Lately there have been concerns from a vocal minority of Bonanzlers about the effects of our new voluntary membership program. Below I'll summarize the origin of these concerns, as well as our reaction to them.
What's the Fuss About?
Moderator kitten would have never let these people say that subscriptions affect search results!
Misinformation. The first post in the Bonanzle forum thread about memberships begins with some confusion about whether memberships will allow certain users to gain an unfair advantage in the search results. The answer is no, and the membership documentation is pretty clear on that point. If someone is looking for the items you have for sale, they will be able to find them equally well whether you're a member or not.
"I've Seen this Before." Some users have drawn broad analogies between our memberships and the memberships that have led to sellers being on unequal ground on other sites. What these analogies fail to note is the numerous successful sites (Amazon with Web Stores, Google with AdWords) that allow sellers to get extra exposure for a voluntary fee. Like Google and Amazon, non-paying Bonanzle sellers are on equal ground with paying Bonanzle when a buyer is searching for a specific item, or browsing through items.
"Profile Stars Create a Caste System." Does the Bonanzle Action Club icon create a caste system? Do Biznik's membership stars create a caste system? The profile stars acknowledge our appreciation for those who have the means to help provide a revenue source we can use to continue to grow Bonanzle. The negative connotation of a "caste system" is that the lower rungs of the caste bear undue suffering as a result of their unchangeable position. I do not believe that basic (non-paying) members are enduring undue suffering as the result of not having a star icon in their profile.
"But I've Been Promoting Bonanzle Tirelessly, Don't I Deserve Perks?" Of course you do! And we're working almost every hour of every day to add the perks you request to the site. Though our original intention had been to make the features currently listed under "Pro Booths" into features you had to pay to use, we instead opted to continue to keep everything free that had been free before. The perks of being a basic Bonanzle member will continue to grow with each day, as we work through your top requests on the Next Up Improvement list. Furthermore, we hope that when you're promoting Bonanzle, you are promoting your booth. The reward in promoting your Bonanzle booth is the increased sales you'll reap when you do so.
"It's Too Expensive!" So is a new Winnebago, but you don't have to buy one.
So, What's Next?
What's next is that people will make their own decision about whether they think that by offering the (completely voluntary) option of becoming a Bonanzle member, that we have ruined their day. Those that think we have will continue to say so, while the majority of people will continue to either not care or think it's a great way to support Bonanzle.
I think Kathy Sierra puts it best when explaining why a minority of people would become so upset at the prospect of Bonanzle offering memberships: If some people don't HATE your product, it's mediocre. Give the article a read and you'll understand that this won't be the last time that there will be people who are upset with Bonanzle's direction.
That said, we are quite confident that offering the benefits of exposure, Google Analytics, and an icon do nothing to affect the fairness of the marketplace as a whole. If you feel the same way, your best bet is to speak your peace in the forums once or twice, then just agree to disagree with those that feel otherwise. Most people who have made up their minds don't change them, and most people have made up their minds by the time they post their opinion.
And One More Thing!
There is no question that, with the support of both our paying and non-paying members, Bonanzle is going to continue to move forward as the best marketplace to find friendly people and enjoy each other's company as you buy and sell everything but the ordinary. Our growth has continued to increase exponentially every month, regardless of occasional differences of opinion between users like this one (September "Fees" thread, anyone?). We're now growing by more than 100 users per day, sometimes by as many as 300!
There are plenty of exciting times ahead, so take a breath and savor the community you all have built on Bonanzle. The fun we can have buying and selling extraordinary items together will undoubtedly grow with every new day and new user.
Good Morning Bill, sorry you had to wake up to the misconceptions of some. Your summarizing and your reaction is very well said and hopefully will rest it all.
Keyword – Voluntary – Therefore one chooses whatever fits their bill. Either way we are all Bonanzlers one way or another.
And not only that. Even if some booths are fed to google and others aren’t— this is a very sticky site and there is NO WAY a seller can keep traffic to himself. There’s just way too much interaction, and a new booth around every corner… every buyer brought here could potentially wind up being your buyer. All the messaging, recommendation, IM’s, etc… it’s too open for anything like what happened “over there” to take hold here.
So the upshot is, if some booths PAY to drive traffic here we are ALL going to pick up some. Right now, the economics don’t justify a recurring payment for me…
But, I’m still mailing a bag of cash to your house. ;-)
Thank you so much Bill! I was just “floored” early this morning when it first came up and I, for unknown reasons, was wide awake at that time of the morning on EST. The more I read, the worse it got til finally when the lack of zzz’s caught with me, I responded. Read what I wrote when I got up today and was so disappointed that I didn’t do a better job of supporting Bonanzle and it’s course. Please forgive me!!!
Sweetie, Just keep doing what you’re doing and know that the vast majority are with you all the way and are just tickled with you and all that you do!
@permacrisis: Oh no, please don’t let that be the next misinformation to spread! ALL BOOTHS ARE SUBMITTED TO GOOGLE, regardless of whether they’re members! Please, nobody go to press telling them it’s otherwise!! LOL
Bill, Thank you for clarifying and responding to all the concerns and misconceptions or interpretations! It really makes a difference in this economic and shaky time. Here’s to Bonanzle!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
Thanks Bill – I love it here – we are a family and need to be all together – we are thankful for all you are doing for us – some help by volunteering money – some by inviting people – some with spreading the word on their bloggs – and some do what they can – but as a family we all benefit from it all – we are all equal – no one is better than that other. We all benefit from the work that Bill does with our help – — Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — Let us all pull together for BONANZLE and us all – go Bill go — Blessings
love your kitty. Thank you for posting an answer to everone. I was so surprised by the reaction. This is a wonderful site and I love it here. So everybody lets stick together. Alice
It takes money to make money, the more traffic driven to this site the better for all. I was one of the ones who ask to make a donation, I bought the membership I could afford.
Could have bowled me over with a feather this morning.
Thank you Bill for making this possible.
ps – can’t afford a bag of cash right now!
Let’s get going and pull together again
To expound upon the booths being submitted to google confusion. Membership gives you the power to use Google Analytics which is just a tool that tells you how much traffic is coming into your site and where it came from. It does nothing to improve your ranking in search engines and unless you need to know that 3 of the people who visited your booth today came from Kentucky the stats that Bonz gives for free are probably good enough.
I am thrilled to see this blog post…so many got up in arms about this. I am a PROUD member of Bonanzle, granted at the lower level, but with high hopes of having enough sales to move up. What you have done without the finacial support up to now has been overwelmingly mind blowing…can wait to see how this site kicks it up with some hard, steady cash coming in!
That said I want you to know that To become a member can take sacrifice…I have to skip a Latte every week to do it! So spend it wisely! LOL !!!! THE Renagade
Now I KNOW I have found a new home :) When the founder puts a LOLcat pic in his post, it just makes me feel all purry inside :) Thanks, now if I could just figure out where to plug in my analytics number…
You would have to set up a Google Analytics account, then you take that code and plug it into your booth some how (I’m not a ‘member’ so I can’t instruct on the process having never seen hows it’s done.
I do have Google Analytics set up on my other websites and each one gets its own unique identifier, so there is no way for Bill to do this for you.
Hi everyone. Once you become a member and sign up for Google Analytics you will be given a code. Simply take that code and paste it in your Google field which will now magically appear in your Sell tab / Advanced options.
You guys wear alot of hats and wear them all so well. I am so impressed with your way with words and how you handle “things”….above and beyond geeky.
Thanks!
thank for making things easy!! That Google Analytic will be a great help! Have not recalled seeing this offered with such ease on any other site….come to think of it…cant think of any that offer this at all!
First, let me say, I love the cute kitty Bill. Hopefully with the growth of Bonanzle my booth sales will pickup and I will be able to purchase a membership in the future, don’t have a bag of cash to send you, laid off my job in June and tough times right now. Good luck with the membership drive. I will continue my efforts to promote Bonanzle through the BAC activities, blogs etc. Wishing all involved with Bonanzle good luck and many sales!
Thanks Bill and Mark for taking the time for the informative post. I think all confusion should be quelled with your extensinve explanation.
Thanks so much for this wonderful FREE LISTING site! May we all grow and profit together. I will be very happy when the day comes that I too, can give back to Bonanzle for providing this great opportunity for selling.
Bill and Mark, thanks for the clarification on this very controversial issue. I was very disappointed to log in the other day and see all the mess caused by pretty much ONE PERSON in the forums. The fact remains that Bonanzle is a new site, there will be growing pains, decisions made/not made that will please/displease some people – you simply can’t please everyone. If the way the site is run is not to someone’s liking, there’s always the option of going back where they started selling to begin with. I’m very happy here, sales are not great yet, but they’re getting there, and I plan to stick around for the long haul. Sales had dropped off to a dismal point ‘over there’, so I’m not losing anything by having my items listed here – at the very least, I’m not PAYING to have them listed and then not sell! So when they sell, that’s icing on the cake for me!
Bill ~ thanks for the clarification…it’s unfortunate that it was necessary for you to take the time away from your “to-do” list to write this up and post it. Luckily most people saw the change for what it really is ~ a VOLUNTARY option ~ sadly, some missed the whole point.
I really am so impressed with what you & Mark have been able to do here so far, and I’m happy to be along for the ride!
All together now…
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
There is more wonderful spread around here in one day than in the past 2+ years over there….
I really want to see this venture succeed for Bill and Mark and all of us…They work hard for US…I certainly can’t build a site,run a site and keep it going….
KUDOS to the Bonanzle Boyz and to the Bonanzle Family!!!…..
I would like to thank Bill and all the others…there may come a time in the future that Bonanzle had to be a pay site for everyone…but in the mean time…I see such great potential for success and growth in this site. I will continue to sell on ebay…and will start really promoting and working on my booth this week…I am still learning and want to thank so many folks for showing me the way…
Every new site has growing pains, …slow servers, tech problems …but one of the things I love about this site is that everyone muddles along without much grumbling…there will be those that thought they could come to this site and automatically be a success and quit dealing with ebay…but it takes work…they will grumble…
Please dont jump to conclusions when there is change…instead of automatically thinking it is a bad thing…read up on it…think it thru….are you willing to spend the time and a little money to make a go of this site or do you want instant success…because honestly…you didnt get it from ebay…or you wouldnt have come here looking for an alternative…
Thanks to all the community for making me feel welcomed and for showing me the way….I hope at some time to put to use the knowledge I have gotten from you and I want to succeed…..
Hey I just decided that I wanted to support Bonanzle and that is why I did it, as far as the analytic thingy goes, I am not even sure how to use it but I figured if I supported with a small monthly payment of 10 dollars they could put that money towards a faster server (which they did! :)) or other improvements in the future. I paid much more than that in fees on another site with no support or help at all so to me it is an investment. Thanks for everything
What a nice place this is when Bill gets on the site personally to help us. Let’s not get caught up in the negative. We do not want this site to become like the other one we all came from. It is so refreshing to see that we are all equal here. Let’s all be happy and stick together. There is so much I have to learn and I have finally found a place where i do not feel ‘like a Grandma’ when I ask my silly questions. Bravo for BONANZLE.
48 responses to Membership Concerns - A Word from the Founder
Good writeup Bill. Sorry you had to take time and explain all that, but it is good that you did.
I love the kitteh!
Well stated – applause! Let’s contunue to accentuate the positive, and again, simply agree to disagree, when we do.
gigicat
Good Morning Bill, sorry you had to wake up to the misconceptions of some. Your summarizing and your reaction is very well said and hopefully will rest it all.
Keyword – Voluntary – Therefore one chooses whatever fits their bill. Either way we are all Bonanzlers one way or another.
Thanks Bill-
Glad you spoke your peace and your kitteh made me giggle!
Kudos and thanks Bill! Wise kitteh!
And not only that. Even if some booths are fed to google and others aren’t— this is a very sticky site and there is NO WAY a seller can keep traffic to himself. There’s just way too much interaction, and a new booth around every corner… every buyer brought here could potentially wind up being your buyer. All the messaging, recommendation, IM’s, etc… it’s too open for anything like what happened “over there” to take hold here.
So the upshot is, if some booths PAY to drive traffic here we are ALL going to pick up some. Right now, the economics don’t justify a recurring payment for me…
But, I’m still mailing a bag of cash to your house. ;-)
Thank you so much Bill! I was just “floored” early this morning when it first came up and I, for unknown reasons, was wide awake at that time of the morning on EST. The more I read, the worse it got til finally when the lack of zzz’s caught with me, I responded. Read what I wrote when I got up today and was so disappointed that I didn’t do a better job of supporting Bonanzle and it’s course. Please forgive me!!!
Sweetie, Just keep doing what you’re doing and know that the vast majority are with you all the way and are just tickled with you and all that you do!
Three Cheers for Bonanzle!!!
@permacrisis: Oh no, please don’t let that be the next misinformation to spread! ALL BOOTHS ARE SUBMITTED TO GOOGLE, regardless of whether they’re members! Please, nobody go to press telling them it’s otherwise!! LOL
Shmart Kitteh! And so cute!
I’ll just repeat that, Bill:
ALL BOOTHS ARE SUBMITTED TO GOOGLE!
:)
Bill, Thank you for clarifying and responding to all the concerns and misconceptions or interpretations! It really makes a difference in this economic and shaky time. Here’s to Bonanzle!
Bravo!
And just so everyone knows….
(I’ll just repeat that Bill:)
ALL BOOTHS ARE SUBMITTED TO GOOGLE!
ALL BOOTHS ARE SUBMITTED TO GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
I added the word automatically, so hopefully no misunderstandings.
lol bargain, we make a good team. Bonanzle cheerleaders!!
Ooo good one!
ahem
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
heeheehee…
mrsmoondog
Thanks again! Bonanzle Rocks! ALL booths are automatically submitted to Google AND Oodle everyday!
Dede
Thanks Bill – I love it here – we are a family and need to be all together – we are thankful for all you are doing for us – some help by volunteering money – some by inviting people – some with spreading the word on their bloggs – and some do what they can – but as a family we all benefit from it all – we are all equal – no one is better than that other. We all benefit from the work that Bill does with our help – — Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — Let us all pull together for BONANZLE and us all – go Bill go — Blessings
love your kitty. Thank you for posting an answer to everone. I was so surprised by the reaction. This is a wonderful site and I love it here. So everybody lets stick together. Alice
It takes money to make money, the more traffic driven to this site the better for all. I was one of the ones who ask to make a donation, I bought the membership I could afford.
Could have bowled me over with a feather this morning.
Thank you Bill for making this possible.
ps – can’t afford a bag of cash right now!
Let’s get going and pull together again
I humbly apologize, hat in hand. Sorry to pull a Joe the plumber :(
Just love the moderator kitteh Bill! Too cute! Thanks for clearing up the misconceptions.
Suzy & Her Kitteh’s
To expound upon the booths being submitted to google confusion. Membership gives you the power to use Google Analytics which is just a tool that tells you how much traffic is coming into your site and where it came from. It does nothing to improve your ranking in search engines and unless you need to know that 3 of the people who visited your booth today came from Kentucky the stats that Bonz gives for free are probably good enough.
eb
http://TheBonz.com – same site simpler name
I am thrilled to see this blog post…so many got up in arms about this. I am a PROUD member of Bonanzle, granted at the lower level, but with high hopes of having enough sales to move up. What you have done without the finacial support up to now has been overwelmingly mind blowing…can wait to see how this site kicks it up with some hard, steady cash coming in!
That said I want you to know that To become a member can take sacrifice…I have to skip a Latte every week to do it! So spend it wisely! LOL !!!! THE Renagade
OK…can someone tell me do WE put in the code for Google Analytics or Does Bill??
renagade – I can not figure it out either – glad you asked
Now I KNOW I have found a new home :) When the founder puts a LOLcat pic in his post, it just makes me feel all purry inside :) Thanks, now if I could just figure out where to plug in my analytics number…
You would have to set up a Google Analytics account, then you take that code and plug it into your booth some how (I’m not a ‘member’ so I can’t instruct on the process having never seen hows it’s done.
I do have Google Analytics set up on my other websites and each one gets its own unique identifier, so there is no way for Bill to do this for you.
eb
Hi everyone. Once you become a member and sign up for Google Analytics you will be given a code. Simply take that code and paste it in your Google field which will now magically appear in your Sell tab / Advanced options.
Bill, Great post. Many thanks!
I love the cat and plz keep bonanzle the way it is..thanks
Mary & Family
Thanks for a great response to a hot issue!
Hot off the press, for those wondering about GA: http://www.bonanzle.com/site_help/booths_setup/google_analytics
Glad that issue is behind us and we can move on! Thanks for the explanations, and good luck to everyone on Bonanzle!
You guys wear alot of hats and wear them all so well. I am so impressed with your way with words and how you handle “things”….above and beyond geeky.
Thanks!
thank for making things easy!! That Google Analytic will be a great help! Have not recalled seeing this offered with such ease on any other site….come to think of it…cant think of any that offer this at all!
Thanks again Bill and Mark for all the hard work and a place for us all!
First, let me say, I love the cute kitty Bill. Hopefully with the growth of Bonanzle my booth sales will pickup and I will be able to purchase a membership in the future, don’t have a bag of cash to send you, laid off my job in June and tough times right now. Good luck with the membership drive. I will continue my efforts to promote Bonanzle through the BAC activities, blogs etc. Wishing all involved with Bonanzle good luck and many sales!
Thanks Bill and Mark for taking the time for the informative post. I think all confusion should be quelled with your extensinve explanation.
Thanks so much for this wonderful FREE LISTING site! May we all grow and profit together. I will be very happy when the day comes that I too, can give back to Bonanzle for providing this great opportunity for selling.
Thank again!
Karan / rykar
Bill and Mark, thanks for the clarification on this very controversial issue. I was very disappointed to log in the other day and see all the mess caused by pretty much ONE PERSON in the forums. The fact remains that Bonanzle is a new site, there will be growing pains, decisions made/not made that will please/displease some people – you simply can’t please everyone. If the way the site is run is not to someone’s liking, there’s always the option of going back where they started selling to begin with. I’m very happy here, sales are not great yet, but they’re getting there, and I plan to stick around for the long haul. Sales had dropped off to a dismal point ‘over there’, so I’m not losing anything by having my items listed here – at the very least, I’m not PAYING to have them listed and then not sell! So when they sell, that’s icing on the cake for me!
Iz just luv tha kitteh. I can haz cheezburger, can youz? That one always made me lol.
People…you are listing your items for FREE here, give this guy a break!
Bravo, Bill and Mark! Well said, well written, well done!
Bill ~ thanks for the clarification…it’s unfortunate that it was necessary for you to take the time away from your “to-do” list to write this up and post it. Luckily most people saw the change for what it really is ~ a VOLUNTARY option ~ sadly, some missed the whole point.
I really am so impressed with what you & Mark have been able to do here so far, and I’m happy to be along for the ride!
All together now…
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
ALL booths are AUTOMATICALLY submitted to GOOGLE!
I too luvz the moderator kitteh!! :)
Thank you all. It’s great to see that 99.7% of users do not see a voluntary membership as an ultimatum :)
I just wanted to throw in my Thanks as well….
There is more wonderful spread around here in one day than in the past 2+ years over there….
I really want to see this venture succeed for Bill and Mark and all of us…They work hard for US…I certainly can’t build a site,run a site and keep it going….
KUDOS to the Bonanzle Boyz and to the Bonanzle Family!!!…..
I would like to thank Bill and all the others…there may come a time in the future that Bonanzle had to be a pay site for everyone…but in the mean time…I see such great potential for success and growth in this site. I will continue to sell on ebay…and will start really promoting and working on my booth this week…I am still learning and want to thank so many folks for showing me the way…
Every new site has growing pains, …slow servers, tech problems …but one of the things I love about this site is that everyone muddles along without much grumbling…there will be those that thought they could come to this site and automatically be a success and quit dealing with ebay…but it takes work…they will grumble…
Please dont jump to conclusions when there is change…instead of automatically thinking it is a bad thing…read up on it…think it thru….are you willing to spend the time and a little money to make a go of this site or do you want instant success…because honestly…you didnt get it from ebay…or you wouldnt have come here looking for an alternative…
Thanks to all the community for making me feel welcomed and for showing me the way….I hope at some time to put to use the knowledge I have gotten from you and I want to succeed…..
Hey I just decided that I wanted to support Bonanzle and that is why I did it, as far as the analytic thingy goes, I am not even sure how to use it but I figured if I supported with a small monthly payment of 10 dollars they could put that money towards a faster server (which they did! :)) or other improvements in the future. I paid much more than that in fees on another site with no support or help at all so to me it is an investment. Thanks for everything
What a nice place this is when Bill gets on the site personally to help us. Let’s not get caught up in the negative. We do not want this site to become like the other one we all came from. It is so refreshing to see that we are all equal here. Let’s all be happy and stick together. There is so much I have to learn and I have finally found a place where i do not feel ‘like a Grandma’ when I ask my silly questions. Bravo for BONANZLE.
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