Upcoming shopping cart overhaul
Hi everyone – a few of you have probably been wondering what we have been working on over at Bonanza headquarters. We have a few fun things brewing, but one of the largest items is a redesign and overhaul of our shopping cart and checkout functionality. Please excuse me for a brief important note…
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you accept PayPal, and have an account type of ‘Personal’ PayPal is requiring that you change your account status (at no cost) to either ‘Premiere’ or ‘Business.’ Read more details and get step-by-step instructions here. Now, back to our normal update….
Our goals with the shopping cart overhaul are threefold.
First we want to simply reduce errors and confusion. Some of our less used checkout options like offers, invoiced checkout, and money orders could be made clearer to buyers. We want them to understand what’s expected of them and how the process works. We also believe we can reduce errors and checkout abandonment for even the more standard checkout options like ‘buy it now’ transactions via PayPal and Google Checkout. We’ll do this through clearer labeling, an enhanced visual design, and stronger calls-to-action.
Second we want to optimize the overall user experience and improve the aesthetic. How is this different from reducing errors and confusion? Our shopping cart design was looking a little dated and never really overhauled properly when we redesigned the site. And with lots of features and options it was looking a little cluttered. So Christopher took an eye at improving the visual design at every step. The experience is now consistently branded, more intuitive, and just more polished.
Buyers using PayPal will notice an improvement as we’re now able to render a status bar throughout the checkout experience so they know where they are in the checkout flow. Additionally, the final transaction steps now take place on Bonanza.com and not PayPal (securely of course). Why do this for PayPal and not Google Checkout you ask? Google Checkout doesn’t offer this capability – it’s newly available with PayPal’s ‘Express Checkout’ offering. If Google offered something similar we would take advantage.
Third, and finally, we want to improve our ability to remarket to previous customers. By integrating PayPal’s Express Checkout we can complete the transaction on Bonanza.com and create proper user accounts for everyone who checks out. This means we can more effectively build a repeat customer base which we are excited about.
What’s needed from you? Per my note above, merchants who have a PayPal account type of ‘Personal’ will eventually need to click a few buttons and change their account type to either ‘Premium’ or ‘Business.’ Not to worry, there are no increased Bonanza or PayPal fees for the change. You can read more about the account type change here. It’s very easy.
A few anticipated questions…
What’s happening to Invoiced Checkout and Offers? Mostly we are changing the look and feel as well as a few labels to make the process more clear and obvious, but the core elements of the flow are not changing. A buyer still makes an offer, you still accept, counter, or deny, and then checkout can proceed as appropriate. Same with the core steps of invoiced checkout.
What about money orders and Echecks? We are making one change for these transaction types. Since money orders and Echecks take a few days to clear (and/or mail) there are a few inevitable questions – what to do with the items before payment is fully confirmed? If you automatically delist an item as sold you lose valuable time should the sale not go through. If you continue to list the item you could effectively sell it twice should another buyer come along and use a faster payment method. We think we have a compromise. With the launch of the new cart we’ll disable ‘buy it now’ for any item that is ‘awaiting payment info’ from an Echeck or Money Order. This lets you continue to list the item, but ensures that no one buys it twice as it will become an invoiced order awaiting approval. It also sets buyer expectations more effectively. We think it’s a nice ‘win-win’ and the sellers who we spoke to agreed.
You say the final transaction for PayPal will occur on Bonanza, will it be secure? Yes. PayPal still securely passes us the transaction information. The manner in which this data is passed is unchanged and all cart pages on Bonanza.com use SSL security.
Does this change where or how I do refunds? No. Refunds are still processed on PayPal or Google Checkout respectively.
When is the cart redesign going live? We’re knee deep in testing and don’t have a date yet. It’s at least one week away. We are announcing it early so you’re not surprised and so those who need to change their PayPal account type have time to do so.
Fire away with other questions, but if your questions are related to changing your PayPal account type please read more about changing your account type first. We’re hard at work testing lots and lots of different scenarios and hope to launch the new cart in the next week or so. As the date draws near we’ll be sure to communicate it to all of you.
- Alex
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116 responses to Upcoming shopping cart overhaul
Yes! Way to go team..
New year, new look ,, new checkout..
Judy/blue
We knew you could do it!
Awesome news!
Great!
can’t wait to see it in action
Neato!
Thanks for the heads up. Will look forward to seeing it in action.
Like!
Super! Can’t wait to try it out as both a buyer and a seller.
Awesome! Thank you!
I like the idea of leaving an item that is sorta sold up untill it IS sold. Yet still being able to control it.
Nice job!
Can’t wait to try this out!
Yes!! Can’t wait to see it!
Love the changes you have made over the last several months.
Anxiously awaiting the unveiling!
Sounds great!! We really need to be able to charge sales tax for our Washington state customers. Is that in the works? We really love this site!!!! Thank you MR. Bonanza
Sounds Great!
great news!!
Looking forward to checking out the new check out!
I had an offer for several of my items for one price. It was a new member and he didn’t know how to check them out as one purchase. I finally re-listed in one listing for all the items and canceled each individual listing. Is this something that could be handle at checkout?
Sounds really good.
The new cart sounds nice BUT I’d like to see Bonanza do more advertising. Most people I speak with have never heard of Bonanza ONLY eBay. How are we supposed to complete with the flea giant if no one knows we’re here?
Has anyone been working on ADVERTISING FOR THE SITE?
sounds good and I just upgraded…no problem here
Sounds great. Can’t wait to see it live. Really thrilled with the MO/echeck change. I’m one of those who ended up selling an item twice while waiting for an echeck to clear. I also lost a sale last week because the buyer couldn’t figure out how to check out.
Good job Team! I have had a Business Paypal account for years. Easy squeezy lemon peezy! Don’t hesitate to change if you need to.
Sounds like another positive change. Keep up the good work!
new cart, hmmm, alot of hours on that one. It only takes minutes to advertise. So which one is more cost effective for bonanzle. hmmm. I guess it is more important to do the checkout due to Uncle Sam, better tracking. hmmm.
Thanks for the heads up on this we appreciate it.
@ Wrmcolo – we’ll continue to support checking out via offers and buy it now for multiple items. The calls-to-action for checkout are stronger and more obvious in the new design so hopefully this won’t be an issue in the future.
@Alilbirdy2 – you are welcome!
Thank you for the update, looking forward to seeing the new changes. I have to applaud Bonanza for continuing to add the best options into the shopping and selling experience. Kudos!
Sounds good!
I look forward to the change.
I’ve lost a couple sales because the buyers couldn’t figure out how to pay, so hopefully the new improvements will simplify things even more and prevent that from happening in the future.
Perfect!
Woohoo…I’m so excited!!
I can’t wait to check it out (no pun intended, but it sounds good LOL) I’m also curious about the sales tax situation. Is there a fix for that? I haven’t had to worry about it, yet, but would hate to not be set up properly if the need ever arises.
As for any naysayers, we’ve been wanting this for a LONG time — at least those of us who are serious about selling and making it easier for customers to buy from us. So, what if this benefits the team in some way? That just means that this is something that will benefit us all.
If your problem is with upgrading to a business account so you can be held accountable as a business should be, well then…pfft…there ya go. Garage sale anyone? LOL
This is terrific. Thank you!
Sounds great!
Thank you for the hard work. This is a benefit for buyers, sellers, bonanza and the government. Theres no downside.
Sounds Great!
Yeah, I’m looking forward to an easier checkout.
Not too savvy Computer people are hapless with the checkout here.
Kudos, step by step we are getting there
LOL Iris pffft…
What a good idea!
Yes anything that makes it easier for newbies to Bonanza.
As to cleaning up the shopping cart, I , too, have had troubles with customers asking a million questions re payment, then walking away. Streamlining the process will only HELP SOLIDIFY (and hopefully, SIMPLIFY) the checkout process.
And no, I don’t TAKE Paypal for MOST of my items, due to fees, and don’t want to put more money into “The Bay’s” hands if I can HELP it.
Hope I get a chance to test the new cart
I think you need to clarify something about the Paypal upgrade to a non-Personal account. You have said in at least two places that there are no additional charges involved in upgrading your Paypal account. There ARE additional charges involved with a Business or Premiere account, and people should be aware of them. People who have Business or Premiere Paypal accounts pay a fee for EVERY transaction, not just the ones where buyers use credit cards. It is taken off the top by Paypal. I do know this, because I have had a Premiere account for more than four years, and every single time I receive money (except for the few where people use the Paypal balance), a fee is charged to the transaction before being netted to my Paypal account.
Now, there’s no monthly fee or anything like that, but there ARE additional costs involved in upgrading your account.
If it’ll be easier for our clients, then WTG! And thanks for the heads up!
@Lanalucy…even when I had a personal account, I always got charged every time I received money. I upgraded to a business account 10 years ago and have noticed NO difference between the two — other than the added free tools for merchants to use, which I like.
Awesome! Thank you!!
Hi
the fees for Paypal are less than my credit card terminal carrier in my retail store.. I have had a Business account for years.. I like all of the added features like multi-user access…
Judy/blue
Well put Purpleiris. QWe are very excited also about the upgrade to the cart. Good job crew! For those who don’t agree, does the word “Shopping Cart Abandonment” mean anything to you? This is what happens when a customer goes to check out and finds out that it’s too much trouble or there is not enough information given about the transaction. Result..no sale. The customer backs out, and goes elsewhere. A very large amount of sales are lost this way, and to me, and all the rest who take there selling seriously, this is something we want to avoid. This upgrade will help a lot to help this situation. As for those asking about advertisement? It’s very simple. Advertising costs money..requiring a business to budget funds to pay for the advertisement. If the company budget increases, you need to increase your prices you charge to balance the budget. And I don’t think anyone likes price increases. We as a Bonanza family, can help advertise by using Twitter, Facebook, and any other means available to make this the " Site of Sites" So pfft…there ya go again, just a couple of basic business practices people who take their selling seriously need to follow. We are a family here at Bonanza, We like it here a lot. We have traversed the power seller route and top rated seller route, but ya know what? Bonanza ROCKS so much more! Good job guys!
Thanks for the info! I’ve had a Business account with PayPal for years because of our business. It’s great and I wouldn’t go anywhere else, so I hope your people aren’t afraid of it. Most of the time there is no fee (we do pay a small fee for the processing of credit cards but that is true no matter who does it). The best thing is PayPal pays a small percentage of your purchases back to you. I just totally LOVE that bank!! It’s nice to hear you keep upgrading!
Looking forward to using our new cart!
@Genie…do you have a market share account? I have a business account, but don’t have all those perks you mentioned. LOL
Being a member since 8/08 I have seen a lot of changes, and most of them have been wonderful changes and growing pains for us as sellers and for the site itself. I have a Premier Account with Paypal and always have had so no problem their. I think that change/improvement that make things easier for our buyers is ok with me.
Sounds good to ProjectQ!
I would like to try it out, if I ever have a sale.
… sounds like it will be a wonderful step up. Thank you for all you do to make this a wonderful site!
Yah Whoooo!!Just what is needed
Thanks
Sounds great! Thank you for the heads up!
Sounds Great! People have been asking for it, and, once again, you’ve heard! Thanks a bunch!
To those who want more advertising: If people ask you where you are selling, how about giving them your BOOTH ID? Or, better yet, your BUSINESS CARD WITH YOUR BOOTH ID. I’ve just been thinking about this: Why do I tell people I sell on Bonanza.com, when I could tell them to Google Calicoseas Mercantile, and they would find ME? (and, of course, Bonanza, too).
The point is, if they ask you where you sell, they want to know where YOU sell. So give them your booth name, and they will come to your booth, right? right!
thumbs up great job bonanza team
hugs
Yaaaaaahhhhhhooooooo!!!!
You guys are the best! Thanks for all your hard work and deticarion to making it easier and easier, and thanks to all your hard work i have people from Ireland looking at little ol’ me!! Thanks for letting us know.
Great news on the new Check-Out!! I love all of it. I’m sure there will be some tweaking to do along the way, but that’s life with anything new.
Ummm … btw … the email to me about this had: “Hi Bonanzlers!”
Sounds great! Thank you all for making this happen!!!
Hey guys while your clicking away on things and changing the look hows about adding a few manufacturers to the train list and make finding some of our stuff a tad easier…thanks..no need to answer thins ive read ur previous messages to me and i think it should still be done..mostly adding Woodland Scenics to the list would be a big help there like #1 in accessories in my field
Figures Bonanza would get its CartRight
Thanks for all your hard work!
Sounds great! I’m hoping that the make an offer will have its own button now instead of having to put the item in the cart first. That is really confusing. I had a buyer miss out on an item because he was new and didn’t know how to do an offer and while I was explaining it to him, another buyer bought the item at full price.
woohoo Fantastic news!
@ Forverlookingup and PurpleIris:
There ya go!
I like that word…
@Perma…
You don’t miss a beat do ya!
GREAT NEWS Alex! Thanks for giving us a heads up!!!
See!!!!
Bonanza listens to their members in giving us notice before a change!
Bonanza ROCKS! No place on the net like Bonanza!
OH HAPPY DAY!
Hopefully, folks coming in from “out there” in cyberspace, and being somewhat accostumed to a real shopping cart will now be able to check out quick and easy.
[email protected] indeed
Can’t wait!
Great Job !!
As for sales taxes if you use PayPal you can set it up in PayPal so it can be added at check out automatically.
Sounds great on the new checkout/cart, and I love the status bar idea since it’s always reassuring to know exactly where you are in the entire checkout process.
I do have one question, Alex — and I don’t know if this is now moot with the changes — as to having Custom Invoicing in a BIN-only booth with a multiple-item order. That would be where the buyer would put his multiple items in the cart, the seller would send an invoice after adjusting the shipping on the invoice, then the buyer accepts and pays. This is if the seller cannot or chooses not to do the calculated shipping or shipping discount for additional items. Also, if a buyer purchases one item only, it will be a BIN sale. Immediate purchase and payment.
I haven’t brought this up in a long time, so I figured there’s no harm in asking again!!
Super work, Team Bonanza!!!!
“Third, and finally, we want to improve our ability to remarket to previous customers. By integrating PayPal’s Express Checkout we can complete the transaction on Bonanza.com and create proper user accounts for everyone who checks out. This means we can more effectively build a repeat customer base which we are excited about.”
THIS.
Thank you! I’m happy to get buyers, and I have a decent flow each month, but the one consistent thing I see is the “1” in their feedback… which is always just me. And months later, it still says “1”. I’ve only had one repeat buyer, and that was something I chatted up on eBay about Bonanza.
I would LOVE to see people view their Bonanza account the way they view their eBay account, and start coming here more often.
I hope this will not affect google payments, as I refuse to accept paypal when paypal changed their rules nov 2010. Change is good as long as thier is a choice
thanks
That is great news! :-)
Awesome news! I can’t wait to try it
Any word on adding Calculated International Shipping, and Sales Tax to the cart?
These improvements would definitely expand the sales market.
@ Alex:
How does this affect Google payments? as there have been problems with buyers checking out on Google ( which were not on Google’s end and was not caused by wrong API Bonanza set-up.
I don’t accept Paypal anywhere…only Google.
Is Paypal Express shopping cart for Google or any other payment methods?—
i.e.-after purchases are put in the new shopping cart and checkout system, can the buyer select Google Checkout as payment system?
Or, is Express just for Paypal payments?
Thanks very much for your reply…
How does the money order/Echeck hold work? If you have one listing but there are multiple available does this not apply or is the entire listing on hold even if there are duplicates available? I do have a few customers that prefer to use money orders on a regular basis.
Thank you! Looking forward to it! Keep up the good work!
Have always had a “premier” PP account so no action on my part there…..
The rest is simply the continuing upgrading and improvement of our website…………Thanks!!!!!!!
This sounds GREAT!!!
Not sure what the upgrades involve actually, but I made a purchase this morning, and it was flawless.
Lisa
Very Happy to Hear This News! Thanks So Very Kindly for Letting Us Know!
Dee
Excellent
Looking forward to the success and finale operation. We always welcome the improvements to keep the customers coming back and experiencing a safe and easy check out. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
@ Indizona – making the offer process more discoverable is on our list. It might not make the first version of the cart changes, but we are thinking about it!
@ paige9 – no real changes to Google Checkout. Well, the optional landing page if a buyer returns to Bonanza after GC checkout will look better, but that’s really about it.
@ RoseGardenBookshop – there really aren’t any changes to how Google Checkout works fundamentally. Buyers will still be able to choose Google Checkout as an option in the cart provided the seller has enabled that of course.
PayPal Express checkout, is just that, a PayPal checkout experience. We’re switching over to this version of PayPal checkout, but it’s not impacting Google Checkout. I hope that addresses your questions!
@ Zanderbooks – If you have your multiple item discount set properly then you should not need to adjust the invoice and it can go through as a BIN. However, if you want to personally adjust the shipping on multiple items then the process will remain the same as before.
Nothing really about the overall mechanics are changing here.
Looking forward to the change!
@ Alex…thanks very much for the information. That’s good news about Google Checkout.
Sounds good, Alex – thanks for the heads up.
One Q about money order payments – Right now, often the buyer doesn’t mark it as ‘paid with m/o’, or whatever that option is. So the order sits there as ‘awaiting checkout’ until I get the payment and mark it paid. Will there be a way to avoid that item being re-sold?
Also, a recent change has been made, whereby I am no longer getting the ability to mark as paid, an order without a ‘mark as paid’ button. I guess those are the ones where buyer has marked as paid, which is no help if they never do. I used to be able to go into the actual offer, mark it paid myself. Then, the paid date would show on the offer/order, and I would now have a Mark as Shipped button. Now that I cannot actually SHOW it as payment rec’d, I also cannot show it as shipped, because I don’t get the option.
U.S. Postal Money orders are fine for me
@BookbinEtc – the plan is to convert items purchased via Money Order from a ‘buy it now’ transaction to an invoiced order. That way you can continue to list the item until you are paid, but not sell it ‘twice’ without due consideration. Since invoiced orders require your approval this should work.
As for your second item I’ll ask support to look into it and get back to you.
sounds great thanks!
Yes, looking forward to this change. It will be great.
great job
I like the idea about the Money Order invoice. I have some products in limbo at the moment, so it will be great to see
those improvements too. Keep On!
Bonanza is a really top marketplace for everyone
Great to hear about the changes. Would there be a way to preview the invoice as the buyer sees it???
It is kind of like flying blind here
Haha… loved Perma’s joke. Bonanza finally gets its CartRight. Good job guys…Peeps will be amazed when they see it. Knocked me off of my horse.
I’ve never had a problem with checkout here, but, hey, I don’t mind updates. Bring ’em on.
Awesome, sounds great!
Thanks!
Looking forward to it
Way to Go! Looking forward to fewer abandoned sales.
hope there is a big announcement, especially for all those that don’t read forums or blogs, to let them know about the PP account change.
Looking forward to it!
Still More Innovations. Terrific. Looking Forward to It.
Just bought some items from other Bonanzlers (yes we are still Bonanzlers!!!) and the new check out is AWESOME!!! the eamils are better smaller and simpler to read and use on the iPhone!!!! Thank you for all your hard work!!!
I love it here more everyday!
~Mariah
@CoinsYouWant and others – some of the emails have gone out already as you’ve noted. We changed these to streamline communication, set expectations effectively, and make next steps clearer.
The actual cart redesign has not been deployed yet. I should have a date for you tomorrow.
Yeah! Thanks for the update! I especially like the compromise for money orders/echeck. Very nice!
Great news, make it easier to check out, should increase sales.
What happens if a paypal account is noT switched???
@Sensualpleasures – you’ll get an email from PayPal asking you to make the change.
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