that method?
- Will the system know what items are too large for International First Class?
- How will the system know what can fit in a flat rate envelope?
This just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. If you offer fixed shipping costs, this might not be an issue but if you use calculated, this is a huge problem.
The default pricing is rounded to the nearest dollar. While you can change this in the settings, this just reinforces the Craig’s List, we accept cash mentality. I know that some people offer pick-up and so this eliminates the need for change but for a marketplace in general, this is a very weird direction to steer people, in my opinion, especially if you want to be a professional marketplace.
Overall, this site is just like all the others that I double list my bulk inventory on. Just like A1, Amazon, Craig’s List, Google Base, Overstock, etc its another place to stick your stuff for a little more exposure. In it’s present form, however, there is nothing to make it stand out more than any of the other sites above which is its biggest downside. A few good ideas are not enough to save this site from its medicority and its similarity to other failed sites are, I am afraid, going to be what holds it back. I see nothing here that convinces me that this should ever be the first place I send my buyers, instead of just a “see also.”
I would love to be wrong on this! But for now, I will be staying where the buyers and the profit is and just use Bonanzle for duplicate listings.
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Hi Hillary,
Ouch. Okay, a lot of what you say here is valid, yes, though I have a feeling many of your points are going to be pointed out as advantages by the growing group of hard-core Bonanzlers.
I don’t in any way see Bonanzle as an eBay-killer, ain’t gonna happen, but it is what I like to call an eBay-alt site. And while I’ve given a limited try-out to most of those over the years, for some reason this is the one I’ve stuck at longest.
The initial hype is reminiscent of the Wagglepop debut…and that went about as bad as it could shortly thereafter. We all have to hope that doesn’t happen again, but frankly that was so unbelievable at the time that I’d be even more stunned to see it happen a second time!
I’m mostly on eBay, haven’t done much with the other sites you’ve mentioned other than registered and tried listing a few items at some point in time. I like the general enthusiasm and the web 2.0 features like chatting and tagging. I think their modern day design helps them standout as well–eBay’s throwing us into hysterics trying to catch up to that quick.
I think you underestimate the power of the Bonanza. One correction, after scheduling, you can go in and remove specific items from your sale. No, I don’t believe you can schedule them at a different percent off, but yes, you can exclude. I had my only Bonanza so far very early on, so I’m sure this is going to tone down some through the natural growth of the site, but it was like an event when I held one. I was all over the site.
And, yes, I had some problems with combining shipping; encountered an eBay import bug; and probably had some other minor things I can’t recall, but that’s happened to me everywhere. In fact no site pisses me off more with bugginess and inconsistencies than everyone’s darling Amazon. And we know eBay has its many problems/bugs/glitches/etc. So I have to expect some of that here.
Bonanzle does currently manage to have a greater percentage of my items listed in Google Base than eBay…so that’s pretty cool.
These guys also seem very willing to listen and communicate. I’ve seen them allow users to vote on the next feature to the site. I’ve mentioned problems, been told they’d be taken care of…and then they are.
So, not to sound like it’s a perfect place…I mean some sales would be appreciated! I think it’s more than worth a try. My initial plan was to import my items and see what happened by the New Year. The growth leads me to believe I’ll extend that deadline even if the sales aren’t quite there yet.
A good detailed post though and I can understand most of your points and problems–beyond the paragraph on Bonanza’s/Sales I can see the validity in each point, coming from a specific perspective.
Hi Hillary,
Ouch. Okay, a lot of what you say here is valid, yes, though I have a feeling many of your points are going to be pointed out as advantages by the growing group of hard-core Bonanzlers.
I don’t in any way see Bonanzle as an eBay-killer, ain’t gonna happen, but it is what I like to call an eBay-alt site. And while I’ve given a limited try-out to most of those over the years, for some reason this is the one I’ve stuck at longest.
The initial hype is reminiscent of the Wagglepop debut…and that went about as bad as it could shortly thereafter. We all have to hope that doesn’t happen again, but frankly that was so unbelievable at the time that I’d be even more stunned to see it happen a second time!
I’m mostly on eBay, haven’t done much with the other sites you’ve mentioned other than registered and tried listing a few items at some point in time. I like the general enthusiasm and the web 2.0 features like chatting and tagging. I think their modern day design helps them standout as well–eBay’s throwing us into hysterics trying to catch up to that quick.
I think you underestimate the power of the Bonanza. One correction, after scheduling, you can go in and remove specific items from your sale. No, I don’t believe you can schedule them at a different percent off, but yes, you can exclude. I had my only Bonanza so far very early on, so I’m sure this is going to tone down some through the natural growth of the site, but it was like an event when I held one. I was all over the site.
And, yes, I had some problems with combining shipping; encountered an eBay import bug; and probably had some other minor things I can’t recall, but that’s happened to me everywhere. In fact no site pisses me off more with bugginess and inconsistencies than everyone’s darling Amazon. And we know eBay has its many problems/bugs/glitches/etc. So I have to expect some of that here.
Bonanzle does currently manage to have a greater percentage of my items listed in Google Base than eBay…so that’s pretty cool.
These guys also seem very willing to listen and communicate. I’ve seen them allow users to vote on the next feature to the site. I’ve mentioned problems, been told they’d be taken care of…and then they are.
So, not to sound like it’s a perfect place…I mean some sales would be appreciated! I think it’s more than worth a try. My initial plan was to import my items and see what happened by the New Year. The growth leads me to believe I’ll extend that deadline even if the sales aren’t quite there yet.
A good detailed post though and I can understand most of your points and problems–beyond the paragraph on Bonanza’s/Sales I can see the validity in each point, coming from a specific perspective.
Cliff,
There is another dotcom who shall remain nameless who, when they were brand new, were fantastic about making changes right away and, as they grew got worse and worse. Not saying this will be the case here, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Amazon is definitely the buggiest place on earth and I love how half the people who work for them don’t even know what goes on. But they are a huge monster. If you have a tiny site it should be easier to keep your ducks in a row. But, like I said, I am trying to cut them a ton of slack. My biggest issues aren’t the bugs and problems, it’s the fact that they haven’t offered me anything new.
I definitely like it over Craig’s List, though, so I want to give it a chance so it can become my go-to second site. My biggest thing is that they seem to be shooting for the middle instead of the top. But at the moment all they are is a slightly better version of what is already out there. It’s sort of, well then, what’s the point of my using you?
I have listed a few deals that usually get snapped right up on eBay on Bonanzle as a test. We will see if they are purchased and that will give me a better idea of if there are buyers there.
If you list a tree online but no one is in the forest, does it make a sale?
Cliff,
There is another dotcom who shall remain nameless who, when they were brand new, were fantastic about making changes right away and, as they grew got worse and worse. Not saying this will be the case here, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Amazon is definitely the buggiest place on earth and I love how half the people who work for them don’t even know what goes on. But they are a huge monster. If you have a tiny site it should be easier to keep your ducks in a row. But, like I said, I am trying to cut them a ton of slack. My biggest issues aren’t the bugs and problems, it’s the fact that they haven’t offered me anything new.
I definitely like it over Craig’s List, though, so I want to give it a chance so it can become my go-to second site. My biggest thing is that they seem to be shooting for the middle instead of the top. But at the moment all they are is a slightly better version of what is already out there. It’s sort of, well then, what’s the point of my using you?
I have listed a few deals that usually get snapped right up on eBay on Bonanzle as a test. We will see if they are purchased and that will give me a better idea of if there are buyers there.
If you list a tree online but no one is in the forest, does it make a sale?
Hi Hillary,
If you think Bonanzle is bad now, you should have seen it a month ago when we first started receiving endorsements! 🙂
Anyone who goes into Bonanzle expecting to have the full featureset of Amazon or eBay are gonna be disappointed. There are probably as many programmer-hours that go into building those sites every day as have gone into developing Bonanzle since it’s inception. That is to say, their teams are made of thousands of programmers. Ours is made of (ahem) very, very few.
Most of our buyers and sellers accept that they aren’t signing up for eBay, and that our shipping system is going to continue to evolve and improve every week (a month ago we didn’t even *have* calculated shipping rates, a week ago we didn’t have combined shipping discounts).
Listening to our users, some of the the points about Bonanzle that they really seem to dig (and that I didn’t see specifically mentioned in your article) include:
* Bonanzle is made of up friendly people who enjoy each other’s company. A person can’t say “Hello, I’m new” in the forums without being greeted by 5-10 friendly Bonanzlers.
* Sellers can chat live with buyers in their booth. Given the site’s upbeat vibe, the chats that you see taking place in booths are oftentimes just people hanging out and musing over similar interests in memorabilia or purses. Often times, it is used as a streamlined means for a buyer and seller to arrive at agreement on the parameters of a sale.
* Emphasis on less clutter (or in Bonanzle marketingspeak, “relentless simplicity”). Usually the very first thing we hear from our buyers and sellers is something along the lines of: wow, this isn’t as busy as eBay/iOffer. Nothing makes me personally happier than hearing that sentiment, since I don’t have the patience to figure out what’s going on when looking at an eBay page with tens or hundreds of links, buttons, widgets, etc.
(Many sellers also mention the image cropper, but I’m trying to keep this comment brief, believe it or not :))
As far as bugs, Cliff’s got it right. When we hear something has gone awry, we strive to be on top of it and get it resolved as quickly as possible. Unless the problem is a very intricate and specific one, we can usually get it resolved in less than a week (after we know about it… some of the issues you mention above have not been reported by anyone else yet… dunno if that’s an anomaly or bad luck for us).
Finally, sales. Our emphasis is on providing the best marketplace for items that aren’t new, shiny and mass produced (thus our tagline, “Find Everything but the Ordinary”). People that sell these sorts of items have had generally good results so far. We are now averaging about 50+ items sold per day, with about 1000 total sellers signed up. When a seller is involved in the community and has good items, they can be very successful. We already have a few sellers that have sold more than 50 items in the past month.
I’m sorry to hear that day one at Bonanzle didn’t live up to the expectations created by the heap of reviews that have been calling Bonanzle the cat’s pajamas lately. But if you have unique items, you don’t need auctions, and you like spending time with a warm and friendly community, I reckon the site might just grow on you.
(Especially once our team of monkeys gets the 1000 permutations of shipping possibilities available in an easy-to-use way (P.S. Want better international shipping? Vote for it! http://www.bonanzle.com/next_ups/))
Bill Harding
Bonanzle Guy
Hi Hillary,
If you think Bonanzle is bad now, you should have seen it a month ago when we first started receiving endorsements! 🙂
Anyone who goes into Bonanzle expecting to have the full featureset of Amazon or eBay are gonna be disappointed. There are probably as many programmer-hours that go into building those sites every day as have gone into developing Bonanzle since it’s inception. That is to say, their teams are made of thousands of programmers. Ours is made of (ahem) very, very few.
Most of our buyers and sellers accept that they aren’t signing up for eBay, and that our shipping system is going to continue to evolve and improve every week (a month ago we didn’t even *have* calculated shipping rates, a week ago we didn’t have combined shipping discounts).
Listening to our users, some of the the points about Bonanzle that they really seem to dig (and that I didn’t see specifically mentioned in your article) include:
* Bonanzle is made of up friendly people who enjoy each other’s company. A person can’t say “Hello, I’m new” in the forums without being greeted by 5-10 friendly Bonanzlers.
* Sellers can chat live with buyers in their booth. Given the site’s upbeat vibe, the chats that you see taking place in booths are oftentimes just people hanging out and musing over similar interests in memorabilia or purses. Often times, it is used as a streamlined means for a buyer and seller to arrive at agreement on the parameters of a sale.
* Emphasis on less clutter (or in Bonanzle marketingspeak, “relentless simplicity”). Usually the very first thing we hear from our buyers and sellers is something along the lines of: wow, this isn’t as busy as eBay/iOffer. Nothing makes me personally happier than hearing that sentiment, since I don’t have the patience to figure out what’s going on when looking at an eBay page with tens or hundreds of links, buttons, widgets, etc.
(Many sellers also mention the image cropper, but I’m trying to keep this comment brief, believe it or not :))
As far as bugs, Cliff’s got it right. When we hear something has gone awry, we strive to be on top of it and get it resolved as quickly as possible. Unless the problem is a very intricate and specific one, we can usually get it resolved in less than a week (after we know about it… some of the issues you mention above have not been reported by anyone else yet… dunno if that’s an anomaly or bad luck for us).
Finally, sales. Our emphasis is on providing the best marketplace for items that aren’t new, shiny and mass produced (thus our tagline, “Find Everything but the Ordinary”). People that sell these sorts of items have had generally good results so far. We are now averaging about 50+ items sold per day, with about 1000 total sellers signed up. When a seller is involved in the community and has good items, they can be very successful. We already have a few sellers that have sold more than 50 items in the past month.
I’m sorry to hear that day one at Bonanzle didn’t live up to the expectations created by the heap of reviews that have been calling Bonanzle the cat’s pajamas lately. But if you have unique items, you don’t need auctions, and you like spending time with a warm and friendly community, I reckon the site might just grow on you.
(Especially once our team of monkeys gets the 1000 permutations of shipping possibilities available in an easy-to-use way (P.S. Want better international shipping? Vote for it! http://www.bonanzle.com/next_ups/))
Bill Harding
Bonanzle Guy
Bill,
Thank you very much for visiting the site. I am sorry if my review upset you but I was just giving my honest opinion. I understand its hard not to take it personal when its your baby, I definitely understand that. I tried to be as balanced as possible and gave the site several hours of my time today to give it a fair trial.
I have worked for Lulu.com since they launched so I know what its like to be in a company of under 10 people with a lot of coding to do. But I don’t feel like I can write an honest review if I have to be worried about offending anyone, otherwise the review isn’t useful or truthful. Please understand that it is nothing personal.
As I said, there are a lot of nice and innovative things that you are trying out and several things I really like. The whole first half of my list is positive But it’s impossible for me not to look at your site in comparison with eBay. eBay is where I currently make the bulk of my money. Any time I spend away from eBay is time I am not making money so your site would need to convince me that time spent there is worth the money I am missing on eBay. So far, I haven’t see anything to make me believe that.
I could see if you sold fixed price style items that always had the same details or your own crafts etc that maybe you would think the site was the cat pajamas. For me and my business, perhaps the issue is that my cat has fur and doesn’t need pajamas? Bad analogy. But I think you see what I am saying.
Maybe I am just not your demographic. But if a successful eBay and elsewhere seller is not your demographic, might that not be a problem?
The reason I didn’t mention the three things above is that I actually consider them negatives but I know some people consider them positives so I didn’t want to go there.
Chatting on the site might be useful for some people but I didn’t mention it for the simple reason that I measure how effective a site is by how little time I need to spend actually on it. If your site is efficient, what good is chat to me if I am only on a few minutes a week?
I understand that the Mom and Pop style old-way of eBay is what you are going for with chatting and community and there is definitely a seller for that market. Just understand that it’s not me. As my business grew and took off, I measure how good I am as a seller by how little I need to communicate with the buyer. It’s nothing personal to the buyers, but if I’ve done my job right then there is no need for them to contact me at all as they have all the info they need. This helps me to get more things sold and out the door and to make more money.
I know that eBay used to be all warm and fluffy and community. I used to sell stuff from my attic back then and got my fluff on with all the rest. But as people (including myself) began to use it for business, even eBay as a company pulled back on the community. It became a serious marketplace and the community loving people were a dying breed. It’s great and very web 2.0 that you have a solid community on the site but for a seller like me community is a bell and whistle that only distracts from the business. If I want community, I go to a community site.
It’s like the girl who works on your office floor who wants to gossip with you when you have work to do. Sure, some people love gossip. Me, I just want to finish my work and go home.
I don’t want to make friends, I want to make money. That is the only reason I sell online.
As for the image cropping, I actually didn’t like it it but I didn’t say anything because I wanted to give it another try at a later date and see if my thoughts on it improve.
I have given every new selling site out there a solid trial for a few months. In the end, I still make the bulk of my money on eBay with some income for Amazon as well. It’s not that I have any loyalty to these companies, so much as they are the ones that make me money and the ratio of money made to time spent on the site is good. Most of the time I hate both of them but the fact remains that they are great sites for selling things.
What is the killer for Bonanzle is that there is nothing about your site that tells me, as a seller, that this is a place where I am going to make money, specifically any more money than anywhere else. Bonanzas and chats and imagine cropping and free items are all fun ideas, but none of them bring me in more money and more business so their sum total is zero in that regard for me.
What I want to know as a seller is how are you going to bring in buyers? The killer for every eBay clone so far as been that you can build it, but the buyers won’t necessarily come. The day that you can show me that an item is more likely to sell on Bonanzle than eBay is the day I switch over for good.
I know this came off as harsh but you asked for my opinion. Like I said above, I listed a few of my classic sellers on Bonanzle to see if they sell. I intend to post updates on the site as things happen as well so you definitely have a chance to prove me wrong. I am eager to continue to try the site and would love to have a new place to sell goods.
No one would like a site like Bonanzle to succeed more than us sellers. Even if only to give the big boys competition on fees, it would be fantastic. But in order for it to succeed, it would need to be more than what everyone else is offering and, so far, there is nothing to put it in that league yet.
Hillary
Bill,
Thank you very much for visiting the site. I am sorry if my review upset you but I was just giving my honest opinion. I understand its hard not to take it personal when its your baby, I definitely understand that. I tried to be as balanced as possible and gave the site several hours of my time today to give it a fair trial.
I have worked for Lulu.com since they launched so I know what its like to be in a company of under 10 people with a lot of coding to do. But I don’t feel like I can write an honest review if I have to be worried about offending anyone, otherwise the review isn’t useful or truthful. Please understand that it is nothing personal.
As I said, there are a lot of nice and innovative things that you are trying out and several things I really like. The whole first half of my list is positive But it’s impossible for me not to look at your site in comparison with eBay. eBay is where I currently make the bulk of my money. Any time I spend away from eBay is time I am not making money so your site would need to convince me that time spent there is worth the money I am missing on eBay. So far, I haven’t see anything to make me believe that.
I could see if you sold fixed price style items that always had the same details or your own crafts etc that maybe you would think the site was the cat pajamas. For me and my business, perhaps the issue is that my cat has fur and doesn’t need pajamas? Bad analogy. But I think you see what I am saying.
Maybe I am just not your demographic. But if a successful eBay and elsewhere seller is not your demographic, might that not be a problem?
The reason I didn’t mention the three things above is that I actually consider them negatives but I know some people consider them positives so I didn’t want to go there.
Chatting on the site might be useful for some people but I didn’t mention it for the simple reason that I measure how effective a site is by how little time I need to spend actually on it. If your site is efficient, what good is chat to me if I am only on a few minutes a week?
I understand that the Mom and Pop style old-way of eBay is what you are going for with chatting and community and there is definitely a seller for that market. Just understand that it’s not me. As my business grew and took off, I measure how good I am as a seller by how little I need to communicate with the buyer. It’s nothing personal to the buyers, but if I’ve done my job right then there is no need for them to contact me at all as they have all the info they need. This helps me to get more things sold and out the door and to make more money.
I know that eBay used to be all warm and fluffy and community. I used to sell stuff from my attic back then and got my fluff on with all the rest. But as people (including myself) began to use it for business, even eBay as a company pulled back on the community. It became a serious marketplace and the community loving people were a dying breed. It’s great and very web 2.0 that you have a solid community on the site but for a seller like me community is a bell and whistle that only distracts from the business. If I want community, I go to a community site.
It’s like the girl who works on your office floor who wants to gossip with you when you have work to do. Sure, some people love gossip. Me, I just want to finish my work and go home.
I don’t want to make friends, I want to make money. That is the only reason I sell online.
As for the image cropping, I actually didn’t like it it but I didn’t say anything because I wanted to give it another try at a later date and see if my thoughts on it improve.
I have given every new selling site out there a solid trial for a few months. In the end, I still make the bulk of my money on eBay with some income for Amazon as well. It’s not that I have any loyalty to these companies, so much as they are the ones that make me money and the ratio of money made to time spent on the site is good. Most of the time I hate both of them but the fact remains that they are great sites for selling things.
What is the killer for Bonanzle is that there is nothing about your site that tells me, as a seller, that this is a place where I am going to make money, specifically any more money than anywhere else. Bonanzas and chats and imagine cropping and free items are all fun ideas, but none of them bring me in more money and more business so their sum total is zero in that regard for me.
What I want to know as a seller is how are you going to bring in buyers? The killer for every eBay clone so far as been that you can build it, but the buyers won’t necessarily come. The day that you can show me that an item is more likely to sell on Bonanzle than eBay is the day I switch over for good.
I know this came off as harsh but you asked for my opinion. Like I said above, I listed a few of my classic sellers on Bonanzle to see if they sell. I intend to post updates on the site as things happen as well so you definitely have a chance to prove me wrong. I am eager to continue to try the site and would love to have a new place to sell goods.
No one would like a site like Bonanzle to succeed more than us sellers. Even if only to give the big boys competition on fees, it would be fantastic. But in order for it to succeed, it would need to be more than what everyone else is offering and, so far, there is nothing to put it in that league yet.
Hillary
This I did not understand in your ‘review’ at all, perhaps you could clarify?
“Every seller gets a store (sorry, a “booth”) right from the start with Bonanzle power (Markdown Manager copycat)”
When I make a comparative market analysis I find it helps to compare, for example, apples to apples. Comparing a banana to a watermelon tends to result in skewed data. This response would be far too long for a comment … if you would like to read more please check http://tiny.cc/u6B9J
This I did not understand in your ‘review’ at all, perhaps you could clarify?
“Every seller gets a store (sorry, a “booth”) right from the start with Bonanzle power (Markdown Manager copycat)”
When I make a comparative market analysis I find it helps to compare, for example, apples to apples. Comparing a banana to a watermelon tends to result in skewed data. This response would be far too long for a comment … if you would like to read more please check http://tiny.cc/u6B9J
Henrietta,
I went ahead and posted my reply on your blog post. Thanks again for reading!
Henrietta,
I went ahead and posted my reply on your blog post. Thanks again for reading!
Hillary,
Great review! I had a similar experience to yours in trying out Bonanzle. I haven’t actually gotten anything listed yet, because I haven’t had the time to deal with the listing format limitations. I’ve got my eBay process streamlined, and I decided to wait for the kinks to work out at Bonanzle before trying again.
I agree 100% with your comments about the chat/community aspects of it. I’m running a business, not a coffee klatch, so I really don’t need that kind of stuff. Right now, I’m liking what I’ve seen over at the AtomicMall a little better. It’s very slick and has a more professional feel to it than Bonanzle has. I can’t speak to the sales yet, since I’m just getting started there, but we’ll see. It, too, is still in beta mode, but seems a bit more put-together. I hope it does better than ecrater, which has done nothing for me in the many months I’ve been there.
Bonanzle will probably appeal to those who find eBay too difficult to deal with and those who come from the estate-sale/antique mall side of things, since those activities lend themselves more to chatting and hanging out. Me, I don’t want to deal with customers any more than I have to. Not that I don’t like them, I just don’t want to socialize with them.
I don’t really enjoy the social aspect of it in the same way as some do. Not that it’s a bad thing if you do, but I just find it too time-consuming and distracting from my business activities. I’m presently working full time plus trying to get my business up to speed on multiple sales channels, including my own ecommerce site, so I’m distinctly lacking in time to chat and socialize. I don’t even have time to read all the useful blogs out there, so I definitely don’t have time to spend “hanging out.”
Anyway, that’s my $0.02 on the subject 🙂
Hillary,
Great review! I had a similar experience to yours in trying out Bonanzle. I haven’t actually gotten anything listed yet, because I haven’t had the time to deal with the listing format limitations. I’ve got my eBay process streamlined, and I decided to wait for the kinks to work out at Bonanzle before trying again.
I agree 100% with your comments about the chat/community aspects of it. I’m running a business, not a coffee klatch, so I really don’t need that kind of stuff. Right now, I’m liking what I’ve seen over at the AtomicMall a little better. It’s very slick and has a more professional feel to it than Bonanzle has. I can’t speak to the sales yet, since I’m just getting started there, but we’ll see. It, too, is still in beta mode, but seems a bit more put-together. I hope it does better than ecrater, which has done nothing for me in the many months I’ve been there.
Bonanzle will probably appeal to those who find eBay too difficult to deal with and those who come from the estate-sale/antique mall side of things, since those activities lend themselves more to chatting and hanging out. Me, I don’t want to deal with customers any more than I have to. Not that I don’t like them, I just don’t want to socialize with them.
I don’t really enjoy the social aspect of it in the same way as some do. Not that it’s a bad thing if you do, but I just find it too time-consuming and distracting from my business activities. I’m presently working full time plus trying to get my business up to speed on multiple sales channels, including my own ecommerce site, so I’m distinctly lacking in time to chat and socialize. I don’t even have time to read all the useful blogs out there, so I definitely don’t have time to spend “hanging out.”
Anyway, that’s my $0.02 on the subject 🙂
Thanks for the comment, Tula. 🙂 Best of luck with your sales.
Thanks for the comment, Tula. 🙂 Best of luck with your sales.
I really love Bonanzle and recommend it highly.
Im shocked to hear that you like Atomic Mall. When I researched my options, I also checked out that site and found it to look rather tacky and unprofessional. t least that was my first impression when I saw the main page.
As a buyer and a seller, I can only recommend Etsy and Bonanzle. Everything else looks cheap and tacky in comparison.
Just throwing in my 2 cents!
I really love Bonanzle and recommend it highly.
Im shocked to hear that you like Atomic Mall. When I researched my options, I also checked out that site and found it to look rather tacky and unprofessional. t least that was my first impression when I saw the main page.
As a buyer and a seller, I can only recommend Etsy and Bonanzle. Everything else looks cheap and tacky in comparison.
Just throwing in my 2 cents!
Thanks for the comment and for stopping by the blog, Gina!
I have a friend who sells on Etsy and I am hoping to get her to do a guest post on it in the next few weeks.
For me, nothing I sell is homemade so that is right out.
I have never even heard about Atomic Mall until this post. I will make a not to take a look at them in the near future and will let you know what I think.
Thanks for the comment and for stopping by the blog, Gina!
I have a friend who sells on Etsy and I am hoping to get her to do a guest post on it in the next few weeks.
For me, nothing I sell is homemade so that is right out.
I have never even heard about Atomic Mall until this post. I will make a not to take a look at them in the near future and will let you know what I think.
First of all I want to say that I am “PROUD TO BE A BONANZLER.”
I am going to make this short, simple and to the point.
I became a member the latter part of September. I had no problems listing. I love the simplicity. The support of management is the best I’ve seen from 11 cyber sites that I have and at the present time still sell on.
The community is friendly and helpful. Unlike, the eBay discussion boards with all the venomous, anonymous posters with more then one ID.
The Bonanzle community has a genuine respect for all members and this is apparent on the discussion boards.
Community as defined on eBay had been lost years ago. The eBay community is no more then a column of numbers representing buyers and sellers.
You can pick and pick away. There’s no doubt in my mind that though it may take awhile for Bill Harding to get the well deserved recognition for having the savvy to pioneer a marketplace that is user friendly and simple to navigate will take some time. After all, being easy to use hasn’t been a concept used by other marketplaces. But, when it does I know who’s going to have the last laugh!
Final comments: Where did the premise come from that Bonazle is an auction site and is in competition with auction sites?
Appears to me that many of the critics seem to find fault with the ease of listing on Boanazle. How dumb is that? I am 62 years old without any formal computer experience. It’s a piece of cake. I sold on eBay for 9 years. Listing and finding appropriate categories on eBay is probably more difficult then any other site. The more improvements eBay makes the less user friendly it has become.
So what if listings can be transferred from Craig’s list. What’s wrong with that? Those listings then can be revised to accommodate expanded text and payment options. For those that are not computer oriented are enabled to sell and list in a booth with more exposure and even better FREE! That’s not good?
Is the concept free something you critiques don’t like? Have you become so jaded from being on eBay, you feel that not being charged an arm and leg is not something you don’t find advantageous?
Truthfully, I am appalled to read the comments from those that are criticizing a marketplace that is not only free to list but negates the idea that posting an ad is simple. For those of us that can’t afford the bells and whistles offered on fee based web sites and having our own personal . com or whatever….BONANZLE IS THE PERFECT PLACE!!
First of all I want to say that I am “PROUD TO BE A BONANZLER.”
I am going to make this short, simple and to the point.
I became a member the latter part of September. I had no problems listing. I love the simplicity. The support of management is the best I’ve seen from 11 cyber sites that I have and at the present time still sell on.
The community is friendly and helpful. Unlike, the eBay discussion boards with all the venomous, anonymous posters with more then one ID.
The Bonanzle community has a genuine respect for all members and this is apparent on the discussion boards.
Community as defined on eBay had been lost years ago. The eBay community is no more then a column of numbers representing buyers and sellers.
You can pick and pick away. There’s no doubt in my mind that though it may take awhile for Bill Harding to get the well deserved recognition for having the savvy to pioneer a marketplace that is user friendly and simple to navigate will take some time. After all, being easy to use hasn’t been a concept used by other marketplaces. But, when it does I know who’s going to have the last laugh!
Final comments: Where did the premise come from that Bonazle is an auction site and is in competition with auction sites?
Appears to me that many of the critics seem to find fault with the ease of listing on Boanazle. How dumb is that? I am 62 years old without any formal computer experience. It’s a piece of cake. I sold on eBay for 9 years. Listing and finding appropriate categories on eBay is probably more difficult then any other site. The more improvements eBay makes the less user friendly it has become.
So what if listings can be transferred from Craig’s list. What’s wrong with that? Those listings then can be revised to accommodate expanded text and payment options. For those that are not computer oriented are enabled to sell and list in a booth with more exposure and even better FREE! That’s not good?
Is the concept free something you critiques don’t like? Have you become so jaded from being on eBay, you feel that not being charged an arm and leg is not something you don’t find advantageous?
Truthfully, I am appalled to read the comments from those that are criticizing a marketplace that is not only free to list but negates the idea that posting an ad is simple. For those of us that can’t afford the bells and whistles offered on fee based web sites and having our own personal . com or whatever….BONANZLE IS THE PERFECT PLACE!!
Bonanzle is the most rapid growing internet commerce site ever. It has been tailored to the interests and expectations of sellers and buyers alike. No doubt about it, it is “The Internet Darling”.
Proof is in the pudding. I have a booth there and I have had:
Booth views: 6457. I never saw those kind of views on the other site in the 11+ years I was there.
Bonanzle is doing everything right and there are others trying to imitate the feel, the look, the success but you can’t improve on perfection. If you haven’t been by yet, come and say hi. You’ll be glad you did!
Bonanzle is the most rapid growing internet commerce site ever. It has been tailored to the interests and expectations of sellers and buyers alike. No doubt about it, it is “The Internet Darling”.
Proof is in the pudding. I have a booth there and I have had:
Booth views: 6457. I never saw those kind of views on the other site in the 11+ years I was there.
Bonanzle is doing everything right and there are others trying to imitate the feel, the look, the success but you can’t improve on perfection. If you haven’t been by yet, come and say hi. You’ll be glad you did!
Take a look at this Business Week article from 1/22/09 about the current state of affairs at eBay and read the accompanying 200+ comments.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2009/tc20090121_143541.htm
Many of the comments are from eBay sellers who have become disillusioned, frustrated, and powerless who have moved their business to Bonanzle. The site that was started just a few months ago (June, 2008) as a beta has taken on a life of its own. With nearly a million listings, sellers AND buyers are flocking to the site in droves. It is free to sellers with low final value fees, is easy in store setup, is easy to navigate, has excellent customer support, and has a feel-good attitude for all who use it. It is a wonderful alternative to the current eBay experience! Come and see.
Alice Sisk, Something Old
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/alicesisk
Take a look at this Business Week article from 1/22/09 about the current state of affairs at eBay and read the accompanying 200+ comments.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2009/tc20090121_143541.htm
Many of the comments are from eBay sellers who have become disillusioned, frustrated, and powerless who have moved their business to Bonanzle. The site that was started just a few months ago (June, 2008) as a beta has taken on a life of its own. With nearly a million listings, sellers AND buyers are flocking to the site in droves. It is free to sellers with low final value fees, is easy in store setup, is easy to navigate, has excellent customer support, and has a feel-good attitude for all who use it. It is a wonderful alternative to the current eBay experience! Come and see.
Alice Sisk, Something Old
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/alicesisk
Hillary’s critique if Bonanzle in September, 2008 was way too premature. It’s March 2009 as I type this. I bailed on ebay last year when my items stopped selling. Sales on Bonanzle are picking up. And even if I don’t sell anything (which I have) I don’t lose money like on ebay.
Hillary’s critique if Bonanzle in September, 2008 was way too premature. It’s March 2009 as I type this. I bailed on ebay last year when my items stopped selling. Sales on Bonanzle are picking up. And even if I don’t sell anything (which I have) I don’t lose money like on ebay.
We just discovered Bonanzle and love it.
I think Bonanzle needs to have a fresh critique.
It’s growing and improving every day.
And, as Jay said, you don’t lose money while you are waiting for things to sell.
We just discovered Bonanzle and love it.
I think Bonanzle needs to have a fresh critique.
It’s growing and improving every day.
And, as Jay said, you don’t lose money while you are waiting for things to sell.
Ok, so here is the suggested fresh critique:
I have sold on Bonanzle since September 2008.
For the longest time I was one of the passionate supporters of Bonanzle. Not anymore. I just closed my store there.
Although I have to credit them for their superb technical skills, which resulted in a truly usable starters marketplace for old stuff, they lack the following two essentials to continue and will therefore eventually fail
Missing with the Bonanzle team are:
1) A reality based solid long term vision on their business
2) Communication skills
Bonanzle’s advertised vision is totally limited to a slogan, not to a well thought through business model. They advertise that their vision is to be a place where one can find ‘all but the ordinary’.
First of all their slogan statement is simply not true. There are tons of items for sale there which are ‘ordinary’, in fact the majority of items is.
There is nothing wrong with items for sale being ordinary, but please do not create a false image, neither towards buyers nor towards sellers. It comes over as a childish ‘I wanted things to be a certain way, so they are that way’ in other words, ‘reality is optional’.
Secondly, just mentioning what ‘products’ you desire to sell on your marketplace (aka ‘out of the ordinary), is not really a product of a lot of deep thought. It does not tell anyone what differentiates you truly from other places (plenty who sell that kind of stuff) and therefore does not offer a truly unique selling proposition, a selling point that is unique only to Bonanzle and that is also hard to copy by the competition, so hard to catch up with.
Bonanzle also pretends that their site is ‘simple’, which means ‘simple in use, in navigation’, suggesting that one can list there much quicker and buy there much quicker than elsewhere. The opposite is true. The place is still hard to navigate and has many non-intuitive functions that slow buyers down. Listing there is also only easy if one has very little ‘listing content’ to put up. If one has lots of text, a template and/or lots of images, listing becomes problematic, time-consuming, sometimes even impossible (example: true templates are really a ‘no no’ there for lack of full html tags suppot). And, the interface is becoming more complex every day, which is obviously the result of functional additions. There is nothing wrong with ‘not being simple’ but instead ‘offering lots of functionality’, just don’t pretend you are something you are not.
Also Bonanzle purports to be a fun place to be. Originally that was certainly the intent of the owners as well as the early adopting sellers, and quite a lot of humorous activities and messages reflected that. However, the owners have turned this ‘we want to be a fun place’ into a Pollyannish mania, where they will not tolerate any disagreement on their site, regardless if it is a civil discussion or not. Every posting and thread on their site has to be ‘100% hunky dory cheery positive etc’.
To enforce this unrealistic ‘smile’ mania (one sees it with some signs in B+M stores telling staff to ‘smile’) the owners of Bonanzle have developed a battery of tools to censor anything that they feel is not ‘cheery’, so any disagreement. Messages get frequently garbled by their own staff (one was especially hired for this recently) or they get relegated to a drama section o they get deleted outright.
Imagine, censorship on what is advertised as a mix of social networking and e-commerce. That is like saying that human communication must always be positive. In the real world out there this wishful thinking does not work, neither will it in the virtual world on Bonanzle.
Initially I underestimated the ‘censoring’ by Bonanzle staff a bit an thought that they were merely taking out intentionally disruptive people, but, now that I have followed this for a while, I believe that the Bonanzle owners are simply censoring dogmatically, trying to eradicate discord (even if between reasonable people) on their site altogether. Note that I also had my own run ins a few times recently with the Bonanzle censoring machine on what were perfectly factual postings (maybe with some passion, but important subjects deserve passion).
One of the main reasons why most Ebay sellers who left for Bonanzle joined the new site, was because it purported to e friendlier than Ebay, less censoring. The truth is that Bonanzle is actually MORE censoring, dogmatically so. The friendly atmosphere on Bonanzle is not truly friendly, since sellers there get frustrated by the Bonanzle censoring machine. In fact, Bonanzle”s own censoring machine is what is destroying the initial friendliness.
Bonanzle has made the same mistake as Ebay, by fostering an adversarial atmosphere between its members (with its censoring mania) and that has resulted in all kinds of ‘tribes’ there, a Balkanization, the result of many members using the reporting system of Bonanzle to censor those they disagree with and viceversa.
Most likely the Bonanzle owners thought that some kind of regulating was necessary, in order to prevent anarchy. In it self that is a realistic idea, but that regulating should have been based on ‘justice’, which means only restricting those who actually cause damage, those who violate the rights to life and property of others. Civilized dsagreements betwene humans are not automatically ‘damaging’. They have a place in the society and actually benefit all. Eliminating disagreement is like destroying the staging ground of innovation, of growth. All that remain then is mediocrity, the lowest common denominator, and shrinkage
Although I formally and morally agree that Bonanzle has the right to censor whatever it wants on their site, since it is their property, I do not believe it is realistic to do so. It is actually quite irrational, as it is not in Bonanzle’s self-interest to create an adversarial atmosphere on its site. It is more of interest to them to offer any debating, discussing, disagreeing members a forum, a social networking area, The only thing they needed to do is channel it so such public discussions do not affect ‘selling’ negatively. In general that works best if one gives sellers a separate forum to talk freely (even where to disagree), separate from buyers, just like in the real b+m world. Despite requests for this from many sellers, no such attempt was made.
Instead Bonanzle continues to unrealistically try to mix sellers and buyers. Sellers are basically expected to have buyers listen in on their business related conversations with fellow sellers on the site’s forums. Ever seen such a thing in the real world? A very uncomfortable set up, again caused by the Bonanzle owners’ attempt to make reality ‘optional’ instead of ‘what it is’.
This Bonanzle censoring machine is the logical end result of the lack of fundamental principled vision at Bonanzle as well as their insufficient communication skills (quite common among geeky programmers).
If the Bonanzle owners would one day want to fix their mistaken path, I am counseling them to first come up with a realistic view of people and the world around them, of how people trade and communicate best, There is plenty of experiential information out there on that, thousands of years of it.
They’ll discover that only a fact-based laissez-faire vision will work, where people are offered the greatest freedom to trade with and communicate with each other, just like good old America was most successful when it was the freest, and like a startup Ebay (inadvertedlY) used to be way at the beginning. One cannot force a mind, not a buyer’s mind nor a seller’s mind. Not even Bonanzle can do that. A carrot (=win/win) and stick (=force) approach will not work with sellers nor buyers in the long run. Only a carrot will achieve long range success.
Sorry, Bonanzle, but reality is not optional.
Ok, so here is the suggested fresh critique:
I have sold on Bonanzle since September 2008.
For the longest time I was one of the passionate supporters of Bonanzle. Not anymore. I just closed my store there.
Although I have to credit them for their superb technical skills, which resulted in a truly usable starters marketplace for old stuff, they lack the following two essentials to continue and will therefore eventually fail
Missing with the Bonanzle team are:
1) A reality based solid long term vision on their business
2) Communication skills
Bonanzle’s advertised vision is totally limited to a slogan, not to a well thought through business model. They advertise that their vision is to be a place where one can find ‘all but the ordinary’.
First of all their slogan statement is simply not true. There are tons of items for sale there which are ‘ordinary’, in fact the majority of items is.
There is nothing wrong with items for sale being ordinary, but please do not create a false image, neither towards buyers nor towards sellers. It comes over as a childish ‘I wanted things to be a certain way, so they are that way’ in other words, ‘reality is optional’.
Secondly, just mentioning what ‘products’ you desire to sell on your marketplace (aka ‘out of the ordinary), is not really a product of a lot of deep thought. It does not tell anyone what differentiates you truly from other places (plenty who sell that kind of stuff) and therefore does not offer a truly unique selling proposition, a selling point that is unique only to Bonanzle and that is also hard to copy by the competition, so hard to catch up with.
Bonanzle also pretends that their site is ‘simple’, which means ‘simple in use, in navigation’, suggesting that one can list there much quicker and buy there much quicker than elsewhere. The opposite is true. The place is still hard to navigate and has many non-intuitive functions that slow buyers down. Listing there is also only easy if one has very little ‘listing content’ to put up. If one has lots of text, a template and/or lots of images, listing becomes problematic, time-consuming, sometimes even impossible (example: true templates are really a ‘no no’ there for lack of full html tags suppot). And, the interface is becoming more complex every day, which is obviously the result of functional additions. There is nothing wrong with ‘not being simple’ but instead ‘offering lots of functionality’, just don’t pretend you are something you are not.
Also Bonanzle purports to be a fun place to be. Originally that was certainly the intent of the owners as well as the early adopting sellers, and quite a lot of humorous activities and messages reflected that. However, the owners have turned this ‘we want to be a fun place’ into a Pollyannish mania, where they will not tolerate any disagreement on their site, regardless if it is a civil discussion or not. Every posting and thread on their site has to be ‘100% hunky dory cheery positive etc’.
To enforce this unrealistic ‘smile’ mania (one sees it with some signs in B+M stores telling staff to ‘smile’) the owners of Bonanzle have developed a battery of tools to censor anything that they feel is not ‘cheery’, so any disagreement. Messages get frequently garbled by their own staff (one was especially hired for this recently) or they get relegated to a drama section o they get deleted outright.
Imagine, censorship on what is advertised as a mix of social networking and e-commerce. That is like saying that human communication must always be positive. In the real world out there this wishful thinking does not work, neither will it in the virtual world on Bonanzle.
Initially I underestimated the ‘censoring’ by Bonanzle staff a bit an thought that they were merely taking out intentionally disruptive people, but, now that I have followed this for a while, I believe that the Bonanzle owners are simply censoring dogmatically, trying to eradicate discord (even if between reasonable people) on their site altogether. Note that I also had my own run ins a few times recently with the Bonanzle censoring machine on what were perfectly factual postings (maybe with some passion, but important subjects deserve passion).
One of the main reasons why most Ebay sellers who left for Bonanzle joined the new site, was because it purported to e friendlier than Ebay, less censoring. The truth is that Bonanzle is actually MORE censoring, dogmatically so. The friendly atmosphere on Bonanzle is not truly friendly, since sellers there get frustrated by the Bonanzle censoring machine. In fact, Bonanzle”s own censoring machine is what is destroying the initial friendliness.
Bonanzle has made the same mistake as Ebay, by fostering an adversarial atmosphere between its members (with its censoring mania) and that has resulted in all kinds of ‘tribes’ there, a Balkanization, the result of many members using the reporting system of Bonanzle to censor those they disagree with and viceversa.
Most likely the Bonanzle owners thought that some kind of regulating was necessary, in order to prevent anarchy. In it self that is a realistic idea, but that regulating should have been based on ‘justice’, which means only restricting those who actually cause damage, those who violate the rights to life and property of others. Civilized dsagreements betwene humans are not automatically ‘damaging’. They have a place in the society and actually benefit all. Eliminating disagreement is like destroying the staging ground of innovation, of growth. All that remain then is mediocrity, the lowest common denominator, and shrinkage
Although I formally and morally agree that Bonanzle has the right to censor whatever it wants on their site, since it is their property, I do not believe it is realistic to do so. It is actually quite irrational, as it is not in Bonanzle’s self-interest to create an adversarial atmosphere on its site. It is more of interest to them to offer any debating, discussing, disagreeing members a forum, a social networking area, The only thing they needed to do is channel it so such public discussions do not affect ‘selling’ negatively. In general that works best if one gives sellers a separate forum to talk freely (even where to disagree), separate from buyers, just like in the real b+m world. Despite requests for this from many sellers, no such attempt was made.
Instead Bonanzle continues to unrealistically try to mix sellers and buyers. Sellers are basically expected to have buyers listen in on their business related conversations with fellow sellers on the site’s forums. Ever seen such a thing in the real world? A very uncomfortable set up, again caused by the Bonanzle owners’ attempt to make reality ‘optional’ instead of ‘what it is’.
This Bonanzle censoring machine is the logical end result of the lack of fundamental principled vision at Bonanzle as well as their insufficient communication skills (quite common among geeky programmers).
If the Bonanzle owners would one day want to fix their mistaken path, I am counseling them to first come up with a realistic view of people and the world around them, of how people trade and communicate best, There is plenty of experiential information out there on that, thousands of years of it.
They’ll discover that only a fact-based laissez-faire vision will work, where people are offered the greatest freedom to trade with and communicate with each other, just like good old America was most successful when it was the freest, and like a startup Ebay (inadvertedlY) used to be way at the beginning. One cannot force a mind, not a buyer’s mind nor a seller’s mind. Not even Bonanzle can do that. A carrot (=win/win) and stick (=force) approach will not work with sellers nor buyers in the long run. Only a carrot will achieve long range success.
Sorry, Bonanzle, but reality is not optional.
I have been a member of Bonanzle since April of '09 and I think it's a great alternative to EBay. While it's true that it doesn't have the member numbers of sites like EBay, it has a lot of things in its favor.
1) no listing fees. This is a huge deal if you have a lot of things to list.
2) Live chat rooms at everyone's booth (their online store). This way, you can easily connect with potential buyers and with other sellers
3) Final value fees are way lower than EBay's
Yes, it's a startup site, but its numbers of members is growing by 1000's every day (has gone from 10000 to nearly 200,000 members in about a yr)
It is an alternative to “Fee-Bay” – the best I've found so far…
I have been a member of Bonanzle since April of ’09 and I think it’s a great alternative to EBay. While it’s true that it doesn’t have the member numbers of sites like EBay, it has a lot of things in its favor.nn1) no listing fees. This is a huge deal if you have a lot of things to list. nn2) Live chat rooms at everyone’s booth (their online store). This way, you can easily connect with potential buyers and with other sellersnn3) Final value fees are way lower than EBay’snnYes, it’s a startup site, but its numbers of members is growing by 1000’s every day (has gone from 10000 to nearly 200,000 members in about a yr)nnIt is an alternative to “Fee-Bay” – the best I’ve found so far…
A recent decision to change the name from Bonanzle to Bonanza right before the holidays sunk this ship. Holiday shoppers couldn’t find me, had to change
In their defense, I do believe the links all redirected even after the name change. But I too thought it was a strange decision and I never even thought about the timing! They spent so long building up a brand name only to change it?
I’m sorry to hear it cost you holiday sales. 🙁
After a hectic month of playing wedding planner for his daughter Anisha, Hussain is all set to perform at the eleventh barsi of his father at the annual
No need to whine and moan about another platform’s success. Don’t be jealous. Just enjoy what you have. Is that so hard? by My_2_Cents February 8, 2011 11:30 AM PST Wish more people think like you then the world would be a lot nicer place. …