I have this passion to see stay at home moms or anyone who desires to stay at home with her kids to be able to do so without financial restrictions that is why I am always advocating starting a home business to support your lifestyle. You can call it a Lifestyle business if you want. Today I will be writing about how to start an online shop on Bonanza

While researching online platforms that allow you run a business from your home.I ran into the online selling platform Bonanza and since then I took interest in checking out how its platform operates. I actually came to know about this platform when I was writing the article on how to resell used items as a business. Please read that post if you have a lot of stuff you would like to resell or you want to start selling used stuff as a business.

One of the things that struck me about Bonanza is that it does not charge you anything until you make a sale meaning that there are no listing fees. I was really intrigued about it hence I went foraging for more information about this unique marketplace and what I found really amazed me hence my decision to make a post about it.

*Please note there may be affiliate links in this Post, please read my Disclosure policy.

In this post, the online shop is the same as Booth, they can be used interchangeably here so do not get confused. Okay let’s get to it

 Steps to take  to start an Online shop on Bonanza

1)Register on the Bonanza Platform:

You have to register on the Platform to be a seller for free, with your registration all you have to enter is your name and email address, an email is then sent to your email address to confirm its really you, after that you can then confirm your registration by clicking on the link that will be sent to you, the link then takes you back to the registration page in other to continue with setting up a Booth.

2)Setting up your Booth on Bonanza

Now Bonanza is quite different from some platforms I have seen out there because you have two options of displaying your shop. The first is the Booth, for the booth to be set up you will be required to get a store and username, your username is what will appear as the icon on the booth you have set up.

The second is the web store. The web store is the paid version where you get to pay before you can start using it, while the booth is free to set up, the webstore is not. You are only given some free days trial before you are charged for setting up the webstore. The good thing about the webstore is that you don’t pay any listing fees after you make a sale.

-The webstore is like your average standalone online shop which you can create online, the difference is that you are creating one via Bonanza, you can use your own URL or you can use your Booths URL. The only snag with webstores is that you are going to have to drive your own traffic to it, unlike when you have a booth that you get to use their various adverts options.

Webstores give you the opportunity to create your own brand and customize it as you wish. It also gives your overall ownership of the store and you get to do what you feel with it.

Having itemised the differences between a Booth and webstore, I will advise that as a Beginner you start with a Booth and when you have established your self you can determine if you want to get a Webstore or not.

To complete the setup of your booth before you can list your products, you will be required to fill out the following necessities.

–Credit Card information: Now some people may balk at this information but Bonanza collects this information because they do not deduct their fees before passing on the rest to you like some selling platforms will do rather you get billed every month that you make a sale. So the credit card information is held just in case you fail to pay up your bills they can then charge the card. They are quite sincere and open in the way they deal with their sellers so I should not think there will be an issue with that.

-Phone Number confirmation: Because the online marketplace is changing so fast, Online selling platforms are now requesting for phone numbers so that they can get in contact with sellers should there be a dispute that can not be handled by email alone. So you are required to verify your number before your booth can be updated. If you are uncomfortable with displaying your personal number in a public place, you can make use of Google Voice. A free service from Google for forwarding calls to your local number.  Another option is to make use of Virtual number operators.

After getting all these niceties tidied up, you can then head back to your booth to put some certain things in place.

–Choose a Banner: the Platform provides you with different kinds of free banners that you can use for the header section of your Booth. I will advise its best you choose a Banner that goes with what you want to sell on their platform. This will make it easier for your Booth to be optimized and come up during searches.

For example, if your Niche is fashion jewelry, ensure that in choosing your store name and username you get to insert Jewelry in it to make sure that it fits in with the products you are going to sell on your booth. The good thing is that they have a lot of free banners which you can choose from so you don’t necessarily need to create one if you don’t want to.

–Fill in your Shop Policies: In this section, you get to put the policies that will be guiding your shop sales, this includes your shipping policy, return policy, refund policy and also your various discount policies.

-Fill in your Profile details: People like to buy from people they can identify with. So it will be nice to provide your shop with a profile picture they can identify with, this way people know where to contact you and what you stand for. In your profile page, you get to write about your shop and what ideals that your shop identifies with.

-Social Profiles: You also get to fill out your social profiles this includes, your Facebook, twitter handle etc.

3)List your Products:

This is the best part of having a shop right, displaying your goods, that is what listing is in the online marketplace. I like this aspect because you get to display or showcase the goods that you want to sell to your customers. In listing your products in your online shop on Bonanza, here are things that you need to do:

–Choose a title for your Product: This is basically what comes up when people search for your products, so you have to provide description of what your picture display looks like, the good thing about the Bonanza platform is that it gives you different marks for the different sections of your listing steps so you know how well you are doing. A good description makes it easier to sell your products.

– Upload your Pictures: The second part is to upload the pictures, pictures are the new product samples in the online marketplace, without pictures people, won’t know what your product looks like so they won’t buy. Therefore if perhaps you are selling your own physical products which are to be fulfilled by you then you have to invest in a good camera with a good props and lighting options to ensure that your products come out looking like the real thing on the pictures

If however, you are drop shipping the products you are selling then it’s easier to do because you already have the pictures from the product manufacturer so all you have to do is copy and upload them on your booth.

–Product Description: In this aspect, you get to describe your product via the various categories that are available, this makes it easy to classify your product. In this section, you get to give correct details of your product like if it’s real gold, karat number or if it’s a vintage product when it was produced. All these details are essential to give a buyer a feel of what your product is made of and what they should expect. The quality and what kind of material it is made of. This makes it easier for buyers to make a better decision.

I suggest you take on the mindset of a buyer when describing your products, this is also where a keyword research will play a big part because you store will come up via keywords that people use in searching for a product. So a keyword research is in order before you commence listing of your products

–Shipping Options: In starting an online shop on Bonanza, you get to set your general shipping policies but you have to also choose what shipping options that will be available to the buyer and what shipping rates you will be offering or if you are offering free shipping. This section provides you with all the countries that you will be able to ship to should you choose to or restrict your shipping to a specific country or continent.

–Setting your Price: In this section, you get to choose the selling price of your product. You also set whether that price is negotiable or not. All these boxes will be properly ticked before you can then upload your item for sale.

Because the Platform assigns different scores for the different aspects of the listing process, it’s always better to ensure you get a 100% score on your listing score in other to ensure maximum exposure of your online shop on Bonanza

4)Advertising your online Shop on Bonanza

The good thing about selling goods in your online shop on Bonanza platform is that they offer you different paid options of advertising your products on the different platforms. For example, they have a plan in which your products get advertised through bonanza affiliates, Bonanza organic traffic, and google shopping. They also have other options for listing your products on eBay so as to increase your options of selling.

They also have different paid packages for attracting traffic to your shop. I love the fact that you are not left all on your own to do your marketing but you are helped to succeed via their different marketing packages. Of course, you will have to read up on the offers to know which one suits you.

5) Sell via the following Methods:

–Drop shipping Via Aliexpress:  You can drop ship other peoples product via Aliexpress in the online shop on Bonanza. I have written about drop shipping before, if you would like to read about my first post on drop shipping please read it here

-Feature your own products whether handmade or by someone else

-Import your other products from other platforms such as your own online shop, Ebay Etsy, Amazon.

Features of Bonanza Online Selling Platform that are quite Unique and Cool

-You can import your already listed products from other platforms you are using such as Amazon, Etsy, Ebay or your own online Shop.

-You can list your goods for free, you only pay for your listing and advertising when you  make a sale

-You can drop ship on the platform from Aliexpress

-The platform is easy to navigate for anyone that is a first timer.  There rules and guidelines are written in a friendly way that makes you feel like you are reading stuff made for you alone.

-It was voted the  best online selling platform by over 50,000 people in 2016

-It has the lowest selling fees compared to Amazon and Ebay, take a look at the picture below:

-It has flexibility when it comes to selling on other multiple platforms, meaning that your product can be advertised on other selling platforms depending on the advertising package that you choose.

-Its endorsed by many organizations such as CNN, Mashable, Time Magazine, Bloomberg Newsweek.

-The last Cool thing about this platform is that I opened an online shop there, you can check it out by clicking here: Eleora Fashion Store

Categories that are featured on Bonanza Selling Platform

-Men’s Fashion

-Women’s Fashion

-Home & Garden

-Health & Beauty

-Handbags

-Jewelry

-Others: This includes sporting goods, toys e.t.c

-Collectibles and Arts.

Do you have other ideas on how to start an online shop on Bonanza ? drop your comment below