Post by labbypaws on Mar 10, 2023 22:41:33 GMT
www.ecommercebytes.com/2023/03/10/bonanzas-new-owner-has-big-plans-for-the-ebay-alternative/
Bonanza, which launched as an alternative to eBay in 2008, has a new owner. Quincy Faison acquired the online marketplace from Bonanza’s parent company, Alloy.dev.
Bill Harding launched “Bonanzle” in 2008 and, 2 years later, raised funding, changed the name to Bonanza, and acquired handmade marketplace 1000 Markets.
Harding said he decided to sell Bonanza now because he couldn’t give it his full attention since he’s been focusing on two other products, Amplenote and GitClear, since 2020.
Quincy Faison will take on the role of CEO, running Bonanza with Katy Ward (head of HR and compliance) and Sarah Tranum (General Manager of Bonanza Marketplace), “with Bill remaining an ear to talk to,” Faison said.
The new CEO plans to shift Bonanza to be more marketing focused. “We are going to drive more traffic. We are going to embrace social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok,” Faison said. The company will also help sellers produce more videos to get more eyeballs, and it will give sellers more tools to run their business on and off the Bonanza platform.
Bonanza plans to launch an ad program that will allow sellers to reach potential buyers at an affordable rate. The Demand Side Platform (DSP) is an automated programmatic advertising platform where sellers can purchase and manage ad inventories across multiple ad sources.
“This is important because this allows us to advertise on non traditional ad sources,” Faison explained. “Our sellers have unique product in which some cases there’s only 1 in inventory. Traditional advertising can be too expensive, so our goal is to get their product seen on these non traditional sites that target the consumer who have a high propensity to purchase their product, in a cost effective way.”
He said because those ad sources have less competition, it will bring down the Cost per Click significantly.
Bonanza will also create a program that allows sellers to borrow working capital to invest in revenue-generating activities that structure the payback strictly based on revenue generated that month.
Bonanza’s new owner and CEO began his career with IBM over 20 years ago, focused on small and midsized businesses. He launched his first business at the age of 25, which in time built an ERP system focused on helping ecommerce companies manage their businesses — from financials to purchasing to inventory optimization to warehouse management to manufacturing to selling online via their own websites and marketplaces.
Why Bonanza? Faison said it shares the same DNA of focusing on helping smaller to midsized merchants, being customer-centric, and not afraid to go up against the big boys. “The staff genuinely loves their sellers and the consumers that purchase from them.”
And the feeling is mutual – “Sellers love Bonanza,” he said, “and we are going to continue to be the company that Bill started 14 years ago with his vision and mission.”
As for Bonanza’s founder, Bill Harding, he will continue to work on Alloy.dev’s remaining products, Amplenote and GitClear, which have been growing 2-3x per year. “It’s my hope that it will only be a matter of time until we can create an audience for “better note taking and task management” and “better programmer code review” the same way we created an audience for sellers that wanted a friendlier alternative to eBay.”
He said Bonanza has a stellar team that shone during the pandemic. “Quincy and I are very aligned in wanting to emphasize stellar customer service and maintaining Bonanza’s reputation as the most seller-friendly online marketplace. But unlike me, he will be able to dedicate a great deal of attention, focus, and monetary resources into making those things happen.”
Harding said Bonanza has had year-over-year positive growth in sales for the past few months and noted that Bonanza is and has been a profitable company for the past five years.
Faison said the transaction was backed by Revtek Capital and a few private investors; his holding company, Hanson Enterprises, retains over 80% of the ownership. The selling price was not disclosed.
The company informed its users of the new ownership on the Bonanza blog this afternoon.
Bonanza, which launched as an alternative to eBay in 2008, has a new owner. Quincy Faison acquired the online marketplace from Bonanza’s parent company, Alloy.dev.
Bill Harding launched “Bonanzle” in 2008 and, 2 years later, raised funding, changed the name to Bonanza, and acquired handmade marketplace 1000 Markets.
Harding said he decided to sell Bonanza now because he couldn’t give it his full attention since he’s been focusing on two other products, Amplenote and GitClear, since 2020.
Quincy Faison will take on the role of CEO, running Bonanza with Katy Ward (head of HR and compliance) and Sarah Tranum (General Manager of Bonanza Marketplace), “with Bill remaining an ear to talk to,” Faison said.
The new CEO plans to shift Bonanza to be more marketing focused. “We are going to drive more traffic. We are going to embrace social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok,” Faison said. The company will also help sellers produce more videos to get more eyeballs, and it will give sellers more tools to run their business on and off the Bonanza platform.
Bonanza plans to launch an ad program that will allow sellers to reach potential buyers at an affordable rate. The Demand Side Platform (DSP) is an automated programmatic advertising platform where sellers can purchase and manage ad inventories across multiple ad sources.
“This is important because this allows us to advertise on non traditional ad sources,” Faison explained. “Our sellers have unique product in which some cases there’s only 1 in inventory. Traditional advertising can be too expensive, so our goal is to get their product seen on these non traditional sites that target the consumer who have a high propensity to purchase their product, in a cost effective way.”
He said because those ad sources have less competition, it will bring down the Cost per Click significantly.
Bonanza will also create a program that allows sellers to borrow working capital to invest in revenue-generating activities that structure the payback strictly based on revenue generated that month.
Bonanza’s new owner and CEO began his career with IBM over 20 years ago, focused on small and midsized businesses. He launched his first business at the age of 25, which in time built an ERP system focused on helping ecommerce companies manage their businesses — from financials to purchasing to inventory optimization to warehouse management to manufacturing to selling online via their own websites and marketplaces.
Why Bonanza? Faison said it shares the same DNA of focusing on helping smaller to midsized merchants, being customer-centric, and not afraid to go up against the big boys. “The staff genuinely loves their sellers and the consumers that purchase from them.”
And the feeling is mutual – “Sellers love Bonanza,” he said, “and we are going to continue to be the company that Bill started 14 years ago with his vision and mission.”
As for Bonanza’s founder, Bill Harding, he will continue to work on Alloy.dev’s remaining products, Amplenote and GitClear, which have been growing 2-3x per year. “It’s my hope that it will only be a matter of time until we can create an audience for “better note taking and task management” and “better programmer code review” the same way we created an audience for sellers that wanted a friendlier alternative to eBay.”
He said Bonanza has a stellar team that shone during the pandemic. “Quincy and I are very aligned in wanting to emphasize stellar customer service and maintaining Bonanza’s reputation as the most seller-friendly online marketplace. But unlike me, he will be able to dedicate a great deal of attention, focus, and monetary resources into making those things happen.”
Harding said Bonanza has had year-over-year positive growth in sales for the past few months and noted that Bonanza is and has been a profitable company for the past five years.
Faison said the transaction was backed by Revtek Capital and a few private investors; his holding company, Hanson Enterprises, retains over 80% of the ownership. The selling price was not disclosed.
The company informed its users of the new ownership on the Bonanza blog this afternoon.
