Saturday, December 27, 2008

Go Bonanzle Go (What You Haven't Heard?) You Are Missing Out Then

Wow, this grassroots site Bonanzle is spreading over the internet like wildfire. Just google the word Bonanzle every few days and watch how many more pages pop up. Those of us who decided to set up shop on Bonanzle have become quickly addicted to the simplicity of the site, the wonderful owners and the helpful & friendly community. For those of you who have not heard of Bonanzle OR maybe you just are not sure yet, well here I am going to share some information, fun facts and some of my own personal numbers with you from my main booth.

First of all I will start by saying this. Taking a chance and setting up a booth on Bonanzle is well worth it and so easy to do. It takes about 2 minutes between filling in the short sign up and confirming the email they send to become a Bonanzle member. The screen name you choose when signing up will be in the url to your booth. Your booth name you can choose later. I however think it is wise to have a matching url to your booth. If you already joined bonanzle and did not think about having matching user name and booth name you can always get a re-direct at http://thebonz.com

Second thing I highly suggest before even moving onto listing items for sale (you will be tempted to just get to listing because it is so simple to do). Fill in your profile. Let others get to know you and what kinds of items you sell etc.

Now in setting up your booth. Click on the sell tab at the top of the screen. It will then give you 3 options to choose from. I advise picking standard. It is the all around universal choice and does not limit. I have 3 booths right now and have chose standard on all of them. My customers can pick up or have items shipped and I choose whichever payment methods I will accept. Now you are taken to the page to list your item you can click on the green box and get to listing in a one page simple listing form that even includes cropping option for your photo's. On this page also first edit your booth name This is what your links when you post in the forums will display. For instance I am KimsKorner but I chose my booth name to read Kims Korner Booth. Or my NEW book shop is KimsKornerBooks But I chose the booth name to read Kims Korner Books for it to read nicer in links. Also edit your payments you accept here as well.

Okay so now you will want to click on the advanced options tab and set up combined discounts, times & days for pick ups, etc. You will see all of the options there and it is all very easy to go through and set it all up.

Really instead of me explaining all of this it is even simpler to just head over, sign up and get going. It is the most simple sign up & listing I have seen to have a booth up and running in only moments with no monthly charge and no fee per item to list. The only fee you will see is a very low final value fee when an item sells.

Okay your all signed up, maybe have some items listed for sale now. Fine tune your listings making sure you have included lots of key words in your titles. Make sure your descriptions are, well are descriptive examples: color, shape, size, condition etc. If your selling clothes remember sizes vary by brand greatly. Pull out that measuring tape and take some measurements for a better chance of your item selling. If you have a charm for a necklace or some buttons maybe take the photo of them next to a quarter or measuring tape so the customer can SEE the size.

Now for the real fun. Bonanzle has it set up so there is a chat room in each booth. You can talk to your customers and answer questions right there on the spot. This is not mandatory but it is such a fun feature to have. There are also forums. You will find all of us truly addicted Bonanzle members in there all of the time pretty much. Click on the People tab, you will see a list of latest topics ALSO from here right above those there is a link that says Discussions, click on this link and you will be brought to a list of forum topics. Find the one Introduce Yourself and head on in. Post a new topic there introducing yourself to the community. Get ready for a big Bonanzle welcome because Bonanzle is just chock full of friendly people who will be happy to see you and head on over and take a peek at your new booth.

Also in the forums you will find TMT which stands for Tickle Me Tuesday. It is a fun game run by members you can sign up for. Its a great way to get to know other Bonanzlers and to be seen and help others be seen as well. You sign up then on Tuesdays between 2pm and 11pm Eastern time you have to tag at least 5 items in other participating booths. Everyone tries to visit and tag as many booths as they can but the minimum is 5. Everyone runs some kind of sale that is participating so it's also a great time to find lots of deals! After you have tagged an item in 5 booths make sure you send a contact message to the tickle me tuesday booth stating simply the 5 booth names and next to each one the item tagged. This enters you into a drawing to win a prize offered from one of the booths that week. So it's a fun friendly game, that gains you exposure while doing it and you can win a prize too!

In the forums you can also find Weekend & Weekday challenges. These are run by AngiesJewerly. Angie works very hard keeping these challenges updated as we go along through each one. To enter a challenge you just sign up in that particular challenge thread going on. Angie will add your booth & sale info to the list. In order to participate you agree you will make a purchase (however small or big of purchase you choose to) from one of the other participating booths. Once you make your purchase you let angie know and she puts a * next to your booth name on the list. When you make a sale to someone in the challenge a $ goes next to your name on the list. During the challenge we all chat in the thread and let each other know when we list new items etc. It's very fun, great way to meet others and yet another great way to get your booth seen even more.

The forums are also a great place to go for help. Now really all you have to do is contact support at Bonanzle and Bill & Mark are just awesome about getting back to you personally quickly to answer any questions you might have. The site is growing very very fast though so whenever possible its great to post your question on the forums. Usually you will get a response within minutes from other helpful Bonanzle members... Giving the Boyz running the site time to work on other things for us :)

Now for the numbers as promised. You want to know if you will see results selling on Bonanzle. Well it's different for everyone. I can't promise you will get sales right away. I can promise you will have fun, its free, and as long as you put effort into it you will see results.

Currently there are 15,941 users on Bonanzle (this will change within minutes of me writing this). Out of those 3091 have booths. So if you are asking yourself "Is it all sellers or are their buyers as well". I think that answers the question right there. The majority of Bonanzle members do not have a booth set up.

For buyers there is a HUGE assortment of items to choose from currently 599904 items are listed on Bonanzle and more being added as I write this. The sellers are able to offer items at a lower price than on sites like eB*y because they are not being charged outrageous fees on Bonanzle. Therefore as a buyer you are likely to find some really out of this world deals. Many sellers also offer OBO on their items. Myself personally I offer OBO on every item in my booth. So if a customer wants to make me an offer on one item or multiple items they can.

My KimsKorner booth. I started on Halloween night 2008. I currently have 252 items listed. Would be more but I have sold a lot since joining. It did take a week or two to start getting sales but since then in just my KimsKorner booth I have sold 92 items. I have had 8097 visits to my booth. In addition to those stats in my "My Bonanzle" it also lists stats for how many times each item was viewed so I can see which ones are getting the most traffic.

I can go on and on forever about the many benefits of Bonanzle, but really in less than 2 minutes signing up and confirming the email you can be on your way to finding it all out instantly and seeing for yourself. There is really no better way then to try something out for yourself as proof. You stand nothing to lose by giving it a try. The only way you can lose out is by sitting there and saying "oh just another eBay alternative" BECAUSE this is not just another alternative. This is new, different and simply the best alternative out there.

You need to find a great deal? Head over to Bonanzle. You want a friendly community on a site to buy & sell? Head on over to Bonanzle. You want free listings? Head on over to Bonanzle. You want simple listing options? Head Over to Bonanzle. You want a site that the owners and staff actually care about their members? Head on over to Bonanzle.

YOU WANT CHANGE? DON'T WAIT! HEAD ON OVER TO BONANZLE NOW!




Monday, December 22, 2008

Brainstorming Bonanzle With Auction Wally

I am in love with the Brainstorming Bonanzle show. The show itself and the chat to go along with it. All Bonanzler's and people who want to learn about Bonanzle please come on by and listen to the past 6 episodes and be there Monday nights at 8pm eastern for new shows!

Sunday, December 21, 2008