When you’re an online seller, you’re constantly faced with business-shaping decisions.Website or marketplace? eBay or Amazon? Facebook or Twitter? Discount or no discount?Any help you can get is going to make your life a lot easier, maybe even more enjoyable. There are many tools, products and marketplaces that can help you do just that.One marketplace that helps make your online selling life easier is Bonanza. The name became more and more popular in 2017 and some sellers are moving away from eBay in favour of Bonanza.This can be due to many things. Are eBay sellers are feeling the pinch of fees? Perhaps Bonanza offers more tools and more value for money. But what is Bonanza? How do you sell on Bonanza? How does Bonanza work?If you’ve asked yourself these questions, you’re in the right spot. Today you’re going to get an up-close look at the Bonanza marketplace. By the end of this, you will know:

• What is the Bonanza selling experience like?
• Is Bonanza legit?
• Is Bonanza the best eBay alternative?
• What are the real Bonanza selling fees?
• Is the Bonanza website a good place for my brand?

Soon enough you’ll know more about the Bonanza marketplace, how it works, and whether it’s a good fit for your brand.

What is Bonanza?

Bonanza is an online marketplace where sellers list their products to be sold. It’s divided into multiple categories to help buyers find exactly what they’re looking for. Buyers add a product to their cart for a set price or can negotiate an offer. Payments are made on the Bonanza website through a safe and secure checkout facility. As a popular eBay alternative, just about anything can be sold (you can check them all out here).  More and more crafters and small handmade sellers are finding a home on Bonanza too. There are more unique and handmade items for sale on Bonanza than eBay, but less household brand names than Amazon.Buyers can buy everything from a washing machine to a new pair of Nike Airs, to a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery.

Nike meets handmade jewellery on Bonanza

Bonanza knows that its customers also sell on other sales channels, as well as a Shopify or WooCommerce web store. You can easily import your products from these channels using Bonanzas integrations. This gets you selling your products much quicker.  

Bonanza Stats

Bonanza's analytics say they have over 5 million visitors a month, with Similarweb backing up similar numbers. That’s a little over 150,000 visits a day. This may be insignificant in comparison to eBay, Amazon and Etsy but it’s not a number to be ignored. If you have a presence on Bonanza, as well as other marketplaces, you increase your reach and potential for more sales.

Are you thinking about selling on a second marketplace or building a web store? Use Multichannel to manage your inventory, customers and sales everywhere!

Bonanza's customer base is primarily U.S based. But with 25% of all traffic coming from abroad, it's an expanding marketing. Currently, Bonanza sellers are from over 200 countries worldwide.PROS

• Traffic and sales on the Bonanza marketplace have increased since opening in 2008

CONS

• A long way to go to have as much traffic as eBay, Amazon or Etsy.
• Buyers are mostly based in the U.S.

Is Bonanza safe? Is Bonanza legit?

Yes, Bonanza is safe.

Yes, Bonanza is legit.

The Better Business Bureau gave Bonanza an A+ and the average consumer rating is 8.4 out of 10. This simply means that Bonanza is safe and Bonanza is legit.

Is Bonanza legit? Yes, yes it is.

Bonanza has a huge seller base and even more buyers. Millions of transactions have happened through the Bonanza website without any problems at all. There are, however, a few unsavoury characters from time to time. Bonanza are very active in trying to find scams - both dodgy buyers and sellers. The Bonanza team make it easy for anyone to report suspicious activity. The Bonanza marketplace integrates with only trusted payment gateways - PayPal and Amazon Payments being the most popular (and safest).

Bonanza Selling Site Features

You may ask yourself a question: Why should you sell on Bonanza?Many Bonanza seller reviews have stated that the range of tools and features on offer make selling easier, quicker and more enjoyable. sMany other Bonanza seller reviews state that it's an easier, cheaper and fairer marketplace than eBay. These features which may very well become your favourites:

Product Import

The first feature that makes your selling life easier is the product import. You can easily import your existing listing from eBay and Amazon. With a few clicks of a button, your entire Amazon or eBay inventory is copied over to your Bonanza account.

This means you can be sure that your listings are consistent over all your channels. Plus, it gets you up and running quicker.

eBay feedback Import

One problem you face when selling in a new marketplace is trust. If you’re new, no one knows you and no one trusts you. Bonanza’s eBay feedback importer solves all that. The tool looks at your eBay account and gives you a score based on your last 1000 pages of feedback.This means that your eBay credibility is automatically shown off on your fresh, new Bonanza account. Trust. That goes a long way in selling!

Google AdWords

Bonanza has a long history of working alongside Google (and its many features) to help you get your products seen by more people. For a fee (which we will cover later) your Bonanza listings can also be featured in Google Shopping adverts. This puts your listing in front of an incredible amount of potential buyers, increasing your chances of being seen and getting sold.

Paid Traffic

Google Shopping isn’t the only place you can pay to get your Bonanza listings seen. With a little financial backing, your listings can be boosted and seen by:

• Bonanza shoppers
• Bonanza affiliate partners
• eBay customers
• Bing! Users

So by selling on Bonanza, you’re not only able to be seen by people who buy on Bonanza, but so many more who may have never even heard of Bonanza. This gives your sales the potential to increase tenfold.

Chat

Bonanza knows the problems that your buyers often face. They may have a question that needs to be answered before they commit to the purchase. Bonanza’s built-in chat (or Booth Chatting) helps solve this problem.Buyers and sellers can communicate with each when they’re both online. Any questions or queries a potential customer may have can be cleared up ASAP, moving your customer to complete the checkout process sooner.Chat also helps with things get tough. Have an unhappy customer that wants to know more about your return or refund policy? Live chat can help them then and there, without the need for anyone to wait.This also helps you build a relationship with your customer. Great for branding and building a loyal customer fan-base.

Picture Burner

It’s pretty obvious that you need to have exceptional product photos to be a successful online seller. But we don’t all have access to perfectly white backgrounds or high-tech editing software.That’s where Bonanzas Background Burner saves the day. Upload your photo and use the simple interface to, literally, remove the background.

The Shoplo ‘S’ plushie, before and after the background burner

Now you’re left with a simple, clean image of your product. Place it on a white background to show it off without the imperfect or distracting background it once had.

Want to know more about taking fantastic product photos? Read 11 of the best product photography tips for ecommerce!

It’s pretty clear that by selling on the Bonanza marketplace, you get more than just a marketplace to sell. The Bonanza team have developed all these tools with you, the seller, as well as your customer in mind. This makes selling easier, faster and a better experience for you and your clients.

Bonanza Selling Fees

Bonanza charges nothing for you to open a booth and list your products. They collect only a small percentage of your final sale price once the product sells. See the simple chart below:

The more commission you pay, the more sales channels your products will be listed on. More advanced users can take advantage of a Bonanza membership, billed monthly or annually.Even though Bonanza fees are complicated, the most important thing to remember is that selling on Bonanza is significantly less than eBay and Amazon.

PROS

• Can list completely for free
• Overall fees are low

CONS

• Memberships vs tiered pricing - somewhat confusing.
• If selling a competitive product, you’ll need more exposure, hence more fees

Getting started with Bonanza selling website.

Getting started on Bonanza is a simple and straightforward process.

• Go to the Bonanza ‘Start selling’ page and let them know if you’re already selling online.
• Select a name for your booth (eg, the name of your store or brand). Next, you’ll see your store panel
• Click on ‘Open your booth’
• Select how you’d like to be paid and your personal details.
• Enter your credit card details so that you can be billed for seller fees
• Select whether you’d like to pay to have your products advertised elsewhere online (you can always change this decision later)
• If you’re interested in a membership, this is where you pick which one is best for you. It’s not essential, though.

Now you’re set up and ready to sell!

4 tips for successful Bonanza selling

If you’re considering selling on Bonanza, here are 4 of our tips that can help you get the most out of the marketplace.

• Don’t sell on just Bonanza.

If Bonanza, or any of those mentioned sales channels, are the only place you brand has a presence, you will find it hard to be successful. Many user Bonanza reviews state that ‘I’ve only had a sale a month, Bonanza isn’t good’. ArtYah, one of the more popular sites like Etsy, gets a lot of criticism as sellers don’t get a lot of sales.That’s because they’re putting all their eggs in one basket. Also, sell on Etsy. And eBay. And your web store. And eBay. The future of successful ecommerce business is multichannel selling ...To get the most out of Bonanza, it doesn’t hurt to do a little proactive marketing, too.

• Market your own listings.

While it’s true that you’ll get the organic Bonanza traffic, you can increase this by being proactive with your marketing efforts. For example, use social media to drive traffic to your Bonanza listings.Surprise, surprise, the Bonanza marketplace have an integrated way you can do just that.Another way? Find a Facebook group, full of people who have a problem that your product solves, and share it there. You’ll be doing yourself and Bonanza a favour.

• Use freebies, coupons & combined item discounts.

This is another feature that sets Bonanza apart from eBay.Freebies are unspecified items that a seller agrees to give away with each transaction. Coupons are unique codes that give a buyer free shipping or a percentage off. Combined item discounts are exactly that. The final price will be lower if you buy more than one item.  

• Use chat to build a relationship.

The inbuilt chat feature is a fantastic initiative. Of course, it can be used to answer customer questions and haggle on a price, but it’s also a great way to build a relationship with your customer. No matter what you’re selling, a customer will be more likely to buy from you if they’re emotionally invested in you and your brand - and the chat feature is a fast-tracked way to build that relationship. PROS

• Unique features make it easy to attract repeat business and keep the customer happy
• Freebies add value and an incentive to your customer.

CONS

• Selling on Bonanza, you'll need to be proactive with marketing.

Bonanza vs eBay - are they worth comparing?

Bonanza is quickly becoming one of the more popular alternatives to eBay, for both buyers and sellers.In fact, they’ve got a whole page explaining why they’re a great eBay alternative.

Below you will find 4 most important differences between eBay and Bonanza.

• Fees.It’s cheaper to sell on Bonanza than eBay. Sure, eBay has an incredible amount of traffic, but eBay fees simply sting. Bonanza = list for free & lower selling fees.

• Promotions.If you’re selling on eBay, you have a lot of organic traffic. Not so much with Bonanza. Bonanzas offer of integrating with Google Adwords, Google Shopping etc, means that you can be seen by more than just eBay shoppers, and better quality shoppers, too. Shoppers that actually want to buy what you’re selling.

• Easier.Setting up an account with Bonanza is smooth and simple, as is listing a product. There’s no messing around with Auction prices, set prices, memorizing fees scheduling a listing. It’s simple, clean and easy which means you can focus on other parts of your business.

• Customer interactionCustomer interactions are quicker and easier. The live chat feature means customers can talk with you in real time and you can build a relationship with them. Rather than waiting for emails from customers, problems are solved on the spot.

Want to know more about Bonanza? Over on Reddit Bonanza is starting to gather more attention as users discuss using it alongside other sales channels. The Reddit community is known for its entrepreneurial spirit!While there’s no clear winner in the Bonanza vs eBay fight, it’s easy to see their differences. Your brand may find more success on one than the other, but it’s plain to see that Bonanza is made with you, the seller, in mind. PROS

• Cheaper
• Easier
• Access to external promotions

CONS

• Significantly less traffic
• No auction format

Bonanza Selling - Conclusion

Now you know a little more about the Bonanza website! Bonanza is starting to get traction and grow in both buyers and sellers as a popular eBay alternative. While it may not have the traction to bring other marketplaces down completely, it’s certainly a starting to get the attention to do just that.Do you think Bonanza can ever truly rival eBay? What are some of the things you like or dislike about Bonanza? Let us know in the comments!