- What Bonanza is and how a booth works
- Who owns Bonanza and the name change to bMarketplace
- What Bonanza charges sellers, as reported
- Bonanza payments, protection and what's covered
- Buying on Bonanza: how to avoid a bad order
- Selling on Bonanza as a small business
- Bonanza facts at a glance
- Fake Bonanza emails and lookalike booths
- My honest take on Bonanza
- Frequently asked questions
Bonanza is a real online selling site: its About page says it has been empowering small businesses for over 15 years. Sellers open their own booth, and trade press reported ownership changed in 2023 and fees went up in 2025, including a final value fee of at least 11 percent. The catch is that fees and protection rules change, so check the current seller pages before you list.
If you've ever sold on eBay and found the fees creeping up, someone has probably mentioned Bonanza as the "other place". It's a smaller site with a loyal following among independent sellers, and it's also one where buyers ask whether it's safe. I've read what Bonanza says about itself and what specialist trade press reported, so here's a clear picture for buyers and sellers.
What Bonanza is and how a booth works
Bonanza's About page describes it as an online selling site that has been empowering small businesses for over 15 years. It invites visitors to open a booth, which is its word for a seller's storefront. So you're buying from individual sellers and small shops, not from Bonanza itself.
That's worth saying plainly. Like eBay or Etsy, Bonanza is the venue. The quality of what arrives depends on the person who listed it, and the rules about payment and protection decide what happens if something goes wrong.
Who owns Bonanza and the name change to bMarketplace
Specialist trade sites reported the ownership story. EcommerceBytes and Value Added Resource said Quincy Faison bought Bonanza in 2023 through a new company called Bonanza Worldwide, LLC. That's reporting from trade press, not Bonanza's own About page, which doesn't name an owner.
In 2025, Value Added Resource reported that Bonanza is becoming bMarketplace. It described this as a doing-business-as name change and said the platform can still be reached through bonanza.com. The same report noted some sellers had run into technical and payment problems around the change. If you're a seller, keep an eye on your own booth and billing page.
What Bonanza charges sellers, as reported
Seller costs are where Bonanza gets the most discussion. Value Added Resource reported that the final value fee would rise to a minimum of 11 percent from 2025. It also reported that sellers with more than 50 active listings pay 0.03 US dollars per item per month above 50, capped at 20 US dollars a month.
Fees on selling sites change often, so I'd treat those as a reported snapshot rather than a price list. Before you list, open Bonanza's current seller help pages and work out what you'd keep per sale, including postage. If you want to compare, my breakdowns of what eBay takes from a sale and what Mercari takes use the same kind of maths.
Bonanza payments, protection and what's covered
Value Added Resource reported that orders using Bonanza Payments and Bonanza Shipping automatically qualify for Seller Protection. That's a seller-side benefit, and it hints at how Bonanza expects orders to be handled: through its own tools.
For buyers, Bonanza's help centre has an article on PayPal Buyer Protection. A search summary of that official page says purchases made through Stripe or other payment methods aren't covered by PayPal Buyer Protection. I couldn't read the full article, and the summary suggested it's quite old, so check the current wording yourself. The practical rule: pay with a method that has protection, and keep all messages on the site.
Buying on Bonanza: how to avoid a bad order
Most buyer problems on any selling site come from the same few causes. Use this list before you pay:
- Read the booth's feedback. A seller with a long, steady history is a better bet than a brand-new booth.
- Check the listing photos. Stock photos on a second-hand item are a warning sign.
- Use protected payment. Avoid sellers who ask you to pay outside the site.
- Keep your messages on Bonanza. That's where any dispute evidence lives.
If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. A brand-name item at a fraction of the usual price from a booth with no history deserves a closer look before you click buy.
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Selling on Bonanza as a small business
For small sellers, the appeal is a storefront of your own rather than being one listing among thousands. But fees, booth traffic and your own time all matter. If you sell across several places, it can help to compare what each takes. My guide to selling on Vinted covers a very different route.
If you're selling regularly, it's also worth getting advice on tax. My article on whether side hustles get taxed is a starting point, and an accountant can tell you what applies to you.
Bonanza facts at a glance
| Question | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| What is it? | An online selling site where sellers run booths (Bonanza's About page) |
| How long has it been running? | Over 15 years, per its About page |
| Ownership change | Quincy Faison bought it in 2023 (trade press) |
| Name change | Becoming bMarketplace; still reachable via bonanza.com (trade press) |
| Final value fee | Reported minimum of 11 percent from 2025 |
| Seller Protection | Orders using Bonanza Payments and Shipping qualify automatically (trade press) |
Fake Bonanza emails and lookalike booths
Be careful with emails claiming to be from Bonanza about a frozen payment or a billing problem, especially if they ask you to log in through a link. Go to the site yourself and check your account there. The same goes for a buyer who offers to pay extra if you move the sale off the site: that's a classic overpayment trick.
My honest take on Bonanza
It looks like a real, long-running selling site. It's not a scam, but it's a smaller venue with changing fees and an ownership story that's mostly told by trade press rather than by Bonanza itself. Buyers should lean on protected payment and seller history, and sellers should work out their real take-home before listing. Check the current rules first, because they've changed before.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bonanza legit?
Bonanza looks like a real online selling site. Its About page says it has been empowering small businesses for over 15 years, and trade press reported Quincy Faison bought it in 2023.
Is Bonanza becoming bMarketplace?
Value Added Resource reported in 2025 that Bonanza is becoming bMarketplace as a doing-business-as name change, and that the platform can still be accessed through bonanza.com.
What fees does Bonanza charge?
Value Added Resource reported a final value fee with a minimum of 11 percent from 2025, plus a listing fee for sellers with more than 50 active listings. Fees change, so check Bonanza's current seller pages.
Does Bonanza have buyer protection?
Bonanza's help centre has an article on PayPal Buyer Protection. A summary of it says purchases made through Stripe or other methods aren't covered by that PayPal protection, so check the current wording before you pay.
Who owns Bonanza?
Trade press reported that Quincy Faison bought Bonanza in 2023 through a new company, Bonanza Worldwide, LLC.
