Bonanza now featuring...sales!
Since we launched Bonanza nearly four years ago, it has always been our top priority to drive sales. Along the way, we've received a lot of accolades for building the best user interface (AuctionBytes 2012), being the best marketplace for Collectibles/Antiques (About.com), or even being the best eBay alternative period (Ecommerce Guide), but at the end of the day we see our tools as a means to an end. It's great to be the most feature-rich, easy-to-use marketplace, and it's great to have the best support team we could hope for...but that stuff is really just the backdrop for our main purpose: helping stores make sales.
With that in mind, we are soon launching our biggest paradigm-shifting feature ever to drive more sales to our sellers' booths.
In the next couple days, we will be releasing an advertising platform that lets our sellers publish their Bonanza merchandise to Google Shopping (prominently featured, see screenshot) or eBay. In the coming months, we plan to add Bing Shopping and at least one other shopping platform.
The way the new platform will work is that you choose the maximum level of commission you can afford for your product, and we get you as many buyers as possible for that price. If your margins are small and you can only afford 3.5%, you will continue to receive the same level of exposure within the Bonanza.com marketplace, as well as Google and Bing organic search. If your margins allow you to bid higher, then we can take that extra commission and put it to work, automatically placing your item in front of as many buyers as possible.
For example, say that Barb has an antique frame that she bought for $100 and would like to sell for $150. In this case, Barb has a 33% margin to work with. Let's say that Barb uses our new publishing platform to set her maximum commission at "13%" to try to get her frame sold as quickly as possible (13% commission is on the high end). At that level, Bonanza can post Barb's item to eBay and get it prominently displayed in Google Shopping results (depending on the level of competition, and the quality of Barb's item). If Barb's frame sells quickly through Bonanza, her final value fee might end up still being 3.5% -- we charge her as little as possible, based on how much it cost us to sell the item. If it sells through eBay, her final value fee will be more like 10% (eBay's approximate FVF for an antique fixed price listing).
Our "big hairy audacious goal" for our item publishing platform is to help our sellers achieve the highest sellthrough rate of any marketplace or channel platform. And we want to do it at the lowest price amongst competitors.
By building a simple, tightly woven integration that works to acquire buyer traffic from all major sources, Bonanza empowers its sellers to decide the right mix of "low cost" and "high traffic" for their particular store. And over time, as ever more buyers discover the delight which is Bonanza and visit it directly, we can continue to lower the costs of advertising for all our merchants.
A mockup of the new advertising interface: Bonanza simplicity means that you're two clicks away from having your items advertised
Mini Q&A
(full FAQ on our integration lives here)
I don't want to publish my items outside of Bonanza. What changes for me?
Nothin much. You can continue to sell your items at our standard 3.5%. However, given that Google Shopping and Bing Shopping are both moving to paid models for buyer referrals, the amount of traffic that you'll see arriving at your items will be limited to organic search engines and direct Bonanza traffic. This means that it can take awhile for you to find the right buyers, if you haven't built up your stable of repeat customers. Merchants with long tail inventory will be most likely to succeed in this scenario (since organic search loves that stuff).
How much do I need to pay to start advertising my items?
5% is the minimum level for us to be able to bid on Google Shopping traffic for you. However, we recommend bidding at least 9% since Google sends more traffic to those that can bid around that level. If you want to publish your inventory to eBay, that requires a minimum of 13% (which you pay directly to them, for their fees).
What do you mean that "I choose a maximum commission"?
Bonanza's advertising is setup like an easier version of Google Adwords. As in Adwords, you tell us the maximum bid you'll make and we charge less if we can. In our case, you tell us you are willing to pay when an item sells, and we will use that to figure out how much advertising we can buy for you. For sellers that have high sell-through rates, or sellers whose merchandise is in high demand, or sellers who have a lot of direct traffic from repeat customers, we can often manage to find buyers for them without spending the full commission they specify. In those cases, we pass our savings on to the seller. Our target is to have your actual commission average something in the neighborhood of 50-75% of your maximum commission.
How is it that Bonanza can be paying to buy me Google Shopping clicks before I've paid Bonanza?
This is indeed the major difference between Bonanza and every other advertising platform that we know of. We have built systems that understand the selling potential of a given item, so we can have our software automatically adjust the cost per click such that the risk is sufficiently low for Bonanza. That said, there will be many times where we pay for clicks to your items, your items don't sell, and we lose money. We accept that as a cost of doing business to help us reach our "big hairy audacious goal" (see above).
Those potential losses are justified to us, because we don't think that you want to learn how to calculate the optimal CPC cost for your items, so we're doing away with the complicated stuff and focusing on what matters to you -- what percentage of your profits are going to be spent on getting this item sold?
Wait, you allow publishing items to eBay? Aren't they the enemy?
We understand that many of our sellers have had bad eBay experiences at some point, and there are certainly aspects of the eBay selling experience that leave something to be desired. But at the end of the day, eBay can often be the fastest way to get an item sold, if you can afford the fees. For the sellers who are interested in making the most sales possible, publishing their items to eBay while using Bonanza's award-winning UI (all while getting paid advertising handled for them in Google Shopping by Bonanza) is a solution that will probably make a lot of sense.
How much do you recommend I set my max commission to?
Until you have uploaded good pictures, filled out all possible traits, and figured out a good title with rich keywords -- we recommend you spend nothing in advertising. Since each paid click increases your fee, you want to make sure that your items are maximally optimized to sell fast.
After you have created a detailed item with great pictures, the fastest way to get it sold is to bid 13% and publish to both Google Shopping and eBay. This puts your item in three high-traffic buyer locations (Google Shopping, eBay, and Bonanza itself), which gives you the best possible shot at a quick sale. And it's entirely possible that you'll end up paying less than 13% anyway (since we discount the cost when possible).
Why do I have to pay for traffic when it used to be free?
Bing and Google used to offer services that sent free traffic to ecommerce websites. Many sites sprung from everywhere, with so many free buyers to be had, courtesy of Google. Over time, Google found that 1) not making any money off such a valuable product sucked for them and 2) controlling the quality of your merchandise when anybody can submit items for free is very difficult. Making the seller have "skin in the game" can dramatically improve inventory quality.
The offshoot of these developments is that Google Shopping plans to turn off all free traffic in the next month, and Bing Shopping has increasingly been suspending (in their words "pausing" ) all large merchant accounts, including Bonanzas, as they progress toward what appears to be an emulation of the Google strategy.
The good news is that, for reputable and determined merchants, there has never been a bigger opportunity to capture the new traffic that becomes available as many merchants and marketplaces are cleaned off the shopping engines. The other good news is that capturing this traffic is relatively cheap (usually between 2-10% of the purchase price goes to the shopping engine).
And the best news is that Bonanza will be the first marketplace to allow you to directly take advantage of these changes to find a new wellspring of available customers as the holiday season approaches. Expect to hear more from us upon launch, coming soon...
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320 responses to Bonanza now featuring...sales!
Well I am totally pumped and can’t wait!
Question: If we publish to ebay via bonanza will we be using our own ebay user id’s?
This is alot to take in and I’m a bit confused. If I already have an ebay store why would I want to pay Bonanza an extra 1.5% fee??
Yes, you would be publishing to your eBay account if you have one. You asked why you would want to pay Bonanza an extra 1.5% fee for this feature? Good question. Obviously if you are already listing on eBay then that would be hard to justify unless you have become used to Bonanza’s award winning tool set and user experience and find that you prefer using Bonanza as your first stop to list items. Sellers who do not actively use eBay will find that this is a great option and another channel for sales.
I would add to Mark’s response that the results you’ll get in Google Shopping from eBay tend to be hit-and-miss. With just one bid here, you’ll be able to capture a steady stream of traffic from Google Shopping (relative to what your products are…Bing too, soon), in addition to the traffic you’re getting from eBay. And if the item does sell on eBay first, then that 1.5% will probably end up being a lot less than was paid (by Bonanza) for the Google Shopping traffic we purchased on your behalf.
Also, the opportunity to have inventory automatically synchronized between the two can be a pretty big convenience factor.
And the stuff Mark said (UI, etc.)
I still do not understand how to sell an item in Bonanza through ebay when I do not sell on ebay. Do you have a ‘Dummies’ version?
Shar you are going to have to have an active account on eBay to do so. Think of the eBay option like you would the Craigslist option that we have on Bonanza. Pretty much the same goal, to help you sell your items quicker, just a different process to do so.
I have an ebay id but I haven’t used it to sell since I came here (3.5 years) and I only did a few auctions, not a store. How does the ebay portion of this work for someone like me?
And can you vary your participation from month to month?
As long as you have an eBay account, you can post your listings over there.
And yes, you can certainly vary your participation based on your results. We are actually hoping to be have the “data and results” be a centerpiece of the feature, so you can have the info you need to make good decisions about where/when to advertise.
How does an item go from Bonanza to ebay? And if it sells in ebay, do I pay ebay fees and Bonanza fees?
You can publish items to eBay either automatically (when you post them) or piecemeal, using an interface like the batch editor (where you can potentially post items in ad hoc groups, or individually).
If the item sells, you pay eBay fees plus 1.5% to Bonanza. However, when posting the item to eBay we can automatically adjust the price to compensate for that 1.5%. See also: the FAQ
Bill what about Google’s duplication rule? If the same item is listed on 2 different sites wouldn’t I be breaking a duplication rule? or is that no longer in play with Google shopping?
Great question. It’s true that Google won’t show two of the same listings, but given that most sellers employ a multi-channel strategy these days, Google has had to adapt to dupe items being a way of life. I believe they just show your item on whichever marketplace it ranks highest.
is maximum commission the same as final value fees?
Almost; maximum commission is the maximum final value fee that you might pay. In most cases, we hope for the actual final value fee to be less than the maximum commission.
So, if we don’t want to pay an increase in final fees/commission and we have a paid subscription, what is our option?
Admittedly, we haven’t gotten far enough yet to have really decide how much advertising we can acquire for our 3.5% customers. So my brief answer is: we don’t know yet, but we plan to do our best to fight for maximum exposure for everyone. Given that our subscribing members offer us a higher margin than our free users, it stands to reason that we ought to be able to incorporate some portion of that into advertising.
If I send items through Bonanza to eBay how does that help Bonanza? The buyers think they are on eBay.
Can you send a couple items or does it have to be your entire inventory?
It helps Bonanza to be on eBay because sellers know that they can get more traffic on Bonanza (and its advertising network) than anywhere else. We do this by combining the best of all buyer acquisition channels.
Yes, you can send just a couple items.
A lot of Food for thought here, This will take some serious study.
Where it says We Will Charge You Less Then Possible When Ever Possible (with thewords learn more next to it) It looks like you should be able to click — but it does not lead anywhere?
My thoughts….If I wanted to sell on Ebay I would not have left there like many others to come sell here : (
No need to sell on eBay. You can sell on Google Shopping, or you can continue just selling on Bonanza. We want you to be able to travel on whatever path suits you.
“Also, between you and us, we do reserve a limited budget dedicated to advertising on behalf of our more successful merchants (even if they don’t advertise for themselves). So if you have great merchandise and a high conversation rate, you may still see your items showing up on Google Shopping from time-to-time.”..so another words some sellers on Bonz have been getting advertising whereas others haven’t????
There will always be some sellers that get “more advertising” than others by virtue of the fact that Google is the ultimate arbiter in deciding what items get shown. We can bid $1.00 per click on an item and it is not guaranteed to get shown by Google if it doesn’t match their internal expectations.
For our part, we are doing everything we can to get exposure for our sellers, whether they raise their maximum commission or not. But it certainly makes it a lot easier to get them significant traffic if they are willing to participate.
If I read this correctly, we’re bidding extra to get into ebay, google shopping, and bing shopping.
I assume that the ebay area that we’d get into would be the fixed price area, but don’t you need an ebay store to do fixed price? I won’t do fixed price on ebay, but have already gone back to the auctions.
Can we choose to just go into google and bing shopping, or does it have to be all 3 (including ebay).
You can choose whichever combination you want to go with, based on your results trying each. We make it easy to experiment.
It is indeed fixed price listings.
so will bonz now be like highwire? from antiquesrgreat & sofyblu2
There are certainly some similarities, but not moreso than we’re similar to Addoway, Auctiva, or even Lexity. We have some overlap with our partners, but we each bring different types of value. Highwire is a great product that gets better every day, and Tomas (its creator) is an awesome person besides.
Wait…….. Doesn’t this contradict what was said a couple of weeks ago by bonz that they were going to pay the google shopping ‘pay to play’ fees.
We were doing the happy dance over that and so relieved.
So, are you now saying that we are the ones who will actually be paying?
For sellers who don’t want to participate, we will get them what traffic we can for the 3.5% they pay. That is, however, not very much traffic at the standard prices charged for advertising.
I’m with Sensual Pleasures. I left eB and have no intention of going back. I don’t want to deal with them and their ridiculous seller policies – traffic or not.
If there was a way to sell through eB without having my own account at stake, I’d consider it – like BayRu type of thing.
I like the option to go to Google (and Bing, etc.) only.
I applaud your efforts to increase traffic and sales, but I do fail to see how listing our items on eB helps grow Bonanza. Doesn’t it just send the buyers to eB, that we are trying to seduce FROM the dark side?
Thank you for being supportive, we really appreciate it!
In a sense it does send buyers to eBay (though most likely those buyers started at eBay), but that’s a short-term drawback. Looking at the long view, this should make Bonanza a viable choice for many more sellers. That increased inventory will eventually fuel high brand recognition amongst buyers.
I see potential in this idea, however, I too have questions. Since we already sell on eBay, I think it would be difficult to keep track of our quantity counts when the majority of our listing are not for just one item.
Also, in reference to: “have uploaded good pictures, filled out all possible traits, and figured out a good title with rich keywords”. I think our photos are pretty good, and so are title keywords in most cases.
Will you offer us a list of all items, so that we will be able to add traits without going to batch edit and entering traits with brackets? And since our items are priced lower due to lower selling fees, also the price field so we can raise our price if needed to reflect the extra costs?
Would really be nice if you would get something added to the data entry page so, so traits can be done there as we initially list each new item. Something similar to what eBay is giving us.
Hmm, usually you can add traits on the new item form. You should email support and help them work through that with you, it certainly sounds like it should be easier than you describe.
So, if my understanding is correct, you will be “trading assistants” for anyone on bonanza that wants to sell on ebay? Like the stores that put up signs that they will sell your stuff on ebay? But the rest of the community still has to try to get sales with whatever method which we have been using? Just wondering.
I’m not sure that a question is being asked here? Seems more like an attempt to attach a certain connotation to the advertising idea?
We’re adding tools that help sellers get more exposure to buyers in more places. If that’s like the thing you’re describing, then yes, we’re like them.
Mark and Bill.
Please tell me if I’m understanding correctly…
I now sell on Ebay 50 free listing fees auctions a month with 9% Final Value Fee…which actually is higher because Ebay charges the same fee for the shipping portion.
I, also, have sold Fixed price with my Ebay Store at 7% Final Value Fee for other than Media, which is 11%., plus the same fee on shipping portion.
Am I correct that the bonus for my listing on Bonanza at say 13% is that you will submit all my listings to Google Shopping, in addition to Ebay ??(plus Bing ).
If a buyer buys my item on Ebay, I pay fees to Ebay.
If a buyer comes through Google and purchases my item on Bonanza, I would pay you 13% , if that’s the percentage I chose???
So, for signing up for 13% at Bonanza…which is used to bid on/purchase advertising on Google…I have the advantage that my item is seen on Google Shopping, Bing, Bonanza and Ebay???
Am I understanding this correctly?
Would there still be NO LISTING FEES on Bonanza?
Thank you for your reply…
Hey BotanicaBookshop,
That’s a great question! When you sell a Bonanza item on eBay, you will owe them whatever you owe them now, plus you will owe us 1.5% (which you can automatically include in your eBay price if you like).
If the item sells on Bonanza first, then the price could potentially be as high as 13%, but in actuality it would probably tend to average around half of that if buyers like your stuff.
Yup, still no listing fees here.
Is the 1.5% in addition to the 9% standard maximum commission? or is it included?
The 1.5% is only for eBay sales, which should be less than 13% even when combined with eBays FVFs (unless you happen to be one of the unlucky sellers in their 13% fvf category. but even then you can automatically adjust your eBay price from the Bonz price to cover the difference and keep your commission at 13% max)
Confusion reigns supreme here – Can I set a different rate for each item or is it across the whole store? Reason I ask is that my margin varies wildly from item to item. Do store subscribers get any bone thrown to them or is this an on top of expense?
Does the extra fee only get charged if the buyer comes directly to our store or, if a buyer goes from Google to store a, then b, then c, making a purchase at each (wishful thinking, I know), does each store get dinged with their full commission, store A only gets dinged or is the cost split evenly between the 3 stores?
Thanks! Betsy
We may well incorporate different rates in the future, but for version 1, it will be one rate across the store.
If you have store subscribers, you’ll likely pay 3.5% for their purchases because we don’t have to spend extra cash to get them in the “virtual door” to your store.
At this point, the programming isn’t smart enough to know if a single buyer went to multiple stores. But given that each click costs only cents, it shouldn’t be too terrible a thing…
One other question:
How will Google shopping identify the shop for an item when it could be submitted by both Bonanza and Ebay?
Example, I had a folkart piece which appeared in Google Shopping from Ebay. I did nothing …it was part of Ebay’s submission.
If this same piece were submitted to Google shopping by Bonanza, would it also appear?? Or, would one of them be negated by a Google Bot?
Great question. The official answer is “it’s up to Google, and they have never made officially said how they handle that.” Anecdotally, from having used Google Shopping quite a bit lately, I believe they pick whichever item has the most meta data (brand, mpn, etc) and the lowest price. Usually this tends to be Bonanza items.
C0NGRATULATiON$ …The " hOLiDAyS" came early!
It is my evening objective to conscientiously respond to every comment possible, so I concur: w00t w00t! It’s gonna be gReAt!
wow, lots of info to process, and a lot of questions as well.
1. If a store owner disables advertising, will Bonanza continue to feed to Google for that owner?
2. I assume all items in a store must be included at once bid price, which makes sense. However, if someone from Bonanza purchases our items, rather than an outside source, will we still be charged the ‘agreed upon’ commission or the 3.5% commission?
3. You mentioned ‘click through’ which would mean each time someone clicks on an item of ours, and does not purchase we are charged more commission.( up to the amount we agree to pay ) So if someone comes into our store to tweet or for the the purpose of a "Bonanza game’ will this affect what we are charged ultimately?
4. If we agree to a higher commission, will Bonanza guarantee google shopping placement on all of our items?
Woah. Multi-parter!
1. Yes, we will continue to feed it to Google organic search, which has actually always generated more traffic than Google Shopping. We will also feed it to Google Shopping, but it will show up less often with their new “pay-to-play” model.
2. The price is determined in an aggregate basis, so having direct sales will indeed save money across all your items.
3. No, we know the difference between clicks we pay for and clicks we don’t. We’ve made sure that this program won’t affect our gaming community in any negative way. We like the games.
4. No, we can’t ever guarantee Google placement — that is up to Google. What we can guarantee is that you’ll put yourself in the best possible position to get placement. And we will continue building features to help give you feedback about how to build the most successful listings possible.
I can’t wait to try this.
Me neither. Bonanza’s own booth (fashion exchange) is going to be one of the first in line to give these new features a spin
Somebody really needs to explain this to me again. I am sooooooooo confused.
I spent about four hours today writing all those FAQs (the linked and embedded ones). I hope somebody reads them
So will eBay have the same items twice (prohibited as of now) or will the search position be higher for the same item? I would just like to have more sale here than there at lower fees!
We’d like you to have more sales here, too!
If you have an item on Bonanza that’s also posted on eBay, we won’t re-post that item to eBay (as long as it has the same title, so we know its a dupe).
Question: E-bay announced in their fall newsletter this year, that several items will be prohibited for sale on E-bay effective Sept 10th including: Advice, Psychic Readings, Reiki Healings, attunements, Spells, Potions, Blessings, Prayers, and magical items or services relating to the occult. So I came here to sell. As I offer psychic readings and reiki healings. Would I still be able to list my bonanza items on E-bay if they prohibit those items from being listed on E-bay in auction or fixed format? E-bay will soon only allow classified ads in the occult categories, $10 bucks a pop!
If eBay prohibits it, far be it us to affect that.
Bonanza is still a great place for blessings, prayers, magical items and potions though. And spells too.
I am excited about any advertising and will gladly pay but I am also very confused about eBay. Why would I pay double fees to eBay and Bonanza to sell one item? If you mean that eBay will allow us to advertise on other’s pages but we still sell on Bonanza that would be fabulous. I think we need more info!
You almost got it right. You pay eBay’s fees, plus a 1.5% fee to Bonanza when a Bonz item sells on eBay. If you like, you can choose to incorporate this 1.5% fee into your eBay listing price, so its essentially “invisible” and you’re just paying the standard eBay fees.
I am excited to try this. But so many questions?? I am wondering how this will effect my Top Rated Seller status on ebay. If I sell something on ebay through Bonanza how will the FB system work?
Your Top Rated Seller status should benefit if you’re selling more items with more great feedback.
If you sell something on eBay through Bonanza, the feedback would happen only on eBay. But again, that would be a benefit to your status on that side.
Two more questions, Bill. (Thanks for answering the previous 2).
I’m in and happy to pay maximum 13% to Bonanza for all your work to be on Google Shopping. I have a multitude of antiquarian books to list.
Regarding Ebay and Google: Do I have to list different items on Bonanza for Google than I would list on Ebay??? i.e. Does the NO DUPLICATE rule still apply on Google even though it’s
now paid.
And, can Bonz listings go to an Ebay Store?
Thanks so much…
Yep, as far as we can tell, your items will just filter into your account. And if I’m wrong about that, then I’m sure we’ll do whatever it takes to make it work right.
If a bonz seller shoots their items over to ebay and one of their items is purchased off ebay, is there anything that tells the buyer that the item was a bonanza item, or will they forever think that got that great item strictly on ebay?
Why of course you had better believe there’s something that will tell them its a Bonanza item.
Sad. Thirty-some comments and nobody spotting the part in the FAQ that mentions a certain event happening in September 2012 (edited from 2013 – whooops). Did I mention it took me five hours to write all those Q&As? And it will be six hours next time I tell this story if I don’t start hearing some insightful bits gleaned from reading the FAQ.
cant wait to try it as the holiday season approaches
Bill, nobody is mentioning it because September 2013 is over a year away.
Bill, Did you mean in your FAQ where you mentioned that Google will start factoring a Seller’s Reputation on Bonanza ( Feedback) in searche in Sept 2012??
It’s 2:30 in the mornng here on East Coast and bleary eyes can’t find a Sept 2013 mention???
Is it total Bonanza Feedback, including Ebay feedback brought over?
Bingo
It is only feedback received from buyers on Bonanza — no imported feedback.
i’ve re-read the pages so many times and i don’t see anything abt 2013!
I didn’t see anything about 2013 either.
Hi If we elect to use the eBay option will we have to accept PayPal? Or can we still use google checkout?
eBay will only accept Paypal or BillMeLater, last I checked.
In Sept., will Google factor in for search a Bonz sellers Total feedback, including Ebay?…or just actual Bonz feedback?
Whoops, just answered this on your last question above. My answer has not changed.
Hi Bill,
I have some questions, and they aren’t about eBay! Forgive me for my ignorance. I actually haven’t been keeping up, so this whole “Google Shopping Pay to Play” thing is news to me.
1.) Just to clarify (and I may be wrong on this) but right now we’re submitted to Google Shopping and Google organic search, correct? And Google’s now going to charge to get top exposure on Shopping?
So if we don’t participate in the advertising program, we still show up in organic search and MIGHT show up in Shopping based on your best efforts, but the chances diminish. Am I understanding that correctly?
2.) If we don’t participate in the advertising program, do you have an idea of potentially how much of a difference the traffic we get will be compared to what we get now? I mean, is there any way to know what kind of a drop we could see?
3.) Okay, I lied. I have an eBay question. This might be obvious, so feel free to scold me if it is. If we DO participate, our items get listed on both Bonanza and eBay, yes? So if we sell the item on eBay, it’s automatically removed from our Bonanza inventory (so we don’t have to do it ourselves)?
While I’m not crazy about paying an extra fee on top of eBay’s ridiculous prices, this would make life a lot easier for those few times I want to cross post at both sites but fear selling the same item to two different people (because of this, the rare times I still sell on eBay I put the item on Reserve in Bonz first).
Anyway, like everyone, I’m still trying to absorb all of this. If the drop in traffic for not participating is going to be significant, then I say boo to Google for charging. But if it won’t be a huge factor, then I’m all for a new advertising model that gets us more exposure.
Wow, I’m long winded. Anyway, basically my main concern is that if we don’t participate in the advertising program, for those of us who don’t do much advertising on our own and get the majority of buyers through Google, can we expect a significant drop in views and sales? I do pretty decent right now each month on a part time basis, but without Google I imagine sales would plummet for me.
Hehehe, there are a lot of good questions to be asked!
If you don’t participate in the advertising you may see your sales drop somewhat, but Google Shopping has already been phasing in their change over the last few months, and at this point, all of the traffic we’re getting from them is paid (out of our general advertising fund), so that should remain pretty stable. Bing too already has phased in most of their change, so at this juncture traffic is pretty stable and should only be headed up.
Advertising or publishing to eBay is for merchants that want to sell more stuff faster. Depending on the type of merchandise you’re selling, it can be great to get exposure through as many different channels as possible.
And yes, if you posted your items to eBay and they sold there, they would automatically be removed from here.
Wow, this is alot to absorb.
I don’t sell on eBay, and will not go back there. I am strictly a Bonz Girl. I am concerned about these additional fee’s, especially when you consider if a booth is also paying for a membership here. It would have been great if Platinum level memberships had this feature incorporated so that the seller had no more to ponder about how to handle all this. I am concerned that this will make it more difficult to track expenses for tax purposes. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem contributing for “advertising” but assumed this would be done through membership. It is rare for any sales to come in for me through Google Shopping, but for one category, it is where I am most prominent.
The whole eBay connection is really throwing me off. How are sellers listings showing up there, are they as paid ads that eBay is now interjecting into sellers listings? I read about this on Ecommercebytes.
Don’t get me wrong, I applaud your efforts to find a work around for this, but would have rather seen an all inclusive fee so that we know exactly what we are being charged for it, especially for those of us who refuse to have any association with eBay. As it is now, I would be paying 13% on top of a platinum membership fee (Which I will have from October through at least January for the holidays). Forgive me if I’m rambling, but I thought a cup of coffee would help me overcome the confusion I was feeling last night about all this…It hasn’t.
And I have a few questions I didn’t see answered in the FAQ’s…
If we leave eBay out of it, and have a free account (no membership) and go with the 9% commission, and the item sells, would we then be charged 3.5% AND 9% (total 11.5%) or just 9%?
This part worries me:
How much do you recommend I set my max commission to?
Until you have uploaded good pictures, filled out all possible traits, and figured out a good title with rich keywords — we recommend you spend nothing in advertising. Since each paid click increases your fee, you want to make sure that your items are maximally optimized to sell fast.
Does this mean that if my item gets clicked on 6 times before it sells, that I would have to pay the 9% commission x 6 for that one item?
Sorry for all the questions Bill, but this process is a little complicated and there are many of us who want to make sure we’ve got it right. Thanks again~
The max commission is the maximum final value fee you will pay, so if you chose 9%, you would not pay more than 9%. Our 3.5% is already baked into that, so to speak. By the same token, if your item got clicked 6 times, the most you would pay is 9% if that’s your max commission. This is Bonanza, so we are trying to keep it as simple as we can!
Bill and Mark: Several questions here.
Since September 29, 2011, I have been operating a database known as the “Ponderosa Posse” on a free basis for those who were able to commit to the work involved on their part (simple with automatic tweeting systems). Because of this system, today 9,164 tweets will automatically go into Twitter, consisting of a rolling list of every paricipants entire booth. Many are connected also to other advertising venues that take the tweets and advertise again automatically.
My concern, and I’m speaking for the particpants, is the connection between Google and Twitter. My understanding is that these are, at the moment, two separate search arenas and their argument has lessened the show of our listings being tweeted ….. into Google. This question arises because if every one of those “views” is costing my participants (because of the “pay per click” issue that Google is threatening) ….. and buyers are for some reason more comfortable buying from eBay, isn’t Twitter a more safe ground? Does the “pay per click” also apply to Tweets?
Our views are “sky high” and sales seem to have held steady for each through the Summer (mine has actually grown), which is normally a slow season. Some of these participants are reaching the 40,000/50,000 views area (per week). If that is the case, Google and its “pay per click” ideas would drain them. Sales are being made, but Google and the thought of selling/advertising through the Bay again at these percentages are something they would each need to think about.
Congratulations, that sounds like an awesome approach if it’s generating that many views for you!
As far as I know, Google’s integration with Twitter is strictly on the “Google organic” side, which has been free and is going to remain free. So while I am not intimately familiar with the Ponderosa Posse, it certainly sounds like it should remain as free as it has been for you.
Beginning to understand some of this. Am I right in thinking that if we choose Ebay we would not pay listing fees to Ebay. If item sells on Ebay we would pay their fees on total amount of item and shipping and 1.5% to you but no listing fees for Ebay. This way we get to list buy it now on Ebay for free.
If listing on eBay is free for you now, then it would still be free when posting via Bonanza. The eBay postings happen on your existing eBay account, so the same terms that apply to posting directly will apply to posting via Bonanza.
FROM BLOG:How is it that Bonanza can be paying to buy me Google Shopping clicks before I’ve paid Bonanza?
This is indeed the major difference between Bonanza and every other advertising platform that we know of. We have built systems that understand the selling potential of a given item, so we can have our software automatically adjust the cost per click such that the risk is sufficiently low for Bonanza. That said, there will be many times where we pay for clicks to your items, your items don’t sell, and we lose money. We accept that as a cost of doing business to help us reach our “big hairy audacious goal” (see above).
Those potential losses are justified to us, because we don’t think that you want to learn how to calculate the optimal CPC cost for your items, so we’re doing away with the complicated stuff and focusing on what matters to you — what percentage of your profits are going to be spent on getting this item sold?
Click Questions: Plz answer Mom’s Questions above. they are put so well.
If we get lots of clicks from Twitter; does that make us charged at the max. or is it just for the sale click. Do not confuse this with click games?
Clicks from Twitter, from email, from Bonanza, from Google or Bing organic….really, clicks from anywhere OTHER than paid Google Shopping will be just as free as ever. If those sources drive all your traffic, then you’ll keep paying 3.5%, and it’s a sunny, beautiful world.
You mention the fees paid on an item at the site, but did not figure in what a seller pays in fees for getting paid! For instance when I sold an item for $1.99 on ebay, the fees between the ebay fee on the item, on shipping and the paypal fee left me with $.79. Yippee for the high ticket sellers who get their items for a pittance, who will make money.
Well, this is quite a lot to absorb first thing this morning! More coffee needed!!
Can we get a mock up of what an item listed through Bonanza to eBay would look like? Bill said “Why of course you had better believe there’s something that will tell them its a Bonanza item.” How would that be accomplished since the items will be listed under the seller’s existing eBay id? And is there some thought as to how this would help bring buyers to our Bonanza booths?
Some pretty deep thoughts going on in this discussion. I’m just trying to make sense of it all and figure out how to make it work for me.
Thanks.
The eBay listing will be identical in appearance to the Bonanza item, except that at the bottom of the listing it will state that the item was originally posted through Bonanza (with a link to Bonanza). It’s pretty similar to the way that Inkfrog and Auctiva add their footer to the bottom of eBay listings.
I’ve never sold on Ebay, although I have an account for buying.
I’m not seeing the sense of this at all. Would there be any additional protections for items being channeled via Bonanza?
If not, where’s the benefits to me?
It gets brought up often enough that Ebay has free listing quotas, why would I want to pay commissions out to 2 venues?
For some sellers, it won’t make sense. The sellers that will use this new functionality are those that have a lot of merchandise that they want to get sold as quickly as possible. Many of our sellers already sell on many channels (=many marketplaces) so they can get max exposure to their listings. We are trying to make it easy to be a multi-channel seller, but we recognize that different sellers have different goals, which is why we’re making all this totally optional.
What are you talking about when you say: We Will Charge You Less When Possible?
If I bid 9% to be in Google Shopping what are you paying for on my behalf? When will the FVF be 9% and when will it be less?
It will be less when we spend less to get you a sale.
The amount it costs us to make the sale for you depends on how many buyers have to see your item before one decides to buy it, and how favorably your item stacks up to similar items offered by other sellers.
“I don’t sell on eBay, and will not go back there. I am strictly a Bonz Girl” as momspennies stated, I have no idea how to process all this, my questions are similar to hers tell me why I should keep paying membership and I have no clue what my options are concerning this if I dont sell on ebay, I dont want to sell on ebay, my head is spinning, please tell me what to do!
We love how many sellers have been able to run their business strictly on Bonanza, selling thousands of items, and I hope that many sellers are able to continue selling only on Bonanza.
My advice is to keep doing exactly what you have been doing.
When you have a chance, you can always experiment with Google Shopping, but there is still plenty of traffic to be had as a strictly Bonz seller.
My question is I do have a store on Ebay selling different items from here which is good. Ebay shipping is set up for calculated to anywhere in the world. How will shipping that is flat rate on Bonz translate on one showing up on Ebay?
We are going to try to export the items with the absolute minimum change possible. If it’s flat rate on Bonanza, then it will be flat rate on eBay. That said, if the item is already posted on eBay, then we won’t double-post your item there.
these are my last 60 days of items sold and where the customer came from I dont know how to process “what I need to bid on” I do not understand the term BID, how will we know what type of click buying we need or advertising when I need to have a college degree to read Bills post about all this, I have read this 4 times and still do not understand it
Source Sales Count
Direct visit 60
bing.com 4
my.yahoo.com 1
swagbucks.com 1
google.com (organic) 20
google.com 8
google.com (products) 4
bonanza.com 6
search.aol.com 1
Email 3
Lots of info to digest. Questions…
1. Practically speaking how does a Bonanza listing become an eBay listing, i.e. who converts it to an eBay listing or what’s the actual conversion process? I’m assuming that Bonanza does not take each listing that wants to be sold on eBay and convert it manually, but the potential for errors if done automatically seems high to me. Seems one would have to scrutinize the “cross-over” listings closely in that case.
2. Do you know the percentage of shoppers who use Google Product Search versus Google organic?
3. If this is like Google adwords, how are the keywords for each listing going to be determined?
Thank you!
1. We use eBay’s API to transform the Bonanza listing into an eBay listing. It should be transparent to you. If for some reason we can’t translate the item (i.e., because eBay doesn’t have a category that we do), then we’ll bring that to your attention via our UI.
2. More use Google organic than Google Shopping, but the GS customers convert at a higher rate since they are already proven to be in a shopping mood. In the past, our Google organic traffic has accounted for around 75% of our Google sales, but I think that with so many marketplaces falling out of Google Shopping, this is a perfect opportunity for us to drive a new fountain of sales from GS.
3. Google automatically determines the keywords for its Google Shopping products, based on the title and description of your listing.
Good questions!
I assume that if we want the ebay part we will need to have the seller account set up over there?
just thought of another ?
if we choose to have our items sent to ebay via bonanza whos listing rules apply, bonanza or ebay?
another ?, if I have “free shipping” here on bonanza and I send my items to ebay can I have shipping implemented on the items that sell there?
Yep, you’ll need a seller account over there. Whatever options you have on Bonanza will get transferred to your eBay listing(s).
This is so much to understand, I will not go back to E-Bay, under any circumstance, It was so nice to be here on Bonanza and be able to have have lower prices than any one else, now this means we will have to raise our prices to even break even much less any tiny drop of profit. I have been so proud to have been able to sell at a much lower price and have return friends come back and buy again and again. To raise the prices to pay for all this is overwhelming, I have no objection to paying for advertisements but I do not want to raise any prices. I guess I am just so lost in all this, I feel like a first grader trying to understand it all. Do you have a simplefied or Dummy version of all this? Could you possibly pretend for a few minutes that we are all first graders and explain? This is so much to absorb
Heheh. I think the simplest way to understand this is that Google Shopping wants to get paid for sending thousands of buyers to our listings. It’s up to you whether you want to participate in Google Shopping or not. If not, no biggie! Your life will continue more-or-less as it does today, with free Bonanza traffic still coming in from many, many sources.
Forgive me if this is a stupid question … if an item goes to ebay, do I pay a listing fee if it does not sell? And if it does sell, do I pay a listing fee AND final value fee?
I believe that most eBay sellers these days get 50 free items per month without listing fees. After that it’s 0.50 per listing. Listing fees are charged regardless of whether your item sells. Final value fees are paid only if your item sells.
I honestly dont know how this drives sales to Bonanza. I cannot put outside sources or other selling venues on my Ebay listing. Some sellers already sell on Ebay, but they only put a limited amount up to keep from paying listing fees. So I have no clue how this would benefit them more.
Listing fees for Ebay is a big question. Do we have to pay .50 cents for each of out items that get transferred to Ebay even it they do not sell? Paying listing fees for unsold items would make this not very profitable.
You can choose to only publish select items to eBay, if listing fees are a concern for you. I believe most eBay sellers get a quota of 50 free items per month w/ no listing fees.
I’ve tried to read all and not just scan so if I missed this I apologize- if we already pay for an upgrade level on Bonanza what are we paying for with that money? It seems like we will be getting less exposure than before unless we take on an advertising fee which is not an option for us. Merry Xmas indeed :-(
One of the main reasons I left ebay was the stress over the DSR and the threat of unwarranted negative feedback from unscrupulous buyers looking for ‘free’ items if you don’t refund for whatever reason they could dream up. So if we were to send items to ebay…. would that still be a potential risk? or would the feedback be left here where Bonanza watches out for it’s sellers and takes into account both sides of the story?
Unfortunately, for the items listed on eBay, you would be subject to their feedback system. But that feedback will remain separate from the Bonanza feedback you’ve worked hard to earn here.
Okay let me see if I got this right
I have to pay ebay a .50 cent listing fee plus the 9% FVF if it sells on ebay correct? Would still have to pay the .50 listing fee even if the item doesn’t sell.
Then I have to pay Bonanza 1.5% for sending that item to ebay for me correct? But I can include the 1.5% on the ebay item to cover that bonanza fee resulting in a higher FVF on ebay correct?
Then I also have to pay bonanza 5% or higher for placement on Google shopping which isn’t guaranteed correct?
If I’m a paid Bonanza member Bonanza will see how much traffic they can afford to throw my way which would be more than the 3.5% if I choose to do nothing but less than the 5% if I choose to do something correct?
So what is the point of being a paid member? I would expect paid memberships to get the at least 5-9% in advertising because as it stands being a paid member isn’t worth it anymore. Your not guaranteed anything above the 3.5% that you will already get if you do nothing.
We will do what we can to get free advertising for our subscribing members, but the amount that we can purchase for $10 will be more limited than the amount we can get for those that are able to set a maximum commission. Furthermore, the perks of a subscribing membership like Google Analytics and detailed sales stats can be extremely helpful in optimizing your listings to make sure you’re getting the most from your Google Shopping traffic.
Not to mention that paid members will still continue to have their items showcased throughout Bonanza for the ever-increasing number of buyers that visit Bonz directly.
Ok…i have a new account on ebay and there are limits on how many items I can list there as a new seller. 10 per month. If I am selling via Bonanza through ebay, is that restriction still in effect?
Also paypal holds my payments when I sell on ebay but not on Bonanza. Will I be held to paypal’s ebay restrictions?
You list through your eBay account, so whatever restrictions that has on it will continue to apply even if you are posting from Bonanza through eBay.
My understanding is that Bonanza has created an Ebay export tool, similar to the Craigslist export tool. Once the item is exported to Ebay all the Ebay rules, fees, pay outs, and feed back system would apply in addition to Bonanza fees. And of course a seller must have an Ebay account to use the export tool. Is this correct?
and this from Bill…..
“Why of course you had better believe there’s something that will tell them its a Bonanza item”
What will “that” be? Will the item page mention ’available on Bonanza, with a link back or will it say ’exported from Bonanza" . I think this is something a seller needs to know prior to using the export tool and pricing the item.
There is a blurb at the bottom of the listing that currently is slated to say:
This item is posted and managed courtesy of Bonanza.com
We’ll probably spice it up a bit more upon launch.
Anyone considering using eBay also needs to check their fee schedule. Listing fees, Final Value Fees and some items like books cost more in fees. Then calculate Paypal fees as that is ALL eBay will allow and then add 1 .5% fee to Bonanza. Oh, and I forgot to mention that you need to offer Free Shipping on eBay or your item will be buried back on the 10th page and maybe never seen. You see they have something called best match. It is better for the buyer if he gets FREE shipping. They also show what other people are selling the same item for and who is the least expensive. I could go on as I have sold on the dark side since 2001. I assure you there are many rules to comply with. Also new sellers have their money held by Paypal for 20 or 30 days. You need to check as I have not been a new seller for some time. I am a top rated seller on eBay and in very good standing with them with 100% compliance.
Bill, thank you for staying up so late and answering all the questions last night.
I did read your additional FAQ last night, and noticed a type. I tried to report it via the suggestions at the bottom of FAQ, but got an error saying page didn’t exist, so I’ll add it here. Go ahead and delete this post after, if you want.
section – What happens if I don’t advertise?
high conversation rate – s/b conVERsion rate
LOLz. Thanks!
I have nothing constructive to say…I’ll just list my own things on eBay where I do really really well…and save the 1.5%. I’m so disappointed in where Bonanza HASN’T gone…3.5 years of support and it’s been fun, but really? Sorry, that wasn’t constructive either, was it?
If customers will now be able to shop most all Bonanza items on E-bay(depending upon how many sellers merge their items there). What incentive do existing Bonanza customers have to sign back into Bonanza and shop there, if customers will be able to get everything on E-bay now? I thought the idea was to bring more people directly to the Bonanza site, so it can grow and become large enough to eventually compete with the monopoly of E-bay. Anyways, that’s just my thought. It’s kind of like all the smaller banks merging up to the large central bank, and then that one central bank owning and controlling the market. That’s why monopolies are dangerous and I would rather see more people directed to the Bonanza site directly, then Bonanza stores merging with E-bay. But I understand it takes time, money and patience to do this. However it’s the major way to dismantle a monopoly, so there is more of a fair playing ground for online businesses. I hope this change does not decrease traffic to direct Bonanza sign ins, otherwise there would be less of a point to pay for an account here or sell on Bonanza. Thank you for the read. Many good questions brought up here.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write the FAQ’s & answer questions. Missed the FAQ’s the first time, so it did seem confusing [duh].
I don’t want anything to do with eBay, either, but it seems having a Bonanza silver membership & 5% advertising will be a good thing for someone like me. I don’t expect things to sell quickly…don’t sell new items. [Thanks for defining “long tail” items…hard to find.]
I don’t quite understand the commission and pay per click; i.e. if I agree to pay a 3.5% commission, does that come out of the sale price? And, will I also be paying an additional pay per click cost? Or, is that included in the 3.5% commission cost?
Whatever commission you pick is the most you’ll pay. We aren’t charging “extra” for clicks, we’re just using whatever fee you can pay to drive as many buyers to you as possible.
ArtsnEnds. I agree with your many great points about E-bay. I am currently a top rated seller on E-bay myself with 99.8% positive feedback. There are certain things to be aware of when selling in this platform. For instance, E-bay recently announced that they are prohibiting many metaphysical and occult services/products from being sold on E-bay after the first week of September. So you will no longer be able to sell or purchase psychic readings, healing sessions, advice, attunements, work from home opportunities, spells, potions, wicca type blessings or blessed items, sacred blessed objects, anything that has prayer on it, and get this; ;anything too magical!!! So even though these are completely legal and legitimate ways to earn a living, E-bay just cut out the majority of metaphysical services/products on a whim, and destroyed loyalties of many sellers and buyers. So be sure if you decide to merge with E-bay, that they are not prohibiting what you sell on Bonanza.
From reading all the comments (again) this morning in an attempt to get a better understanding of all this, I get the impression that the major thorn in most everyones side is the fact that ebay is involved.
Personally, for me, I’d be all in at a high percent if this new program were geared to only 2 of the 3 choices… meaning a ‘pay-per-click’ program that included just google shopping and bing shopping (when they start it).
I seem to pick up on the fact that most of the comments against this program are because ebay is involved.
I know we can choose 2 of the 3 options if desired, and leave ebay out of all this. I wish that would have been the original plan.
Ebay sends chills down my back and I won’t deal with them through a third party (bonanza).
And, I’m with those above who beg an answer to the question of ‘how is sending our items to ebay going to gain ANY exposure for Bonanza’? Why should buyers come directly to bonanza any longer?
We are fully aware that many of our sellers ended up on Bonanza because they had some variety of “falling out” with eBay. That’s fine by us — it’s why we made the eBay integration completely optional. But we don’t want people to feel like they have to use eBay’s interface and tools if they like Bonanza’s more. And I think there are many sellers who will find it handy to be able to get traffic from Bonanza AND Google Shopping AND eBay all by just managing their Bonanza booth.
When I had a business website, I had the option of submitting individual products to my Ebay account. Ebay rules applied, but the customer could check out either through Ebay or my site. The choice was visible to the customer at purchase so I assume that is how Bonanza would work. It was an “option” available to me that I sometimes used, but mostly did not.
So for almost 4 years if ‘Bonanza’ or ‘Bonanzle’ was mentioned in an eBay listing or on an eBay forum it was removed. Now we are running hand in hand through the glorious meadow of online commerce?
What benefit (other than an additional 1.5% fee) is there to list on eBay through Bonanza?
You don’t need a degree from Harvard to list on eBay directly.
Guess Bonanza is no longer an eBay alternative….my hopes for this site are crushed beyond belief. I also think the potential for major glitches, errors, etc are more than we can possibly imagine…
My only hope is that there WILL be a way to opt out if I’m reading correctly.
Advertising your Bonanza items to eBay is completely optional. Another channel for you to advertise your items. As with most features on Bonanza, you have a choice. If you chose to not push your items to eBay then that is all. Same goes for our Craigslist exporter that has been on the site since the get go. It is all about providing you with choices LaBoutiqueFrancais and putting you in control of your business which is a really good thing
“The eBay listing will be identical in appearance to the Bonanza item, except that at the bottom of the listing it will state that the item was originally posted through Bonanza (with a link to Bonanza). It’s pretty similar to the way that Inkfrog and Auctiva add their footer to the bottom of eBay listings.”
Bill ebay doesn’t allow outside links to any other venue they don’t even allow you to ink your FB fan page so how is it that Bonanza is going to be allowed to have a link going back to bonanza? and is the link going back to OUR bonanza booth or to Bonanza in general?
Correctamumdo. We are aware of the link policies and are formatting our footprint in a away that will keep within eBay’s guidelines. So the link will be directly back to main Bonanza site.
A great advantage to opting in for Bonanza’s Advertising plan for Google Shopping is that sellers do not have to pay any $$ up front for advertising ( as you do if you advertise with Google directly).
If items don’t sell, no advertising $$ are owed.
When items sell,a 9 % percentage, as an example, taken out of item selling price by Bonz is very manageable since profit and fees can be calculated by seller before choosing items to list.
True that!
well the last time I sold on ebay was 2002
I just went and updated my account for that 50 “free to list” per month
can’t hurt and will only help get more views so I’m game
Hi Bill. Just curious: Was this ebay’s idea, or you guys? Who approached who first?
Someone else mentioned the banner ads. Do you think later on down the line you could get us a crack at those ads? I’d sure like to pick ebay’s pockets for a change!
Thanks.
You are funny Perma! Come to think of it, Bill has been leaving on long lunches and has been wearing more and more Polo shirts. All joking aside, we are just trying to provide our sellers with another advertising channel. Our Craigslist exporter does the same thing.
correct me if I’m wrong please. “I believe that most eBay sellers these days get 50 free items per month without listing fees. After that it’s 0.50 per listing. Listing fees are charged regardless of whether your item sells. Final value fees are paid only if your item sells.” Ebay gives 50 FREE AUCTION listings per month. Doing a 30 day fixed price listing will cost 50 cents per listing whether you sell or not
That would depend on how you have your account set up on eBay and what terms your eBay account are subject to. We are just sending fixed listings. So the terms would be the same if you were listing the same term listing on eBay directly.
So when are we going to be able to play with this???
Should be in the next 24 hours or so.
if the “50 free to list” is only for auction style listing are we going to be able to set that option here for the items we want to show up in ebay?
hopefully with the price set here as a “buy it now” in the auction style format
For now it will be only fixed price listings but we reserve the right to add more features in V2 and beyond
Who will monitor the “clicks�
What kind of checks and balances system will be in place to ensure that someone is not charged for no-sale clicks (or is there a charge for every click, regardless of whether it was an accidental click, a click from a competitor to simply jack up fees, or someone comparing prices) or accidentally charged for clicks that never happened?
How will a seller be able to check and verify that he/she is being accurately and fairly charged?
What proof will be provided?
I am a huge supporter of Bonz, and I firmly believe in its ability to continue to gain ground as an online presence, but all this sounds like to me is an offer allowing me to pay even higher fees, have my items listed with a corrupt company (eBay), and never knowing how much I should charge for an item to ensure that I still have something left after the sale.
More than a year ago, when I left eBay, it was after much research, watching the CEO’s speeches on YouTube (where he clearly stated his hatred for the kinds of items I sell and his plan to eventually have only new items listed on eBay), and being one of thousands of victims of eBay’s sad little games. I will never go back to the disrespect and abuse that is so prevalent there, including instances of customer service reps hanging up on eBay sellers.
Thus, I am respectfully declining your offer. I will take my chances through Twitter and Google organic. I don’t have any faith whatsoever that eBay will allow Bonanza to promote itself in listings within eBay.
What guarantee is there from eBay that the listings will be seen? They are well known for “hiding†listings and other highly questionable business practices. What advantage is there to eBay to welcome Bonz advertising? Something absolutely does not feel right with this.
Good question! I think Bill mentioned above that it is a priority for us to have a dashboard of sorts added sooner rather than later that will help you measure such metrics and give you a clearer picture of impressions and such.
There are no guarantees with advertising, you are basically improving your chances. To take full advantage of those chances, make sure that your data is spot on. Make sure you titles and attributes and such are tops. Put yourself in the best position to succeed and you will realize success. Relevant advice whether you choose to utilize these advertising tools or not.
well then that lets me out untill you implement the ability to set it as an auction style format in the transfer over – too costly otherwise!
that was the primary reason I left ebay was having to pay for unsold items
wow, I guess as an oldie on Bonanza I do find it hard to read the Ebay word at all. If you are planning to partner with Ebay, and get out more advertising for Bonanza that is a good thing, but us who make very little at online sales do not especially like paying any extra in fees. I think this Cheese will just keep doing as she has for 4 years now…
Sounds like a plan cheese! We will still support you as we always have no matter which tools you use. Our goal is to help you get as many sales as possible and we will do our best to offer you as many options to achieve that goal as we can.
Sounds good.
I’m pumped about the Google shopping option. I am always willing to pay for advertising to boost sales. I just joined and have no sales or feedback yet but I’m a seasoned online veteran that can’t wait to get the ball rolling here on Bonanza. I just love the design and set up of this site. I hope you guys get to the point where you are a household name. The sky’s the limit here. Good vibes, peeps! Good vibes!
If I sell an item on eBay thru Bonanza, will that sale show up in my items sold and will it be added to my ‘total items sold’ in my stats on Bonanza?
Yes, it will show on items sold like any other transaction and also on your itemized bill. There will be no feedback or anything like that.
So maybe I’m not understanding this correctly. Here’s a scenario, tell me if this is correct or not, and if not, what am I not getting.….
I take one of my $50 items and state that I’ll go 9% for advertising on google shopping.
9% of $50 is $4.50.
I’ve had tons of hits on my item, but regardless how many hits, I’ll never pay more than $4.50 on that one item if it sells on bonz.
I decide that since this particular item has been listed for 2 years and hasn’t sold, that it’s time to pull it and sell it in my yard sale or donate it to Salvation Army, so I delete it out of my bonanza booth.
Since bonz advertised that item for me, but it didn’t sell on bonz, do I own nothing for the exposure that it got while in my bonz booth?
AND, if I use the same scenario as above pledging 9% for advertising on google and bing shopping, will my total be 18%, or just the 9% for both venues. (Forget adding ebay into the equation, I’ll never do that one).
First scenario, correct. You are not charged a fee until the item sells. If the item does not sell then no fees.
Second scenario, you will only be charged the % relevant to the service you used that is responsible for the sale. So if the sale was via Bing at 9% then that is the most you would pay. You would not have to pay for a % you bid on with Google, etc.
Ditto frogandbear. Paying fees for unsold items is why I quit selling on Ebay in January 2008. I had a profit on the items I sold until I factored in the fees for unsold items and then I was in the hole. Definitely a consideration for sellers on whether or not to list items to Ebay.
hmmm…Very interesting and I learned something new today. Didn’t know you could load to craigslist from here, I’ll have to check that out.
All the best to Bonanza in your new venture. Let’s hope it works out for the benefit of all your loyal sellers here.
For our booth it doesn’t sound like it would work very well as long as you have to do the commission for the whole booth. Many of our items are too low in price to make this a very profitable situation. Maybe when you can pick and choose which items you would like to do this with, we will then give it a try.
Like with everything else here since we joined…It is better to wait and see what happens, then getting too excited over no big deal. lol
So on the Google shopping, is the commission based per item or all items. I have some items, I can play with more than other.
You are charged commission only on the items that sell. So if you choose 9% commission, that will apply to all of the items in your booth as we would be sending them to Google Shopping based on that commission. The good news is that you only pay commission on what you sell. No upfront costs which is unlike traditional advertising platforms.
Do see a day that the Bonanza link on eBay will go directly back to our individual booth instead of the Bonanza site?
Given the current guidelines on eBay that is not possible. If that changes anytime soon then we would be happy to change it on our side too.
Hey Mark, above you said "You are charged commission only on the items that sell. So if you choose 9% commission, that will apply to all of the items in your booth as we would be sending them to Google Shopping "
But I think in a couple of posts that Bill said we can pick and choose which items to pay for and that it didn’t have to be all the items in our booth.
Can you clarify please?
When you choose Google for advertising, all items in your booth are eligible by default. When you choose eBay as a channel for advertising you are able to select which items you wish to export.
but Mark, That place mentioned IS a 4 letter word. I can not even sell their name brand board game that is in my booth. argh..Any one looking for a cheap E—- game?
What if you already sell on ebay under a different ID? Will Bonz listings show up under this ID or do I have to sign up with it as a new user or change it to match my ebay user ID?
You will need to identify an active eBay account to use that channel, similar to our Craigslist exporter.
tweety..I believe if you sign up as a new user they (ebay) will enforce the 21 day paypal hold..better double check
Sorry Mark, but I really need to clarify this because my decision depends on it……….
I have about 1,250 items in my booth. I wouldn’t want to send all of them to google shopping because some are priced very low.
Are you saying I can’t pick out my top 50 high priced items and send only them?
thanks,
keno
That is correct Keno. So given that all of the items will be sent to Google Shopping at the % you select and that is not viable for all of your items, then you may want to consider opening another booth short term. Long term we may have a way to pick and choose.
@ Tweety…to add to Sofyblu’c comment that if you sign up on Ebay with a NEW USER Id, you will be subject t0 a 21 day Paypal hold…
ALSO, new Ebay accounts are limited to listing ONLY 10 ITEMS a MONTH to start.
It would be better for you to change your Ebay USER ID to MATCH your Bonanza ID. Your Ebay feedback will automatically
be brought over to your new Ebay ID..you won’t lose it.
so can I increase the cost of all my items by 10% and sign up for the Google Shopping at 13% in one swipe? or is the increase your item cost just apply to EB? If just to EB; how do I increase all my items by 10% here in on swipe? Batch Edit?
You can increase your prices in bulk via the batch editor > Apply discount to all items. What you would do is enter a negative number. So for a 10% increase enter -10 and that should raise your prices by 10%. Try it with one item just to make sure it is what you want as there is no “Undo†button.
Where will the option link be located within my account settings?
The “Advertise” platform will be accessed via a tab on your “Sell” page.
You don’t have to match user IDs. You only have to specify which eB account you want to connect to.
Sales on ebay are really down right now so what’s the benefit! I’m at a loss to understand how any of this works…I just like to keep it simple. When does this officially start?
We should launch this within 24 hours. Memaw, you do not have to use this feature, it is a choice, just like you have a choice to use our Craigslist exporter, Twitter buttons, Facebook, etc. So if it is not viable for you then you can ignore and proceed as you have been.
So if I am getting this right. If you sell auction style on ebay you get 50 free listings. with free buy it now. Fixed price is more. So if you have 100 items on B and go along with this , it could cost you 50 bucks for fixed price on ebay . You actually would have to open a store on ebay that is 25.00 for the cheap one and still would be charged for the listings , not as much but it will add up. THis is something to think about and use your heads and add up all cost. THis will be very expensive for most and before doing this it will take some deep thoughts , I would hate to see somone move thier items over ,say 500 and get a bill from ebay for 250.00 before anything even sells.
This is what im reading into it so far.
This would be a great idea if the items were free to transport with out listing fees of ebay.
i have a question. do i have to be a paid subscriber on bonanza to opt in or out of the Ebay option ? i mean, is this ebay option only for those that pay a Subsciption fee to bonanza ? if it is for all who are with bonanza, i like the idea. i mean, anything to bring customers here to my little corner of the internet, is fine by me as long as the sales come in.
You do not have to be a paid subscriber. All users (whether premium or basic) will have the option to use this service, or not.
Mark do you understand that eBay does not accept Amazon payments and that by mentioning this in your listing it can be removed and you still pay for it? I can go on and on about many potential challenges I see for Bonanza attempting to play with eBay.
ALSO please read what Mazda just said as they have the idea!
I imagine there are going to be many areas that we need to fine tune and releasing a heads up blog prior to the feature launching will definitely help us fine tune any areas we may have missed. Thank you for your feedback!
Thank you for giving us a way to still be able to show up in Google shopping and later on in Bing shopping. I did not know we were not being shown in Bing shoppinng anymore. This may explain a slow down in sales for some (which only MGMT knows the true answer to this, so I’m just guessing). I do hope that the percentage in this blog is reflecting the play to pay mode that Bing shopping will be imposing at some point.
Am I right though that we are not in Bing shopping right now or are only some of our listings now being excluded in Bing shopping until they go to the play to pay mode. Here is what I quoted from the blog that made me think we are no longer being seen in Bing shopping right now…
“The offshoot of these developments is that Google Shopping plans to turn off all free traffic in the next month, and Bing Shopping has increasingly been suspending (in their words “pausing” ) all large merchant accounts, including Bonanzas, as they progress toward what appears to be an emulation of the Google strategy."
As for adding eBay into being able to be “available” if we so choose, I’m thinking that this increases Bonanza being able to also pay for clicks of our listings on Google shopping at the same time as we do, though it would work differently because I’m sure you all would not want clicks just on anything? And on the other side is that there will be some sellers who will like this.
Thanks.
I have one more question that I didn’t see addressed here but may have already been. I sell on ebay.ca as I’m in Canada. They have different rules than Ebay.com. Which site will Bonanza be using?
Good question! For now we will only export to eBay US.
Another question please, if a seller sets up a listing to pay a 9% FVF and the item price is small at say $3.99, the 9% FVF would be cheaper than the .50 FVF we pay now. So, in this scenario, which FVF would apply on a listing that sells for $3.99 when opting for a 9% FVF?
I am pretty sure that our minimum FVF of $ .50 would apply in your scenario. If I find otherwise then I will update this reply.
RE: Amazon payments: I only believe that PayPal is allowed at Ebay and not even Google Checkout. How will that work if we accept them here and try to export a listing to Ebay?
Bonanza will only export the relevant properties of the listing, meaning that non accepted payment methods would not be communicated. You would need to offer only the payment methods that are acceptable on eBay.
Too complicated! Way too complicated.
I’m ready to play on google and bing!
That’s the spirit
If this is anticipated to launch in the next 24 hours, and if when it launches I click the box to put me on google at 9%, do yous have an estimated timeframe of when we should start seeing our views increasing?
I guess I’m wondering if google is going to complete their changes at the end of September (don’t remember the exact date), and if we set it up now, will they hold off on showing our items until their cut-off date? No sense paying for something that won’t take effect for a month.
You will most likely see a bump within 48 hours but it could take up to 1-2 weeks before the changes extend throughout Google.
Thought of another question – will the items be fed to Ebay and/or Google on a daily basis or just when update booth is hit? If you put your booth on Bonanza on vacation will that automatically stop the feed to the other places as well? Actually that’s a few questions.
With Google, each time you update your booth we will update your feed. Same goes for when you make a sale.
With eBay, you will have the option to do so automatically or manually.
Wouldn’t it just be simpler to just increase the FVF to between 6-8% (you want to stay below eBay), charge 6% to your subscribers and 8 to everyone else,and then just pitch everyone’s stuff up to Google/Bing and see what happens? I realize you need to raise the FVF’s..and I think the site is worth a raise of some sort. I’m a big fan of simple and this does not seem simple. I’m gonna take a wait and see and read the boards to see how people are doing. Good luck everybody—hope you all do great!
Increasing our FVF’s across the board sure would have been easier on the programming team who did a really great job on making something as complicated as Google Advertising so simple on Bonanza. But a flat increase would not give our sellers a choice. In it’s current version, our advertising platform gives sellers a choice to participate or not. Even if a seller chooses to not participate, they still have access to the largest set of free tools available to help them achieve sales on Bonanza. You get out of it what you put into it. Our sellers have the ability to use Bonanza in a way that works best for their business, their vision, and their energy level
Is GPS going to get it to where our calculated shipping shows up right per our correct location?
Unfortunately not at this point. Until Google changes their policies regarding calculated shipping, we will continue to submit calculated shipping items as we are.
Just read where if we now pay listing fees to Ebay then it will still cost us listing fees for Bonanza to post our listings on Ebay on our behalf. Why bother to list with Bonanza if we are already selling on Ebay? Man I really am mad about this. I have put a lot of time into my Bonanza shop and now it will just be another way to sell on ebay. Thats NUTS!
Since there is a lot of discussion on ebay discussion boards about search and how many listings are not seen and some get top priority, where will bonanza postings end up in search on ebay pages? No, I won’t be bothering much with Bonanza anymore.
Ah, sorry for that sheepgal54. No need to get upset, you have a choice to use the feature or not. If it works for you then great. If not then no biggie, you have a choice
Oh, don’t get maaaaaad. OMG yes I went there! You don’t have to pay any extra if you don’t want to. It will be alright.
I really just have to add that this is going to be so complicated they will have to figure out a different way. Their customer service will be drowning in confused sellers wondering how this all works.
I think organics is just super important now. The response from PPC will most likely mean that people will reach their allotted FVF percent before their item sells. I mean if I have an item that is $5.00, I set it to 10% (50 cents) once that amount is used up, my item will just sit on organics right?
This all seems like a lot of work for Bonanza to help eBay, Google and Bing rake in money. Hope it works out. I wouldn’t mind paying 5% once I really figure out how this works.
BTW, what happens if people pull off their listings? Say you’ve already spent money to advertise their items, and they leave?
Good point LOS. Whether you are participating in Google advertising or not, maximizing your listings is super important. In a nutshell, the most important things you can do for your listings with respect to Google paid/organic:
Make sure that your listings have no missing Unique Product Identifiers (UPC or Brand/MPN Numbers)
Make sure that you have no capitalized titles (ALL CAPS in titles are against Google’s publishing policies)
Make sure that your title keywords are within the first 70 characters of your title (Google will truncate titles beyond 70 characters)
Make sure that your titles and descriptions are high quality. Relevant titles and quality descriptions are key.
Been on eBay since 2001 and Bonanza since a few months after the start up. Since I sell on eBay, that option wouldn’t make sense for me, but I’m concerned this is setting up Bonanza members new or long gone from eBay for major issues. For example: 1.The 50 free listings only applies to non-store sellers and is only for auctions, so it doesn’t apply here. The fact that Bonanza management isn’t fully clear on something so basic is a little scary. Users will be charged a listing fee for every item from Bonanza. 2. Lots of items are prohibited on eBay that are OK on Bonanza, and if the bots don’t catch it, sellers will be in trouble before they even get started. 3. Same goes for duplications. 4. New sellers and sellers returning after a long while will have holds on their Paypal money that can range from a few days to 3 weeks.4.Final value fees vary greatly by category. 5. No text is allowed now in eBay photos, and there are new minimum size requirements. Basically, if you haven’t been on eBay lately, there is a whole new world of rules that will affect your account and your ability to collect money and your general frustration level. I’d strongly encourage Bonanza sellers planning on the eBay option to be sure they understand the rules on that side of the fence. One question – rumor on the street is that this move is setting the stage for Bonanza to sell out to eBay. Want to put that fire out now, or confirm if it is true?
Definitely a good idea to be well versed on eBay’s rules but also on Google’s publishing policies too. You want to make sure that you are optimizing your listings so that you are putting yourself in the best position to succeed.
Rumors on the street are just that, rumors and there is zero truth to them.
Wow Funk! That last sentence of yours caught me completely by surprise. Hopefully it is just an unfounded rumor.
“Hopefully it is just an unfounded rumor.”
Yes, of epic proportions. Worthy of the front page of the National Enquirer
looks a fine new program but with the new rules ebay implement day by day we can get in trouble in any sale?
as well i read most of the message and the main point in all is the same …these new program going to be safe?
I agree totally with JohnGermaine – “Too complicated! Way too complicated”. I don’t understand any of it. Liked the way Bonanza was. Connecting with eBay like this makes one wonder if eBay isn’t sticking their greedy fist into Bonanza. I left eBay because of their crookedness, dictatorship and telling sellers how to run their business so I sure would not want to have anything to do with them now or ever again. This new connection does make me wonder though if eBay isn’t getting their foot into the door here? Should sellers here start looking for a new home again? Are the sellers here that do not take part in this new confusing venture going to be ignored and overlooked by Bonanza? I’ve had a lot of sales here in the past several years and many of those buyers came from my own website. I liked Bonanza in the past and hope I can keep liking it!
Can’t say it any better than Bill has already in our FAQ:
We understand that many of our sellers have had bad eBay experiences at some point, and there are certainly aspects of the eBay selling experience that leave something to be desired. But at the end of the day, eBay can often be the fastest way to get an item sold, if you can afford the fees. For the sellers who are interested in making the most sales possible, publishing their items to eBay while using Bonanza’s award-winning UI (all while getting paid advertising handled for them in Google Shopping by Bonanza) is a solution that will probably make a lot of sense.
The best part about this sasswbe is that it is completely optional. If it does not float your boat than so be it. You have a choice
For others, it may be a great addition to their strategy.
I do a few of the free auction listings each month, but do not use the fixed price because it costs 50 cents for each listing (even if it doesn’t sell) so if you send my items as fixed price, I WILL be charged 50 cents for each listing plus the FVF and bonz fee if it sells. If you send only ten items to ebay, I get charged $5.00 even if none sell there?
Any fees you would normally incur on eBay would still be applicable.
Thank you, Mark, and other posters for answering my question. Definitely a lot to think about but I already know I will not opt in to advertise on ebay since I have my own account there for over 13 years I prefer to keep separate from my Bonanza booth. I will say it’s sad Bonanza is having anything to do with a site so many Bonanza sellers came here for various reasons and were hoping to never have anything to do with it again. That’s the part I have a hard time with.
re: Bing. we already are being fed to their organic correct? And is their shopping still for NEW ITEMS only?
We do not send feeds for Organic Bing or Google. Their bots crawl our site looking for the most relevant content. So it is super important that you have your listings formatted in a way that will give the bots everything they need:
Make sure that your listings have no missing Unique Product Identifiers (UPC or Brand/MPN Numbers)
Make sure that you have no capitalized titles (ALL CAPS in titles are against Google’s publishing policies)
Make sure that your title keywords are within the first 70 characters of your title (Google will truncate titles beyond 70 characters)
Make sure that your titles and descriptions are high quality. Relevant titles and quality descriptions are key.
Oh my, this is enough to make my head spin, for sure and I didn’t read through all of the posts because I was getting overwhelmed by it all.
Now, if I were to choose to have my Bonanza items show up on eBay too, does that mean the actual listings show up there as well as here? So that it would be possible for somebody to buy it there and here at the same time?? I use listing templates, and my Bonanza template and my eBay template are not the same and I can’t have them crossed up. So, that means I should not have my Bonanza items show up on eBay, right?
Also, I get 50 free auction style listings every month plus any other free listings offered in addition. I really don’t see how having my items show up there will be anything but trouble. Google Shopping, on the other hand, is something else. This really is very confusing. I hope it works.
Not much has changed with respect to your listing being sold on eBay and Bonanza at the same time. While it is rare it can happen. One thing we have changed, when you are synced with Bonanza and eBay, is that when you sell an item on eBay that you previously exported to eBay via Bonanza, we will remove that sold item from Bonanza automagically.
re: “That is correct Keno. So given that all of the items will be sent to Google Shopping at the % you select and that is not viable for all of your items, then you may want to consider opening another booth short term. Long term we may have a way to pick and choose.” Why start another booth? Can’t you just suppress the feed per listing like we do now?
Did you sit at the front of the class? Cause if you did, I was looking over your shoulder when we were taking tests
You are spot on Sofy! If you suppress individual items then those will be excluded from the feed we send on your behalf. Nice work
“If you don’t participate in the advertising you may see your sales drop somewhat, but Google Shopping has already been phasing in their change over the last few months, and at this point, all of the traffic we’re getting from them is paid (out of our general advertising fund), so that should remain pretty stable.”
Oh, well, in that case I’m not too worried. If this has already been put in place and we’re seeing the resulting traffic, besides the usual lull I get in the middle of the month, my sales steady. So that’s a good sign!
Thanks for answering!
My question is, Will we be able to make easy changes, as we deem appropriate to our chosen commission rate, Or will it be locked in for a certain time period? I may want to change commission rates at different times of the year.
I understand your wanted to provide as many options as possible to the Bonanza sellers, But hope that including the E—- site in options does not dilute the Bonanza brand. As for me, Been there done that, not interested in going back.
You will be able to adjust your commission as you see fit with no time restrictions.
Personally, I’m glad to see some proactive promotion going on here
I also like that it’s completely optional. I do have a suggestion for V2 – instead of just Buy It Nows – could you discount the BIN price by 25% as an auction starting price and leave the BIN number in place? This would allow us to get our 50 free listings a month at least… Also, will you be providing a widget (for the link back to Bonanza) for us to use on the ebay listings we currently aren’t listing on Bz? (The only reason they’re not listed here is because they sell too fast there, but I’d still like to get the word out about Bonanza) Thanks for all that you do!! And I really wish you’d consider doing auctions (I know we can host our own in booth but it’s just not the same…)
Suggestion noted, thank you
We will not be providing a widget for the link back to Bonanza at this time because eBay has specific rules for not allowing such things.
A couple of questions:
- What is the minimum commission I have to choose in order for my items to be fed to Google Shopping? And, is that commission charged by Bonanza, plus our final fees?
- If we advertise on Ebay, do we pay the commission plus ebays 10% final fees?
“What is the minimum commission I have to choose in order for my items to be fed to Google Shopping?” 5% (inclusive of our 3.5% seller fees)
“If we advertise on Ebay, do we pay the commission plus ebays 10% final fees?”
You pay a 1.5% commission to Bonanza plus whatever eBay charges you.
I was SO EXCITED when I came to this Blog Post!
I thought you Boyz were bringing back our “Bonanza’s” !!!!
That was so much fun…when we could market a live booth sale to everyone….
BUT…this idea sounds pretty good too! OH MY!!!! What will Bonanza come up with next…so ahead of the game!!!
Bonanza is hot, Hot, HOT!!!!!
Will you be sending B-mail to all of your members about this change and referring them to this blog?
I know you have the capacity to do so, since you already send out regularly-scheduled newsletters to those who did not opt out of that choice.
I fear that, otherwise, the multi-thousands of members who do not follow the blogs or the chats will have no idea whatsoever of the mechanics of this program.
Another possibility might be to put a big bold informative note on the top of every seller’s booth page, also referring them to this blog?
Thanks.
Carolyn
We have already sent out a support email to those subscribed (Account settings > Notifications) and we will also be sending out a mass email to all sellers.
Mark: I had asked this further above, not sure if you missed it or not “Is GPS going to get it to where our calculated shipping shows up right per our correct location?”
This is a pretty important question to me, please
It’s important because if I’m going to be paying for something I’d like for it to be right. I’m sure you can understand….It’s that I do not want to be paying for something only for the price of my calculated shipping to be reflected wrong in GPS and lessen my chance of someone coming to my booth through the link on GPS. Actually I know I will not pay anything extra unless the listing is clicked on and the listing sells, but then that would defeat the purpose of why I’d be opting in at a certain percentage in the first place of calculated does not show up right.
You may have been planning to answer later, but I wanted to make sure since I had asked this question in the last blog and it did not get answered. I’m just someone trying to make some sales and yet, I would like for it to be more than that at some point in the future.
Thanks.
Nothing has changed with respect to how Google Shopping views calculated shipping.
Here is an interesting ? I saw in the forums.
The one question/point I’d like cleared up is the searches done on the internet devices like the smart phones and tablets.
I’ve been told that those are ran on Google power, and that the searches done on them are through GPS.
Lots of people shop this way now so it seems like good info to have before making a decision.
You would need to check with Google to see if they release specific metrics on how many shop via a desk top vs. a mobile device. I can tell you that the trend is definitely towards mobile devices and it would make sense that Google shopping would be one of the leaders with that trend. Right now when I search “Shoes” on my mobile device, I get regular old Google results.
This feature would have been extremely useful if it posted to ebay a listing with no DSR’s, as for example an offsite ad that takes buyers back here.
Do you guys plan to work with eBay Classifieds at all?
I have not heard plans to work with eBay classifieds at this point. But any tool that makes sense that can get our sellers more sales will be considered.
I have another couple of questions. If they’ve been answered above, my apologies.
1) If we bid 13% and are interested in GPS only, not ebay, is the 3.5% bonz fee included in that 13% or is it in addition?
2) In this same vein, how does this impact the minimum 50-cent Bonz fee on lower cost items? I’ve been talking to many sellers with lower priced items and we’re confused.
Can you tell us what would be the total fees, assuming we used the maximum of my 13% bid on a $5.00 item and a $25.00 item. Previously, the $5.00 item would be subject to the 50 cent minimum while the $25.00 item would be subject to a 3.5% fee or 87 cents (or 88).
Thanks.
1) If we bid 13% and are interested in GPS only, not ebay, is the 3.5% bonz fee included in that 13% or is it in addition?
A. Yes, inclusive.
2) In this same vein, how does this impact the minimum 50-cent Bonz fee on lower cost items? I’ve been talking to many sellers with lower priced items and we’re confused.
A. Currently the minimum $ .50 would apply.
Even if a seller chooses the 17% maximum premium commission for Google Shopping, I’m assuming that eBay’s advertising budget is probably higher or, given the quantity of their listings, they no doubt get a great deal from Google on listing commissions. Which, unless my thinking is faulty, means the placement of their listings in GS search results would always be higher than anyone elses’ when sorting with “relevance” even if we paid the 17% commission.
I.e., if the same item from different sellers is listed both on eBay and here (and the Bonanza seller has not exported their listing to eBay but is paying the 17% commission for GS), then the advantage would always go to the eBay listing in GS. No?
Not so Phyndz. Google has made it very clear that the top bid will not guarantee placement. The most important factor is data quality.
Make sure that your listings have no missing Unique Product Identifiers (UPC or Brand/MPN Numbers)
Make sure that you have no capitalized titles (ALL CAPS in titles are against Google’s publishing policies)
Make sure that your title keywords are within the first 70 characters of your title (Google will truncate titles beyond 70 characters)
Make sure that your titles and descriptions are high quality. Relevant titles and quality descriptions are key.
Is this live yet?
Not yet but will be soon
After reading all of this, I went into our booths manager to see how up to snuff our listings really are.
We still have much work to do as far as tagging, and pictures…To optimize our success when we finally do go forward as far as google/bing goes.
Can’t see us going for the ebay thing.
To echo Fathertime’s question…. I’m wondering how it would work if I wanted to go with the Google Shopping advertising for a few months… then opt out for awhile and then back in again. [ie: seasonal advertising – Christmas, Mothers Day, Back to School etc] Is that possible? or… once you’re in do you have to stay in?
thanks
Currently no time limit. You join when it is best for you and leave when it is not.
Include me with those who stated they are confused. But I do understand this is optional to each of us. On Ebay, I use Auctions with BIN (so obviously this won’t be an option for me).
However, I do have questions.
I don’t think there’s many people who aren’t aware of the numerous technical glitches and server issues on Ebay (which began approx. 3 yrs. ago.)
In Ebay’s Forums, under “Technical” there are many voices constantly expressing concerns. And Sellers have hoped with each passing year, these issues will be resolved. And yet, they still exist.
Every year, I have spend countless hours on the phone re: rolling blackouts and numerous glitches (the same issues, over and over again); hoping the situations will be remedied. Only to find droves of Sellers reporting the same issues.
Sellers on Ebay have also expressed concern over the fact their items are being pushed back in Search; by mass produced items; Listings are “lights on/lights off”; pics within Listings are there one moment; gone the next time you open the Listing. The list goes on; and these concerns appear to be ongoing.
Questions (and please correct me if I’m wrong).
- Sellers already on Ebay, struggling with all of the above; will most likely get pushed back even further in Search? (when their Listings are actually “showing”, that is).
- If Sellers on Ebay are STILL reporting the same major issues re: glitches, server problems, etc….are they prepared to take Bonanza on? Because from what I’m understanding, the same “numerous glitch/server issues” is still an ongoing problem. And a huge concern for Sellers over there.
Thank you in advance, for your time.
(Personally, I would have paid extra fees for Advertising. I’ve made that clear many times. But on a platform which was separate from Ebay).
Not too sure on any issues on eBay. You would need to continue working with eBay to resolve those concerns.
I’m trying to catch up to you here, Mark (from the forum topic). I understand that Bill “hints” at a little advertising spiff for those with paid membership. And perhaps he can only hint because we simply don’t know, yet, what the costs will be, or even how the system works in its complete implementation. But we can reasonably guess that those who currently pay for a membership would welcome an advertising spiff especially for them, and especially because their fees will be used to help advertise for those who do not have paid membership. Thus a new look at membership types and fees would seem to be in order at this time.
I haven’t read FAQ’s—don’t want to lose my place here
.
For now, I’m going to keep Bonanza and ebay separate.
On ebay I use the 50 free listings and other special free listing times they offer. I don’t do BIN.
I will be watching for version 2 of this option because if, at some point in time, Bonanza offers the option to choose between BIN or auction listing to be sent to ebay I’ll be interested.
Paying a higher commission here for exposure in Google Shopping will probably be all I’ll do.
@Bill…you said, “Highwire is a great product that gets better every day, and Tomas (its creator) is an awesome person besides.†Is this Tomas of SpareDollar?
Thank you.
Mark, you had said this in response to my last post on calculated shipping and how it shows in GPS “Nothing has changed with respect to how Google Shopping views calculated shipping.”
The reason I had posted what I had in my last post was because a while back for all listings that were set at calculated shipping on Bonanza, these listings were no longer showing up in GPS.
So, it was my understanding that Bonanza MGMT had to set it up so that calculated shipping appeares in GPS as though the calculated shipping price is based on a Hawaii address, not our own location. Because of this the shipping prices can look high to a shopper in GPS since I live on the east coast. This is why I was asking if calculated shipping will show up correctly based on our location and not Hawaii?
There was a big thread on this at that time. I cannot find it. But it was for sure a problem that existed.
Thanks.
Nothing has changed with respect to how Bonanza is submitting calculated shipping items to Google, and nothing has changed with respect to Google requiring that we show shipping.
Mark, I understand that; and will continue to do so when those issues come up.
But with all due respect; if you’re now working with Ebay to import Listings, any Seller who wishes to participate would surely not wish to be affected by those types of server and/or technical glitch issues.
We can only control all things Bonanza. We have been importing from eBay since the get go. If eBay has glitches that prevent Bonanza from importing or exporting then we will have to cross that bridge at that time.
Hi Mark…I think you’re missing the point Tip Top is trying to make. What was the situation with that issue, wasn’t it that the only way you could get us to show up with Calculated shipping was to set it for Hawaii? This is what she (and I) want to know. This is wrong. Whether it be Googles responsibility or Bonanza’s, our Calculated shipping should show up correctly when a buyer is viewing our listings in GPS. As it is now, it shows over inflated shipping which would keep most buyers from even clicking on our listings to begin with.
So the point is this. Why should we pay for visibility in Google when we are not being shown correctly. Your statement does not answer the question. Is this issue going to be corrected, whether it be by Bonanza or by Google…whoever is responsible for the forced location of Hawaii being used as a shipping destination. I hope this helps you to understand what the concern is. It’s like paying for advertisement in a phone book and the phone number is wrong. Why would anyone want to pay for inaccurate information?
I hope this makes more sense now, and that you can clarify on what the problem is and if it is going to be fixed. Thank you~
Google requires that you show a shipping cost in the feed. Sellers with calculated shipping on items can only show in Google Shopping if Bonanza sends Google a price for shipping. Because we do not know where your buyers are coming from we cannot put the correct shipping cost. The trouble with putting a lower shipping price on the feed happens when Google sees that the information is not true, meaning that the items are actually higher to ship, then you/we risk getting removed from Google Shopping permanently. Rather than risk that, we put a shipping cost on the item that will cover most buyers, that way your items can be seen in Google Shopping. So the solution, if you want to show in Google Shopping with precise information, is to not offer calculated shipping. Otherwise our current method is the only solution.
so 3.5% does NOT get any google/bing feed correct? Would 5%?
Bing shopping..is that still only for new items?
Bonanza will continue to pay for advertising independently of our advertising platform but our current final value fees of 3.5% will not afford us much.
It has been Sofy, but they are currently in a transition and the details are still being worked out which is why we were not able to launch Bing with our advertising platform which is now live
From the Q & A
I don’t want to publish my items outside of Bonanza. What changes for me?
Nothin much. You can continue to sell your items at our standard 3.5%. However, given that Google Shopping and Bing Shopping are both moving to paid models for buyer referrals, the amount of traffic that you’ll see arriving at your items will be limited to organic search engines and direct Bonanza traffic. This means that it can take awhile for you to find the right buyers, if you haven’t built up your stable of repeat customers. Merchants with long tail inventory will be most likely to succeed in this scenario (since organic search loves that stuff).
How much do I need to pay to start advertising my items?
5% is the minimum level for us to be able to bid on Google Shopping traffic for you. However, we recommend bidding at least 9% since Google sends more traffic to those that can bid around that level.
I’d like to know if BS is only new, too. Heck, I’d like to find at least my NEW stuff in there.
As of last check Bing did only accept new items. However they are in a transition period, moving to a paid model so we will have to wait and see.
Bill and Mark thank you for making my dreams come true!
All your dedication, hard work, and love sure is paying off!! Thank you Thank you Thank you
Mariah
This is weird on Google’s part. They want money to advertise but yet they are not willing to conform to meet their customers’ needs in regards to calculated shipping, which is still used quite a bit. What is more strange is that when on GPS today I saw a calculated listing from eBay (went to the actual listing to investigate it) and it is not showing inflated shipping like Bonanza’s are here on the east coast.
This is not to say that I do not appreciate what has been done/coming up in this blog.
Thank you Marianna (Moms) for clarifying what I was trying to say.
I am wondering if there is any way to guarantee showing up in that prime sponsored ad location, or if you know how exactly how an item is selected to show up in that upper right hand spot – the place where the red arrow is pointing?
There is no guarantee of placement, Google has made that clear. The most important factor in getting the top spot is data quality.
Make sure that your listings have no missing Unique Product Identifiers (UPC or Brand/MPN Numbers)
Make sure that you have no capitalized titles (ALL CAPS in titles are against Google’s publishing policies)
Make sure that your title keywords are within the first 70 characters of your title (Google will truncate titles beyond 70 characters)
Make sure that your titles and descriptions are high quality. Relevant titles and quality descriptions are key.
Thanks, Mark.
That sure would be a sweet place to show up, though.
Mark, as for the solution to calculated shipping, Google allows an option for region? Setting the region to the seller’s state, would it not show the shipping and to everyone else, just the item price? Sort of like you’re doing with Hawaii.
Tab-delimited examples:
State-level shipping rate:
US:CA:ground:7.95 USD
XML examples:
US CA Ground 7.95 USDState-level shipping rate:
Surely, this can be tested with one item without getting into trouble.
Yes Mark, we would be happy to show you some specifics through an email to support. There has to be a solution that someone isn’t seeing because other venues are not having this problem. And I don’t have the option of using fixed rate shipping for my products because I typically sell more than one unit in each transaction. Today, I sold 6 units in the same transaction. All heavy glass.. There’s no way I could have gotten that sale if it were set up with fixed rate shipping.
Examples would be great. Then we have investigate on our side.
@Justforbarbie -
Yes. Tomas owned SpareDollar, sold it to Inkfrog, and now has Highwire. Don’t know if he’s still connected to Inkfrog though.
Actually, it all sounds quite simple. You want more push in your sales then advertise at a rate that can fit your budget. If you want to go further and do a cross-over listing that only costs 1.5% from Bonanza (instead of re-listing in another format, which is a time killer). The only part that is not clear is that if Ebay charges for fixed price listings, then why in heavens sake would I want to pay .50/listing thru Bonanza? 50 listings would be $25. I rather spend that on some other Bonanza feature, not Ebay. Want the free Ebay auction listing? Then you must go thru Ebay, period.
So, advertise with Google & Bing? Okay, sounds like a deal. Oh-oh, Bing only does new items? Then how do I choose at least two advertising resources if I’m only doing, let’s say, collectibles, antiques, etc?
Sounds like maybe the timing is wrong, although I am all game for this, but the gaps that bridge this together cross a mighty torrent river.
@kenoticket…Thank you. Inkfrog now offers Highwire…so there may be a connection.
Sorry to get off topic.
Back to the subject at hand.
I happen to go the other way around. I list 50 items along with a monthly special they have where you may list as much as you like for a specified amount of time..say 2 days. Right now it was 6 ending today. I usually list all new items, meaning no repeats of anything on bonanza. Although occasionally I will relist something again that is sitting in not sold file at ebay. Then what does not sell is imported to bonanza. Keep in mind this is not a fixed price affair. Purely auction. On all of my eB auctions, after the bay 2 click rule I send everyone to bonanza
What you are doing brings me to believe that eBay’s acquiescences to this set up is to bring many new store (subscriptions)owners. Big bucks there. And the fees that store owners have to pay can be astronomical. The only sellers that can handle these fees are Companies with huge inventory. 5,10 20 thousand items and counting with a very fast turnover. I don’t see this as an option for a lot of the sellers here.
Yes I do understand this is an option. What I foresee is all of your energy and time catering to the larger inventory members that will pay larger %.
I too am slightly confused about fee and % etc. But once it goes live, it is usually pretty easy to figure it out.
One question about shipping from the Q above. When I list on Bonanza, I describe, take & download pics, price, package the weight. Now if I actually put the weight, does that not dictate the price anyone will pay no matter where they are? And shouldn’t that show up in search???
OK back to Google placement. Did you mean NO capitals in title or just the first letter in certain words. Thanks in advance
Ok, I’ve been gone for the afternoon, but I see this is now live. So I go in and disable advertizing for the moment and then click “save option”. When the page reappears, nothing is marked. So is this not actually working yet?
P.S. Just tried saving the other levels and they will hold, just not the 3.5% choice.
P.S. #2: "D"isable "A"dvertisi"NG": DANG fool thing won’t work…:-)
I haven’t signed up for anything above the 3.5% yet.
I see ad views on a few of my items, though, and I’m wondering why?
TimeSpan I saw a few of mine with ad views as well I figured it was the ads the Boyz paid for. There aren’t very many so I guess that’s what you’ll get if you don’t choose to pay.
I could be wrong could just be a glitch
That sounds about right. We have been directing funds to advertising for all items on Bonanza but like Bill said, we are limited based on our basic fees.
Program is live!
I just signed up for it, but before I did, I noticed ad views on certain items.
The placement of my items with views in Google shopping is the same placement they have had since listed, one was three months ago.
My Question is this:
I would assume that signing up for this program will change this placement to a higher ranking- correct?
We are seeing ‘views’ now because Bonanza has signed up for this program, not because they are paying for placement for us at this time. Thus Bonanza will be charged for all click throughs on all items regardless if the seller is paying to play or not. ( is this correct as well? )
Since I just signed up, at what point will I see a different (i.e. better)Google placement, then what I have now?
Will I be sent a monthly statement showing what Bonanza bid on my items so I know that it has been done?
What I do not understand, is how will Bonanza individually bid for placement of thousands of individual items? If we cannot select items for bidding, but must include our entire booth, then how can Bonanza select only items which are being paid for, rather than bidding on the Bonanza site as a ‘whole entity’?
Will there be different levels of feeds from Bonanza to Google, each with the percentage of pay to play, which will result in a better placement? Will those booths who do not play, only be fed to organic ?
We intend on adding a tool that will help you gauge performance of these metrics (or integrating the metrics with current tools). As mentioned above, you are not guaranteed top placement just by paying. Your content must be relevant and formatted within Google’s guidelines.
If I am published to Ebay from Bonanza,and an item sells on Ebay who collects the payment Ebay or Bonanza…
All eBay rules apply when the item sells. So the process will be the same as when you sell an item on eBay independent of Bonanza.
I put a few items on google search. Is there a place I can go in my booth to see the items posted to GS and those not and the corresponding percentage I chose?
You should be able to see your feed via your Google page on Bonanza (click on the “Google” link on your My Bonanza page, next to the red tool box). If you want to see your ad in action, you will need to search Google Shopping as a buyer would. Just make sure to not click on it
I believe Google is the one who decides ad placement, etc. If you don’t pay, you won’t show in Google Shopping, so your placement may or may not change / improve. As Bill commented above:
There will always be some sellers that get “more advertising†than others by virtue of the fact that Google is the ultimate arbiter in deciding what items get shown. We can bid $1.00 per click on an item and it is not guaranteed to get shown by Google if it doesn’t match their internal expectations.
@MyTexasTreasures,
I had asked the question about how long it would take before we could possibly see a bump in views once we sign up for the program.
Mark responded above with:
“You will most likely see a bump within 48 hours but it could take up to 1-2 weeks before the changes extend throughout Google”.
If I go to advertise and clock on Google shopping and then 5%, does that apply to all my 1711 items or only the first page? Just checking.
The 5% would apply to all of the listings in your booth.
I must say…. I’m disappointed :(
I went to sign up but you have to have a credit card. I DON’T do credit card online – not even paypal has my credit card information and my guess is that their security systems are far more advanced than Bonanza’s. People have been known to hack into banks and US govt. computers… call me paranoid but to me it’s too big a risk.
Should you not take into consideration a long term members track record of ALWAYS paying on the first of the month when payment is due? Shouldn’t exceptions be made?
Sorry Boyz you’ve lost my advertising dollars :(
Are you aware that the bonanza.com link that ebay is including in the bonanza listings is not a link to home page but is instead a link to http://www.bonanza.com/sell_products_online. Clicking on the link does not “take” the buyer to the bonanza website at all, but instead opens up a partial, scrollable window in the item page itself which most prominently says "List faster, sell better, On the marketplace 7,000 sellers rated “Most Usable” in 2012". If by any chance I would click on this link as buyer, as a BUYER, this blurb does not interest me at all and I ignore it. If the link would go to the seller’s Bonanza booth, this would be most helpful, but my understanding was that the link would at least go to the Bonanza home page. It is doing neither, to ebay’s advantage of course.
We have to make sure to keep within eBay’s listing policies
First of all I want to say: I applaud Bonanza for these advertising efforts – keep at it! I think you are being a bit bamboozled by ebay at the moment but I hope you can get it straightened out so that it is a fair deal.
I would LOVE to send some items to ebay from Bonanza but I won’t as long as the listing is NOT FREE. Right now, a 30 day fixed-price listing will cost the seller at least 50 cents per item listed, *whether it sells or not*, and whether it is listed directly into ebay or via Bonanza. I don’t think all the BOnanza sellers realize this! The 50 free listings that have been mentioned are ONLY for AUCTION style listings, NOT fixed-price. I think ebay will not do anything that will help Bonanza. (See my previous post.) They are only out to get listing fees from Bonanza sellers. Their search can bury all Bonanza items at the bottom (if they already have similar listings from their own sellers) and they can still collect 50 cent per item from every Bonanza seller for every item sent to them! If the item is unique – still cool for ebay: they get the 50 cent listing fee plus the 13% (or more) on the item price AND the shipping cost. Plus they get more money indirectly via the required Paypal transaction. What is Bonanza getting?
I just tried to do the ebay and bon. thing and the items I wanted to send to ebay would not send , it said about an API and shipping info not updated and something about tags. I jump out as quik as possible.
Hmmm, need more information to help. Please send the details to [email protected] (or click on the “Contact” link at the bottom of this page and send us the details so we can follow up on that.
Thanks Mark. I sent in an example that I felt was a good one reflecting the difference from how our calculated shipping looks compared to eBay in Google shopping.
bharding said “I believe most eBay sellers get a quota of 50 free items per month w/ no listing fees.” Not true. Items fed to ebay as fixed price listings will cause the seller to incur an ebay listing fee of 50 cents per listing, whether the item sells or not. (There are additional fees, of course, if the item sells.) The free listings must be set up as auctions in order to avoid the fee, and Bonanza is not offering this option at this time. I really would hate to see the filling of ebay coffers with money from unsuspecting Bonanza sellers. Unfortunately, bharding’s statement is misleading – please correct such statements on this thread and elsewhere, so as not to cause confusion about what will happen to sellers who opt to send their items to ebay. I think Bonanza needs to be more clear on this ebay cost that will be incurred whether the item sells or not, or you will have many disgruntled sellers.
@Mark My google feed does not tell me which items I chose for advertising or the percentage I designated. I want to check my selections. Will there be a filter for this in group edit?
When you select Google Advertising, all active items in your booth will be eligible. You can exclude items by going to your batch editor and using the Google suppress feature.
Mark, you don’t have to reply; just wanted to correct my typo (in my last post).
When I stated, “…if you’re now working with Ebay to import Listings…”
I should have stated “Export Listings”, although I’m sure you most likely knew what I meant. I realize Bonz has been Importing from Ebay since the get go. Just wanted to correct my error.
I was ready to jump on board with Google Shopping, but I have to echo the post regarding being disappointed that a credit card is required. I track and pay for nearly everything online via Paypal, and my account is backed by a credit card – so there’s no way Bonanza would not get paid. We accept Paypal on the site, why can’t we use Paypal or Google Checkout to pay for our advertising?
It is very likely that we will add more payment options in version 2 provided there are no reasons for not doing so. I will be sure to submit a request to the programming team.
On the “advertize items” page are you going to have the ability to sort by click count later on?
Sounds like a good suggestion. I bet we can add several options to sort.
Also, on the ‘advertize items’ page, when it shows there have been clicks for the item, in what amount of time is that for…. 1 day, 1 week, etc.
thanks
From what I can tell it is by the week.
I agree on the statements that this should be chargeable to our PayPal accounts, the same way our monthly fee’s for everything else are.
Well, I adjusted my booth items and decided to give the Google Shopping option a shot, at least until Christmas. My sales have been so slow that it certainly couldn’t hurt – and I don’t pay unless the item sells, so that part sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Now, the eBay part, not so much.
I got brave and decided to try sending two eBay listings over, but when I clicked on them I got this message: Item couldn’t be listed on eBay.
“Errors:
“Input data for tag is invalid or missing. Please check API documentation.”
The shipping details are correct in the listings. I have no idea how to fix this. Any suggestions?
Sorry for the trouble. We are looking into this at support and should have this addressed by Tuesdayish.
what about on google shopping? Does anyone know if we are allowed to add a link to our description that would lead someone back not just to the page they are looking at but a link to see all our items on bonz?
Shoppers will land on your item detail page on Bonanza, which has several opportunities to view all of your booth items built in.
Bonanza listings have no ending date by default and are perpetual unless the item sells or the shop owner does something to end the listing. However, eBay Fixed Price listings are generally for 30 days but can also be the same as Bonanza’s if the item is listed as a Good To Cancel (GTC) listing. When Bonanza sends a Fixed Price listing to an eBay store is it for a 30 day duration listing or Good To Cancel (GTC) listing where the listing renews every 30 days for another listing fee?
Bonanza currently sends the listing as a fixed price listing.
I’ve never sold on Ebay, so quite frankly I don’t understand a good portion of what is being discussed with regards of essentially needing to be rule compliant to 2 sites, now.
Got a question, though. Is there any reason why instituting a reasonable listing fee here, and earmarking THAT money to cover advertising fees wasn’t done?
Etsy does 20 cents for 4 months time with a 3.5% FVF. I find it workable. I maintain a listing budget. When sales are slow, I cut back and in good months I can bulk up my inventory.
Fixed price listings on eBay, unless you have a “Store”, are for 7 days. To have a store you have to pay a monthly cost [variable].
I have disabled advertising until I have a better understanding of how this all works and what I am paying for. Can’t make a decision amidst confusion.
Also, do we need to have google wallet enabled in order for google shopping to take our feed?
You do not need to have Google Wallet enabled to participate.
Thanks Mark! I signed up yesterday and as of yet do not see any of my items in google shopping, however it did say it may take up to 24 hrs.
Hello Mark,
Regarding sending items to eBay from Bonanza you state in response to my question about the duration of the eBay listing when sent from Bonanza: “Bonanza currently sends the listing as a fixed price listing”
This did not answer my original question which was the duration of the eBay listing when sent from Bonanza. So I will ask it again: What is the duration of the eBay listing when sent fromn Bonanza – 30 days or Good To Cancel (GTC). Also, assuming it is a 30 day listing what happens if the item ends up unsold after 30 days? Do we relist through ebay or have the listing sent again from Bonanza. Finally, who controls when (and how often) Bonanza sends our items to eBay if we elect to utilize this tool?
We will list in a 30 day fixed format. After the 30 days are up on eBay, we are pretty sure that the association will end at that point but we are not super sure yet. We plan on addressing this within 30 days and will update our FAQ page with this information. As for controlling your listings and how often they are sent, that is something that you control via your advertising page on Bonanza.
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