Bonanza is a fast-growing marketplace that is relatively new to the ecommerce world. It’s most often compared to eBay and more online sellers are selling on Bonanza. It hosts more than 40,000 sellers and has more than 22 million items listed for sale. If you are an ecommerce merchant and you are not yet using Bonanza, it’s time that you consider this expanding marketplace.
In this post we’ll look at some of the common mistakes that new Bonanza sellers make, but first let’s look at some of the reasons you should add Bonanza to your bag of selling tricks.
Why Sell on Bonanza?
Bonanza makes it easy for sellers to offer their products to shoppers. Here are just some of the reasons why you should consider it:
- Low Seller Fees– Bonanza doesn’t charge listing fees. Instead, sellers are charged based on what they call the Final Offer Value (FOV).
- Great Support for Sellers– Working with Bonanza to resolve any issues, technical or otherwise, is quick and easy. There are chat, email, and phone options (with short wait times).
- Quick Start– Bonanza uses “booths” instead of stores or shops, and they are easy to set up and start selling. Most sellers can get their booths up and running in just minutes.
- Easy Customer Communication –With Bonanza, there is a chat option that allows shoppers to contact sellers with questions about products. This is a huge benefit since customers can receive answers faster than with an email. This prevents prospective customers from clicking to the next seller to make a purchase.
- A Unique Marketplace– Bonanza isn’t just another eBay, it’s a unique marketplace. While it does have categories of products similar to what eBay has, it’s easier to navigate, and there aren’t any auction listings. The marketplace has a community-minded feel and sellers are encouraged to enable the chat function so that customers can converse with them in real-time.
5 Mistakes to Avoid when Selling on Bonanza
Though Bonanza makes things simple for sellers, there are a few missteps that commonly occur. The following are five things to avoid when you begin selling on Bonanza:
#1 – Not taking advantage of Bonanza’s Customer Marketing Tool
Sellers can access important data from the Customer Marketing Tool for more targeted marketing campaigns. It collects user names, buying history, and messaging history of your previous customers. You can also take, save, and view any notes about specific customers.
Additionally, if you have visitors who don’t buy anything, but they subscribe to your booth, you have access to their information as well, allowing you to target specific groups of customers or potential customers quickly and easily.
#2 – Not importing eBay feedback.
It is important to establish trust and credibility with potential customers. New sellers often have a slow start because they don’t have adequate positive feedback for buyers.
Bonanza helps sellers establish a good seller reputation by importing their eBay feedback to show that they run reputable online businesses.
#3 – Not optimizing your Bonanza booth.
Every Bonanza booth is unique, but there are common principles applicable to all sellers. Optimize your booth by improving product listings to garner more traffic and sales. Here are a few areas to focus on:
- Product titles and descriptions– Make your titles SEO-friendly and descriptions accurately describe your products. Don’t use unnecessary extra characters or details.
- Product images– Use crisp, sharp, detailed images of your products that are appealing to all potential buyers.
- Pricing – Pricing products is an important factor in your success. Keep in mind that Bonanza doesn’t charge listing fees, so passing on those savings to your customers can make your products even more attractive.
- Shipping– Make sure to detail all your shipping rules. While Bonanza does offer a chat feature for your customers’ questions, some customers will simply leave your booth if they don’t see specific shipping information.
#4 – Not using Bonanza’s Knowledge Base
As you set up your Bonanza booth and start selling, you may have questions. It’s important to know where to find those answers.
Perusing through the Knowledge Bases (Help Center) will help you become familiar with the rules, policies, and procedures of the Bonanza marketplace. Their knowledge base will ensure you don’t waste time searching for answers.
#5 – Not working toward Top-Rated Seller status.
Becoming a Top-Rated Seller on Bonanza comes with recognition that improves customer trust. You should always strive to achieve this status. Here are the requirements for Top-Rated Seller status:
- Sell on Bonanza for at least 90 days
- Have at least 25 transactions within one year
- Make a minimum of $250 in annual sales
- Comply with all Bonanza policies
- Have a refund rate below 20%
- Obtain an average of 4.9 stars or higher for feedback
- Mark at least 90% of transactions as shipped
Some good news about Top-Rated Seller status: if you’re already a Top-Rated seller on eBay, Bonanza will import that status along with your feedback.
The Wrap Up
Bonanza is growing quickly. It’s a marketplace that makes it easy for ecommerce retailers to list and sell products while communicating with shoppers to build trust and engagement. If you’re thinking about selling on the Bonanza marketplace, follow these do’s and don’ts for listing products on Bonanza, avoid the common mistakes described above and watch your online business grow.
With Bonanza inventory management software, you can spend more time marketing products while the software automates product level syncs and shipping operations across all your sales channels.
Very well highlighted tips. Usually overlooked in the rush.
Thanks Mark! We have tips like these for many other marketplaces. Check out these articles:
Common Etsy Seller Mistakes to Avoid
10 Common Amazon Inventory Mistakes to Avoid
Do’s & Don’ts for Listing Products on eBay
Thanks for the info. I am now just setting up my booth and am importing it from Ebay. Good tips about the Marketing tools.
Hi Salvatore, we’re glad you liked the article! If you need more tips for your online store, check out these free eBooks:
The Ultimate Guide To Inventory Management for Multichannel Retailers
Better eRetail eBook
I have listings on Bonanza. The first 3 months were great. They were listing my products on Google Shopping which created sales. Then have cut way back on that and now I notice a definite drop in orders. I don’t know if they are cutting back some on google shopping across the board or they have some system for cutting back or listing product on lower pages on for certain vendors.
Hi Mary Ann,
Without visibility into your business, we can’t be totally sure why Bonanza isn’t listing as many of your products on Google Shopping. But I did find this article from there help center that could answer your question.
I hope this helps! Happy selling!
Thanks! I found out it looks like all of the products are being listed with google shopping but most are way down on the list of products which is affecting sales. I will read this article and see if it gives any answers.
Got it, that makes sense. Glad you were able to find some answers!
I have a little bit more than 12,000 products listed on Bonanza. One would think with this amount of products I would make a lot sales. Nope, nada. In the last two years I had an average of 1 (one) sale per month. Yes, you read that right. One sale per month.
Bonanza search is also broken.
If I search for my listings, none comes up.
They also do not attract buyers.
You actually have to pay a lot for advertisement on Google, Facebook, Bing etc through their system and after all their and the advertisement platforms cuts, you pay even more than on eBay and Amazon.
Not worth it.
We appreciate the feedback! It’s awesome that you have that many products listed! We’re sorry that your experience with Bonanza wasn’t what you expected. Fortunately, there are many other places to list your products. Here is a quick list of great places to sell online!