BuySafe Rolls Out Bonding Service for Retail Websites

[regic]

BuySafe announced it will begin offering its bonding service to retail websites.  Site owners who are hosted by Zoovy can take advantage of the service now--everyone else has to wait. 

Press release:

uySAFE, Inc. (www.buysafe.com), the leading online trust and safety company for e-commerce transactions, today launched the first service that enables Retail Websites to display a meaningful trust signal (the buySAFE Seal) backed with a broad guarantee. Merchants who qualify to use the buySAFE Seal have passed the buySAFE Business Inspection, which ensures the merchant is trustworthy, reliable and committed to delivering on the terms of the sale. These retailers can then display the buySAFE Seal on item listings, which tells consumers the transaction is guaranteed with a surety bond of up to $25,000. Additionally, all buySAFE Bonded Sellers agree to allow buySAFE to continuously monitor their performance. This ensures a virtually risk-free shopping experience.

buySAFE solves one of the biggest problems facing online shopping: knowing who to trust. Low buyer confidence decreases conversion rates and consequently, yields smaller profits. Because many online shoppers feel marketplaces and large, online brands are safer, this problem is magnified for the thousands of retailers operating outside of this environment. buySAFE helps Retail Websites gain buyer confidence by ensuring a safe, enjoyable shopping experience. When the buySAFE Seal is present in a merchant's listing or on their Website, they are more likely to close the sale.

"Buyer confidence has emerged as a major issue for online retailers," said Jeff Grass, CEO, buySAFE. "buySAFE Website Bonding solves this problem, because it offers retailers a portable trust and reputation mechanism that can be leveraged across all channels. Displaying the buySAFE Seal gives sellers credibility, and gives buyers peace of mind. Our customers, the majority of whom sell on eBay, have been asking us for this service since they have seen the tremendous impact using buySAFE can have on their eBay businesses. We're extremely excited to now support our customers wherever they sell on the Internet, whether it is on a marketplace, comparison shopping engine, paid search or their own Website store."

Initially, buySAFE Website Bonding will be offered through seller service providers (e.g., storefront/shopping cart/checkout providers) that provide e-commerce automation services.

buySAFE already has signed its first partnership agreement with leading provider Zoovy, Inc., which will soon roll out the service to its customers. According to David Steel, CEO, Zoovy: "buySAFE Website Bonding levels the playing field by providing small to mid-sized online retailers -- which comprise the majority of Web merchants -- an opportunity to compete against the major online brands. Although the majority of online sellers are trustworthy, buyers often fear that smaller e-commerce sites will fail to deliver authentic goods at the offered price, or won't follow through on the sale. buySAFE is the first service that solves this problem. By guaranteeing shoppers can trust sites that display the buySAFE Seal, our customers turn more online browsers into buyers, which leads to increased revenues. We think it's important to provide our customers every possible advantage as they grow their online businesses. Bonded Sellers have a clear edge."

Online retailers can learn more about Website Bonding and request the service from their seller service provider by visiting www.bondmywebsite.com.

BuySafe's new website bonding site: www.bondmywebsite.com

[sneakymagenta]

BuySafe Rolls Out Bonding Service for Retail Websites CRAPPY ZOOVY WEBSITES

[amy]

the tremendous impact using buySAFE can have on their eBay businesses.

The eBay sellers who benefit the most from BuySafe are the ones with 97% feedback and 5000 negatives.  I doubt if there's much benefit for sellers with good feedback--or at least I didn't notice any difference in sales after joining.

[mandy]

A related article:

The eBay bonding company buySAFE, Inc. is expanding its service to individual retail Web sites....

"The number one problem for small and medium-sized online merchants these days is buyer confidence," Woda said. In order to compete with the larger brand-name stores, smaller merchants often lower their prices. "We mitigate the risk," said Woda, and the guarantee will hopefully lure the risk-averse customers who have traditionally felt safer buying from larger retailers.

A recent impact study done by the company showed that bonded items received 4.7 percent higher prices than non-bonded items. Michael Jansma, CEO, Gemaffair agrees, saying bonded items boost the bottom line. "BuySAFE increased both my sell-through rate and the overall price of items sold during a 30-day period, which had a major impact on my monthly sales revenue," said Jansma. "And the moment I can get buySAFE for my retail site I'll sign up because I firmly believe in the product. My eBay customers have been asking for it at my retail site for a while now."...

full article: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions...hp/3622576

[Kristijntje]

BuySafe bonding added to Miva Merchant 5 shopping cart software

BuySafe, an eBay auction and ecommerce bonding service, announced on Thursday that it has partnered with MIVA Small Business Solutions. MIVA merchants will be able to add BuySafe's trust seal and bonding services to their websites. MIVA Small Business Solutions has over 60,000 customers and is a leading supplier of ecommerce software solutions to small and medium-sized businesses...

Under the terms of the partnership, a BuySafe module will be included as part of the MIVA Merchant 5 software for new and existing customers, allowing them to seamlessly integrate the BuySafe trust solution into their Websites beginning in January. BuySafe is accepting a small number of merchants in advance of wide release to serve as beta testers...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m12/i15/s02

[amy]

I'm not holding my breath waiting for them to announce support for ZenCart (although I wish they would).

[mandy]

BuySafe bonding now available on Cart32 software

BuySafe, which launched exclusively as a bonding service for eBay sellers, announced it has partnered with ecommerce solutions provider Cart32 to make the BuySafe service available to merchants using Cart32's suite of ecommerce products. Cart32 provides shopping cart, checkout, and storefront hosting solutions to tens of thousands of domestic and international online retail clients...

BuySafe will be integrated into Cart32 software versions 6.3 and higher, allowing merchants to seamlessly add the BuySafe trust solution to their websites in minutes. Once integrated, merchants display the BuySafe Seal and pay a commission for BuySafe-bonded transactions. Merchants will also be able to offer their customers the ability to bond their purchases at checkout, in which case merchants receive a revenue bonus...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m01/i05/s02

[mandy]

A related article:

eBay sellers know of buySAFE, but if buySAFE executes correctly, this company has the potential to become a major player in the ecommerce world by the 2007 holiday season. It’s not going to be an easy feat, but the company has already established the foundation for success...

Over the last year, buySAFE has started to swim out of the relatively calm auction seas and into the rough oceans of website bonding. In the future, consumers will be able to go to Evogear, FlyingPeas, Froth Au Lait, A&E Security, ThrillingAudio, Dive Rite Express, Compasseco, Shortporch, or any of the estimated 250,000 non-eBay/Amazon Marketplace ecommerce sites and choose to bond their transactions during or post check out. If you’re BestBuy or Amazon or Tommy Hillfiger, you could care less. If you’re a lesser known small or medium sized business (which 98% of etailers are), though, the bonding service could significantly improve your store’s conversion rate and average order size...

full article: http://www.comparisonengines.com/2007/01...ution-2007

[mandy]

[quote author=amy link=topic=3928.msg37191#msg37191 date=1166379843]
I'm not holding my breath waiting for them to announce support for ZenCart (although I wish they would).
[/quote]

It's available now:

BuySafe announced the launch of BuySafe Widget, a utility that enables ecommerce merchants to add the company's trust seal and bonding services to their websites. The BuySafe Widget makes the BuySafe service available to online merchants regardless of their shopping cart or checkout platform...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m04/i25/s05

more info: https://www.buysafe.com/seller_solutions/benefits.html

edited to add: Website owners have a choice of 2 programs: Certified Merchant or Bonded Merchant

Certified Merchant Pricing — buySAFE is FREE for online merchants.
buySAFE Certified Merchant Seal
  1. It's Free. No hidden fees. No long term commitments.
      buySAFE revenue comes from the bond guarantees purchased by buyers.
  2. buySAFE pays you. You receive a Revenue Bonus each month on every bond guarantee purchased by your buyers.
  3. buySAFE will perform a free conversion impact test to determine buySAFE's actual impact on your sales. Let us prove it to you!

Bonded Merchant
What is the buySAFE Bonded Merchant product?

  1. Every transaction on a merchant’s website is automatically bonded
  2. The merchant pays for the bond guarantees (standard fee is 1% of sales)
  3. The merchant displays the buySAFE Bonded Merchant Seal

Why choose the buySAFE Bonded Merchant product?

Higher Website Conversion Increased Profit

    * When merchants automatically bond every transaction, the conversion impact is typically much greater.
    * Even after the buySAFE fee, most merchants make more money by being a Bonded Merchant.
    * You can switch between the two options at will*. Test it and see what works best on your site.

[amy]

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