Starting My Online Store Through Bonanza

Well, I did it. I've officially opened my own online store. I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure what I'm doing. I do, however, think I've chosen the right place to get started. I've opened my shop on a platform called Bonanza.com.

I first found Bonanza about 8 years ago, but didn't really set up a shop until 2020. Even though I had set up a shop, I never did anything with it. In truth, I chickened out. I had myself convinced I couldn't do it, so I didn't. I want to prove myself wrong.

I have a shop set up on Etsy, but to date, I've never made a single sale. Granted, I don't have much over there, but I've had a few digital items listed for almost a year now. Honestly, I haven't done much in the way of networking or marketing. And yes, I know that a crucial element to success. I'm just not sure how to go about promoting my shops other than what I'm doing right now. Post it on one of my blogs that get literally NO traffic.

Anyway, about the shop. I call it Prairied Treasures. This name came to me a long time ago. In the early 2000's, I was thinking of setting up a shop on Ebay and the name just came to me. I live on prairieland and most of what I'd planned to sell were handmade items and vintage pieces I'd collected throughout the years. And just when I was about to go all in, life went sideways and it never happened.

Fast forward ten years and I was finally able to get back to the idea of setting up my own shop. The problem was that things had gotten way more technical since I'd last played with the idea. I had to learn how to do things all over again. 

Of course, my first stop was at Etsy. I set up my shop and began the learning process of how to make it work. I'm still learning, but I've managed to figure out that it costs money to list the items, as well as costing money when you make a sale. It's not a lot of money, but still...

Etsy charges a 20-cent fee for each listing and will automatically renew those listings every 4 months. Depending on your inventory list, that could get a little pricey, especially if you're not selling much. 

Also, Etsy limits what you can sell on their platform. According to their What Can I Sell page, they allow handmade items and vintage items that are at least 20 years old. And though that means you could potentially sell anything made before 2000, you still have to be very careful.

Finally, there is a lot of competition on Etsy. I mean, A LOT!!! It's hard being a little fish in such a huge pond. I make a lot of handmade paper items, as well as make a lot of Junk Journal embellishments. There are hundreds of other shops on Etsy that sell the exact same thing. 

So, why Bonanza? There's NO LISTING FEES. Bonanza does charge a one-time shop set-up fee of $14.99, then charge 25-cents per transaction plus a Final Offer Fee (3.5% minimum-30% maximum depending on choice of advertising package)

They are a little more lenient on what you can and can't sell on their site, but you should still look through their prohibited items list just to make sure. Most items on the list are common sense. No guns, drugs, get-rich-quick schemes...that kind of thing. 

I don't have a lot on my new shop yet, but I am working on it. I've got several Christmas brooches I'm planning on listing, as well as a lot of junk journal embellishments and ephemera kits I'm working on. I think this is going to be the best place to work my magic. 

Now, I just need to figure out how to do some proper marketing and I might have a shot. I guess we'll see. Stay tuned.

Until next time,
Miss Chris