DISQUS

Mashable - The Social Media Guide: 2009/01/27/bonanzle-social-medias-quickly-growing-alternative-to-ebay/

  • benito · 10 months ago
    seems like they copied features from ioffer.com
    negotiate
    live chat
    item transfer from ebay
    ioffer has more than 20 million items

    I tried searching their site and their search must be broken everything came up no results.
  • Henrietta · 10 months ago
    Gee Benito,

    We don't do porn at Bonanzle. We don't do knockoffs and fakes either.

    Other than that I can assure you the site is not broken. As it says in the header, find everything but the ordinary.
  • Henrietta · 10 months ago
    Gee Benito,

    We don't do porn at Bonanzle, maybe that's why you didn't find anything. We don't do knockoffs and fakes either.

    Other than that I can assure you the site is not broken. As it says in the header, find everything but the ordinary. Maybe when we have been around as long as iOffer (almost 7 years) we will have more than 20 million items too.

    Just FYI iOffer was founded March 25th 2002, six months later on September 22nd 2002, the site had sold precisely 7346 items. Bonanzle has been out of Beta since September 3rd 2008 and to my certain knowledge we passed that total within the first two months.
  • Maxi Malone · 10 months ago
    It was bound to happen sooner or later.

    May Your Glass Always Be Half Full
  • beewells · 10 months ago
    First of all:

    Thank you Jennifer for using my booth for your feature.

    Bonanzle is a awesome site and very friendly to all who come to join us. We are a family of seller there to help and support each other!

    Come on by and Check it out for yourself!

    Go Bonanzle Go!!!
  • Kim · 10 months ago
    In response to the ioffer comment. I don't think they copied anything. Also I have heard too many horror stories to even try ioffer.

    As far as Bonanzle goes I have made many many sales, formed friendships, saved a lot of money by not having to pay to list, no mandatory membership fees, and small final value fees when your items sell. I have always had any questions I have had answered by Bill & Mark same day I ask them, usually within minutes to an hour or so with a personal response from them, no form pre-typed emails from the site.

    Bonanzle where it is now has far surpassed where eBay was when it was at this stage, I think that speaks great amounts right there. However I don't see Bill Harding ever making the mistakes eBay did. He is the type of person who truly cares about his users and proves it over and over again.

    Bonanzle is simple, free to list, friendly, fun. I just could not ask for anything more. I have been absolutely thrilled with everything about Bonanzle and just to think how young this grassroots site is still... can you imagine a year or more down the road. Bonanzle will be the household name no longer eBay!
  • June Lewallen · 10 months ago
    I have booths on Bonanzle and just want to say that it is the best place in the world to be! Much, much better than eBay could ever be. Check it out, you'll be glad that you did.
  • Pike · 10 months ago
    Bonanzle is the best thing since sliced bread!

    The item numbers would be well over a million if the site's owner allowed fakes.
    Yes, he takes the fake items off pronto if they get listed!

    A vey safe and fun place to buy or sell!!!!
  • halflet.com · 10 months ago
    And it going to keep growing because they give priority to community be it Seller or Buyer, which something ebay lagging now.

    Nat
  • imoDOTcom · 10 months ago
    Looks like a nice, user-friendly and fast site.

    Question: Any suggestions for an online aution/retailer where I can find OLD MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES & REPORTS ?

    Thanks in advance. - imoDOTcom -
  • EvesBooth · 10 months ago
    How can someone compare Apples with Prunes. Apples are big and most are GREEN...just like the Bonanzle site.

    Prunes are little shrunky things that makes you wanna crawl into a corner...just like the iOffer site. I've been there...for a good while and I kept on thinking it HAD to get better. Trash talking and promoting to the point that your pc kept on freezing was all I ever got besides a major tylenol bill from all the headaches that site and "NO"CS gave me.

    Good riddance........Stay there Benito, you seem to fit right in with the prune site.

    I'm happy in my Bonanzle land :)
  • bookbrowzers · 10 months ago
    I choose to sell at Bonanzle for its dedication to simplicity, the sleek interface, ease of listing, new tools and features added on a regular basis, so many more reasons, but especially the friendly and helpful community. The general feel of the place is that "we're all in this together" and I love being part of that.

    I have shopped and sold at several venues, and never before have I experienced such hands-on involvement from founders/owners/management. They are on the discussion boards when they're able, personally interacting with us, keeping us informed and updated. Support comes as a personal answer to an email. They ask the users what new features are most important for them to work on - and they follow through every time. Phenomenal!!

    Come on by ~ Bonanzle is Everything But the Ordinary!
  • Cynthia · 10 months ago
    I am headed for Bonanzale from you know where! I have been studying and watching it for a month!! Seems like it will be a delightful place to sell. Spent over 10 years on the other place helping it grow and then they kick us in the face!
  • Scott · 10 months ago
    I just went there and some features like price compare were missing and any search however simple turned up not one item.

    When I went to browse I could tell why - it's full of crappy items - most of the 1M listings are largely just people making stores with stuff you would not buy at a garage sale.
  • Phil · 10 months ago
    Wow - Bonanzle is an abomination. I just checked out the site and, on top of my subjective opinion that it looks bad, it also doesn't work at all. Try browsing by category: I found precisely 0 results, despite each category on the rediculously cluttered category page claiming up to several thousand listings.

    Why is it that every story about eBay gets a bunch of comments from people who hate eBay, wish eBay would die, and can't write remotely complete or comprehensible sentences? People: its not the site that matters, its you. Most sites are basically similar, they all outlaw illegal items and fraud. I bet you're here complaining about one site or anything because you've gotten too close to breaking those rules. Spend more time on your business and less time writing comments. I'll do the same.
  • Mark Dorsey · 10 months ago
    Sounds like you found us when our search function was acting up. We hope to avoid this from happening with the addition of two new servers this week. We hope that you stop back by soon so you too can witness the amazing growth and energy of our community. I do believe the "crappy" items you saw were probably in my booth (bonanzlemark) and just as soon as I have some time I will tend to that.

    Cheers,
    Mark
  • Pike · 10 months ago
    Phil,
    Please stay with eBay!
    Your sour nature would not be a fit on Bonanzle.
    Keep on buying your China made junk there, guess you don't have a Walmart near where you live.

    BTW, the word that you attempted to spell is 'ridiculously'
    not 'rediculously'
    Better stick with smaller words son.
  • Renagade · 10 months ago
    Bonanzle's success is because of not only the dedication of Bill Harding and crew, but the grassroots get-the-word-out effort of the buyers and sellers on this site.
    To find a site with such enthusiastic users and a hands on and accessable founder and staff in a refreshing change in the ecommerce world that has grown so cold and inpersonable.
    Bonanzle's unique style...it's personality if you will....is what is going to make this site rise to the top.
    Congratulations the Bonanzle and all there on reaching the 1 million mark!
  • Scott · 10 months ago
    Well I see you got the search function working which is good. But still I get the impression all you have is stores which are mostly small retail in nature. EBAY has stores also but I believe most of the interest and income EBAY makes is from individual listings.

    I like your site and the local feature, however you need to get single item sellers there or no one is going to be interested.

    Also, just one last comment as someone who has started internet companies - make sure your server can handle an expected PR push. The worst thing is for the service not to work when it's promoted.
  • Macgaff · 10 months ago
    Glad the resisted the temptation to rip off Ebay's site. Hopefully they will only improve. Looks great!




    Easiest Movie Downloads: http://movies.instant-download-now.com/
  • BZ · 10 months ago
    Looks like a lot of Bonanzle employees here posting fake reviews. Looked at the site and it's nothing special, smaller and slower scale ebay rip off.

    There are tons of these sites out there, why bother, ebay has the most items and most buyers. I'm sticking to ebay and ioffer for knockoffs.
  • Scott · 10 months ago
    I agree that there are many posts here from employees from Bonanzle. It's obvious...

    However EBAY has become so ridden with scamsters that we need an alternative. I will no longer do anything but wire transfers because of the risk.

    On the other hand after Amazon failed with their attempt at competing with ebay as well as Yahoo it's a hard sell.
  • Jason · 10 months ago
    bonanzle's okay, but i personally like iOffer much better. been with iOffer for a long time now and they've vastly improved from when i first started with them.

    the negotiations, transfers, live chat do sound similar to iOffer, but with a slight difference i guess.

    and i'm sure any online marketplace out there has fraud sellers, fake items, etc. i can guarantee there's no site out there that is 100% all real, authentic, perfect. when a site starts to grow big, they will start to find problems and attract more fraud people to try to beat the system or go around the system to scam someone.

    iOffer may not be for everyone, but so is bonanzle. the best thing we all can do is try it ourselves and see if it works for us. we can all sit here n read and write what other people said, but there's always 2 sides to a story, so why not try it yourself and see how it works for you!
  • Chelle · 10 months ago
    hmmm

    I am not positive but I think there are only like 3 or 4 people who operate Bonanzle. There is one who posted here, but he didn't hide- Mark Dorsey - right there for everyone to see.

    I suggest learning how to do an internet search if you have difficulties on Bonanzle, because it works just dandy for me.

    Only crap? Well feel free to happily purchase counterfeits, cheap junk, and questionable items on eBay - we don't mind if that is what you prefer have at it.

    ioffer is loaded with counterfeits and has the absolute work search experience I have ever encountered and yes that includes eBay's "new finding experience". If you can run a successful search on ioffer than that is your problem you just don't know what a good search experience is.

    Bonanzle looks and acts nothing like ioffer or eBay the comparison and suggestion of emulation is the most absurd thing I have read on the Bonanzle topic.

    I think what we have here are ioffer and ebay employees masquerading as real users. This is the first thread I have ever read- well frankly with anyone championing ioffer.

    See for yourself by giving Bonanzle and any other site a chance - then you'll know Bonanzle is your best opportunity
  • Chris · 10 months ago
    Well I only have a few things to say to the ones that is putting Bonanzle down.

    If your sites you selling on like eBay & ioffer are so great then why are you here & checking out Bonanzle???

    I was on eBay for 10 years and it truly went to the dogs, As I don't have to put up with all the nonsense. At Bonanzle we do not have the stress nor outrageous fees like on other sites. And we get treaded like human beings not like cash machines.
  • Sofyblu2 · 10 months ago
    Actually surprised with any of negative comments. It is very obvious that you have not done your homework. If you read the forums and were a part of this community at Bonanzle you would know exactly who these posters are. Most are folks that joined abt the time we did back in late August. We all seem to have gotten to know each other pretty well. Can't say that about ebay can you. As far as "crappy" items - don't know what you looked at but in one booth we sell vintage and modern collectibles and replacement china. Our second booth is close to completion although open offering all vintage and contemporary Fiesta dinnerware. Counterfeits and fakes are yanked pretty darn quick. And I sure as heck can't do price comparisons on ebay - the prices are all over the place. I say stay on ebay and be happy - it's probably up to your speed. On Bonanzle we are happy bubbles LOL - yup we laugh, we talk, we share and we help and ocassionally disagree. Just for clarification I am a bronze Power Seller on Ebay (no listings since early December) with raised search standings, 20% discount and dsr's between 4.9 - 5.0. I stayed there for a while to try to augment finances. With the fees and poor sales it was time to leave. So no I don't work for ebay and no I don't work for Bonanzle. We work for ourselves. And for once, with Bonanzle we can actually say that and mean it. Feel free to check out our booths ..
    http://www.bonanzle.com/sofyblu2
    http://www.bonanzle.com/sofy_schoice
  • bookbrowzers · 10 months ago
    "Looks like a lot of Bonanzle employees here posting fake reviews."

    Um, no, this is not true. I don't work for Bonanzle either. I am an independent bookseller. Bonanzle doesn't pay me; I pay them...a mere pittance of a final value fee whenever I make a sale. Bonanzle is run by 5 guys, and only one of them has made a comment here (Mark Dorsey). I recognize many names above me as sellers from the Bonanzle community.

    I meant everything I said in my comment above. Just so you know.
  • green rabbit · 10 months ago
    I like Silkfair more.
    It's a more friendly platform and the features are everything one buyer can ask for. I have one page checkout, even if I biy from 10 diff sellers at once.

    And I have instant messenger within the service, I can discuss whatever i want with any seller.
  • Max · 10 months ago
    Cmon...I see at least 4 comment posters that work at bonanzle trying to make it look like it's the best place to buy and sell. I think anyone can tell from reading the comments. They went a little overboard by bringing in their sellers here to praise them.

    Simple fact is that, there are no buyers at small sites like bonanzle. The site is not a revolutionary concept, just an improved rip off of the bigger sites. That usually fails...

    Sellers sell to each other for a while and eventually leave to go to bigger sites where they buyers are.

    My 2 cents
  • Peter Leeflang/CEO Leeflang Ar · 10 months ago
    Thanks you for highlighting Bonanzle.

    We recently moved our inventory from Ebay to Bonanzle and are happy to say it resulted in many sales, thanks to the unqiue personality off teh site, its entertainment factor a la Jordan's Furniture, its wonderfully committed seller community, the many unique functionalities one cannot find anywhere else, not even at the multi-billion dollar competitor and of course the very low sales fees.

    AS a businessman and ex-software developer of major global applications I can tell you that the Bonanzle founders have created a superbly lean and mean (or actually very friendly) competitor of big well-funded sites like Amazon and Ebay.

    The secret of Bonanzle that will beta the others: Freedom, a laissez-faire attitude towards buyers and sellers, with the benevolent premise that only they are qualified to use their judgment in their interactions. Bonanzle's liberating attitude contrasts greatly with the sites mentioned earlier, who have dramatically increased their interference with the judgment of buyers and sellers.
  • June Lewallen · 10 months ago
    Oh, it really bothers me to see these negative comments and people talking about junk for sale. I don't think I offer junk for sale! I have also been on iOffer for a couple of years and it sucks, I plan to get off very soon. I have never found a place as user friendly as Bonanzle. Sellers there have great items to offer and who wants a store with only one item to sell? I like the variety and I love Bonanzle!
  • ZiggyZool · 10 months ago
    Thank you Jennifer for an excellent article on the best new e-commerce Marketplace available - Bonanzle was recently voted Best eB*y alternative on the Small Business Computing channel you can read about it here http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/arti... and there were some pretty hefty contenders on the list. Bonanzle is like no other market place available on the web. If you're an eB*y refugee looking for a better friendlier venue for Buying and Selling stop by and review Bonanzle you won't be disappointed.
  • Kim · 10 months ago
    I posted a comment on this article when I first came across it. I was not asked to comment on it nor was I shown it by even anyone else. It came up on a google search I believe if I remember correctly and I read it and commented. I do not work for Bonanzle as a matter of fact I had sold on eBay for a very long time, even sold on Yahoo auctions back when they were around.

    Sellers selling to sellers... yes that happens on Bonanzle, ebay, ioffer, and everywhere else it is just fact most sellers being they are comfortable with online transactions tend to also buy online. Though I have to say I have made many sales though on Bonanzle that they found my item on google search and signed up simply to purchase from me.

    Also I see out of all Bonanzle members I think it is seven thousand and something that have booths (are sellers) leaving me to assume the rest are buyers (which is a lot). Also another thing that leads me to believe this is the buyers I have had that have been members a month or so and have no booth.

    Bonanzle is far from a small site.
    Bonanzle has FAR surpassed where eBay was when it was at the same point as Bonanzle. Look how big eBay got. Considering Bonanzle is growing faster then the big E. I think that says a lot right there. (you can research this information it is true that's how I found out).

    Bonanzle just won the Best eBay Alternative award for 2008 from small computing and business. In their words "A runaway" win. That says a lot also.

    What I see here upon revisiting this article just curious what others commenting had to say what I have found is this... a very small amount of people just a few, are trying to knock Bonanzle. They are trying to point a finger that Bonanzle employees are posting or making us post. Yet I see way more complimenting Bonanzle. It makes me wonder if those pointing the finger and being negative if maybe they have a hidden agenda. Because I am sorry, but the reason you see a big turn out of comments about people being happy with Bonanzle is this.. WE ARE! Not any other reason.

    So I comment on articles that I run across because I myself want to share my happy experience with others. When I was fed up with online sales someone pointed me to Bonanzle and I am stress free and making sales again. Only fair that I help others as well.

    There is only one comment here that I see from someone running Bonanzle I see him up there, Mark. He did not sneak in and hide that he was either.
  • Dylan Gram · 10 months ago
    Bonanzle is cool. RoboBomb Auctions is better. :)
  • Scott · 10 months ago
    Listen, I wish bonanzle (sorry I hate the name) all the luck in the world. I know how hard it is to start an internet company and compete with the likes of monsters like EBAY. I hope you are very successful.

    Scott
  • Dude&Chick · 10 months ago
    Great article! We found Bonanzle in August '08 and have been loving it ever since! After selling/buying on eBay since 2004 it was hard to leave. We really had no choice since we weren't making a profit on anything! All our profit was going towards listing, FVF and Paypal fees! No B&M here just a family selling their stuff!

    I find Bonanzle to be liberating! There's no one hovering over your shoulder making rules and changing them all the time! There is actual trust there and you can feel it when you communicate with the friendly sellers & buyers.

    Bonanzle may not be everyone's cup of tea but I certainly think that everyone should give it a try! You never know it just may grow on you :) It keeps getting better in our opinion!

    p.s. I absolutely do not work for Bonanzle! The only one I see here who does is Mark Dorsey, all other posters I recognize from our awesome Bonanzle community!
  • diana dejane · 10 months ago
    I mean really, how can you tell if someone is an employee from Bonanzle? That is just ridiculous! Mark is an employee. As far as I know there is just a handful of people that actually work for Bonanzle. I really resent the person saying there is crap on Bonanzle. We have many, many unique items and one of a kind items, antiques, beautiful handmade and handcrafted items, tons of beautiful jewelry of all kinds, great vintage clothing, primitives and so much more. Are there some drop shippers? Of course there are, that doesn't make a difference, you will have that on every site and that in itself does not make them a bad seller! Lots of people dig that stuff. The search is about to get much better also, we are a very young site that has had amazing growth.

    All of you have a right to your own opinion, but a year from now, check back with Bonanzle and I think that you may find that a lot of you will be eating crow!
  • harlee · 10 months ago
    Instead of another 'cheerleader' post, I'd like to comment on some things that might help people.

    Bonanzle Pros:

    -No listing fee
    -Low final value fee
    -The listing process is fast & simple
    -Excellent customer service- fast and friendly
    -Active forums
    -Pages load very fast, normally
    -Site owners accept suggestions for site features, improvements, etc...and let the users vote


    Cons:

    -Regular eBay bashing in the forums
    -Plenty of self-appointed judges & police in forums
    -'Cheerleader' community mentality. You're either super pro-Bonanzle..or they're against you (as can be seen in some of the previous posts)

    Pro or con, depending on your taste- primarily what you'll find are vintage/antique items


    If you don't have a 'sheep' mentality, you'll probably enjoy the site more if you avoid the forums.
    One exception- when you join, I recommend creating a thread in the 'Introduce Yourself' forum once you've transferred or created some listings. Will get you instant traffic.



    As you can see, my pros far outnumber the cons.
    Every site has it's flaws; that's to be expected.
    Of the several sites I'm on, Bonanzle is one of my favorites.
  • Cindy · 10 months ago
    I am not a seller yet, but will be shortly! I have been looking around on Bonanzle for quite some time and like what I have seen. The publicity they are getting here is great! I hope all those sellers will email their fellow "co-workers" and have them put in their 2 cents also!! I sold on E*ay for 11 years(100% feedback)...The last year or so has done me in....GO BONANZLE!!
  • kathyseven · 10 months ago
    I'm not a seller either, but I have been buying on Bonanzle.

    I kept hearing the Internet buzz about some new site so I went to check it out. I liked what I found.
    I started talking about Bonanzle with friends even before I registered there.
    I even read Bill Hardings personal Blog (Bonanzle's Founder); even his first posts from early 2007.

    The guy is a genius. He loves programming and he had folks offering him jobs when Bonanzle was still a very early work in progress. He's not just another disgruntled seller who tosses up his own website. Far from it!

    Mark Dorsey came along later and I must say the two are a match made in heaven. Both are witty and have a great sense of humor and you see it all over their site.
    That's just one of the things that attracted me to it.

    In all honesty I think they have a real Winner with Bonanzle.
  • Bill M · 10 months ago
    Great reviews, but I have to agree with other real commentators here, some of them sound a bit fake and written by the same people with good writing skills.

    I will check out bonazzle, but I do not anticipate anything groundbreaking based.
  • BarbsLamps · 10 months ago
    This is so different than eBay. It feels like a small town and you get to talk to everyone at one time!!! If you have a problem there is always someone to help you out. Support is amazing. If I had a problem with ebay I would get a 'generated' letter in a few days. Here you get a direct email and answers within an hour of asking the question.

    I would recommend this site to anyone that has something unusual to sell.
  • AsilisArt · 10 months ago
    I've been selling online since 1999 and have never before seen a site take off like this one has, not even ebay. Bonanzle's unprecedented growth speaks for itself.
  • diana dejane · 10 months ago
    Every site has their cheerleaders, and as far as Ebay bashing, every other site, including Ebay, has that also. There is no way to get around that. Someone can have strong feelings and good writing skills and still not be an employee of Bonanzle. We are all trying to find a place that will be great for us, just like some of you have found a different site that is right for you, we all have different ideas of what we want. I have never seen any forum that is perfect and has no troublemakers. It is true that if you want to avoid conflict, it is best to stay out of the forums. Work and promote and do your best in whatever venue you decide you like. I have had nothing but positive experiences at Bonanzle and I for one believe it will be a wonderful place to sell and buy in the future. It is easy and friendly and I have been getting sales. Perfect? NO WAY. Show me a site that is perfect and I will be there! Name calling and other negative comments are for children, all I ever heard of Ioffer, blujay and others were horrible name calling and belittling, I have tried MANY different auction alternatives and so far Bonanzle has proven to be by far,the best. we are adults, so live and let live and be happy in whatever you decide to do.
  • diana dejane · 10 months ago
    Change is hard, it were easy there would be no one left on Ebay!
  • ecbeauty · 10 months ago
    Why all the animosity toward Bonanzle? Sellers from eBay should be thrilled with any other site that is working to get us out of the eBay stranglehold. Bonanzle probably isn't for everyone, and none of the others appeal to everyone either. The great thing about all of them is we are finding away to get a way from eBay's abuse and the vulnerability of our reliance on eBay. No matter where you set up - or how many of the alternatives you use be thrilled with the progress you are making in taking control of your life and business. Isn't the objective to find a place that is working for you rather than against you?

    I like Bonanzle a lot, and I haven't tried all the others, but I have tried ecrater, bisi, wagglepop, & for a very short time ioffer and none of those were my ideal match, but that doesn't mean they don't work for other people. We know they do because other sellers report their successes on the various venues. I have no reason to doubt the credibility of their experience. Really it makes no sense what-so-ever for anyone who is not feeling good about where they are to speak up and share with the rest of our peer sellers.

    So I wish everyone great success regardless of where you choose to sale. Though I would like if people would try Bonanzle - you just might find you like it a lot, but maybe not.

    Anyway, don't give up on finding a better place than eBay, because you will if you work hard enough!

    Have a fantabulous day!
  • Dr. Accutron · 10 months ago
    I can tell you that I do not work for Bonanzle but they do work for me. I have my owe web site and have been on eBay for 9 years. I am very pleased with the site and am certain that it will continue to grow. As eBay makes more changes to search and my eBay pages that chases more sellers and buyers away this site continues to seek advice from buyers and sellers so that is very refreshing. As far as junk I sell vintage Bulova Accutron watches and parts and I would not say that $1000-$2000 watches are junk. Bonanzle is just one of the ways I sell and I would recommend to everyone not to put all there eggs in one basket. You need multi streams to bring in the most customers and not be left in the cold if things go south (like eBay). The Google feeds work great on Bonanzle and are on the first page near the top right near my site pages.
  • Henrietta · 10 months ago
    I am not a Bonanzle employee, I am known primarily as a blogger (Red Ink Diary) I have my own website and have been selling on Bonanzle since June.
  • Jeff · 10 months ago
    I am not a bonazzle employee! I just think that bonzazzles cheerleaders goal for this post should be to create as many positive reviews as possible, but they can not hide the truth, there are no sales and very little buyers.

    They should create something new and innovative, not rip off ebay and other sites features, dress them up a bit and think that everyone is now going to flock to them.
  • Chelle7 · 10 months ago
    @Jeff

    Your statement is both contradictory and inaccurate.

    there are no sales and very little buyers.

    How can there be any buyers if there are no sales?

    How do you know if no one has had a sale on Bonanzle? I have sold 18 items and I have only been there since mid December. Is that a ton? No but it isn't zero. They all signed up to buy from me also.

    Bonanzle didn't rip off the eBay model for christ sake they do not even have auctions. Nothing on that site is like eBay or any other out of the box alternative site. Bonanzle was made from "scratch" by 1 person Bill Harding.

    You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.


    not rip off eBay and other sites features, dress them up a bit and think that everyone is now going to flock to them.

    Again not ripping off any ideas from other sites, and sorry to inform you they, but they are flocking to Bonanzle.
  • bookbrowzers · 10 months ago
    Yes, they are flocking to Bonanzle! The number of registered users hit 25,000 at 8:21 AM PST this morning (2/1/09). As I'm posting this (at 12:44 PM 2/1/09), the site currently has 25340 users.

    Not bad growth for a company that went live in September 2008. Obviously someone likes what they see.

    And no, I still don't work for Bonanzle!
  • ecbeauty · 10 months ago
    And now at 1:23 pm there are 25, 393 members

    and 1,051,249 listings
  • ecbeauty · 10 months ago
    and at 1:42 pm there are 25,424 members
  • ecbeauty · 10 months ago
    1:44 users 25,426

    so in 1 hour Bonanzle has had 86 new users sign up

    There is not another site that is growing at the pace Bonanzle is - not even close. I predict we will bypass ecrater in two weeks time in listing count.
  • diana dejane · 10 months ago
    I have sold over 50 items in 1 1/2 months on Bonanzle, so please don't say there are no sales unless you know what you are talking about. There are buyers for sure and that is more than I have sold on E for sure! The buyers there are few and far between, at least for the type of items I sell. Some may still sell over there but most are totally disgusted and disappointed
  • Kim · 10 months ago
    Guilty as charged on being a bit of a cheerleader mentality when it comes to Bonanzle - I admit it I do tend to come off that way BUT there is a HUGE reason for that. Bonanzle has worked wonders for me. It brought back my enjoyment of selling online, I have actually sold over 150 items since starting there end of Oct. (and I normally have not had more than 100-150 items listed at any given time), My monthly billing statements have been around 12.00 to 14.00 a month, the feel of Bonanzle is so much more personable and I love it. SO I tend to cheer. Can't help it
    BUT those who don't like the cheering just look at the numbers. The growth in members, compare members to actual sellers by looking at total members then booths. Helps to see how many are there as shoppers. Google the word Bonanzle. Find out stats. Its all there in fact not just in those of us who tend to cheer because we love it so much.

    I am ALSO a buyer on Bonanzle. So know first hand that sales are being made. In Jan. I made 30 something transactions most of which were multiple item purchases from all different sellers on Bonanzle. My buying used to be on eBay but no longer is.

    One other note thats not a cheer, but a fact. I had a friend who went to sign up with eBay but found it too complex, she figured she would be able to get it all going but did not bother. Well she decided to sell on Bonanzle she began selling sometime in November and is either nearing 200 sales now or might have passed it not 100% sure. Her customers coming from on Bonanzle and ones signing up that find her items in google searches (same with me my buyers come in and sign up to buy from me because of finding me on google search AND they come from already being a member of Bonanzle).

    By all means those who don't go for the cheering... please just look up the numbers, the stats... Look where eBay was when they were just starting out then look at Bonanzle. It is Amazing, and yes I cannot help but cheer, and you can see here others like me who just start cheering... it is because we truly do love it!
  • Kim · 10 months ago
    Guilty as charged on being a bit of a cheerleader mentality when it comes to Bonanzle - I admit it I do tend to come off that way BUT there is a HUGE reason for that. Bonanzle has worked wonders for me. It brought back my enjoyment of selling online, I have actually sold over 150 items since starting there end of Oct. (and I normally have not had more than 100-150 items listed at any given time), My monthly billing statements have been around 12.00 to 14.00 a month, the feel of Bonanzle is so much more personable and I love it. SO I tend to cheer. Can't help it
    BUT those who don't like the cheering just look at the numbers. The growth in members, compare members to actual sellers by looking at total members then booths. Helps to see how many are there as shoppers. Google the word Bonanzle. Find out stats. Its all there in fact not just in those of us who tend to cheer because we love it so much.

    I am ALSO a buyer on Bonanzle. So know first hand that sales are being made. In Jan. I made 30 something transactions most of which were multiple item purchases from all different sellers on Bonanzle. My buying used to be on eBay but no longer is.

    One other note thats not a cheer, but a fact. I had a friend who went to sign up with eBay but found it too complex, she figured she would be able to get it all going but did not bother. Well she decided to sell on Bonanzle she began selling sometime in November and is either nearing 200 sales now or might have passed it not 100% sure. Her customers coming from on Bonanzle and ones signing up that find her items in google searches (same with me my buyers come in and sign up to buy from me because of finding me on google search AND they come from already being a member of Bonanzle).

    By all means those who don't go for the cheering... please just look up the numbers, the stats... Look where eBay was when they were just starting out then look at Bonanzle. It is Amazing, and yes I cannot help but cheer, and you can see here others like me who just start cheering... it is because we truly do love it!
  • Online Shopper · 10 months ago
    I am all in favor of Bonanzle and as many other alternatives as can be, but the problem I have is that the alternatives don't have the things I want. Those include things you can't get anywhere IRL.
    As far as auction Vs fixed price, I like the idea better than auctions. Frankly I don't have the time to babysit a listing only to get outbid at the last second by software or to get shilled by anonymous hidden IDs.
    As far as ebay goes, I will never use the site again, and I tell everyone I can to avoid it IRL. Until and or unless I ever get my money back, and a public apology for their mistreatment. In fact, not only for me, but for every last person they cheated, robbed and disrespected. And I won't be holding my breath. They are as corrupt as corrupt can be IMO. And I do not work for any online entity BTW. We all know that ebay is the only site where using shills & trolls are SOP from the highest execs on down. Right Jose Mallabo?
  • John · 10 months ago
    Bonanzle is very cool site, you can try barnbid.com also
    ebay is a rip off and you cannot make money there anymore.

    bye
  • ecbeauty · 10 months ago
    Bonanzle 28,000 members - 10,000 from Jan 6 to Feb 6th

    WOW!!!!
  • ecbeauty · 10 months ago
    Bonanzle 28,000 members - 10,000 from Jan 6 to Feb 6th

    WOW!!!!
  • Baron · 9 months ago
    I recently joined bonanzle after selling on eBay and Amazon for several years. The day I joined bonanzle and was greating my booth, I started receiving many text messages from what was supposed to be other sellers. I received about 30 messages in about 2 hours. The interesting thing is that some of these messages indicated that they saw my booth nd liked it. Messages like "booth is looking good", "looks great, keep up the great work". However, after reviewing my site states several hours later, I noticed that my booth views count was zero. Were these messages all automated fakes???
  • Baron · 9 months ago
    I recently joined bonanzle after selling on eBay and Amazon for several years. The day I joined bonanzle and was greating my booth, I started receiving many text messages from what was supposed to be other sellers. I received about 30 messages in about 2 hours. The interesting thing is that some of these messages indicated that they saw my booth nd liked it. Messages like "booth is looking good", "looks great, keep up the great work". However, after reviewing my site states several hours later, I noticed that my booth views count was zero. Were these messages all automated fakes???
  • AsilisArt · 9 months ago
    People can step into your booth, scroll down and see pictures of your items
    without ever leaving the chat module. Also, the your booth stats update
    once per day in the evening. Good luck at Bonanzle!
  • AsilisArt · 9 months ago
    People can step into your booth, scroll down and see pictures of your items
    without ever leaving the chat module. Also, the your booth stats update
    once per day in the evening. Good luck at Bonanzle!
  • kathyseven · 9 months ago
    Baron,

    I assure you those were genuine messages/greetings.
    Go to the People page and look to the lower left. It's just one of the
    features that makes Bonanzle unique.
    Take a look on the Introduce Yourself Board.
    You'll see a lot more friendly folks welcoming all the new members.
  • kathyseven · 9 months ago
    Baron,

    I assure you those were genuine messages/greetings.
    Go to the People page and look to the lower left. It's just one of the
    features that makes Bonanzle unique.
    Take a look on the Introduce Yourself Board.
    You'll see a lot more friendly folks welcoming all the new members.
  • Baron · 9 months ago
    Thanks for the additional info. If People can step into my booth, why isn't the system counting them as a booth view? It seems that any potential buyer, whether they are a bonanzle seller or someone else, that visits (views) my booth should be counted as a view in my booth statistics.
  • ZiggyZool · 9 months ago
    Baron:

    Just a note in response to your question re: booth views in your item stats.
    Wanted to point you to this note at the top of your View Booth Stats Page on
    Bonanzle. This is what it says:
    Booth & Item Statistics:
    "Note that these statistics are updated once daily, in the evening. These stats do not include you looking at your own booth and items." (copied & pasted from my page)

    Perhaps you just didn't see it. I can also assure you that every quick text or
    other welcoming message were very real and sincere. It's a habit we have at
    Bonanzle to welcome new neighbors to help them settle in and offer help if
    needed. It would also be more help to you to post your questions in the Bonanzle
    Forums or contact support@bonanzle.com you'll get an answer much more quickly.

    If I wasn't one who welcomed you to Bonanzle then please accept my sincere
    Welcome To Bonanzle - Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need help settlingg in.

    Best,
    Zig
  • Jerry · 7 months ago
    ebay is still King in the online auction world, but efleaa is the crowned Prince, heir to the throne. We are efleaa, We are You.
  • Peter L · 6 months ago
    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.
  • Rob · 5 months ago
    This new auction/bonanza site looks sick. Much easier to use than eBay. To bad they don't have a motors section though because my site (reviews) has tons of information on cars and their prices, specs, and more.
  • David · 3 months ago
    This is a take off of cozybug. which was out earlier granted it appears like more development work was implemented