In the last 12 months there has been a lot of activity in the online shop space. We’ve seen Chitika’s Shoplincs, Zlio and Amazon’s aStore.
I’ve personally used each of the three and have only had any real success with Shoplincs.
So today when another shop service came onto my radar – Bravisa – I wasn’t overly excited. But to be fair they are a little different (or seem to be) from the others above in that they seem to have direct links with manufacturers of products.
I’m yet to test Bravisa (how many shops can a blogger use!) but they seem to offer a nice range of products in a range of areas (from Pet Products, to Health and Beauty to Clothing) and could therefore be a good fit for some niche blogs who are struggling to find a monetization stream that fits with their topic.
The revenue model is similar to retail – the manufacturer names their price – you add a markup and Bravisa takes a 10% commission from your markup for providing you with the shop and back end (they handle all the payment system etc).
All looks good with Bravisa – however I’m probably not going to test it personally because of my previous experience with shops (and the fact that I’m happy with the one that’s working for me). However if you try it – give us a shout with a review in comments below to let us know how you find the service and features.
Good day to you. Nice & informative blog. Too bad I got to know ur sites a bit late so cannot take part in the ‘top 5’ contest. Have a nice day.
Darren,
Thanks for another heads up on a potential source for revenue. I am definitely going to give it a shot. I have a question for you or anyone that may read this, though. What shop or ad service is most compatible with sports oriented blogs? I write on a soccer blog, and I am trying to find an ad service that will consistently provide my readers with the latest and greatest soccer products (for example: cleats, jerseys, etc.), but have not had much luck with finding that service.
Thanks for the candid post about Bravisa. I am with the company and wanted to chime in. Some benefits with Bravisa are:
1) Blogger = Retailer as opposed to an Affiliate
This means that you make profits similar to companies like Buy.com or Amazon.com (not like their affiliate programs) without the retailer hassles of having to buy, stock, ship, or service the products. Bravisa takes care of these things.
2) Customization/Personalization
Like Cafepress or Zazzle, with Bravisa you have the capability to create and sell unique products with your images.
3) Growing List of Products
We can add new products that you care about quickly since we have automated the listing of new manufacturers. If you don’t find something you’re excited to sell, let us know and we will contact the manufacturers and try our best to sign them up.
-Tom
Thanx Darren, for letting us know about Bravisa. I feel that there should be strong contender to Amazon.
There are allready many to choose from. Yet another one. Nonetheless its woth giving it a try. Thaks for bringing it out in the open.
I’ve heard about Bravisa not too long ago, but I never got around to check it out myself. Since I’m armed with more information, thanks to this post, I might just give it a try.
Interestingly enough I received an email from the guys at Bravisa after a recent article I wrote about finding alternative ways to monetize your website. I had a quick look around and it looks like a pretty good model.
Like Justin, I also run a sports based site (cricket this time) and am always looking for some great product sites. Sadly, Bravisa don’t have any cricket stuff but it did offer some other stuff which I might be able to cross sell.
I may well give it a whirl.
Thanks for the headsup. I’m starting a script writing website and I think there are some products that will fit nicely with the content. Love this blog man.
Thanks for the information. I’m a big believer in testing, testing and testing. It’s the only way you’ll know what works. I checked out Bravisa’s site and I didn’t realize they’ve been around for 3 years? Is this true? It sounds like they’re just marketing. Compared to Chitika they’re nowhere near them in terms of brand awareness. I guess they’ll be working on this. I’d like to test them out though.
I was just contacted by Tom myself and am in the process of doing a little research on Bravisa to get more background info, which is how I came across this post which I had originally missed on your site.
It does look promising and in the right scenario I think there is some potential here. I’m hoping to hear back from Tom per a few questions and then decide if I want to give it a try.
Great website! I have just signed in. Can’t wait to explore the opportunities!
Well I did try two of them: zlio and bravisa Although I’ve been with zlio for a longer time and It’s doing fine. I wanted to try something else, So I registered with Bravisa a couple a weeks ago. Well… I closed my account yesterday. I didn’t like it… Ugly interface, bad tools and cheap products. So I’ll stick with my zlio shops. Have a nice day
Saying that you have personally used “Shoplincs, Zlio and Amazon’s aStore” … is that to say you have used to purchase products and/or sell products?