Ebay Verses Bonanza- The Ups & Downs

Recently, Ebay has made many, many changes to their policies. One of the reasons that we ended up turning to Bonanza (formally known as Bonanzle). There has been pros and cons to this switch over.

Now, I did not sever all ties to Ebay. I did however downgrade to the basic store and don't focus on the Ebay store as much as I once did. The changes that took place, while I know they have every right to do them-seemed very unfair to alot of store owners.

Bonanza is the less known selling venue, it IS by far the friendlest place I have ever encountered. The sellers pull together to actually help one another. BUT there are obstacles to overcome with Bonanza, like the fact their homepage features clothing- which makes the whole site look like that is all that is available for sale there. It is FAR from the truth.

The other con for Bonanza is that YOU are responsible for advertising your items, this is no easy task when it is lesser known than the "giant" Ebay. This is where it becomes vital to having the other members help out (remember how I said they were the friendlest).

The POSITIVE to Bonanza is that without all the added fees, the prices are much, much lower in almost all the items for sale there. There is no listing fee, period. This is nice because you really can build up your store.

The downside to Bonanza and no added fees, is that unless YOU really take control of your "booth" and advertise, sales are very slow!

Ebay has its positives, while they are few compared to Bonanza. They are one of the "Giants" in the selling venue. Buyers have learned to go there when they want something, they enjoy the excitment of winning the auction. (Bonanza does not have auctions) Being that it is so well known, sales are quicker on Ebay.

The biggest downside to Ebay is that the prices are so high, only due to ALL the fees that Ebay and Paypal impose. The only way a seller can make it on Ebay is to charge almost outlandish prices.

Again, they both have there ups and down-sides. I didn't fully pull away from Ebay because I hate to put all my eggs in one basket. Well, at least until I know how things are going to go. I have seen some pull-out from Ebay completly and turn to Bonanza, unfortunately they are not doing well or have now given up.

I would love to know others thoughts on this. Experiences? Really anything at all on either of these venues or other venues.

I am not about to give up on this because of a few bad experiences with either the selling venue or customers, BUT would like to hear that I am not the "odd one out".

If interested you can visit either of my stores:

Ebay click here
Bonanza click here