Bonanzle Success! You get out of it what you put into it!

The Time Has Come..

2009-09-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

It was inevitable. I knew the day would come but I just never thought it would be this soon... After over 300 items sold and over 220 positive feedback...

We opened a new Bonanzle booth!

After almost a year on Bonanzle selling both Waggin Tails & Wet Noses Organic Dog Treats along side of our other items we decided it was time to separate the two. Waggin Tails & Wet Noses has continued to grow and expand and it was getting to the point that we felt it was better to have two booths.

Our original booth will now be solely Waggin Tails & Wet Noses Organic Dog Treats & Supplies and our new booth will soon be filled with everything from clothing & household items to books & holiday items. I have been working hard over the last few days listing in the new booth and we already have almost 150 items listed, with many more items to come.

We also bit the bullet and have signed up for Bonanzle Plus Membership on BOTH booths!! We love the features that come with the Plus membership and I have missed having our membership so after much thought we are paying members again and couldn't be more excited about it! We have our new booth panels all set up in both booths and we think they look pretty good and we hope you all agree! We are super excited about having 2 booths on Bonanzle now and expanding our items we have to offer. We hope that you will like our new Bonanzle booth and will stop by soon!

The rules are the rules..

2009-08-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

My last blog (Vested Interest?) touched on a very hot topic as of late in online selling. RULES! Every site has them. Some sites have a lot and some only a few but all of them have some sort of rules. When you make the choice to set up shop on any selling site you are agreeing to follow their rules. After all you are just a tenant in their house and if you fail to follow their rules you can be evicted.

After my enlightening experience with rules on Bonanzle I found myself thinking more and more about rules on selling sites and the way sellers & buyers respond to them. As I said in my last blog after putting so much effort, time, attention, sweat, & tears into something you begin to feel as if you have a vested interest in it but really you don't. Your sweat & tears, time & effort do not make you a partner, an owner, an investor, or a member of the board. They just make you a good member & tenant. I know that is a hard nut to swallow (trust me I know) but it is what it is. You are but a tenant who is bound by their rules. The great thing about selling online is that even though you are a tenant and bound by their rules you have the right at anytime to just walk away. No 30 days notice. No penalty for early lease termination. At anytime you can just close up shop and walk away with no explanation required. As an online seller we each must look at the TOU for each site and determine which set of TOU is right for you and your business. Sometimes you may have to sacrifice one thing for another though.

On Ebay you have the traffic to make regular sales BUT you are limited in payment options to offer your buyers, your ability to leave realistic and accurate feedback for problematic buyers, and I know there is more. On Bonanzle you are allowed the freedom to choose which payment options to offer your buyers, you are allowed to leave accurate and truthful feedback for buyers, and much more BUT Bonanzle does not have the traffic that Ebay does and you have to work at promoting your booth to get the buyers to you. So you have to decide what rules fit your needs and business best! Do you NEED different payment options for your buyers? Do you NEED to make sales at a steady pace without much effort from you? You have to look at the rules set in place by the "landlord" and ultimately decide which rules you can live with and which you can not. As a "landlord" Ebay, Bonanzle, Ecrater, etc. all have the right to change the rules at any time. And in return we as sellers have the right to decide if we can live with these rules or not. The choice is ours. If we choose to stay then we must follow the rules whether we agree with them or not.

I know this may sound harsh but it is the reality. You can stay and follow the rules or you can close up shop and find somewhere else that the rules are more favorable to you. The choice is yours.

Vested Interested?

2009-08-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

The last week on Bonanzle has been hard for me. I am a very passionate person. Sometimes my passion can be misinterpreted as inciting drama but that is not my intent. I am a redhead and I tend to react before calming down and thinking about things from another perspective. That is why I think I have had the issues I have lately on Bonanzle. I don’t always agree with the way things are done but ultimately how I feel on the way things are handled doesn’t matter. I have made Bonanzle my home but it is not MY site. I can’t make the rules and I must follow the rules that have been put in place whether I agree with them or not. As much as I would like to think that I have a say in things I don’t. I am not an owner, a partner, a board member, or an investor. I am just a member of this site.

I want to see Bonanzle & all the wonderful sellers here prosper and grow. Upon reflection I do better understand why some of the rules, that I didn’t at first understand, are in place. I am a member on a 2.0 site which has NO rules and things get INSANE! After a visit there today and realizing that Bonanzle too could turn into the free for all that the 2.0 site I am a member of made me realize exactly why the rules are in place.

So from the bottom of my fiery redhead heart I am sorry if my passionate posts came across as inciting drama. That was never my intent. As always I will try to keep my fiery hind end in check and think before I click save reply.

Putting your best foot forward..

2009-07-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

I have touched on this before but in light of some of the things I have seen as of late I feel it is a fitting topic to revisit.

When a person is shopping online they are limited to certain things to evaluate the item & seller. The buyer has to trust that the seller description is accurate and true and that the photographs are an accurate depiction of the item they will receive. What can you do as a seller to make sure you are presenting a trustworthy image? There are many things you can do as a seller to put forth a trustworthy and positive image for buyers. These are just a few..

1.) Provide detailed descriptions & accurate photographs - Don't try to hide the flaws! Nothing is a bigger turn off for a buyer then to receive an item that has flaws that were not described in the listing. Buyers who are left feeling duped are not buyers who are likely to return or even recommend you to someone else. If there is a chip photograph it the chip and put the detail about the chip in the listing.

2.) Communicate with your buyer - Send your buyer emails, Bmails, etc. when you receive their purchase info. Let them know when to expect shipment & what mode of shipment it will be sent. Send your buyer another email once the item has shipped and a follow up email if you feel so inclined a few days after confirmation of delivery.

3.) Present a positive image - Buyers see more then we may ever know and you should always think about what you are about to post and how it reflects on your business if a buyer were to read it. The image you present online is the only thing a buyer has to gauge their opinion of you and your business on. One nasty post could cost you many buyers! I recommend googling yourself & any IDs you use. You will shocked at the things that show up!

4.) Package for success - When your buyer receives their item the packaging makes an impression on them. It is up to you to decide weather that impression will be a good one or a not so good one. Even when using recycled packing materials you can still make a good impression. It isn't so much about WHAT you use but HOW you use it! Take time in packaging and make sure to include those little touches that will let the buyer know you took the time & care to package their purchase well. Attention to detail is a great thing to have! I use newspaper many times for packaging on purchases but I take the time to put it in neatly and leave an packing slip, business card, etc. right on top so the buyer knows I didn't just throw their purchase in a box and slap a label on it. Put a little thank you note or even a card with a coupon code for a % of their next purchase. These are the touches that make a buyer feel like their purchase counted as well as encourage repeat sales.

5.) Promote don't spam - Email marketing, forum promo posts, direct mailings, tweeting, blogging, etc. are all wonderful & effective promotion tools. However, over promoting or spamming can have a negative effect on your sales. Buyer who elect to provide you with their email address are trusting that you will send them promotional emails on future specials. They are not wanting 3 emails a day with exact same information over & over. That is a very fast way to turn a potential return buyer into a annoyed never to return buyer. The same goes for Tweeting & forum promo posts.

I am sure there are more suggestions that could be made but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment. Your image as a seller online is based on the perception a buyer receives from the information they see!

It has been awhile..

2009-06-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in awhile. I had some health problems and was offline for about a month. I am back and eager to get back in action! The time away gave me some time to think about my internet sales and Bonanzle.

I love Bonanzle and I love that the boyz have offered a place for people like me with limited online knowledge to be able to sell without needing a 300 page how to manual. I love the social aspect of Bonanzle but found myself getting wrapped up in the social part and not focusing enough on my business. After some time off I now have a better handle on my time management on Bonanzle and making sure that I am spending my time effectively. Everyone is so kind, helpful, & fun to talk to that it is so easy to lose track of time in the forums and not get any work done.

I realized while on my break that I needed some balance in my life and I found that balance not in time off from Bonanzle & work but by adding more work to my plate!! That balance came with my decision to start selling AVON. I have always loved AVON products and use many AVON products myself due to my sensitive skin. I never really realized just how many AVON products I used until my District Manager asked me and I started listing them. I am really enjoying selling AVON. Don't get me wrong I love my internet sales and my Waggin Tails & Wet Noses business but those things keep me home most of the time. AVON gets me out of the house and meeting people & talking to them which is something that I have missed since losing my job last July.

My husband laughs at me all the time. I have 2 businesses now which are 2 very different businesses at that. I enjoy them both for different reasons. Waggin Tails & Wet Noses is my passion. I started WTWN because I cared about what my dogs ate and because I wanted to offer a product to others that is both affordable and healthy for their pet. I started AVON because it offers me an opportunity to sell a product that I love and to meet new people. Interestingly enough as different as they are they are actually really simular. Most people who buy WTWN products for their pets do so because they love their dogs and want to take care of them and give them the best and most people who buy AVON do so because they want to take care of themselves and their families with good quality products.

I am rambling again.. lol Anyways.. I am excited to be back and raring to go!! I will also be adding some more helpful tips for pet owners on my TheHealthyMutt blog in the days to come.

Visit me on bonanzle at www.bonanzle.com/booths/shesmrswright
Shop my online AVON E-Store & have items shipped direct to you with free shipping (use coupon code FSWER at checkout)!! www.youravon.com/shastawright

Shasta Wright
Independent Avon Sales Representative
Certified Beauty Advisor

Interested in becoming an AVON Independent Sales Representative? Send me an email! You can get started for just $10!!

Expanding on - Watch What You Post.... It May Come Back to Bite You in the Tush!

2009-01-28T21:16:00.000-08:00

In my last post I got into how your negative posts and comments can come back to haunt you but what about how those posts effect the sites you sell on?

To buyers who are nothing more than buyers each and every experience they have with a seller to them is a direct reflection on that site. In addition so is the things they see in the forums or when they Google the site.. When people are not sure about a site they many times will Google that site to see what kind of things are being said about that site and many times things like forum posts with the site name in the title will also pop up. So that thread you started 2 months ago ranting about how you have not gotten any sales and put Bonanzle in the title, yeah that comes up in a google search! If that is a buyers first "review" of Bonanzle they read what kind of message is that sending? What does that post say about the sellers on Bonanzle and what does that thread say about Bonanzle? Would that post of you complaining about your lack of sales inspire someone to trust this new site? Would that post make buyers WANT to shop on Bonanzle? On the Internet we have the wonderful ability to revisit what we say before we hit send/save. We have the ability to stop and think about what we are about to "say".

We all LOVE Bonanzle! Many of us have made Bonanzle our home and take great pride in our home. We put hours each week into promoting our booths & Bonanzle. We singing the praises of Bonanzle to anyone who will listen. We ALL want to see Bonanzle succeed and become what we all know it can and will be. However, one bad post or one bad thread could undo what people have worked so hard to do. We have taken our precious time, time away from our families and friends, to help build Bonanzle and I would hate to see one moment of frustration drive away the buyers and sellers we are all working so hard to reach.

We all have bad days and we say things we wish we could take back and on Bonanzle we have the ability to do just that. I challenge everyone to delete any negative comments or any negative threads that they started. Get rid of it. You don't want that coming back to haunt you or Bonanzle later on down the road.

Watch What You Post.. It May Come Back to Bite You in the Tush!

2009-01-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

So often in life we all hit a low and feel like things are hopeless.. In that moment we make statements that are many times negative. In that one moment of frustration for lack of sales or a bad experience with a buyer/seller we are possibly doing more harm to our business then we may ever realize. Before you post that comment or start that thread think first.. If I was a buyer would and read this comment from a seller would it turn me off? Would I want to buy from this person?

Google is great and brings buyers to Bonanzle everyday but Google could also be your down fall if a buyer googles you and finds negative comments or maybe even worse(I am WELL KNOWN for googling people before I buy). So it is not just what you say in the Bonanzle forums but ANY forum where you use the same screen name as Bonanzle.. You are one of the biggest componients to your business and if you are not potraying a positive attitude you may soon find potential buyers going to the other seller who potrays themself in a positive way in all venues not just the booth chat or the bonanzle forum.

We all have bad days and we all lose out cool from time to time but when you are a seller that one moment can come back to haunt you for a long time.. So, before you make that negative post or start that negative thread take a moment and think about how that will look to buyers and then walk away. Open a word document and write every negative thing you want to say then save it. Scream into a pillow. Chat with a friend on AIM, Yahoo, Google Chat, etc. and vent... Get up and just walk away for awhile.. Do whatever you have to do to not let that moment of frustration come back to haunt you later...

2009! We are off to a great start!!

2009-01-18T23:42:00.000-08:00

So far 2009 has been good to us. We have been busy expanding our product line and optimizing our listings for Google Base and the hard work appears to be paying off. January (after only 18 days) has been our best month so far!! Sales seem to be coming a little easier and according to Google Analytics we are getting a fair amount of traffic from search engines which is FANTASTIC! So far this year we have been so busy we have not had much time to promote but I definitely need to apply myself and set aside more time each day for promoting our booth..

I am so excited about what 2009 and all that it has to offer!!

www.thebonz.com/TheHealthyMutt

Goals for 2009

2008-12-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight during the Bonanzle Brainstorming Talkshoe it was decided that next week we would talk about New Year's Resolutions for Online Merchants & predictions for e-commerce. So here I am ready to set some goals for ShesMrsWright's Corner and more importantly Waggin Tails & Wet Noses Organic Gourmet Dog Treats & Toys.

Increase treat selection (More flavor & shape selection)
Expand toy line
Research and develop new products to add to the Waggin Tails & Wet Noses product line
Increase Customer Base through a referral program
Restructure package sizing of treats offering better selection & easier buying experience for buyers
New Packaging
Continued Excellent Customer Service

We are super excited about 2009 and have some great plans for Waggin Tails & Wet Noses. We are working very hard to provide our customers with affordable safe & healthy products for their fur babies and continue to expand and offer more products and options for our customers. We also are planning some exciting promotions for this coming year. Make sure to check out Waggin Tails & Wet Noses Blog often for more information on new products & promotions!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

www.thebonz.com/TheHealthyMutt
Email - TheHealthyMutt@thebonz.com

AuctionWally & Bonanzle Brainstorming Links

Tonight on the Bonanzle Brainstorming Talkshoe

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.j…

Oh and tonights Brainstorming Bonanzle you can read chat notes here:

http://auctionwally.com/spout/

and catch up on all episodes 1 through 6 of the show itself (not the chat) here:

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.j…

The Secret to Success

2008-12-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

The secret to success is really no secret at all.. Just like all good things in life success comes from hard work & time. Success does not fall in your lap. You have to work for it. I am by no means an expert but I keep getting asked what I am doing that is getting me sales & booth views so I will share what I have done..

1.) Let your friends & family work for you! I sent emails with links to my booth and a bit of information about Bonanzle to all my family & friends. I asked them to not only check out my booth & Bonanzle but to also forward it to everyone in their address book & to ask them to forward it on as well.

2.) Promote, promote, promote. I have promoted on other forums. Ones that I am very active on as well as ones that I just joined but specialty forums. For example I sell Organic Gourmet Dog Treats & Toys so I joined Dog forums as well as specialty groups for people who are concerned about their dog's diet & health.

3.) Stay competitave. I price my product competitively. I am not out to get rich quick. I do what I do because I am passionate about it and I enjoy it. Making money is what I need to do to be able to continue to pursue my passion.

4.) Get your URL out there. I have listed my booth URL in every place I can find. KimsKorner's Blog has a great list put together by another Bonanzle member which has TONS of places you can promote your booth. http://myworldmylifemythoughtskim.blogspot.com/2008/12/huge-list-of-places-online-to-promote.html

5.) Focus your efforts. I upgraded to Plus Membership on Bonanzle and added Google Analytics to my booth. This has helped me figure out what promoting works and what doesn't so that I can better focus my time spent promoting.

6.) Staying positive. People like to buy from happy positive people. Complaining and venting about lack of sales or booth views is a huge turn off for potential buyers. 9 times out of 10 there is someone else out there who has the same items as you and if you have a negative attitude buyers will look elsewhere.

7.) Know your product. If you are selling it you need to know something about it. You need to be able to answer questions about the item which will help your buyers make up their mind. If they ask you about one of your items and you don't know the answer they may go look elsewhere for someone who does.

8.) It is all about presentation. Make sure your listings contain detailed information & clear pictures. One sentence descriptions and fuzzy pictures do not make your products attractive to buyers. Make sure your listings are easy to read. Tiny print, light colors, fancy print, etc. may look pretty but if the buyer can't read the listing they may pass you by.

9.) Be patient. Some items have appeal no matter what time of year or economic climate. Other products are seasonal or a bit out of some people's reach due to the economy. It will happen. You will start to get booth views and sales but somethings just take time. Rome wasn't build over night. If things are slow take that time to promote, blog, get your URL out there. Use your slow times wisely. If you keep busy promoting and building your booth's exposure before you know it you will be getting booth views & sales!

A day in the life of a Bonanzle-aholic

2008-12-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

8:00 am - Wake up after less than 2 hours of sleep after a long all niter on Bonanzle
8:01 am - Boot up computer and log on to Bonanzle. Check forum, messages, items sold, and booth comments.
8:05 am - Down a double shot mocha cappuccino
8:06 am - Check forum, booth, & my bonanzle page for any changes.
8:07 am - Make first forum post of the day
8:08 am - Refresh forum for new posts
8:09 am - Refresh forum for new posts
8:10 am - Bump threads from last night
8:11 am - Check booth & my bonanzle page. Return to forum.
8:12 am - Get tired of clicking back and forth open new tabs for forum, booth, and my bonanzle page.
8:15 am - 9:00 am flip back & forth from booth to forum refreshing forum and replying to posts.
9:01 am - 2nd cup of double shot cappuccino
9:05 am - Rush to bathroom
9:10 am - Resume flipping back & forth refreshing forum
10:00 am - Realize you forgot to feed the kids
10:01 am - Hand kids a box of cereal and resume refreshing forum
10:20 am - Decide to finally do some much needed housework but check forum one last time. Find interesting thread and get engrossed.
12:00 pm - Realize over an hour & a half has passed and you still have not started housework get up and start a load of laundry
12:05 pm - You get a sale. Message buyer thanking them for purchase and inform them it will be shipped tomorrow.
12:08 pm - Go to forum & post thread about sale
12:09 - 12:15 pm - Do BoBo dance around living room
12:16 pm - Refresh forum for new posts
12:17 pm - 12:30 pm - Package & print postage for sale. Schedule pickup.
12:31 pm - Check booth. Refresh forum and find that someone is having a Bonanza sale. Rush to their booth to check it out
12:32 pm - 12:45 pm - Check out Bonanza sale and add items to wish list.. Purchase that purse you have had your eye on and pray it is not delivered when hubby is home.
12:46 pm - Return to forum
12:47 pm - Realize you have not eaten yet today. Get engrossed in forum topic lose total track of time.
1:30 pm - Realize the mail carrier has come for the day and rush to gather your goodies you bought during the last TMT.
1:32 - 1:45 pm - Hide all purchases and evidence of those purchases before hubby returns from work
1:46 pm - Refresh forum and post about your goodies which arrived in today's mail
1:50 pm - Leave feedback for seller's
2:00 pm - Realize you still have not eaten today and that you have no groceries because you have not been to the store in forever. Start grocery list.
2:05 pm - Get side tracked while writing out grocery list by a forum topic about how to promote your booth.
2:10 - 3:00 pm - Visit sites listed in forum topic to promote your booth & bonanzle
3:05 pm - Hubby returns from work. Spent 5 minutes trying to think of what you accomplished today. Tell him about your sale.
3:10 pm - Refresh forum
3:15 pm - Realize you still have not finished that grocery list & hubby is asking about dinner.
3:20 - 3:30 pm - Work on grocery list
3:31 pm - Get distracted from grocery list again Otto says "You sold it"!
3:32 - 3:40 - Do BoBo dance around the living room while hubby looks at you like you have lost your mind.
3:41 pm - Kids begin to complain cereal is gone and they are hungry. Tell kids to tell daddy to order a pizza.
3:45 pm - Hubby is complaining he has no clean socks or underwear. Tell him they are in the wash they need to be put in dryer. Listen to hubby mutter under his breath as he puts clothes in dryer.
3:50 pm - Refresh forum & check booth. Someone left you a comment in your real time chat visit their booth and reply
3:55 pm - Email buyer to thank them for their purchase and tell them their purchase will be shipped tomorrow. Package, print postage, and schedule pickup.
4:10 pm - Refresh forum
4:11 pm - Decide to go tag some items post thread for people to join you.
4:15 - 5:20 pm - Visit random booths browsing & tagging.. Report your awesome finds back to the forum
5:25 pm - Pizza arrives. Family eats you tell them you are not hungry you will grab some later.
5:26 pm - Refresh forum
5:27 pm - Check booth and visit booths of those who left you comments & tags...
7:00 pm - Newbie got their first sale! Celebrate with them.. Do BoBo around living room.
7:05 - 9:00 pm - Add new listings to your booth.. Fine tone other listings.
9:05 pm - Check Google Analytics report & Google Base
9:10 pm - Refresh forum
9:15 pm - Newbie introduces themself in forum. Welcome them and wish them much sucess...
9:22 pm - Realize hubby & kids have gone to bed and that you have not eaten. Grab slice of cold pizza & refresh forum
9:23 pm - Newbie needs help with setting up google checkout. Walk them through the set up step by step
10:00 pm - Start to get tired from lack of sleep.. Take 2 ginseng & drink cold cup of double shot mocha cappucinno
10:09 pm - Refresh forum, check booth, & my bonanzle page
10:10 pm - Reply to question about one of your items
10:18 pm - Otto says "You sold it"
10:19 - 10:25 pm - Do BoBo dance around living room.
10:26 pm - Message buyer to let them know their package will be shipped tomorrow.
10:30 pm - Run around trying to package item, print postage, and schedule pick up.
10:45 pm - Rush to the bathroom
11:52 pm - Refresh forum
11:53 pm - Break your clicky thingy on your mouse from refreshing to forum
11:54 pm - 12:05 am - Freak out about broken mouse..
12:06 am - Post thread in forum about broken clicky thingy. Learn how to use keys to navigate without mouse.
12:10 am - Refresh forum
12:11 am - Get involved in discussion about Bonanzle addiction. Lost track of time
1:08 am - Realize you never got to the grocery store. Find change for kids to buy lunch at school.
1:13 am - Refresh forum, check booth, & my bonanzle page
1:48 am - Say good night and sign off
1:54 am - Receive email from Otto saying "You sold it"
1:56 am - Sign back in to Bonanzle to check on your sale.
2:00 am - Send message to buyer thanking them for their purchase and letting them know their package will be shipped the following day.
2:06 am - Post thread in forum about your sale
2:11 - 2:14 am - Do BoBo dance in your seat. It is to late for dancing around the living room
2:20 am - Give up on going to bed start pot of coffee
2:29 am - Refresh forum
2:33 - 3:15 am - Bounce from thread to thread reading things you missed through out the day and responding
3:20 am - Refresh forum
3:23 am - Decide to package item purchased before heading to bed.
3:40 am - Say good night again to everyone in forum & sign off
3:45 - 4:04 am - Watch Home page for your items
4:06 am - Visit your booth to see if anyone is there
Sometime after 4:15 am - Fall asleep at the computer
5:22 am - Wake up with your face on the keyboard
5:25 am - Check forum before shutting down computer
5:27 am - Login to respond to post in forum topic. Check my bonanzle page before signing out.
5:32 am - Log off of Bonanzle & shut down computer
5:45 am - Hubby wakes up to get ready for work. You try to pretend like you didn't just spend all night on Bonanzle again but fail when he sees the impression of the keyboard keys on your cheek.
6:02 am - Finally hit get to bed.. Alarm goes off in less than 2 hours.. Yeah I think I can make it that long without checking in on Bonanzle...

The Rewards of Hard Work

2008-12-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

I have now had my booth open on Bonanzle for 23 days. It doesn't even seem that long. Things are so much easier over there and everyone is so friendly time just seems to fly! Not to say that I haven't been working hard these last 3+ weeks because I have. I have been promoting my tushy off and it is really paying off!

I came to Bonanzle with absolutely no Internet following and in 3 weeks time I have sold 83 items and have had 4,000 booth views. Thanks to Google analytics I also know that all my promoting is paying off. Over 60% of my traffic is coming from referrals (promoting on other sites & email) & search engines (which means google base is working well too). Not only is my promoting paying off but so is my attention to customer service.

I started at Bonanzle with 1 lonely little feedback from the one and only purchase I made on e*ay and in 3 weeks time I have accumulated 45 positive feedback! I started off as a buyer on the Internet so I know how important it was to me for my purchases to arrive quickly and as described. So, it is important to me that I provide the same for my buyers. I can also attest that it is the same for other sellers on Bonanzle as well. Each & every purchase I have made on Bonanzle has arrived quickly and was as discribed.

I am loving it at Bonanzle not only as a seller but as a buyer too! If you haven't tried out Bonanzle yet you should.. You will not be sorry you did! Cli ck here to join

Bonanzle Buying - MamasCreations

2008-12-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

So after my long drawn out blog about my first 16 days on Bonanzle I decided I would take a moment and talk about the other side of Bonanzle. The buying side! Yes I am there to sell but I am also a buyer. I joined this community and made it my home and I try to support my home as much as I can. I have made several small purchases over the last 2+ weeks and have been delighted with every single last purchase.

Today, I returned home from shipping my very first International Buyer's package. Maybe I am a dork but I was excited to learn about shipping outside of the USA and excited that in such a short time my booth had reached buyers outside the USA.
Anyways I am getting off track. I got home to find a package of things I had purchased on Bonanzle. Today my Homemade Handcrafted Soap arrived from MamasCreations (http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/mamascreations). I was excited about these purchases when I made them and I have to tell you they far exceeded my expectations. I bought the Peppermint Pumice Foot Soap & the Lime Loofah soap and even though I have yet to try them out I can tell you already they are AWESOME! I can't wait to get in the shower and use my Peppermint Pumice Soap on my poor tired dry feet. MamasCreations was so awesome to do business with. I will definitely be going back for more of her products. I am currently eyeing her lotions. If they are half as good as her soaps then they are worth the cost (which is super affordable $ $5.50 for a 4oz. bottle).

If you haven't stopped by MamasCreations yet I encourage you to check it out! You won't be sorry that you did!

Quitting is not an option

2008-12-05T22:32:00.001-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that there is one thing that gets my goat more than anything and that is quitters. Nothing drives me over the edge more than when people throw their arms up in the air and give up. How the heck do you expect to succeed in life if you quit at everything? You won't! Nothing in life is free & the biggest rewards in life are the ones you have to work the hardest for. I have always gone almost over board in everything I ever tried in life and my Bonanzle booth (www.bonanzle.com/booths/shesmrswright) is one of them. I have officially been selling online for 16 days today. Those 16 days that I have been selling have been spent at what I consider one of the best sites but I maybe bias because after all it is my home.

I have had such great success on Bonanzle (http://www.bonanzle.com/) in such a short time. As a new seller online I had no following. I had no past buyers from other sites to email and tell about Bonanzle. I had one site that I was a member of their forum and MySpace. That was it! With the aid of my friend Kim (www.bonanzle.com/booths/kimskorner) and the help of all the amazing people on Bonanzle including "the guys" who are always around to help us out I started listing items in my booth and telling the people I knew of online about it. Things started slow and those first 4 or 5 days I thought to myself on more than one occasion what the heck did I start and how am I going to make my online selling a success? Quitting wasn't an option for me so I went with what I knew. Family & Friends. I sent emails to all my family & friends telling them about Bonanzle and what I was doing and asking them to forward the message on. After that I felt a little more confident so I went to MySpace and posted a bulletin or 2 and even a blog. Next thing I knew I had my first sale. Then another and another. I had 4 sales in one day! I couldn't believe it! Me! I had 4 sales online! I have sold in local shops before but this was totally different and I had to think of more ways to promote myself if I was going to be a success. I couldn't sit back and expect the buyers to find me and I couldn't expect other people to do it for me! I had to get to work.

One of the main things I sell online is Organic Gourmet Dog Treats. So I decided to utilize my mom's business. My mom owns her own Painting & Wallpapering business and has been in business for almost 20 years now. She is always finding herself working in homes with dogs so I armed her with a HUGE supply of dog treats and a fist full of cards. The first person she gave a little bag of treats to and a card emailed me that evening wanting to know where they could get more. I happily returned her email with a link to my booth and attached my flier for her to forward along to her friends. I also told her that I would give her 20% off her purchases if any of her friends made a purchase. She was elated. I know had a game plan. So then I made up another HUGE batch if treats and sent them to my dad in Florida along with a fist full of cards with my booth address. After all the point of selling online is to expand your sales base beyond your local community. Now I was getting somewhere. After a day or two I received an email for a man who lives in the same Condo complex as my dad. He wanted more information about the treats. I gladly emailed him back with the flier and the same offer I had extended to the woman before.

Now I was getting somewhere. Here I was a new online seller and I was making sales! I was getting hits to my booth. I was getting inquiries. Things were going well. Then I noticed something. Other people, seasoned sellers at that, were saying they weren't getting sales. How could this be? How are they not getting sales and I am? After a lot of thinking, researching, chatting, and listening to the things these people were saying I figured it out. They were expecting things to just happen. They expected buyers to just find them. Here they were seasoned sellers and they were sitting back waiting for things to happen! Was I wrong? Is that how things are supposed to be? No it can't be. You don't open up a new store in the mall without any advertising and expect people to know you are there. Why would you spend all that time creating a booth and loading it with items and then not get out there and tell people about it? Why would you join such an awesome place as Bonanzle and not want to tell people about it? I don't understand! Why? Why would you not want to promote your business? Why would you not want to make sure that you are a success on a site that charges you absolutely NOTHING, unless you sell something, to be there? I just don't understand. For me quitting is not an option. I am going to keep plugging away promoting Bonanzle & my booth in every way I can think of because after all you get out of life what you put into it...

60+ items sold after only 16 days... In my opinion not to bad for the new girl...