Two Bonanzle Sales in a Row!

Bonanzle is really picking up!  I sold two items on there in the last week, which is VERY exciting since I actually made a profit on one of them and the other has been in inventory for MUCH longer than I'd hoped.  So long, in fact, that I was actually considering keeping it myself.  It was one of the first things I ever bought, and I have to be honest, I made some big buying mistakes with my first lot of item.  While I am making a profit on my new items, I'm also going through the process of "purging" older items that I either paid too much for or there's just not a market for on eBay.

One thing I've come to realize is that online selling works in cycles.  There will be periods where I don't sell anything for weeks on end, and then suddenly three or four buyers will pop up on the same day or on consecutive days.  The other thing I've come to realize is that everything sells eventually, but holding out for an item to sell for the price I want ties up cash flow I could be using to buy things that will sell more easily.  So now whenever I see something's just not moving I either sell it at the break-even price or if I can, take it back to the store.  Seems like common sense, but I waited to long with a few things I bought at the beginning, and then I was stuck!

Anyway, I should probably update my sales figures up there but frankly I'm so disorganized I have no idea how to aggregate all my selling venues anymore!  It was easy when eBay was the only place, now I've got Bonanzle sales and direct sales to take into account as well.  Maybe I'll just round up to $5000 and call it even.  What do you guys think?

Check Out My Guest Post on This Mama Works It!

Tammy and I wanted to exchange blog posts, so we agreed that she would write about the five things she wishes she had known about eBay, and I would write about my experiences Bonanzle.

Please go visit me on Tammy's blog, This Mama Works It!, to see me wax prophetic about "The Ranch" (that's Bonanzle to us Bonz sellers). :)

Reviving Bonanzle - 20% Off Shoes

Sorry for the late notice, but you guys are all invited to come see me at my Bonanzle booth tonight, 9 pm - 12 pm EST, for my second Bonanza of the season.

I always get a little discouraged during these because ultimately it ends up being me, myself and Irene with Bonanzle's kinda sad strobe lights and disco music, so if any of you have the time or the inclination to stop by and pretend to be customers I would really owe ya. :)  Plus, all the fabulous shoes are going to be super discounted off their already super discounted prices (I know, they seem expensive, but some of these babies are already like 80% off!), and I'm feeling kinda generous so I'm thinking for a couple of them I'll just about take any offer that doesn't leave me in the poor house.

If you'd like to swing by the address is:

Not Yo Mama's Clothing
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/notyomamasclothing
Internet Land, Cyberville 010101

Hope to see some of you there!

My First Bonanzle Sale - Hurray!

Sold the Kate Spade Christas to a lovely woman who plans to wear them on her wedding day. :)  They are KINDA blue... maybe there's hope for Bonanzle after all!

Bonanza - Yeehaw!

I've decided to dedicate all my attention to Bonanzle this weekend to see how much traffic you can really get on there.  I've hosting my first "Bonanza" (big sale) today, starting in about 4 minutes - from noon PST to 3 PM PST (3 pm to 6 pm EST).  Even if you don't buy anything, will you come by and keep me company?

Thanks so much!!

Not Your Mama's Clothing Booth: http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/notyomamasclothing

A Bit on Bonanzling

So this blog is called Not Your Mama's eBay, and I plan on continuing to write predominantly about selling on eBay.  But every day I log into Bonanzle I grow more and more intrigued.

Granted, I haven't made a single sale on Bonanzle, nor am I getting a ton of traffic to my "booth".  I am, however, getting a steady stream of visits from my neighbors (the sellers who run the other booths) who stop by with words of encouragement, "tag" my items (a menu option under each item that allows you to rate items as "exceptionally cool," "exceptionally beautiful," etc...), and make pleasant conversation.

What's curious about Bonanzle is that it's more similar to Twitter or blogging than it is to eBay.  It relies in big part of network effects.  You get people (other small sellers) to come to your booth by visiting THEIR booth.  Every booth has a chat functionality, so when people aren't in you literally leave them a message.  And then they return your visit, and leave you a message.  But that's not all.  Other people SEE the message you left and ALSO come visit your booth.  Posting in the communal forums will also get people to your booth.  It's a close knit community, so new faces attract attention.

It's easier, and more work than eBay at the same time.  I suspect that many of the successful sellers there have brought in their own customer base as opposed to picking up customers while there.  At the same time, listing and promoting items is easier and cheaper.

All in all, I think I will continue to list my items both at Bonanzle AND eBay.  After all, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  I'll keep you guys posted on what my neighbors are up to.

Bona-what-now?

As much as I'm enjoying my little eBay business venture (despite the stress), I have to admit that trading on the best known cyber marketplace on earth has its price.  I've started selling some slightly more expensive items, and let me tell you, when eBay and Paypal gang up and start taking their cut, there isn't all that much left for the seller.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I came across another marketplace site, similar to eBay, called Bonanzle.  Bonanzle almost reminds me of a Main Street pedestrian shopping strip, complete with the friendly neighbors that stop by and say hello.

Sales have been reaaally slow for me this week, so I decided to give something else a try.  I opened up an account on Bonanzle - it's free - and listed a few items - also free.  Within 30 minutes of having opened my account, other sellers were IMing me through Bonanzle's chat feature to welcome me, offer help learning the ropes, and leave encouraging comments in my "booth" (that's what your store is called on Bonanzle).

It's all very very cool, which also makes it really really sad.  Bonanzle has a lot of sellers, but not a lot of buyers.  I think part of the reason for the friendliness is all these sellers are desperate for the site to grow.  Bonanzle charges nearly HALF the final sale fees that eBay does, and it offers so much more.  And yet the buyers stick with eBay.  They feel safe sticking with what they know.

I don't blame them, but I'm still going to give the place a shot.  You have to approve your sales on Bonanzle, so I plan on double listing some of my Buy It Now items to see how I do.  If someone makes me an offer on Bonanzle, I'll take the item down from eBay.  It costs me nothing, and I get double the exposure.

You guys should go look around if you're got some time on your hands.  Excellent deals, cheaper than eBay because the sellers can afford to lower their prices a bit.  The URL is www.bonanzle.com.  Let me know what you think!