Analysing "eBay Alternatives"
Once upon a time, I told people to not bother with Yahoo Auctions, Amazon Z Shops, or Overstock Auctions. And most sellers I know either never bothered, or those who did saw very few sales from all that effort.
So what about now? Who should we be trying or avoiding?
When I analyse marketplaces, I am looking for innovation. I am looking for the site that will really draw shoppers with open wallets. With open source software, it's easy to just create a site that lets people sell. You can now have that set up in less than a day. But that doesn't mean anybody should shop or sell there.
It's like what Seth Godin said about the Microsoft Zune MP3 player. It's known to be hugely inferior to an iPod with fewer features and a design fewer people like. Seth's point was if you're not making an iPod killer, why go into the marketplace at all? If you don't have the MP3 player that'll make people throw away their iPods, then what are you doing?
I see it similarly. If you don't have the marketplace that makes me forget to shop eBay or Amazon at least some of the time, then why bother? What do you have?
I remember feeling that Overstock Auctions were just not innovating. They seemed to just be copycatting eBay in so many areas, and charging fewer fees, as if fees are the ONLY thing that could be better than what eBay is doing.
What about now? I have my eye on two main sites as possible eBay Alternatives or even competitors. Etsy and Zappos. I think Zappos will become a real contender to the eBay and Amazon space. I think they are doing SO MUCH right, with some innovation. And I think Etsy is doing a good job differentiating themselves and coming up with a niche. I would always like to see sellers given more chance to design and brand, but maybe that'll come with time. I think it's gaining popularity for sellers, but more importantly for buyers, who know what to expect there.
Marketplaces are all about traffic. What about some of the other ones, including up-and-coming ones like Bonanzle you may hear about in blogs and around Twitter? I don't believe yet. Sellers I know who are trying it have so far reported few or no sales. One seller I know said that so far, her buyers were other sellers, who then emailed her asking her to check out their "booths" (Bonanzle Stores/Showcases). I am not sure buyers know to shop there. I am a huge online shopper, and I'm not sure why I should shop there... especially when so far, Bonanzle sellers seem to mostly be eBay sellers. I could buy from them on eBay, where I know the law and I'm comfy. And if they're not on eBay, someone else with that stuff is. :)
Time always tells. It will be interesting to do a follow-up to this say in July or August when people are planning holiday selling, and see where sellers are focusing their time, energy, and inventory.
EDIT: Added after the first two comments appeared below.
If you are commenting about Bonanzle, please let us know if you are part of the Bonanzle Action Club. Thanks.
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I have been on Bonanzle for 5 months and sales for me anyway have not been bad. I do believe that you will get out of any venue what you put into it. Probably 90% of my sales are coming through Google.
Posted by: Dede | Tuesday, 10 February 2009 at 08:55 AM
I was an early bird on Bonanzle when it was in Beta in July. I sold my 1st item 3 weeks later. I have sold 9/10 items to 1st time buyers who found me from as far away as Germany through Google. I am a happy alternative seller at Bonanzle and have many great connections from the ability to connect with other sellers and the environment to do so. What's not to love about that?
Posted by: bobbi85710 | Tuesday, 10 February 2009 at 12:14 PM
Hi, Dede and Bobbi. Can you please let my readers know if you're part of the Bonanzle Action Club, and if posting here was an assignment for the BAC?
Thanks.
Posted by: As Was | Tuesday, 10 February 2009 at 12:21 PM
Disclaimer: I am part of the Bonanzle Action Club (BAC) and also a part of Bonanzle. You say, "When I analyse marketplaces, I am looking for innovation." I think your analogy of Microsoft Zune and Ipod is spot on. At Bonanzle we dance to a different tune and that is why you will find so many supporters who branch out on the web looking for opportunities to inform others who may not know about us. As far as innovation goes Bonanzle was just voted the top eBay Alternative (again) by SmallBusinessComputing.com
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/11520_3798906_4
"The challenges of becoming a viable eBay alternative are daunting, and yet this year we saw a host of startups take on the task with gusto while other more established ones did a stellar job of gaining market share and adding new features.
The runaway winner in the eBay Alternative category is Bonanzle. This startup combines an easy listing process with cutting-edge features such as on-the-fly image cropping and live chat and an avid seller community. The founders are scaling up to meet increasing traffic, and we can only hope it continues to thrive."
Thank you for allowing me to add comments and if we can assist in helping you build content for a future blog just let us know.
Regards,
Mark Dorsey
Bonanzle
Posted by: Mark Dorsey | Tuesday, 10 February 2009 at 12:58 PM
Mark, I don't think that there should be an "eBay Alternative" category at all. I know you're trying to heap a lot of marketing on that designation, but I'm not sure that's that hot a title! It's like winning "Best Soda Right Now that Isn't Coke or Pepsi." Maybe Zune would win "Best Not iPod."
Plus I don't see you as an eBay Alternative. People can sell on your site AND sell on eBay. They don't have to leave one for another. But people are unlikely to own a Zune AND an iPod.
Either you are a viable marketplace with strong demand and shoppers with open wallets, or you're not. Either you are innovating, or you're not.
Did you send the BAC to vote? How many votes were cast, and how many did you get? I am wondering what slice of the internet or the internet shopping demographic was polled. I never heard of this poll, and I didn't vote.
Most of the sellers I know are not making sales on Bonanzle, and as my friends and clients, they are openly complaining to me about many aspects of your system. Some of them have already decided to stop spending their time trying Bonanzle.
My point is that the jury is out. I remember when everybody thought Overstock Auctions was going to do really well, or Yahoo Auctions was going to really give eBay a run for its money. So people are saying you... I'm glad. But please listen to what your sellers are saying. They are telling me their complaints, and they want me to blog them because they say you're not listening. I said that at this time, I would not blog those things. I have other whistles to blow. :)
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. :)
But this isn't me vs. you. I hope your system is successful and a viable marketplace for online sellers. I'm just not ready to call it a winner yet, nor am I ready to tell my clients to spend their time and effort there when they could be focusing on other places more likely to have the traffic and shoppers with open wallets.
Posted by: As Was | Tuesday, 10 February 2009 at 01:13 PM
Amazon is a liferaft from S.S. eBay for many. But, it is rife with it's own issues - not the least of which is the fact that the mother eats it's cubs.
eBay, for most of the early adopters, was about freedom - from a former job, from having to drive 30 miles to a job, from having a boss, from . . . whatever. Freedom is addicting.
For those of us who are committed, the fact that we realized that while eBay gave us a degree of freedom, we were only as free as cattle on the "open" range. You had to look up long enough to realize that the herd you were running with had cowboys on horses guiding you, and nasty little dogs running and barking on the perimeter to keep you in the herd.
The reality is that if you have successfully made the leap to Amazon, you are merely providing them with the sales data they need to eventually court your suppliers and run you out of business because they can operate at 15% margin or less, and ship for free. You will never compete on price if you have to give up 15% of your revenue off the top, and don't have the ability to negotiate away UPS shape-based shipping rates, and get a 90% discount from them (not factual - just saying).
Therefore, looking for an "alternative" to eBay is like looking for an alternative herd to run with. You are still nothing more than the rancher's asset, and you get slaughtered in the end. Your meat is just a little tougher if you last longer than most.
The cow thing is going to break down from here, unless I get weird about some uber free cow, roaming the countryside outside the fence. Cute cartoonish fantasy, but not useful going forward.
I believe the key to success is to diversify. eBay has it's place in an eCommerce business - any business. So does Amazon. And Overstock, Yahoo, Bonanzle, Bidtopia, Etsy, Google-whatever, and on and on. But, putting the proverbial eggs in any of their baskets simply means you work for them. You are not really free.
Some yoyo from MBA school moves in and thinks they know more than you, and suddenly your business model crashes. Now that you have seen it happen, don't expect the next wize-arse to learn from eBay's or anyone else's mistakes. They are just hired hands for the ranchers, and they may be benevolent or mean. But, ultimately, you are big juicy steaks (at best) in their eyes.
Your only long-term option is to control your own destiny with your own sites.
And, if you really want to get philosophical, you have to control your own shopping cart too. Service providers like CA and Infopia can be great business partners, but ultimately you are limited by their 80/20 mentality, and pay a premium to truly differentiate yourself from your competition.
Me? We are 2 years into our journey from being 93% eBay. We are grateful for Amazon, and think they are the gold standard in many ways. But, they are not perfect, and we can attract buyers with the 15% we have to work with outside of Amazon.
Other sites are tempting/promising, but so far more trouble or time-consuming than they are worth. But, sometimes these seeds need time to germinate.
Google CPC is obviously something that goes hand in hand with private domains, but ultimately, management of Froogle/GProducts and SEO is where it is at. Yahoo and Microsoft are a similar story.
If pursuit of freedom had anything to do with your eBay storyline, then you have to wake up at some point and ask yourself - am I really free?
Posted by: roo | Friday, 13 February 2009 at 05:59 AM
Interesting blog and it takes a lot of courage to post it knowing that you will most likely come under fire for speaking what you believe to be true.
I agree with you. I have tried Bonanzle but recently closed my booth because there was just no traffic and no Google exposure even though my feeds to Google were supposed to be working fine.
Despite all of the "noise" about Bonanzle there are very few sales and it is almost impossible to tell what is real and what is fantasy on Bonanzle and this is in part because of the "Action Club".
How can anyone properly evaluate a site when you have to deal with the distraction of having it shoved down your throat. This is no "Grass Roots" movement. This is a gang of cyber thugs.
On another note of your post, can you tell me more about Zappos? I thought that was a shoe store?
Posted by: NoLuck | Tuesday, 17 February 2009 at 08:38 PM
I tried Bonanzle 3 times. Once when they began, again a couple of months later, and then again just recently. I listed a variety of products that I do well with elsewhere, but not one item sold. This same variety of products I had listed at Bonanzle are items I've had no difficulty selling elsewhere.
It does seem that the buying and selling activity at Bonanzle results primarily from members selling to each other. For me, it didn't and doesn't work.
I do see some of the same usernames all over the web extolling the virtues of Bonanzle, but it's become clear to anyone who gets around, that there is a clear and concerted effort to provide disinformation and propaganda about Bonanzle for the purpose of driving more traffic to the site. The same familiar usernames pop up all over the web.
I think that when the early rush of Bonanzle members buying and selling among themselves wears off, and is seen for what it really is, things will dies down there.
As for many of the other alternative sites, there are a few that are making steady and sure progress in all areas, with real sales, and listing numbers that are also correct.
I like Etsy, if only I had handmade items to sell, I would explore it.
Posted by: Zannon | Wednesday, 18 February 2009 at 10:56 AM
Bonanzle. Is it a web of deception, lies and conspiracy or just a harmless cult?
Can "Professionals" who seem to get pretty steamed about a perceived negative observation really be considered "Professional"?
I am afraid this is just another case of people drinking the Kool Aid in the hopes of being in on the ground floor of the "next big thing".
One thing that people see is how nervous and insecure Bonanzle members are when it comes to "their" site.
If Bonanzle is so great, why do people feel a need to ruthlessly attack and try to discredit someone who has a different point of view about Bonanzle? Does supporting Bonanzle even when you might wrong given you greater self confidence? Is this a self esteem issue? I do not understand the logic so I have to look to these other causes to understand where this end result comes into play. A confident person with a high self esteem would never feel threatened by a blog which in no way attacks "their" site. And Bonanzle members do seem to be very threatened. Could it be because the author has hit a sensitive nerve called "the truth" and now members must do everything they can to repair the damage?
Pretty sad testimony for Bonanzle and people will see this thread and draw the same conclusions.
Posted by: Eugenia | Thursday, 19 February 2009 at 10:34 AM
I think this sums up just what this site is all about.
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?p=240275#240275
Posted by: Scott | Thursday, 19 February 2009 at 11:50 AM
I can't tell if that post is serious or sarcastic.
I understand Bonanzle is growing with more items and more users. But are people seeing sales? Enough sales so that it really is up there with eBay and Amazon?
Did you post that as part of the BAC?
Posted by: As Was | Thursday, 19 February 2009 at 12:08 PM
Definately NOT. I have absolutely nothing to do with Bonanzle and do not wish to be associated with them in any way at all.
I find that post, which is serious imo, to be an insult to any store or auction site owner or buyer on the inertnet.
I wouldnt touch that site or any sellers using it with a barge pole.
Posted by: Scott | Thursday, 19 February 2009 at 02:46 PM