Bonanzle ~ WAHM Ventures Into New Online Marketplace ~

One of my new goals for 2009 as both a Work-at-Home Mom and a Baby Boomer trying to establish a supplemental source of income in order to retire,  was to phase out my eBay store and set up a new booth at Bonanzle, the latest online marketplace.

Over the past year, I’ve slowly liquidated much of my merchandise and my eBay store specialized  in strictly Vintage Collectibles ~ mugs, dinnerware, sewing patterns and boutique children’s clothing.

The changes that eBay implemented within the past year became just too much for me to keep up with. I couldn’t believe how much I am paying in Fees each month, just to maintain an online presence at this auction site. Whether I sell anything or not, the fees just keep racking up.

Despite what many of the eBay blogs and mainstream news articles I’ve been reading are saying, mainly, that people are supposed to be looking to eBay and Craigs List for bargains ~ I haven’t  seen an increase in my business.  The holiday shopping season sales this past year were very dismal in comparison to previous years.

Tonight I closed my eBay Store for good.

As an active member of Twitter, I found out about an alternative venue and marketplace, .

It’s premise is simple if you’re a Seller:

• Import Items from eBay or Craigs List

• Import Items with one click

• Import eBay Feedback

As a Buyer, you can search for items by categories, or those posted within the last 24 hours.

There are no fees to list your items or set up a booth.  Yay!  Fees are only incurred once you sell your wares.

Bonanzle accepts Paypal and other methods of payments, such as Google Checkout and Money Orders.

I was able to set up my booth in minutes, and it didn’t take long at all for Bonanzle to import my items from eBay.  The process couldn’t have been easier!  The FAQs and Help instructions are very easy to follow.

You can even create a special “Bonanza” to improve sales! What’s a “Bonanza”?

It’s a quick sale where everyone on the site is directed to your booth for a couple hours to get your stuff gone. Pick a day, start time, and duration below. Choose the items from your booth that you most want to include in the sale. Pick a discount price for those items. Then show up at your booth at the time you declared.

What does this new venue mean for me?  I can continue to sell the items I have a passion for ~ vintage collectibles, as  well as boutique clothing items.  I’ll continue to promote my new Bonanzle Booth in the manner I was promoting my eBay store ~ through widgets, Squiddo, Facebook, my blogs and Twitter.

The only difference I can see is that I won’t be paying fees unless something sells.  Hopefully, through viral marketing, the word will get out about Bonanzle and the Buyers will arrive!

I can’t believe I waited as long as I did to open a booth.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Bonanzle will give eBay any competition this year.  I’m thinking the answer will be “yes.”

What do you think, have you tried selling or buying on Bonanzle yet?

Visit my new booth at: Mooettesgram on Bonanzle

Related Posts:
End of the Beginning ~ Happy Trails to You, eBay

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