I have some very good news for those who've just about given up with trying to navigate eBay's sea of chaos.
I've been investigating a site called Bonanzle.com, Silly name I know, silly site it is not. It is without doubt the cleanest and easiest to use selling platform I've ever listed anything on. The tag line of the site is "Real people, real deals, real time".
Bonanzle is completely different from eBay or anything else I've seen online, but it's built around an old school model of trading.
When you sign up as a Bonazler, you get a "booth".
You can put as many items in your booth as you wish with no listing fees! Bonanzle takes it's fees on the back end, they are very reasonable.
"Add an item to your booth in under a minute" is one of the main features that the site pitches. I thought this was a pretty outrageous statement so I signed up and put it to the test. Yes, indeed, you can. And it will look sharp, clean, to the point, and easy to navigate.
Here's where it gets "old school" good for me. Once your booth is up, at the top of your page is a real time chat module where buyers can come and hang out, much like as if you were selling at a flea market or a show. Of course you don't have to be in the chat room to make a sale either, a simple drag & drop tool allows buyers to place an item in the shopping cart, then takes them to the checkout process. Easy peasy.
If you've ever set up in a live antiques mall or consignment shop, you'll know that you always have a big advantage in selling when you are present. No one can sell your merch like you can.
In the chat room you can exchange links and any other information you'd like. Talk about possibilities! Allowing you to link off site shows respect for the users, I like being treated like an adult.
Another social aspect of the site is it's very active discussion forum. People in the community are so impressed and appreciative of the opportunity here, that they fill the forum with tips and suggestions about how to get the site and individual booths juiced in the search engines.
In short, the users have become evangelists for the site and there is no amount of advertising money in the world that can replace that. This is how sites go viral, this is how fortunes are made.
Some of the other benefits are:
- You can import your eBay and Craigslist listings.
- You can import your feedback from eBay
- As far as I know, you can sell any product that is legal, including eProducts, services etc.
- Bonanzle promotes local selling. People can search for items by distance, you can pre-arrange delivery times.
- You can run sales, discounts and batch items, very easily.
- You can decide how to be paid. The site accepts PayPal, Google Checkout, Cash, Checks, MOs,CCs
- You can offer freebies and distribute them any way you wish, be they bundled with a sale, or on their own.
- You can multi-task while on the site! Right now I have my chat window open, so if anyone pops in my booth, I'm there.
- Categories are only 2 deep! This makes for fast listing, but you can place categories on your items once they're in your booth. The process is intuitive so you don't have to individually allocate each item to your booth's categories. You get the best of both worlds with this feature.
- Safe buying and selling is in the forefront due to the transparency that comes with the chat feature.
- It's a lot of fun!
- It's haunted, that's right, the sight claims to have it's own ghost! I'm not kidding. Go check it out for yourself.
Of course, all of this means nothing if there is no traffic, but there is. A lot. The site was only launched in June and it already has over 75,000 items and 2400 users and growing rapidly.
Want to know more? I've been in contact with Bill Harding, the site owner and he's agreed to come on The Auctionwally Show, in the near future, I hope you tune in for that, I'll post the time and date here and at www.auctionwally.com when the the show is scheduled.
By the way, the site is even more of a blast to shop on!
Below are a few things that are up on Bonanzle right now, click on the links under the photo to see the complete listing.
I was able to import my entire eBay store inventory with a click of a button. It worked as promised.
Imports of large inventory can take a little time as there are a lot of sellers doing the same thing.
You can find some pretty cool things for your Thanksgiving table at this seller's booth without breaking the bank!
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Test your antiques knowledge, can you guess what the roll top desk on the right was appraised at?
Comments
Great story Auctionwally! Thank you for taking time to let others know about Bonanzle with such a thorough review.
I am totaly in love Bonanzle. I found it back in August and within 20 minutes, I had my items transferred over, my booth set, and was ready to sell. And I am getting sales.
The grassroots feeling of the community and the commitment to "relentless simplicity" keep me coming back for more.
A fresh take on an "old school" concept, Bonanzle is growing so fast, I can't keep up.
Come by and see us.
http://bonanzle.com/booths/attheboutique
@Mark, your welcome, I've barely left the site to eat since I've found it!
@Phaedra, I found it unique that the the many of the bath & beauty products in your booth are sold wholesale.
Wally,
Thanks so much for writing an article about my latest passion! Bonanzle!!! Bonanzle is simply put the best alternative to eBay in existence! Bill Harding and his sidekick Mark are two of the most invested website owners I've ever encountered. Their sense of humor, genuine caring attitudes, and investment in the community as a whole shows throughout the web site on a daily basis. Questions or problems that you may have are answered quickly and personally by Bill or Mark. No canned answers that don't even pertain to the questions that prevail on other websites... they actually WANT the sellers/buyers input and if and when you report a bug in the system they'll even thank you for doing so... Wow!
The community is full of helpful members and the positive flow of communication can be seen on the community discussion boards.
I know I have found a home and am happy to promote the site in every way possible!
If anyone reading Wally's article hasn't checkout what BONANZLE is all about... It's totally free, unless your item sells which is nice, but even nicer is the fact that the final value fees are extremely reasonable. It's always completely free to window shop, and who knows that one thing you just can't live without may just be hanging around at a price so reasonable that you can have it without blinking an eye.
It's lots of fun and simple to use, no cost and it takes like 3 seconds to sign up, so Whatcha Waitin' For? you have an invitation so it can't be that! Come see what I'm talking about... and stop by my booth and give me a shout...
Hope to see ya there real soon!
ZiggyZool
Check it out at: http://www.bonanzle.com/users/new
P.S. My items are for sale here http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/ZiggyZool
I have spent 8 months looking for an eBay alternative, I found it at Bonanzle. I can finally say I am having FUN selling once again!
So if you're looking for all the unique items that were once on eBay- Check out Bonanzle! There are an abundance of great deals there!
http://www.bonanzle.com/
Come and have some FUN!
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/Nightgirl
Wally is Spot On about Bonanzle!
I love it! Simply put, it's pleasant! I put four years of hard labor and my heart and soul into ebay and loved it right up to the bitter end. I was so totally thrilled to find Bonanzle just when the worst of the breakup was beginning and it's amazing how quickly I recovered my heart and settled right into Bonanzle!
I love auctions-both selling and buying in them and Bonanzle isn't quite an auction site, but where collectibles and antiques go such as I have in my booth, OFFERS WELCOME works much like an auction. With the much lower fees on Bonanzle, I can list my same eclectic types of items at a fair market price and still have plenty of room to gladly accept offers and Enjoy It!
Respectful, adult, friendly and honest to goodness fun and fellowship in online shopping!
Granted, I've bought more than I've sold in the few weeks I've been on Bonanzle, I've really enjoyed the learning curve and getting experience from a buyer's perspective so that I can offer the best customer service possible. That was always my fave over at the bay...it's not all about the money at all-It's Much More for me!
There are over 100,000 items for sale now and people are joining by the scads! I tell all about Bonanzle with pride! We're building it and they're comin! Yay Bonanzle!
Pacesetter Eclectica Pam!
Do come and visit Bonanzle. While browsing the site, which has thousands of items for sale, please stop in to visit at my little corner shop which contains my world famous "Poop Pals", complete with jelly bellies. Handcrafted in Citrus Heights, Ca.
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/Janandpals
Don't tell anyone, but I'm a native San Franciscoan! Is that a word? Is Bonanzle a word? I don't think so, but it sure is a fun site and the owners are bedazzled in praise because of the sensational job they're doing!
If you enjoy quilting or applique, I also have many quilt fabrics for sale.
I'll be watching for you!
Bonanzle is not the "new ebay" it's BETTER than ebay has been in years. It's like ebay when it was fun and people respected each other and the shopping was great. I love the place, the people and the site owners do a fantastic job. You're missing out if you don't come join us!
Thanks AuctionWally for mentioning us here!
Come see me at
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/jamiro
I joined Bonanzle during beta and love it! It's so easy and simple to set up and start selling. The community is friendly, helpful, just like talking to your next door neighbors. Come on over and see what all the hype is about. You'll like what you see! While you’re there, check out Cabana Lolita’s Booth, A little island cabana with BIG bargains!
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/Cabanalolita
I am a buyer, and except for the new PayPal policy eBay has finally tried to do something to protect me against dirty dealers, namely DSR, detailed seller ratings which is giving eBay a way to remove the most egregious sellers. Many of these sellers are going to other sites and may continue their poor service ways.
I won't be going to any site that allows sellers to import feed back, because they are allowed to only import the positive feed back. What that means is that the site and those dealers wish to deceive me. Why would I shop at a site that acknowledges that they wish to deceive me?
Sloppy Reporting 1 & 2:
2) 75,000 items listed does not mean 75,000 items sold.
3) 2400 users does NOT indicate traffic! If all 2400 users are sellers then "traffic" will equal zero. Traffic means buyers. Considering that eBay just started banning sellers with poor customer service, I would expect to see all other auction sites to see a bump in sellers as they look for any place else to sell goods. Should a bump in the number of sellers right now be a good thing for an auction site?
But thank you for disclosing that you stand to profit from advertising this site.
The only way to get and keep traffic is to take care of buyers. eBay is in trouble because they propped up dirty dealers in the past and turned their back on buyers who were cheated. Even the honest dealers were zealots who supported that effort, for some reason. After chasing away buyers in droves, eBay has now swung the other way, propping up dishonest buyers.
There doesn't seem to be any way for decent buyers to meet up with honest sellers. At eBay the buyers are always going to be suspect. At sites that advertise "Buyer Beware" and have copied eBay's failed strategy, the sellers are always going to be suspect. Listen, you have never heard an eBay seller take up the cause "Stamp Out Dishonest Sellers!" and you never will. But they will scream till Doom's Dday about a "non-paying bidder," even if re-listing the item brings actually brought them a higher price. I suspect the same thing is true of Bonanzle.
For any veteran ebayer, used to the many frustrations and the time involved in listing, Bonanzle will seem like a walk in the park - clean, simple, quick. More importantly, it incorporates a web 2.0 approach and utilizes interactivity in a way that ebay does not. The site design is attractive, it automatically uploads your listings to Google, and buying and selling is a more positive experience overall. Of the many "anti-ebay" sites springing up, this is one of the very few which seems to be taking a truly new approach in thinking about what buyers and sellers want from a marketplace site, rather than simply rehashing an old formula.
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/CoelacanthBooks
Roger, you say: Listen, you have never heard an eBay seller take up the cause "Stamp Out Dishonest Sellers!" and you never will.
Nothing could be further from the truth. You have only to read the Seller Central message boards to see that sellers are always trying to keep other sellers honest. A seller will come in and start a waa waa thread about how he done been done wrong and the other boardies will look at the situation and tear him a new one if warranted.
What purpose does it serve us to have dishonest sellers? We WANT to sell and dishonest sellers hurt us all, as we've seen in the latest feebay policies. They've thrown out the baby with the bathwater. They've fostered a climate of distrust between buyer and seller and now the buyer has a cudgel to hold over seller's head: if you don't give me back $10, I'll leave you negative f/b, knowing there is no longer any way for us to warn other sellers of this sort of extortion.
I never took paypal in my 8 years on ebay but I had a generous return policy. In all that time, I've given partial refunds to probably 4 people.
Traffic is not optimum yet on Bonanzle but I for one will wait it out. I'd rather sit on my treasures for awhile than bow to yet another insulting 'improvement' on ebay.
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/louisianafrillseeker
Bonanzle is growing fast everyone come check it out!
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/myangelforeverchris
@Roger, thanks for your comments, all are welcome no matter which side they favor as long as they are not hateful and derisive.
First however, I take issue with your comment on sloppy reporting, if you can find one thing in the article that is untrue, I'll address it.
I did say 75,000 items listed as you mentioned, but I never indicated that they were all sold. But what is your point there? eBay has millions of listings that go unsold, so I'm not following your logic.
As for the users there are 2,400 as of now, actually 2,438, I just checked, again, many of them are buyers, and many people are reporting sales.
I'm the Auctions & Antiques Examiner here, I've reported on Worthpoint, eBay, GoAntiques, and other sites and will continue to do so.
To insinuate that I have am being unfair because I stand to profit by writing an article about a site I sell on doesn't hold water either.
See, I've been a 10 year seller on eBay and sell there as well.
I sell on many platforms including my own site, what sense would it make to write about sites I have no experience with.
Now, if you find something in one of my articles you think is untrue, as I said, I'd be happy to address it, but frankly, the numbers quoted are accurate and I stand behind them.
Thanks for taking the time,
AW
@Roger.
Just to let you know, your statement about only allowing positive feedback is untrue. See the link to my Bonanzle feedback which was imported from eBay, if you follow the link, you'll see it clearly shows my 3 out of 4,996 feedback are negative.
Here's the link.
http://www.bonanzle.com/users/3703/user_feedbacks
Thanks to Cabanalolita for pointing that out.
So if that was your biggest concern Roger, maybe Bonanzle is a site you'd like to try out and you'd certainly be welcome.
Great article! Bonanzle is a great place to buy and sell. For those of you that haven't checked it out yet, you don't know what you are missing. Bonanzle is simple, quick, and fun... so simple and quick, I decided to set up 3 Bonanzle booths. Stop by and take a look...
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/MontanaMom
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/HandmadeTreasures
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/photosofmontana
Have you bonanzled today? What are you waiting for?
http://www.bonanzle.com
Bonanzle: Simply the most fun place to buy and sell on the net.
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/OctoberMoon
Auction Wally is right! (as usual) This is by far the best site I have found to buy or sell. Straightforward, user friendly, and packed with some of the most unique items! come visit! Thanks for the review...I have linked it to the Bonanzle group at squidoo.
http://www.squidoo.com/groups/bonanzle
signed....The Renagade
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/renagade
Wally, thanks for your post.
Bonanzle's mix of organic energy and incredible simplicity brings magnetism - sellers and buyers alike!
We agree that all elements of selling and buying have been designed on a "simple" platform. No where else have we found a well-rounded venue that offers so much for so little --- easy navigation for buyers and sellers! This unique "niche" is going to be around a long while!
A refreshing thought that life can be taken back to "simple"!
http://www.squidoo.com/bonanzagala
Wally, Wally Wally. Thank you so much for allowing me to post here.
You wrote "Of course, all of this means nothing if there is no traffic, but there is. A lot. The site was only launched in June and it already has over 75,000 items and 2400 users and growing rapidly."
I believe that your conclusion is inaccurate not the figures. "Traffic" is a trade term for the number of buyers who walk in the door. It has nothing to do with how many items are on the store's shelves or how many venders are represented. TRAFFIC=BUYERS. While you're numbers might be accurate, the conclusion that you derive from those numbers is not a fact. A more accurate term to describe those numbers would be "interest", because the numbers reflect the number of sellers. You neglected to post the sales rates, monthly sales, average sale price, how long items wait to be sold, etc.
My guess is that the majority of the readers at examiner.com would fall into the category of buyer rather than seller. You're writing form the dealers viewpoint, which is fine but seems to neglect the buyers perspective. Actually the whole article, and this comment section is little more than a booster for Bonanzle by their sellers. I have been to the site, and while you report on the bells and whistles they offer for the seller, the site seems to offer very little to entice a buyer like myself, who is couscous of a site that may be inheriting the worst of eBays sellers during eBays recent blood letting.
Bonanzle allows dealers to import negative feedback if they wish to? I think it is admirable that you have imported all of your feed back, both positive and negative. That doesn't mean that you MUST. So explain again how that works. The dealer imports feedback lock stock and barrel? He may not edit out ANY of the feed back, it comes as one piece of information? And there is absolutely NO way for him to import his feedback and edit out the feed back he DOESN'T want? I am trying to find a way to ask this question so there's no ambiguity. Because I expect a fishy answer.
Louisiana Frillseeker: I have been to the eBay community forums. What I witnessed there to a fault were sellers under fake user names (boardies) who defended each other and prowled around looking for buyers so they could tear them a new one. eBay has over 100 community boards and only one of them is for buyers. I suspect that things may have changed now that the cow is out of the barn.
And as far as buyer ratings go, they should never have been there in the first place. You look at a restaurant review before you decide to go there. Restaurants do not review customers before they serve them. The feedback system was misused by sellers and drove buyers away.
@Roger, Thanks again for your comments, I find your statement on the Bonanzle feedback import tool to be untrue to my knowledge. As far as I know, it imports ALL of your eBay feedback regardless of it being negative, positive or neutral.
As for sales records, the Bonanzle site was just started in June. If you dislike my review of it that's your right.
I've given plenty of good and bad reviews on eBay and will try to be objective on Bonanzle as well.
For some reason, you've seem to have taken this all very personal and I certainly don't mean it that way, but good luck with your online efforts.
thank you wally,
I accused you of sloppy reporting and I would think that alone would make you pause. But you wrote, "As far as I know ..." That is exactly the fishy type of answer I expected. Considering you have talked about the owner of Bonanzle, why didn't you write to ask him about how importing feedback works in regard to editing out negative feedback? Since you are a registered user of the site, why didn't you set up a test account to try?
Sites that allow sellers to import feedback and edit out the negative feedback (in order to start on a new platform with a high seller rating than they have earned or deserved) is deceptive and might be considered fraud because it is misrepresenting the seller in order for the lister (Bonanzle) to profit. I would consider that a serious enough charge to investigate.
"As for sales records, the Bonanzle site was just started in June." You're saying there are no records, or the records don't support the claim that there is a lot of traffic?
I don't dislike you. But I do resent sloppy reporting and facts that misrepresent. (I hope there's an editor for these pages, and that the Examiner is interested in factual reporting in all of their articles, especially if the author stands to profit from the review.) If you see that as taking it personal, I am sorry for not kissing you.
This article reeks of the kind of sellers boosterism that eventually lead to eBay's current crisis. eBay started to lose money when Dealers stopped listing on eBay, (eBay raised fees to augment the loss.) Dealers stopped listing on eBay when Buyers stopped buying. Buyers stopped buying when they got screwed by dishonest Sellers. Right now, many Sellers are looking at that situation and seeing babies floating down the river, so they are putting the babies in a new river (like Bonanzle) rather than going to the source: Dealers that drive away Buyers. eBay is doing something about the source, whether you like how they are doing it or not.
The Sellers were the boosters for eBay at the beginning and I don't see a difference with Bonanzle now. Add that to the fact that eBay recently cut the bottom 1% of the worst sellers, and that sites like Bonanzle are suddenly seeing a huge gain in the new number of sellers and it leads me to believe that sites like Bonanzle are going to turn out to be the same type of market that caused eBays fall.
Hey Roger, first I want to thank you again for commenting. You've made this an extremely popular post and have helped to drive traffic to the page in ways that I could not do alone.
Second,if you can find a statement that is untrue, I'll address it, so far you have not.
Third, you seem to think that I am anti-eBay, that's not true, not in the least.
I have some serious problems with what I've seen as foolish moves on eBay recent, controversial changes. If you disagree with my take on that, you are welcome to, but know that I'm not alone in my opinion.
However, what I'd consider a more accurate indicator of eBay's recent problems, more important than mine, or anyone's opinions, would be the poor performance of it's stock over the last year. That is perhaps the most accurate and harshest judgment of what eBay has been doing.
In any event, I base my columns on my experience with the content.
Did I go over the entire business plan for Bonanzle before I wrote the article? No. Did I become a user and spend a whole day on the site before writing the article? Yes, and I stand by my statements 100%, of it being a fresh, fun and easy to navigate site.
You may be happy to know that Bill Harding, the owner of the site is coming on my online Radio Show on Oct. 27th and I'll address some of the concerns you've mentioned on that show, feel free to listen in.
Last, and not least, I have a financial interest and experience on MANY sites which I write about and am up front about it. If that is a concern, perhaps you'd be better off subscribing to marketing columns to which the writers don't have any experience selling on the sites they write about.
Once again, thanks.
AW
Hi Roger,
I'm Bill Harding, the founder of Bonanzle. I think I can address a couple of your questions.
Firstly, on importing feedback: Bonanzle imports up to the most recent 5000 feedbacks from an eBay user. The seller can not "edit" the feedback in any way, that would be a patently ridiculous idea, since the whole point of feedback is to give buyers an idea of the seller's track record, not the seller's track record, excluding all those times they did wrong. :) A Bonanzle user doesn't have to import feedback from another site, but if they don't then a buyer is obviously going to have more trepidation about dealing with them.
I'm a little unclear as to the basis of your accusations of "boosterism" here. The challenges that Bonanzle will have keeping sellers honest are no different than the challenges that any other marketplace will have. Big or small, new or old, every marketplace will have bad apples, so I'm not sure why you seem to single out this article as not speaking about those bad apples when it is a problem that is common to any marketplace that Wally could have written about. For what it's worth, we've had tens of thousands of dollars in transactions over the last month, and we've yet to have our first fraudulent transaction reported, so I don't think we're doing a bad job of setting up a system that works.
But those transactions will inevitably happen -- it's our responsibility to react when they do, and we will. Our system will (automatically boot sellers from the site if credible sources indicate to us that the seller has illegitimate items. We've already kicked off a couple sellers, and we have no reservations about blacklisting sellers of any size if they are not listing or transacting in a trustworthy fashion.
I think that the argument of "what traffic is," is a semantic debate. Literally, traffic to a site is of course visits per day, so that's what Wally reported. "Buyer traffic," or, the number of visitors that buy items is also a very important consideration for any marketplace, but it's also a more mushy and hard to measure metric... Google Analytics isn't telling us what our user's intent is when they visit the site. To be honest, it's hard for me to understand the exact point you are making in debating the semantics of the word "traffic," but suffice to say, there are many sellers on Bonanzle that have already been quite successful in selling numerous items in their inventory. Buyer traffic is on Bonanzle, and as our overall traffic grows, our buyer traffic is sure to grow with it. Again, I don't think this is not much different from any other marketplace.
Hope this answers some of your questions. I'll try to remember to check back later to see if you find any of these responses unclear.
Thanks,
Bill Harding
Founder, Bonanzle
Wally,
Again, I thank you for joining the discussion here and I'm sorry if I've created a controversy that might seem unusual. As someone who purchases plenty of goods on line, and does not sell, I believe that I have a unique voice in these discussions which are usually relegated only to sellers.
"Second, if you can find a statement that is untrue, I'll address it, so far you have not."
Wally, you made an assumption that is untrue or inaccurate at least. You assumed that item listings and number of sellers = traffic. I suppose you could 'call' that traffic (one way traffic) if you wish but I believe it is misleading to do so. You don't. Fine. Bill, if wally had meant 'Google Analytics' traffic counts I missed that or that qualifier got edited out of the column.
Once eBay's earnings slowed down so did their stock. Where did you get the idea that eBay's stocks went down and then people stopped listing? Listing Categories have contracted not expanded. You can not possibly have shopped on ebay for the last 6 years with out noticing that the number of listings are down and have been going down. The reason that there are fewer listings is there are fewer buyers. The reason for fewer buyers is dishonest sellers. eBay is taking drastic steps right now to try to rid themselves of the worst sellers. If they are able to do that they might win back buyers who have left the site.
My point is that any auction or antique site that uses eBay's old system as a model and refuge for sellers is likely to fall into the same problem that eBay has.
I am puzzled why you think I was calling you Anti-eBay. I didn't. What you've written in this article only gives a shadow of how you feel. I was trying to address the previous comments in this section in regard to eBay. (You aren't the only person writing in this comment section :-) I am sorry if it seems like everything I write is directed solely at you but I have tried to paint a broader picture in some paragraphs.
You seem to be taking this personally. As a reporter, Wally, you have a responsibility to try to get the facts accurate and right. If you are unable to take public criticism for what you present to the public I suggest that you either find an outlet that doesn't allow criticism of any kind or ask the editors of the Examiner to remove the comment section from your articles.
I would like to listen to your podcast with Bill, but I'll be out of town this weekend. (perhaps I'm able to listen to it at a later date.)
Bill, Thank you for clearing up my concerns about importing feedback at Bonanzle. I hope my comments here alert buyers to sites that allow users to import only positive feedback or allow them to hide or bury negative feedback.
While I would be more attracted to a seller who can show he has experience on another site, like eBay, and is willing to share that feedback, I would also like to know how that seller is performing on their new site like Bonanzle, for instance. I want to see a Bonanzle score not a Bonanzle/eBay score. I would like to see the feed back scores on sites that import feedback to provide a rating that doesn't include a sellers scores from other sites. So that if a seller comes to Bonanzle and makes 10 sales but only completes 8 of them (80%) or receives 5 negatives from Bonanzle buyers (50%), that his score isn't "factored" in with an ebay feedback of 5,000 to give the seller a "Bonanzle" rating of 99.5%.
There has always been a struggle with all commercial interests concerning a consumer who tries to cheat them (like tearing a shirt and bringing it back.) But the store can always refuse a refund. In the case of online sales and auctions, the seller has the money first and the buyer is at a distinct disadvantage never having even seen the merchandise and also hoping that it arrives quickly, if at all. Unless that disadvantage is somehow augmented or conditioned, the consumer is at the mercy of every seller that they buy from. eBay is paying for that disadvantage now. I believe if eBay had taken action 5 years ago to rid themselves of shabby sellers the site would be healthy now. The question today is: are they killing a mosquito with a sledge hammer or is their current blood letting too little too late?
I didn't pick out this article to jeopardize your site, and I do wish you all the success in your efforts. This article is falling on the heels of eBay's recent policy changes and mass banning of sellers. If the article had been written a year ago my comments wouldn't be pertinent to the overall debate and questions in the minds of consumers, like myself. I felt that the time is right for comments like mine when discussing any new alternative to eBay.
And alternatives to eBay are popping up all over; I expect to see more sites like Bonanzle as eBay continues to weed out poor performers from their sellers ranks. While I have no doubt that Bonanzle is much easier for the sellers to use, I didn't see or sense that it was a safer place for me to shop than eBay was 3 years ago, or even when they started up. Any new venue, in my mind, needs to convince buyers it is safe, just as eBay did when they started up. Importing feedback isn't going to be enough for people like me, who are twice shy after shopping on eBay.
Once again, thanks.
Roger
@Roger. Hey there Roger. I'm trying to figure out a couple of things. First your implication that I "can't take" your criticism of my articles here. I think the back and forth and the fact that I never deleted any of your comments would prove contrary, no?
I've never berated you, your opinion, nor whined about your criticism,in fact I think I've welcomed it.
Second, when I said that I disagree with your take on my so called sloppy reporting, I asked you to state something I said that was untrue, and instead of providing facts, you claimed to know that I assumed certain things. Mainly that I equivocated traffic with sales. So let me clear it up for you. I realize that traffic is not the same as sales, but that without traffic it's impossible to make sales. I think Bonazle has a lot of potential from what I've seen so far.
I enjoy being part of it's community, and think it's founded on a great business model. Whether or not it will be successful financially will be for it's users to decide, we'll see.
At any rate, criticism on my opinion is nothing new, nor is it anything I will ever be afraid to face.
I've gotten praise before for writing articles critical of eBay, and I've gotten hate mail and threats when I've written articles that were in favor an eBay position, such as the acquisition of PayPal which I still maintain was a brilliant business move on eBay's part.
The praise I received doesn't mean I was right any more than the threats I received means I was wrong, and neither will affect my content.
Thanks for your input.
AW
Hi Roger,
You say: "But I do resent sloppy reporting and facts that misrepresent."
I would like to invite you to come and check out Bonanzle first hand. Judging from your incorrect assumptions of our feedback importer and our community, it sounds like you might need to investigate us a little more prior to making those statements (it might add a little bit of credibility to your comments too). Had you spent some time at Bonanzle you would know that our community is top notch. You would also know that all Bonanzle transactions are listed in a sellers feedback (negative or positive) so you can keep track of Bonanzle transactions as well as the history of that seller on eBay (be it negative or positive).
You also said: "Add that to the fact that eBay recently cut the bottom 1% of the worst sellers, and that sites like Bonanzle are suddenly seeing a huge gain in the new number of sellers and it leads me to believe that sites like Bonanzle are going to turn out to be the same type of market that caused eBays fall."
Again, you have drawn a conclusion on our community when you really did not do your homework. If you had taken the time (as Wally did) to *really* see what we are about, you would have never made this comment.
A buyer with your background and insight could surely offer a tremendous amount of feeback and suggestions to Bonanzle. We will keep an eye out for you and hope to see you soon.
Kind regards,
Mark Dorsey
Bonanzle
.
Mark Dorsey,
I thank you and everyone for your worm welcomes to Bonanzle. I've looked around. I don't see things as being any different than eBay from a buyers stand point. While you assure me there is a difference, I don't see that articulated. I've looked spent hours shopping and looking at sellers feedback, and forgive me because I've only run across one seller who did sell an item on Bonanzle and get feed back, and I missed the feedback differentiation.
"You also said: 'Add that to the fact that eBay recently cut the bottom 1% of the worst sellers, and that sites like Bonanzle are suddenly seeing a huge gain in the new number of sellers and it leads me to believe that sites like Bonanzle are going to turn out to be the same type of market that caused eBays fall.'
"Again, you have drawn a conclusion on our community when you really did not do your homework. If you had taken the time (as Wally did) to *really* see what we are about, you would have never made this comment."
Few sites like Bonanzle and it's community are transparent on the web, so we don't know what they are like. When I look at Bonanzle I see eBay redux and that scares me as a buyer. It should. You sound like a brain washer who says I didn't read the Bible the right way (the way you read it) because I failed to "take the time" to see the *reality* that you see. Sorry if I'm unable to buy that.
My point is that if Bonanzle doesn't look after buyers, but create a sellers platform, like eBay they are doomed walk the same road that eBay has. I know that is an impossible concept for a seller to relate to, especially if that seller is used to selling on eBay.
Wally: "all are welcome no matter which side they favor as long as they are not hateful and derisive." I hope you don't think I've been hateful or derisive. Please remind me if I do. Wally I do thank you for answering my post again without deleting it.
auctionwally: September 27, 12:11 AM: I've never berated you, your opinion, nor whined about your criticism, in fact I think I've welcomed it.
auctionwally: September 26, 3:09 PM: "Last, and not least, I have a financial interest and experience on MANY sites which I write about and am up front about it. If that is a concern, perhaps you'd be better off subscribing to marketing columns to which the writers don't have any experience selling on the sites they write about."
Auction Wally, I can only bow down to you. Seriously. Thank you for being gracious enough to allow public criticism. I did not know that the Examiner worked that way.
September 26, 3:09 PM Auction Wally: "if you can find a statement that is untrue.", I found true facts and a statement (assumption) that was misleading. If you don't agree with my analysis: fine enough. I feel foolish arguing the point.
I looked a little further into the Examiner. I assumed that this was a news source, with editors and rules of conduct for the writers. The Examiner is just a way for Bloggers to profit from what ever they decide to write. That is fine enough, but without even knowing the purpose of this site, I saw red flags. Listen, I don't expect someone in the blogosphere to be compared to or understand the ethics of news reporting. Please forgive me for expecting that. In this case I am a fool to try to engage in a discussion on what ethical reporting is and I have to admit that I am sorry that I started this debate about it. This is your blog. You have a right to behave however you wish without question. Period. It is only through the grace of yourself that I am allowed a voice, here. Thank you.
I'm happy to report that I've just had 3 sales on Bonanzle!
What I love about the way that I made the sales is that one person who purchased 2 items was actually able to contact me live and ask if I would discount shipping, which I agreed to do.
What sets Bonanzle apart from any other selling platform for me is the ability to to chat with the person I'm transacting with.
This is a huge bonus as trust is built. I'll be listing much more on the site.
I'm toying with the idea of doing a split A/B test where I list 10 specific items on eBay and list the identical items on Bonanzle to see which venue has the best success for those items.
Bonanzle is wonderful. It is the best move I ever made. It is super easy to set up your booth. Plus you can get your items from ebay. I love this place.
You have a question you get an answer fast from Bill or Mark.
The fun in selling and buying is back. I can't wait to see my booth in the mornings.
Check Bonanzle you won't be sorry.
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/alicesgiftshop
Hello Wally..I was so tickled to be able to join in in your show last night. Thank You for allowing me to speak with you and the Founder of Bonanzle as you were interviewing him. I guess you could tell that I am pretty excited about Bonanzle...I will stop by and say Hi id I see you around. Bonanzle rocks the Internet for sure...
Bonanzle is a fun and easy site to use. Not to mention the affordable fees. If you have ben an E-Bay selelr you must try Bonanzle. There is no comparison.
I love being a working member of Bonanzle,yes working. I may be small a time seller there but I work my booth. I set my sales and have control on shipping methods as well as payments.
I have sold on Ebay for many years and when they take all my options away,such as telling me how to collect payments and now tell me how to ship items sold. I know it's time to move on.
By the way over 12,000 people have joined Bonanzle, there must be something right here!
Big time,small time sellers,we are equal there. It's not only fun it's fair.
Sales? Yes I'm making sales there too!
Just stopping by to say ... YOU ROCK!!!
OMG !! I just fell into this 'bloggery' here and couldn't get off reading the exchanges between ROGER, Wally and Bill.
HOLY COW ! Someone has to say it loud:
Childish Moron Roger has too much time on his hands, no?
What (mostly) illogical questions and arguments !!!
Amazing what people can come up with.
1) You import Feedback: you get what you've got. Period.
Can't delete negative Feedback! How illogical is that?
2)
a)Sellers like myself are not 'weeded' out by eBay - we LEAVE because RESPECTLESS eBay treats us like idiots that are not capable of responsible thinking on our own.
b) The fees are so ridiculous high, that it is... well ... just ridiculous.
Profit? Wow, dream on!
Sellers like myself are 'going' FROM eBay, they are not being 'gone.
Roger, your assumptions are simply insulting - and not only to sellers but also to Bill and Wally.
I'm really sad for your view of the world and mankind surrounding you.
Your life must be miserable. CHEER UP !
What's your big 'fight' about?
Nobody forces you to visit (and accidentally create 'traffic') to BONANZLE.
Kind Regards to everyone :-)
Johanna
I left eBay, opened a booth on Bonanzle and never looked back! Bonanzle is a warm and friendly community of buyers and sellers working together to create a great place to shop and interact with others. I love the clean interface and user friendly features and the support team can't be beat. If you are looking for an ebay alternative, look no more. You'll find your new home at Bonanzle!
Suzy
Just a little update. Bonanzle.com has just past our 30,000 member milestone and still growing rapidly.Come visit Bonanzle. You won't leave without making friends!
http//www.BonanzleDirectory.com
Yes, the listing process is fast but the customer service has gone from great to a bit crappy..they sometimes ignore questions altogether, or take days to reply, their treatment of members isn't as good as it used to be, and there aren't many sales to be made on the site.
"Great story Auctionwally! Thank you for taking time to let others know about Bonanzle with such a thorough review. "
Thorough...and biased. :)
how is bonanzle an alternative to ebay?
bonanzle is not an auction site ebay is
bonanzle is a hoax
ebay is real
people are leaving ebay cause they have to pay more now that the economy is tanking
and all business is turning to the computer
supply and demand
The people that are doing good at ebay are still there?
why I see these bogus articles out on the net advertising bonanzle as an ebay alternitive is false advertising and also advertising for a false site
the thousand something booths they advertise are just about all closed booths they just have not taken them down and most are buyers who opened a booth to buy from like at other sites
then you have people opening 2 3 4 booths cause they have so much stuff that they cannot fit it in that little space
and have you gotten a taste of the distastefulness of the people and owners there
have you put up more than ten items and found that the site locks up things you put up disappear and how slow it works and LOL LOL an ebay alt
@"Me" thanks for your input, this article was written quite a while back, so it's great to see that it's still getting comments. I disagree on several points of your post, but I welcome the discussion.
One thing I would like to point out though, is that Bonanzle DOES have auction, in fact it actually has, real auctions which are live, some are live videocast, others are held in booths only, but there are many auctions on Bonanzle.
Best of luck on any venue you choose to sell on.
Thanks for weighing in.
AW
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