Bonanzle Raises $1 Million to Help It Grow
By: Ina Steiner (Thu Apr 29 2010 029:10:16)

Big news in ecommerce today comes from Bonanzle in Seattle, Washington: “Bonanzle announced this Thursday that it closed a $1 million round of investment, led by Seattle angel investor, and Voyager Capital Venture Partner, Geoff Entress, and with participation from Voyager Capital, Matrix Partners, Ignition Partners, Founders Co-op, Curious Office and other prominent Seattle angel investors. As part of the financing, Entress has joined the Company’s board of directors.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Quick summary and thoughts on eBay’s Summer release (aka the 10.2 release)

Yesterday (April 27, 2010), eBay announced the set of changes that will roll out this Summer (July 27, 2010) – this is their second set this year and they are already talking about a third set coming in the Fall. I would classify this release as very incremental – nothing earth shattering here, but as a package there are some good improvements that have a (hopefully) minor impact on sellers and a large positive impact on buyers.

Read the complete article here:
Quick summary and thoughts on eBay’s Summer release (aka the 10.2 release)

With eBay’s new fee structure, it was time to restructure our business. We are in the process and already SO pleased with the results. We have found and are finding new / other avenues to sell, section off parts of inventory to different sites that work well for those items and breathe a sigh of relief that we are no longer so dependent on eBay!!!!! HALLELUJAH! Can I get an amen up in here?!?

John’s take on this rant is 1)bend over; 2)bend over; 3)bend over. LOL Some days it happens. Very few buyers make us feel this way, but there are a few. Apparently John had a particularly RUDE customer. Read about it:

3 Easy Steps To Become An eBay Top Rated Seller

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I certainly understand John’s frustration. Even though we are a Top Rated Seller, we don’t deal with online bullies and idiots either. We all experience the BeRated Seller Status at times due to eBay’s system – he hit that one right on the head! We have even blocked potential bidders after they have asked a question, but never bid, due to their threatening tones. (When someone asked about our shipping charges and told US how much it actually cost to ship the item and if we charged them the full shipping price, they would report us to eBay, we blocked them and emailed them back that we don’t bend to cyberbullies. FYI: shipping was less than $5.00- yeah. Also FYI, actual postage cost is NOT the total shipping cost. Ever wonder where those envelopes, labels, tape, and printer ink come from? Not the eBay fairy?!?!? LOL) We try to be fair, but fair does not mean ‘giveaway’. We all have to protect our businesses as best we can, and by blocking them on the front end, we don’t have to worry about retaliatory feedback. We don’t put up with rudeness in person and we don’t put up with it online either.