How are your sales for january?

Someone posted a thread near the beginning of the month asking about this.

I replied at the time that my sales had been deader than a doornail with only 1 sale on Bonanza. I do not think at that time I had any on eBay.

So far, 3 on Bonanza and 3 on eBay for January and none for Etsy (though I have very few listings there on Etsy). This January has been grueling in the lack of sales than ever before across the board from what I recall based on previous years. I do not think it is any one specific site.

I would like to know how it is going for others just to see if there is a pattern of slow sales for this month whether the answer be yes in slow sales or no in slow sales no matter where you sell at.

Thanks,

Sharon

asked over 5 years ago

3 Comments

pirates_trunk says: January 24, 2019

I just started on Bonanza, and my listings import from ebay. I have had 32 sales on ebay this month. My goal is 40. Last year I had 39 sales for January. I sell a mix of items including clothing.

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

I hope that u reach your goal, pirate. I’d be willing to bet a dollar in the pot that u will….except I need that dollar lol

ib30667 says: January 25, 2019

Better on Ebay. 5 sales this week there, zero here.

16 Answers

2 on Auction site in Jan and 2 here in Jan. Absolutely NOTHING here during the busy time between Thanksgiving and end of Dec, it was like I was invisible here. I believe I read that Amazon was giving away Prime benefits (to non-Prime members) during that time to promote sales. You would think Bonz would loosen the constraints during that time to counter during that busy time for ALL HERE even if it was just for a month to get more visibility (but NO). I also just read that Bonz ‘Director of Happiness’ has parted ways with the management here. Perhaps he was holding us back and the new person will shake things up for us sellers to become more visible. We can hope.

answered over 5 years ago

6 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

We are losing Mark? Oh no. I always like the director of happiness. At least I saw him post in the forums once in a while. Too bad. But it will be interesting to see what happens next that’s for sure. I hope nothing but good. Keeping fingers and toes crossed.

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

Thank you for sharing Atomic.

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

Here’s a link about the departure [URL removed]

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

Based on Bill’s drive for the future, I sure hope the smaller sellers (who geared right up with Bill and Mark in the beginning) still have a good place on Bonanza.

abigdogmom says: January 25, 2019

I read the article and did some research of what they are working on. It makes me feel like they will be focusing on things other than Bonanza seller success. And, still deeply in bed with eBay.

Atomicdiner says: January 25, 2019

I hate the fact that Bonz is bound at the hip with Ebay. I am trying to get AWAY from Ebay altogether. Ebay is NOT your Partner if you are a seller.

My sales at ebay have been really good this month. It seems what ever someone didn’t get for Christmas they go looking for it after it is over. So ebay sales are great, here I think I have had maybe two sales for my booth. Really not very good at all. And it is here that I promote the most on twitter, pinterest and facebook. Very slow sales more than usual here at Bonanza this year. :(

answered over 5 years ago

3 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

Thanks for sharing Shilow. Do you sell a variety of items on eBay? I have about 65 listings on there right now. I think a decent variety. Christmas sales were awesome over there and the first few days after Christmas.

shilowsboutique says: January 24, 2019

Always selling a variety of items. To only offer one type of item limits sales I think. Variety is the spice of life. :)

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

Agree on the spice of life and applying it to selling online :)

I myself have had 19 sales on Bonanza this month and a few on my other sites, Etsy I have only had 3 this month. However, this is always a slow month online. I am sure the Government shutdown has a lot to do with it even being slower, people are just not in a position to spend right now. I just use these slower months to fix older listings, reprice, fix pictures and of course add new product. Good luck to you!

answered over 5 years ago

3 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

And this is one thing I wanted to mention but I swore myself to secrecy, so I am glad you mentioned it….the big words government shutdown. Ok. So even if it is not having a big impact in online sales, I’m sure there has to be some sort of an impact…800, 000 divided by our states comes to about..

EmpressDepot says: January 24, 2019

15, 384 people per state. If I was them, I would not be spending online either.

NecktieGuy says: January 25, 2019

And don’t forget the contract employees who aren’t getting paid now or getting back pay

My sales on Bonanza have been so bad that I closed my booth for a while. I’ve been making really good sales on Poshmark, though. I’m making three to four sales a week there.

answered over 5 years ago

Zero on Bonanza. I have been making sales in the groups on facebook tho. As far as Mark goes, I really liked him, but he did like to censor what members had to say, when the blog would come up, other members comments would post, if I said something negative about the article on the blog, it would never get published. He also closed up my other booth for a week, I guess as “punishment” one time for saying something he didn’t like in the forums., and it was sort of rude I thought for him to make comments about how all the Bonanza employees would be going on month long vacations together while the members here were just trying to make one sale…hopefully our sales will improve now

answered over 5 years ago

4 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 25, 2019

I never knew who censored the comments.

misskeech says: January 25, 2019

Pretty sure it was Mark since when I wrote to support about it, he was the one that answered me.

Atomicdiner says: January 25, 2019

I had stuff censored (even when I was stating the TRUTH). I dont know who had it in for me but I felt like I was on Double Secret Probation with NO sales for a long time here. Maybe I still am.

misskeech says: January 25, 2019

Atomicdiner, so funny! I felt the same way and yes I only only stating the truth also along with my opinion but i guess he didn’t like that very much and got pretty mad at me lol

No sales on Bonanza, my items were getting so old that I just removed most of my listings and donated them……I used be a top seller and sold tons on ebay years back but their requirements of sellers are just out of line and way too many scammers on there now, so i refuse to sell there any longer. I have made sales on Poshmark, Mercari and Tradesy tho.
Hopefully Mark leaving will be best for Bonanza and maybe the site will be taken in a different direction and we will start making sales now.

answered over 5 years ago

misskeech
Reputation: 1958
See misskeech's booth

1 Comment

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

I’m really glad to see you active again. You were missed!!!

Zero on Bonanza, 47 elsewhere.

answered over 5 years ago

1 Comment

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

I’m dying to know the elsewhere pretty please.

I’m new here on Bonanza so I suppose I should not expect anything at this time. It’s still winter and I don’t expect any sales until at least mid-February. We’ll see how this goes. I have not had any sales on Etsy since early December. I’m just trying this out.

answered over 5 years ago

1 Comment

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

Welcome to Bonanza, tmooreseller. Your jewelry is pretty. Someone once told me a long time ago….take pictures as if there is no description AND give a description as if there are no pictures :) Wishing you the best.

Hi,
We’ve just started selling here, so no sales for now (but it has to be expected, our items are more suitable for warmer climates). On Amazon, only 2 sales this month (one this week, operative there since 2016, getting very few sales a year, which is the main reason why we’ve started to sell here, to diversify our sales channels and “to add our eggs in more baskets”). Let’s hope it will improve here later on……

Thanks for your answer to our community help post ;)

answered over 5 years ago

2 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

Welcome to Bonanza Azzurra. Your jewelry is pretty. Someone once told me a long time ago….take pictures as if there is no description AND give a description as if there are no pictures :) Wishing you the best.

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

I just realized I thought I was posting this comment to another poster…so I posted it in the wrong place but that is okay. I’d still like to say welcome to Bonanza.

I’ve only had 1 sale here in January, and 3 on Etsy, but that’s partially my fault.

Due to the Canada Post disruption, followed by delays, then Christmas, I was closed from Nov. 5 to Jan. 2nd, so well dropped out of search.

I would think the US govt. has a lot to do with it. Anyone who isn’t getting paid, and doesn’t know when they will, is not going to spend a bunch of cash on non-essentials. Yes, those govt. workers are minuscule in the numbers of shoppers in the world, but there are a lot of other things going on.

We used to own a retail store, and January is always dead. People are starting to get bills for their Christmas overspending, taking holidays somewhere warm, heating and power bills for the dead of winter, etc.

answered over 5 years ago

3 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

Bookbin, did you miss selling online during the time you were closed? Whenever I’ve been away and come back I feel a burst of energy :) I agree about the workers…plus they make a decent paycheck and so I know that they would have to be shoppers on the internet.

BookbinEtc says: January 27, 2019

Yes, I did miss it. I had a lot of offline stuff going on, then company for 10 days over Christmas, so I didn’t really work on my shops. I did check in daily to forums / community though to keep in touch with what was happening on Bonz and Etsy. Now I’m into tax time and all that other fun stuff.

EmpressDepot says: January 28, 2019

Oh no, tax time. Arggh! You had to remind me. I’ve been trying my best to put those words at the back of my head. :)

My MommyOf2QTs/ScentWork booth has 10 sales on Bonanza so far in January.
My MommyOf2QTs/LipWorks booth has 16 sales on Bonanza so far in January.

I’m happy with those amounts. It’s an increase from January 2018 in both booths.

I don’t sell anywhere else so can’t compare. I used to sell on eBay as well but stopped end of 2018 because their rules and regulations are getting out of control.

answered over 5 years ago

6 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 26, 2019

Bath and Body works is a good sell. You carry a strong item :) Congrats on your sales. This is awesome!!!!!

MommyOf2QTsScentWork says: January 27, 2019

Thanks Sharon. Hopefully will continue into February.

EmpressDepot says: January 28, 2019

You are welcome. I did end up having 2 sales on Bonanza today. Thank God!!

MommyOf2QTsScentWork says: January 29, 2019

Congrats on your sales!

EmpressDepot says: January 30, 2019

Thank you and 2 just came through on Bonanza last night. Though January still was not great, at least it was not the end of the world.

MommyOf2QTsScentWork says: February 02, 2019

That’s great. I ended the month with 13 sales in my ScentWork booth. Perhaps February will be better for both of us!

I’ve had 34 sales on ebay (I have 2 stores there) and zero on Bonanza.

answered over 5 years ago

1 Comment

EmpressDepot says: January 28, 2019

Congrats on your sales at eBay, Sue.

I’ve only made 1 sale here this month. I also sell on ebay (over 19 years now) & between 1/1 & 1/16 it was like the lights went out at ebay~~I only made 6 sales. I’m up to 29 so far this month on ebay but I’ll never hit my usual 50-60. I was looking to leave ebay because of their dropping paypal later this year but I’m just going to have to bend to ebays policy changes. I sure can’t count on any other site to give me the buyers that I get through ebay. I sure can’t live with the “drop in the bucket” sales I make here. It appears ebay is the place for me and I will do whatever they require to continue selling there.

answered over 5 years ago

10 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 28, 2019

I hear you, Kattin. I also will do whatever I have to do in order to be selling on eBay. Christmas time was excellent for me on eBay. I cannot imagine letting go of eBay and not making the sales I had last year as this year in 2019 during Christmas. Thanks for sharing. I’ve never had a drop in the..

EmpressDepot says: January 28, 2019

drop in the bucket on eBay like this before. It’s puzzling.

kattinsanity says: January 30, 2019

Things on ebay have picked up~~I’m up to 35 for the month so far. I have 11 to get shipped but it’s too COLD to go anywhere. I’ll have to go whether I like it or not.

kattinsanity says: January 30, 2019

Also need to ask~~does anyone who sells on ebay know if they are allowing late shipments with the current weather conditions? I hate to lose my TRS on ebay by shipping late (Friday is suppose to warm up to a bearable temp).

EmpressDepot says: January 30, 2019

I don’t know if eBay is allowing late shipments. I did get a sale today and there was a little note saying I had to ship it by Friday the 1st…so maybe not? It’s freezing here right now. Tomorrow morning it’s supposed to be down to 15 degrees. Let’s put it this way, today I did not take my time…

EmpressDepot says: January 30, 2019

when going from being inside to going out to my car. I hot trotted it :) Tomorrow I’ll be running.

kattinsanity says: January 31, 2019

I did finally Google it and ebay is allowing time due to weather. It said it will show on the dashboard as a late shipment but they will remove it. I have 5 that will be 1 day late and 7 on time when I mail tomorrow.

EmpressDepot says: February 01, 2019

Thank you for telling me because I actually never knew ebay did this.

kattinsanity says: February 04, 2019

I just saw this morning that I had 5 late shipments on my dashboard for last week. I called ebay & explained the weather and was told they would be reomoved. You may need to call them to get them taken off.

Acme_Trading says: February 21, 2019

I’m a newbie here (not opening my booth yet) and was just educating myself by reading forum posts. Surprized to learn ebay is dropping pay pal. I thought ebay owned pay pal? What will they replace Pay Pal with? Thanks to all who post here for helping me learn. :)

Slower than normal, however I have a lot of orders for coastal areas which are harder hit by government shutdown. Movies are a non-necessity in life so it has slowed me a little. This weekend I had just a ton of orders though, so hoping it improves now.

answered over 5 years ago

2 Comments

EmpressDepot says: January 30, 2019

This is true, Gravity, especially when considering that sales seem to generate for me (and I’m sure for you) from certain states. I did not think of it in this way. I’m sure your little one has kept you busy during the slow time. Glad to hear sales picked up over the weekend.

gravityvideo says: February 01, 2019

It has actually been a really busy week overall for January. Kind of surprised in fact. She does keep me busy though :)

We’ve never had many sales on Bonanza; usually just one or two a month at best. Currently, we haven’t had a single sale since the beginning of December 2018. My best guess is that you get absolutely zero visibility from the site now, unless you pay extra. Sad part is, if you select anything other than the lowest fee tier, you can pay less on eBay…and you will sell more there. Bonanza really needs to re-think their tier structure, and start showing all items. Every item that sells here makes them money, so why limit that for those who only have a small amount of listings and can not afford to pay for tier exposure? Bad business….

answered over 5 years ago

31 on Bonanza for January, 1750 on ebay.

Sales were going alright again finally but then completely dropped off on the 15th for some reason even though I’m adding product. Views dropped about 75%!
It doesn’t seem like Bonanza is doing anything to get it’s name out there. Besides that, I can’t import over 100 ebay listings that ARE NOT duplicates… they’re just variations.

Bonanza feels dead and I’ll probably cancel my premium subscriptions. The comparison with ebay is redonkulous.

answered over 5 years ago

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