It had to happen sooner or later... Google brings the power of Search to eCommerce!

Why oh Why eBay, did you not think of That!

Hmmmm - maybe eBay can sign up for Google Commerce Search and scrap this whole "finding" experiment... Maybe with Google Search installed on eBay.com, the term Best Match might actually mean that the best product matching the search terms entered will be presented.

Oh - what a novel idea - Actually allowing the person doing the search to determine what it is they are searching for...

But I Digress - eBay and Google burned bridges long ago and ever since that time, Google has grown stronger while eBay - well we all know where eBay's numbers are - in the hands of PayPal!

So... what is Google Commerce Search anyway? (Get most of the scoop at this link Google Support)

Evidently Google has a few tricks up their collective sleeves...

Google is making it easier than ever to improve search in your own online store

From Google:

How it Works

Once you've signed up for Google Commerce Search, your site administrator will follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Submit your product data to the Google Merchant Center and Google Product Search. Visit www.google.com/merchants to upload your items via data feeds, direct uploads, or use our API.

Step 2: Customize the look and feel of your on-site search engine. Log into the administrative console to manage product promotions, upload synonym dictionaries, and control parametric search options.

Step 3: Analyze your site's traffic and search effectiveness. View custom reports on top queries, special feature usage and more.

Benefits

Search is a critical part of the shopping experience; in fact, 71% of online shoppers use keyword searches to find products (eTailing Group). Google Commerce Search addresses this need by offering an easy-to-deploy solution with Google speed and relevancy.

Increase your website conversions -- and sales

The average conversion rates of retail sites is barely 3% (Forrester). Yet, with effective tactics, retailers can achieve a much higher conversion rate. For instance, the top 10 visitor-to-buyer conversion rates ranged from 16% to 45% (Nielsen Online). Effective search can bridge this gap considerably: customers who use the search box on e-commerce sites convert at nearly three times the rate of general browsers (MarketingSherpa).

Increase customer lifetime value

Forrester projects that 47% of online retailer revenue comes from repeat shoppers. By enhancing shopper experience, Google Commerce Search can improve customer loyalty, and ultimately increase customer lifetime value.

Deploy within days

Google Commerce Search is an entirely hosted, software-as-a-service offering. You simply upload your product information to Google Merchant Center, and Google Commerce Search intelligently leverages the product feed and provides your website with search capabilities.

Easy to scale

With Google Commerce Search, you are leveraging the powerful Google platform: the speed, relevance, reliability, and certainly scalability. As your customer base grows, you can scale your search solution effortlessly - without adding any servers or other infrastructure.

Add features -- without upgrading

By deploying a Software-as-a-Service solution, you'll be able to enjoy the ever-growing number of Google features and updates automatically, without any sort of deployment or upgrade on your end.

Measure and streamline

Retailers who excel at understanding and responding to usage metrics are able to improve conversion rates by as much as 24%, while less responsive companies' conversions tend to stay flat (Jupiter Research). Google Commerce Search provides you advanced reporting tools to measure and streamline - so you can maximize the effectiveness of your website.

What it Wont Do:

Using Google Commerce Search will not improve your rankings within Google Product Search or in Google.com searches. Google Commerce Search will allow you to promote and order your product listings when users search for items on your website.

This is the first in a series I would like to call "What is Scott Doing Now"?

It seems that I have "gone missing", people ask me where have I been, what am I doing?  Well, I have been busy and have not had the time required to keep this and many of my other blogs current.

I love my Trading Assistant Journal readers just as much as I hope they appreciate me, and in fact I want to thank the readers who have sent me notes of concern, wishing me well, and asking me to come back.  I am still here, I just have been so busy working for clients and on my own projects, that I have not had time to keep up with a lot of the stuff I used to comment on here in the Journal.

So without further adieu, Part 1 - "What is Scott Doing Now"?

BonanzleStore

BonanzleStore Opening Late Summer 2009

In our vast eCommerce world Bonanzle.com has been one of the hottest topics of discussion for over a year now .

Late Summer 2009

As a result, my company, iBusinessLogic has created a new way to optimize a Bonanzle merchants business and Internet marketing capabilities with what we call the BonanzleStore.

A "BonanzleStore" (launching late summer 2009) is an outside website, separated from Bonanzle and allowing the merchant to brand themselves with a completely customized eCommerce Web 2.0 Site.  This website (A BonanzleStore) will include many features never seen before in eCommerce.

The main feature is a completely automated and constantly updated presentation of the merchants products for sale.  One inventory, two selling locations - i.e. list an item on Bonanzle, and it will appear both on Bonanzle and on the merchants BonanzleStore site. Sell that same item, and it will be removed from both locations. No chance of over selling inventory.

Combining the ease of use of Bonanzle itself, along with the automated Googlebase feed and Oodle feed, the simple checkout using PayPal, Cash, Check, Google Checkout and other options, makes this a very efficient and symbiotic relationship between a venue (Bonanzle) and a Merchant Home website - (BonanzleStore). Where the website offers a home base and more, the venue offers simplicity and ease of use.  Where the venue is clean and efficient yet sparse and mostly unbrandable, the home base allows for unlimited expansion, branding and content dedicated to promoting the merchant and his or her products.

The two work together as a team to bring more traffic and more sales to any merchant who uses each to its full advantage.  With this unique combination of a website working with a venue, most merchants will enjoy a freedom to express themselves and promote their company like  they have not experienced before.  This is web 2.0 and social marketing meets eCommerce shopping cart.  BonanzleStore combines many of the best of both worlds and makes it easy to manage both a website and a venue with ease.

To see a working example of Alpha2 (Soon to be Beta) of our Bonanzlestore please go to one of my sites: http://allbusinessauctions.com/blog/bonanzlestore-demo/ here you will see the products of the Delectably Yours Decor (Bonanzle Booth DelectablyYours) presented on a completely off topic website/blog.

BonanzleStore Demo

These products have been parsed by category automatically by our software and are automatically presented on pages on the site with pagination which can be adjusted according to the users preferences.

The most interesting result of this BonanzleStore system is found when one selects any of the titles or any of the description content and then pastes that title or description content into Google search.

Delectibly Yours Decor

Remember, these products, presented in the demo on All Business Auctions, are showing the same exact titles and descriptions as they do on DelectablyYours Bonanzle Booth, her own website www.delectably-yours.com, on eBay and on Ooodle. Some of these products have been indexed on her own website for months.

In most cases, when using the title of a product displayed on the demo, the search results will include the allbusinessauctions.com/blog/bonanzlestore-demo as the number one, two or three result in Google.

These products are sold by other sites and other merchants, Delectably Yours Decor has worked hard to optimize their own website for search and her titles usually are ranked on the first page either from her store, from Oodle or from Bonanzle or eBay, yet our simple demo pages on ABA/blog a site with completely unrelated content (I don’t write about interior decor on that site) is ranking extremely highly in Google (usually outranking either Bonanzle or eBay and sometimes ranked #1) and has done so since the first day we installed the Bonanzlestore alpha test.

Bonanzle - What do You Like About It?

I logged into my Bonanzle.com account today and proceeded to the My Bonanzle home page.  This is the central hub for all Bonanzle users, buyer or seller and serves as a control panel/information resource.  Today I noticed one interesting update:

This site currently has 49096 users

This seems like a momentous amount of users and at the rate Bonanzle seems to be gaining each day, the 50,000 user mark should be here very soon.  With this in mind, I thought a poll would be an interesting way to gauge the real attraction to Bonanzle.com.

This of course is not a scientific poll as the questions came from my noggin but I think the answers will reveal what it is that has everyone so interested in this (as I said in a previous article) "Bodacious eBay competitor".  (Not that we are in any way comparing this to eBay).

So what is it?  What do you like about Bonanzle, what do you dislike?

(Pencil in your answers if I have not provided enough options in the poll, or simply comment below....

It seems that Debbie Levitt CEO of ASWAS, an eBay Stores designer and consulting company based in Boston, MA and a personal friend, has come out very strongly against the grass roots marketing efforts of Bonanzle.com.  A Prominent blogger and also a friend, Henrietta of the Red Ink Diary has responded quite directly to Debbie's take on the Bonanzle Action Club.

Henrietta has been a friend to Bonanzle.com since the beginning, I don't think she is a member of the BAC, but could be. It is a pretty small club of only 50 people when weighed against the 30,000 members of Bonanzle.  Yet the effects of its political style grass roots effort to get out the word about the site seem to have gained some attention in eBay circles (where Debbie Levitt is a big swimmer).

The Article on the Red Ink Diary is available for all to read in its entirety here Red Ink Diary.  I have included a short quote below to give you the idea of where Henrietta stands. (Note: Links to the articles Debbie Levitt wrote in the ASWAS blog are included, just as they appeared in the Red Ink Diary.) I don't know if I would have been quite as direct as Henrietta was in her post, but she expressed her point without leaving any doubt.

From the RedInkDiary

The words which come to my mind are confrontational, short fuse, defensive, impulsive, and ‘no thank you’. This person seems to have a bee up her butt about Bonanzle and for such an important, influential and successful business owner, (I quote below from her profile on Practical eCommerce) to devote her valuable time to badmouthing a site which should be beneath her notice and that of her presumably paid staff; does make me wonder.

...the CEO of eBay’s first Certified Service Provider, which offers services for online sellers including branding, design, and personalized sales and marketing strategies. (She is) eBay’s first Certified Consultant and the first Education Specialist trained by eBay. Her recognized expertise as well as her approach to online branding, marketing and strategy are redefining the model of what are “good” eBay listings, eBay Stores, or websites.

She has written two posts about it this month. One on February 10th which has a comment by Mark Dorsey and an illuminating response to that comment by the blogger.

“As for helping me with future content, I have tried to contact you a number of times through email and Twitter, and that’s as far as things have gone. I guess I’d only matter if I were a BAC member. “

Shame on you Mark for not realizing what an important and influential person you were failing to treat with awe and respectful deference.

The second post is today and comments have been closed. You may however comment here on Red INK

End of Red Ink Diary Quote - All Rights Reserved

Personally I have no idea why Debbie Levitt would raise such a ruckus over the Bonanzle Action Committee. They are just happy members  and sellers on the Bonanzle.com platform who freely give of their time to help increase the reach and awareness of an upstart bootstrapping eCommerce alternative that has simply grown faster than any other in history.

Did the 50 members of the Bonanzle Action Club help that growth along?

• You bet! - how much they helped is really indeterminable.

Is it evil, backhanded or unfair?

• No way! - The tactic has been used the world over.

eBay has their own shills and cheerleaders, they almost invented the practice and they did it on a much larger scale than 50 unpaid members of a small site that has grown beyond anyone's expectations. These are people who actually sell product on the site they are promoting, not some paid staff working out of a boiler room. The difference here is that the BAC members are doing it in a new medium called social networking and they are effective at adding dialog to sites where there already was an interest.  (They could be more effective, but that is a matter for a different post).

I have been writing about Bonanzle since before the Bonanzle Action Club (BAC) came into being. I am not a member of the BAC and I will never be a member of the BAC because membership is closed.  I have written good things about Bonanzle because I instantly saw the advantages offered by the site, it worked,  it is easy to use and because I liked it.

I have been so impressed that I have created an off Bonanzle website development project for its members that is known as Bonanzle Webstores. This is not funded, administered or run by the team at Bonanzle or its ownership yet they have been more than helpful in the creation and development of our program because it will help bring in new traffic to Bonanzle.com and its merchants.

I have never been paid, offered payment, bribed or told what to say. I have also written honest critiques which in most cases have been accepted and acted upon by the founder of the site Bill Harding. While the site is not perfect and there are several improvements that could be enacted, the founder and head programmer works hard to make the site work for all of its members on a daily basis.

Bonanzle is a very interesting and ever expanding marketplace that has piqued mine and several thousand other peoples interest. The entire massive and ever expanding groundswell of acceptance has not come from just 50 people repeating the same comments on several blogs or sites around the Internet (something I have a problem with - please be original BAC members i.e. paraphrase your comments on blogs - don't quote verbatim what the BAC blast says each time - OK - just say what you feel in your comments) .  The interest has come both from within the seller base and from outside the community from sites like Google and from blogs like this one.

The BAC members are simply reaching outside the site to make the site known to those who have never been exposed to it. From there the decision is completely in the consumers hands, try Bonanzle or not - it is up to the potential member.  The BAC does nothing to trick or deceive people into trying the site.

I agree with Debbie Levitt on one point however.

I dislike the term or slogan "Best eBay alternative", in fact I dislike any mention of eBay when referring to Bonanzle.  They are two different marketplaces, two different systems of eCommerce and they really have no comparisons at all, other than history.

The history of eBay is one of a grass roots driven growth curve built on social interaction (first between sellers and then between buyers and sellers). Bonanzle has re-created that excitement from the early days of eBay, when sellers sold to sellers and everyone helped one another learn how to use the tools provided by the venue to become successful.  Bonanzle and eBay both have the same history in regards to a fantastic growth curve and they both share a history of having a very small marketing budget.  eBay was not perfect when it started and is still not perfect all these years later. I would wager that if you could access a screenshot or go back in time to read the forum comments of users of eBay after roughly 6 months of operations and compare that to the Bonanzle site we see today, the differences of platform and the similarities in regards to history would be oh so clear.

In today's world of internet marketing, having a small marketing budget does not necessarily rule you out from competing for business.

Being creative by using customers enthusiasm is a fantastic way to create evangelists for your brand. This is exactly what Mark Dorsey at Bonanzle has done with just 50 of his best customers.  I am certain he has many more volunteers for the BAC but for management reasons they have kept the number small.

I am sure the method of marketing being utilized here can be called many different names, is it unfair? No.

Is it unusual?, maybe in this space but it is used by fortune 500 companies the world over in this new World of Internet based marketing.  Should it be an issue for a eBay based service provider to come out so strongly against?  I really don't think so.

Debbie Levitt, on a personal note...

I want to say that I appreciate the work you do and I have always loved your designs, your speaking and your in depth knowledge of eBay. I don't want you to take my comments here personally, but I don't agree with the implications of your post(s), your insinuation that Mark Dorsey is anything but approachable and informative or that he only speaks with BAC members.  I also am uneasy with  your inclination to take the negative tact sometimes used against other companies in posts on your blog to somehow promote yourself as a consumer advocate.

Debbie, you are a marketing person and you represent ASWAS as the CEO and as its chief evangelist. Your consumer advocacy always has been one which promotes your own services and that of eBay or other eBay service providers you work with.  There is nothing wrong with promotion, and you do a fine job of it - when you discuss matters that pertain to your business, eBay or how your clients excel in new and exciting endeavors online. You have a great track record, an avid following and a long portfolio of quality work.

I really do not understand why you are endeavoring to slow the growth of a new and exciting community of sellers and buyers who simply choose to do eCommerce elsewhere besides eBay.

The people who choose to use Bonanzle really have no effect upon your business.  Does it help your company to point out what you think are wrongs that in fact have no effect on you, on your clients or really eBay in any way? I understand how you want to expose wrongs and be a stand up person who is respected in your industry, and in fact, you have been that person for many years.  Take the respect and knowledge and experience and use it to promote the good of your community, add to the knowledge base of your clients and readers by interjecting reason and not necessarily interjecting doubt where none existed.

The members of the BAC are only a small problem for those of us who have to approve their comments, and to me.. that is no problem at all because comments are what bring a blog to life.

The media thrives on news, and believe it or not, Bonanzle is news.

Bonanzle has something people like,  sales are being made by the merchants who use all of the tools available to them on the Bonanzle platform, and there are improvements being made almost on a daily basis. There is no way that Mark Dorsey on his own could gather the attention that he has for his company without some help. He can either pay cash for that help, or he can use customers who are also evangelists. The ring of truth always comes from actual customers - on this I am sure we can agree.

You and I ask for testimonials from our clients - is this really all that different?

Except for the fact that Bonanzle Action Club Members give testimony each and every week on the behalf of Bonanzle.

I am actually envious - I don't have as many clients as Bonanzle.com has that are so impressed with my work that they would take 20 minutes of time each week to promote for me. The ones I do have, I cherish,  but I have yet to organize them into a committee. Having clients that sing your praises is the best marketing in the world... Using the power of word of mouth is a basic tenant of all marketing.

Maybe you and I should look at creating something like the BAC ... Hmmmm iBusinessLogic Action Committee - Naw, it doesn't sound right, does it.... ASWAS-AC?

Tell you what, I will join your AC if you join mine....

SuperBowl Traffic Test

We have not done a head to head comparison like this in awhile...  The idea is simple, basically we list the same exact item on two eCommerce  platforms to see which gets the most traffic. Ultimately the test is who or where will the item sell the item first?

Today in the interest of  being topical we are using a special listing as our test case.

A 5 - night vacation in Florida including 4 Club Level seats for the 2009 NFL Championship game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida - otherwise known as the SUPERBOWL.  This year the teams playing will be the Arizona Cardinals vs the Pittsburg Steelers but the winners of this eBay auction or Bonanzle listing will be playing on the sand in Indian Shores, Florida.

eBay vs. Bonanzle  Football Style

Why pick eBay and Bonanzle? Well we have accounts at both venues and the last time we did this test it was eBay vs. OnlineAuction.com - eBay won that one hands down.

First up is Bonanzle -

Our Bonanzle listing is presented below - this listing is offering a fine stay in Florida and great tickets to the Big Game (Click the image to see the listing live on Bonanzle)

Bonanzle Simple Listing Style

Next we have the eBay Auction Style Listing

Will eBay outperform Bonanzle? Or visa versa?

This will be a short test because the Superbowl is just around the corner - February 1, 2009 and the check in date for the Beach House is January 28th... Better get cracking and sell this puppy.

One note - as you can see by the size of this screenshot, many eBay listings become inordinately long.  This is due in part to the additional and some say necessary terms and conditions needed in each eBay listing in addition to all the extra eBay display material.  Bonanzle keeps it simple, with the content of the listing being the star - not all the rules and conditions and other distractions found in some eBay listings.

Again - Click the image below to see the listing live on eBay.

Long eBay Auction Listing for 2009 SuperBowl Tickets

Which listing will win?  Where will the traffic come from to sell this package?

Arizona Cardinals- do you like eBay?  Pittsburg Steelers fans - have you ever heard of Bonanzle?

I am curious, are you?

P.S.

One more difference I see immediately between the two listings relates to SEO.  I am going to list each url as it presents in the address bar for each listing below, which do you think is more search engine friendly?

Bonanzle

• http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/iBusinessLogic/items/SUPERBOWL_TAMPA_4_Club_TICKETS__5_Nights_BEACH_HOUSE_on_GULF

eBay

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320335046412&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

Personally, it seems to be no wonder when you look at the keywords in the Bonanzle URL that my other Bonanzle listings seem to outperform eBay listings in Google search.

Chime in with your thoughts - in the comments section below....

from articles in the past year

Cornerstone is an established small business with over 30 years of quality service dealing with the public. They offer a unique niche product selection which would seemingly be ideal for eBay. Commercial carpet cleaning products, tools, and machines both new and used.

Just as a small bit of background, let it be known that the owners of Cornerstone Commercial Supply are not rich people. They are the father and daughter team of Richard and Connie Carpenter, they both work every day to survive in this difficult economic environment.

Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter has been in the Commercial Carpet Cleaning business for over 30 years and as a distributor for over 12 in his present location.  He and his daughter Connie are honest, hard working dedicated people who give the customer a fair shake even when it is not necessary.

I consulted with Cornerstone Commercial Supply to bring them onto eBay as a client of iBusinessLogic in 2007, with the very best of intentions, now I feel as though I owe them an apology for what it is I have done.

It seemed to me to be a perfect match back in the end of 2007.  We researched similar product sales on eBay with advanced eBay research tools. This research revealed a steady and growing market for the professional carpet cleaning products, with competition already established and selling on eBay.   We had a solid plan and in our view, no other carpet cleaning supplier had approached the niche as we would, with a dedicated and well designed eBay store, a full product line, and very competitive pricing, we felt we had a good chance of growing a nice secondary business on eBay for Cornerstone Commercial Supply.

The store design was completed and a very enthusiastic new seller on eBay was born in January of 2008.  Unfortunately, since that first happy day and after the first sale on eBay on January 07, 2008, just about every roadblock to success has been tossed at Cornerstone by eBay, PayPal and to some extent - eBay's buyers.  It has been a very rough year for this small business on the Internet.

What happened?

The trouble began with eBay almost immediately.  The system eBay has put in place for new sellers is designed to prevent fraud, understandably so, but as a result it also prevents new small business owners from taking advantage of the eBay marketplace until certain milestones are met. One policy in particular served to slow Cornerstone's growth and stunted their success on eBay - the Feedback requirements.

eBay requires new sellers to have certain levels of feedback to utilize all of the selling options available on eBay. This single requirement prevented my client from establishing themselves as an eBay store which offers a broad range of products to serve the needs of the buying public. Simply because it was not cost effective to place hundreds of items on the site as 7 day auctions only.  Fixed price was needed, and feedback is required to sell fixed price. It might be good to know why this policy is still in place, is it more difficult to scam an auction buyer than a fixed price buyer if you are dubious seller? I don't think so.

As you may recall, eBay was pushing fixed price very heavily last year and some say the search results were skewed in the favor of fixed price listings over auction format.  We have no evidence of this but I can tell you that Cornerstones listings did not receive the same amount of results as other sellers in the same niche.  As a result, it became imperative to get feedback.

When sales were made, the buyers did not bother to leave feedback for this seller, as they have no requirement or incentive to do so on eBay since the feedback system was changed to a one way street in 2008.  This fact alone places the entire feedback requirements for new sellers into question in my opinion.  When buyers have no incentive or reason to leave feedback for sellers, and sellers can only leave positive feedback for buyers, the system is not on a level playing field. eBay has the capability of verifying the credit and banking accounts of business owners, so why should feedback be part of the equation at this point?  This has not affected established sellers as much as it has new sellers on eBay. eBay needs to remember that as established sellers leave, new sellers will be required to fill the void. When new sellers encounter this kind of friction, will they endure the pain or simple find other options?

Cornerstone could not respond by reducing pricing to a level below cost because of manufactures requirements to keep pricing at a retail level. It was a inhospitable start for a brick and mortar business on eBay.  (Some will say we could have gotten feedback any number of ways, including low cost recipe purchases and by having friends "buy" imaginary listings, while I did not advise my client to do these things, I did inform him of the possible options, it was a matter of survival. Richard did not want to game the system in this way and continued paying fees to offer products on eBay as auction only listings). Eventually the feedback issue was met by Cornerstone but not without a certain amount of confusion by these small business owners as to what the purpose really is for having these restrictions in place.

The first article I wrote which involved Cornerstone and a less than favorable experience with eBay came long after these initial bumps in the road, personally I was still very much involved with offering eBay up as a great place for small businesses to join the Internet sales bandwagon. It hurt me to write the truth in the following article.  Live Help - Communication at eBay - Cornerstone of the Buyer Experience was an article detailing how poorly eBay handled a problem which ended up closing Cornerstone's eBay store down for several weeks without explanation.

Followed by: this article: COMMUNICATION should be open - Not restricted! eBay - Please Read This!

and of course...

eBay Trust & Safety & Live Help Fails Miserably - Cornerstone Commercial Supply Update

The result of all of this bad communication and lack of customer service from eBay towards this small business seller was a pervasive lack of trust for the site or its management from my client.  Connie Carpenter especially felt that eBay was going out of its way to limit her business and waste her time.  Richard, her father took a more pragmatic view and since they had really done nothing at all wrong he viewed the whole episode as a bump in the road.  In the end, eBay did absolutely nothing to help resolve this situation, multiple phone calls only resulted in multiple versions of bad information.  We were even told Cornerstone's account had been hacked by Vladuz in Romania. (not at all true but this information came from eBay).

After the issue above was resolved Connie was more skeptical of the entire situation with eBay.  She continued to maintain the eBay store with carpet cleaning agents, parts, tools and machines but I could tell she had an uneasy feeling about the entire eBay selling program. After all they had just been shut down for weeks and she had spent dozens of hours on the phone and online with live help trying to resolve the situation.  When this resulted in nothing but stonewalling, bad information, and passing the buck to Trust and Safety (who would never speak with her) Connie was just at the end of her rope with eBay.

Richard had not dealt with the phone calls and resulting frustration himself. He works on Truck Mount Carpet cleaning machines and with his customers all day every day.  He liked the exposure the eBay store was giving him and the additional calls he received from other states looking for information about his products.  Richard really wanted eBay to work and he trusted that all of the issues thus far had been anomalies, that in the end all would work out and his business would succeed on eBay as others had. Richard had not dealt with eBay directly as Connie had and thus his perspective was different.

So the odyssey continued with months of sporadic sales, lots of watchers, some direct telephone calls but no huge increase in sales after the feedback levels were met and fixed price 30 day listings became available.  Products were listed in auction format, stores format and as fixed price listings.  Shipping was fast and reliable, exclusively with UPS and customer service was top notch.  Everything eBay wants in a seller was right there with Cornerstone.

What was the last straw?

PayPal

PayPal? yes, PayPal... hard to imagine?  Not for some sellers, especially not those who have experienced the PayPal credit card charge back scams perpetrated by buyers each and every day on eBay. This is a scam that cannot be guarded against by sellers as they must ship when PayPal accepts payment and lets make that point clear, PAYPAL accepts the payment.

What Happened with PayPal?

Cornerstone listed a $1200 carpet cleaning power wand extractor and sold it directly on eBay in September 2008.  The sale went flawlessly, the buyer paid immedately via PayPal and PayPal confirmed the payment.  At this point the seller, Cornerstone Commercial Supply has no way to verify the payment and no reason to do so.  PayPal said it was good, so they shipped.

The item was sent via UPS with tracking and insurance. Tracking was confirmed and delivery made.  The item was shipped to the buyers verified address and was accepted.

What Now?

No emails, no communication from the buyer at all... except for one thing...

The buyer filed a PayPal dispute.  PayPal almost immediately accepted the dispute as valid from the buyer and removed the funds from the sellers PayPal account.  This is without a single email from the buyer or any explaination as to why the transaction was disputed at all.  PayPal launched thier investigation.  Connie at Cornerstone sent PayPal every piece of information she had. She faxed shipping information and the eBay information she called and she followed up.  Then she tried to contact the customer who would not accept a single call or respond to any emails.

Lets review -

• Seller places relatively high dollar item on eBay
• Buyer finds item and buys it at a fixed price
• eBay sends buyer an invoice and charges the seller a final value fee
• Buyer processes payment via PayPal - almost the only option on eBay now
• PayPal confirms payment with the seller - Paypal takes a substantial fee for processing same
• eBay insists shipping be carried out within two days of payment via PayPal - otherwise DSR ratings will be severely damaged
• Seller ships promptly with a verified carrier and tracking
• Buyer receives shipment
• Buyer Disputes Charges - Not the shipment - not the product - just the charge.
• PayPal removes entire payment from sellers account
• PayPal conducts 90 day long "Investigation"

The result?

90 days of suspense culminates in PayPal returning a verdict in favor of the buyer.  Keep in mind, the buyer never once said that they did not receive the product or the shipment so UPS insurance will not cover this. The buyer also did not state that they did not make the purchase on eBay. What the buyer said is that they did not "authorize" the charge on their credit card.  In effect, the buyer claims they did not authorize the charge but still received the product has not returned the product, has not been directed to return the product by PayPal and will not answer any calls or emails from the seller.  The buyer has stolen the merchandise with PayPal's blessings and help.  PayPal will not elaborate about what their "investigation" revealed but they have no problem in insisting that the seller is responsible.

Cornerstone is dumbfounded by this turn of events.  They paid fees to PayPal to process and verify authorization on this payment, they followed the rules and they shipped a quality product.  Cornerstone paid for the item, the shipping, insurance, and fees to both eBay and PayPal and they get what in return?  The privilege of paying not once for a stolen item but twice because they are without the goods and the payment.

Richard and Connie Carpenter no longer feel that they can trust the business environment on eBay.  They both tried very hard to understand the various problems that have been presented over the last year by eBay and now PayPal but this last 90 day torture test was the end for them.  They can not trust PayPal to accept payments and verify them and if you do not accept PayPal payments you can not do business on eBay.  The eBay system has failed this small business.

I am in complete agreement with Richard and Connie's decision to walk away from eBay.  While I know that eBay works well for many sellers it also has become less hospitable for new small business sellers like Cornerstone Commercial Supply.

eBay is a very complicated and diverse marketplace with numerous minefields and seller traps to avoid.  Small business sellers like Connie and Richard, who sell high dollar items need more protection from PayPal and less restrictive rules from eBay.   If eBay insists PayPal be the only form of payment, they must make that payment golden.  When sellers like Cornerstone can not trust PayPal to make good when PayPal makes the mistake of not verifying the credit card of a buyer, a process the seller has no access to or responsibility for, then they can not trust PayPal and thus can not sell on eBay.

What Now?

iBusinessLogic has already started a new website for Cornerstone Commercial Supply.  We have not developed the site out completely but now that the client will have more time to devote to the stand alone website we will be working on this aspect of the business more.  One plan would include moving the eBay inventory to Bonanzle and integrating that inventory into the Cornerstone website explained further here: Bonanzle Shopping Cart Solution.

New Cornerstone Website by: iBusinessLogic.com

In many cases, especially in the past, eBay was the most effective way to bring small business to market on the Internet. In this case, with many different variables and reasons it just has not proven to be the best solution for Cornerstone.

Today it is even more important for small businesses to establish themselves online with their own web site presence.  Simply placing all of your faith and trust into one huge outside venue like eBay or Amazon is not a smart business decision.  If your business model works online, it should be established with its own URL and website.  Control of your brand, your product, your sales and your customers then lies in your hands, not with someone else.

I hope to update my readers with the transition of Cornerstone to Bonanzle (if we follow that plan).  We already know through previous experience that Bonanzle is a very friendly, Search Engine optimized and easy site to manage.  As a shopping cart solution it could not be easier for a small business to utilize. Payment options include Google Checkout, PayPal, Checks, Money Transfer, or almost any form of payment available.  When these attributes are combined with the advantages of having a stand alone business website with the freedom and control necessary to present your business as you want your customers to see it, we feel the solution fits the need of small businesses.

I am personally saddened by the turn of events between Cornerstone and eBay.  It was largely my advice that sent Cornerstone on this path yet they do not blame me for these events or the result. As such I cherish the trust this client has placed in me to help them find the best way forward and the am inspired by the clients understanding that I could never have predicted all of the various changes and oddities that eBay has thrown at them in the last year.

We will bring Cornerstone the success they deserve online - it just wont be on eBay.

Recently, I wrote an article highlighting the traffic history of three of eBay competitors, Compete: OnlineAuction.com vs Bonanzle.com vs. etsy.com

The article on iBusinessLogic.com/blog highlights the relatively flat traffic levels of two of the three sites, with etsy being the clear winner when looking at both growth and monthly visitors to the site. To be fair, Bonanzle has not been in the race long enough to be compared in this way (Bonanzle opened for business in June 2008) and Compete.com figures are not always considered the most accurate.

The current climate of disruption at eBay makes it no surprise that competitors new and old have tried to seize the day by collecting as many of the fleeing sellers as possible for their own sites.  Attracting sellers is certainly an important part of building a new online marketplace but it is only half of the battle.

Every seller looking for a new venue is seeking buyers, any venue who can provide buyer traffic will have no trouble attracting eBay sellers.

It is a catch 22 situation and it appears sites like Onlineauction.com are caught up in the vortex.  Online Auction has a vibrant and engaged seller community yet the buyer traffic is slim, the same thing could be said for many other would be eBay heirs.

eBay certainly has the traffic numbers (or had) to make almost any competitor short of Amazon seem almost a trivial pursuit.  But how did eBay get to that point?  What was it that made eBay an almost overnight success and kept them on a steady growth curve for so long?

Lessons can be learned about the early success at eBay which today's new and fresh competition (like Bonanzle) should mimic to grow beyond current expectations. I think Bonanzle has attempted to mirror some of the early eBay elan' but are they there yet?

Lets look at what eBay had going for them in the late 1990's. Admittedly some of these market factors could not be replicated now (no competition, barrier to entry for sellers elsewhere) yet some factors can be replicated by any of todays upstart eBay alternatives.

1. eBay provided a community of buyers and sellers and promoted the one on one communications between these two groups. eBay no longer provides this social interaction, many alternative sites do - good job!
2. eBay was an easy way to get products online - easy to sell with minimal friction. (Once again, no longer true at eBay but sites like Bonanzle and etsy have this wrapped up). Good Job for Alternatives
3. eBay was the place to find the unusual, unique and outlandish - No longer the story at eBay. Some alternatives are working hard to fill this niche - Good Job!
4. eBay was a fair playing field, designed to allow the small merchant or at home sellers the ability to have equal standing with huge retailers. - Not true any longer.  A message more of the alternatives should trumpet, true in most cases on competetive sites however. Good Job!
5. eBay opened up a Worldwide marketplace - Still true, to its detriment sometimes - Asian knock offs flooding categories and killing perceived value.
6. eBay provided a searchable database of merchandise from around the world - Not always the best of search but early on it was the only search - now it is a broken search.  Alternatives should focus on making sure search is always functional and easly to use.
7. eBay brought buyers and traffic with partner relationships. The obvious early partners were Google and Yahoo. Yahoo is still with eBay, Google not so much. Alternative sites need to find ways to make sure they maintain a good relationship with Google - This is Crucual.
8. eBay took advantage of mass marketing via affiliates through Commision Junction - now they have almost strangled the relationship they enjoyed for so long with affiliates with the switch to the eBay Partner Network.

Effective Affiliate marketing can propel any website to the top of the leaderboard in traffic from buyers in a matter of mere months.  Utilized in the right way an affiliate program will build any sites page rank and inbound links exponentially in a matter of weeks. eBay shared the wealth with affiliates and Google early on and it worked for them in a grand and glorious fashion.

I question why sites who want to tackle the giant of eBay when it has shown its weaknesses have not utilized this simple method of attracting new users and visitors. Affiliate Marketing.

eBay affiliates are a major reason why the company enjoyed success for so long.

Which eBay competetor will give those affiliate streams a place to send the water?

(This is NOT a paid review or advertisement) - Please Note: Since the publication of this article "Bonanzle" has changed their moniker to "Bonanza", the facts remain the same...

Bonanzle (pronounced Bon-an-zle), a start up out of Kirkland Washington, is positioning itself as a viable option to eBay and Craigslist. Bonanzle launched on June 1st, 2008 and is actively recruiting sellers and buyers with grass roots efforts and social media marketing. In less than a month of operations Bonanzle claims an item count of 72,000 and over 2000 registered users (September 16th, 2008).

Bonanzle is a newly launched online marketplace that aims to take what's best about Craigslist and eBay, and build on those to create something that startles and delights its users.
www.bonanzle.com

One new user posted the following comment on powersellersunite.com

I am so happy this was the easiest site that I have ever listed on. I set up & posted 4 items in record time & will be adding more over the next few days. Spectacular & fun....just what many of us have been looking for. Same user ID. Imported feedback, a class act with immediate views all while I am multi-tasking. Thanks !!!!!

Bonanzle promotes itself as the "alternative to lookalike eBay alternatives" (personally I would recommend a better copywriting effort on that tagline). I think they have a point however, what the Bonanzle team have created is a fast and easy to use venue for both buyers and sellers with a fresh inviting new look and attitude.

It is more than an alternative to alternatives, Bonanzle is a new animal entirely.

Bonanzle has taken some of the basic concepts of Craigslist (clean design, fast browsing and minimalistic appearance) and the basic concepts of the original eBay marketplace (a socially built marketplace for online commerce, easy to sell and buy, with a graphically pleasing look) and they have trumped both major venues with features that improve the entire concept of selling and buying at an online Bazaar.

Highlights

• No fee for sellers or buyers, we are a community
• Post an item for sale in less than 60 seconds
• Talk with buyers and sellers in real time via instant messaging feature
• True simplicity as it should be
• Import your Craigslist and eBay listings
• Tailored for sellers with multiple items to sell
• Host a 1-3 hour "Bonanza" which gets prominently featured throughout the site
• Price recommending feature
• Import your feedback from eBay

Bonanzle has grasped the idea that online commerce can be and is often a social activity. Both buyers and sellers want to feel as though they belong to a safe and friendly place where they may contact one another without fear of big brother watching everything they do (pssst - eBay 1984 is OVER).

One of the most interesting aspects of Bonanzle is the built in chat capabilities installed with every Bonanzle Booth. Communication and transparency are huge factors when it comes to transacting business online. Allowing the open and direct communication between buyers and sellers in this manner can only help the marketplace Bonanzle is developing.

The site is constantly being updated and improved by the founder Bill Harding. One only needs to visit his open changelog page to see how much sweat equity Bill is putting into this start up.

Here is one days example of the hard work being put into this site by the founder:

9/15.

• Featured items for buy page and home page randomly weighted based on the number of times they've been tagged
• Home page now updates items shown at least once per hour, instead of once every couple days
• Offers can no longer be marked as "completed" until they have been verified as paid for, or until seller has accepted offer
• Ebay importer now tells people how many jobs are in line before theirs
• Ebay importer now tells the user if items weren't imported because their eBay store was empty
• Added button for seller to mark offers as paid for buyers when GC/Paypal don't verify paidness automatically
• Fixed users not being saved if they enter via "One click selling," then proceed to register via the standard new item form.
• Packing list now shows quantity of items sold
• Added a couple more graphics for users to use for their email footers and etc. via the assets page
• Changed text on My Bonanzle page slightly

If there was just one eBay competitor to watch, I might just put my money on this one.

The easy methodology for switching to Bonanzle from eBay and the quick and easy methods for getting new products listed are big pluses for eBay sellers looking elsewhere. Buyers will be pleased with the simple search and clean look, along with he fantastic image viewer. I really hesitate to call this an eBay competitor because it is so different and refreshing.

Some other highlights to selling on Bonanzle include:

• Tagging system - users can "tag" your listings with the following easytags for better placement in search: "This item is exceptionally...Bizarre, Beautiful, Funny, Cool, Well Priced"
• Inventory can be imported from eBay, Craigslist, or CSV inventory spreadsheet format
• Bonanzas - A Bonanzas is a brief (1-3 hour) sale on some or all of your items, where you wheel and deal (in real time, if the seller is logged in) to sell as many items as possible in a short amount of time. Bonanzle drives buyer traffic from the home page and elsewhere to the Bonanzas of sellers during the time allotted.
• Payment options - Google Checkout, Paypal, Cash, Check, Money Order - Bonanzle is open to almost all methods for sellers to get paid.
• Easily accessible "help" pages written in a format real people can understand
• Automatic Googlebase and Oodle export - This is a big plus, placing sellers merchandise on multiple sites worldwide and all links leading back to the sellers Bonanzle Booth.
• Direct Communication with the founder and staff is not only possible, but easy and friendly. How much is that feature worth alone?

Check out Bonanzle - if you like it, they have a way for you to get rewarded for spreading the Bonanzle story...

Grass Roots Campaign & Contest - Prizes for Spreading The Word

Bonanzle doesn't want to settle for being that "cool little marketplace" that marketplace experts love but none of your friends have heard of. The more buyers and sellers learn about Bonanzle, the more fun and the more sales for us all. We think that now is the time we set our sights for 10,000 users and 100,000 items!

How can we do it? Easy: We give you goodies for helping us spread the word! Now you are probably thinking, "You don't have to give us anything, we love Bonanzle and are happy to tell our friends without gimmicky promotions." However, you are probably then coming to your senses and realizing, "But then again, a little free schwag couldn't hurt!"

That's the spirit!

What: "The Grass is Greener at Bonanzle" Contest
When: Entries will be accumulated and prizes given out from September 6th through October 31st
How: Win great prizes for helping Bonanzle spread the word and signing up users. Tell your family, friends, customers, co-workers, email contact list, anyone you think might benefit from our community... and get them over here to sign up, pronto!

Announcer, What Will They Win?

We're going to pick a user every Sunday in September and October, starting September 21st. Here are the prizes each for week:

PrizeGiveaway DateDrawn			from Which Entries
	Canon PowerShot 7.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical ZoomSeptember 21Entries		received prior to September 20th
	One year, two-at-a-time Netflix subscriptionSeptember	28	Entries received between September 21st and September 27th
	Wii FitOctober 5Entries		received between September 28th and October 4th
	Chicken SuitOctober 12Entries		received between October 5-11th
	Apple iPod Touch 8GBOctober	19	Entries received between October 12-18th
	Mystery Gift WeekOctober	26	Entries received between October 19-25th
	Any Item on Bonanzle Priced $200 or LessOctober 31All		entries submitted between October 26th and 30th

Additionally, for the users that refer the first, second, and third most users to the site from now until October 31st, we will also be offering your choice of any item on Bonanzle priced up to $300, $200, and $100, respectively!

As they say, "the more entries you have, the better your chance at taking home one of these fabulous prizes."

From our humble headquarters in Kirkland, Washington we thank you!itor

See full contest rules here

Bonanzle has some interesting ideas and they seem to be catching on with both buyers and sellers alike. I imported my eBay items into Bonanzle, why not give it a try yourself, it only take a few minutes to set up a Bonanzle Booth (once you get over how uncomplicated it is to do so).

eBay this is not, Amazon this is not, Craigslist - nope not that either...

This place can only be compared to itself as it is truly a Bonanzle!