While eBay has been busy with its spring updates and policy changes, eBay alternatives­ — the phrase used to describe online marketplaces with selling channels that do not include eBay— are also offering sellers new features, promotions and platform updates.

This week we take a look at several popular eBay alternatives including; Etsy, Bonanzle, eBid and eCrater, to see what’s new in the eBay alternatives space for Spring 2009.

Etsy Welcomes Spring with Seller Themes

Popular niche alternative site, Etsy offers crafty sellers a platform for selling all things handmade. The site actively supports those who choose to create and buy alternatives to mass-produced objects.

For the month of May, Etsy's Merchandising Team has planned for an important seasonal shift. According to the site, gift-giving for Mother's Day will transition to Father's Day, June weddings, and graduations. Throughout May Etsy says the larger focus will surround the promotion of Father's Day, encouraging sellers to introduce Dad to the world of handmade.

This month Etsy will also focus on items for pets, glass objects, and several color trends including sky blue, textured whites, mimosa, apricot and eco-friendly shades of green. In June the site will promote both father's day and graduation. You can view a list of themes and upcoming events in this Etsy Blog Report.

Bonanzle Boosts Features and Member Numbers

Bonanzle, the snappy eBay alternative that offers sellers a way to sell items via fixed-price and make-an -offer formats, has also been busy with making their platform bigger and better for the spring and summer selling season.

During an interview with Ecommerce-Guide.com, the site's founder, Bill Harding said that month-over-month Bonanzle sees a positive increase in traffic. This selling platform is now home to more than 56,000 members and a growing inventory of 1.7 million items.

Some of the new features on Bonanzle include the capability for sellers to better track where sales originate. You can now see where the buyer came from, such as directly from a Bonanzle search, handpicked list, the Bonanzle forums or Google. For customers who arrive via Google, sellers can also see the search terms used to find their product.

Harding said that Bonanzle put a lot of work into the site search in recent weeks. For example, when buyers start typing in the main search box, it now offer suggestions and will also fix misspellings. 

Lastly in Bonanzle news, one of the big features for sellers is the recent introduction of “item traits” that let sellers define traits for items, such as a material, color or brand. By using item traits, buyers can narrow down a search from something like handbag to "red leather handbag" and see the most relevant items in their search results.

As an added benefit to sellers, Bonanzle's item traits are automatically mapped to corresponding Google Attributes where possible. New features and updates on the Bonanzle platform can be found daily in the Bonanzle Blog.

eCrater Launches Several New Site Features

eCrater.com is a popular eBay alternative that offers sellers a free Web store builder and a free online marketplace. This spring eCrater has been busy adding new site features and options for sellers.

In the latest features, eCrater rolled out a new gallery view and also provided sellers with a tab to show the status of their Google Base feed. The eCrater news log also mentions an updated bulk lister and a new feature that lets sellers showcase other products right on a product page.  You can keep up-to-date on eCrater news on the site's community forums.

eBid.net Offers a New Tax Tool and Other Upgrades

According to eBid.net co-founder Mark Wilkinson, this eBay alternative is reinvesting its 2008 profits to make site improvements in 2009. The changes, according to Wilkinson, are designed to make this popular marketplace quicker and easier to use.

The planned upgrades include a total of eighteen new features, including a sales tax tools for U.S. and Canadian sellers, the addition of “My Bulk Editing” for mass editing of auctions, Google Maps for “About Me” pages, as well as search engine enhancements for improved numerical searches. EBid.net now also offers sellers five free photos with each auction. When sellers upload images, they can see thumbnails when listing auctions.

EBid.net was founded in 1999 and currently offers sellers unlimited free listings and low sales fees. Currently eBid.net boasts close to 2.5 million listings spread over 9,500 categories.  EBid.net also has a news section in its forums, so you can track upgrades as they roll out.

Talk to us! If you have a favorite eBay alternative site you want us to know about, or if you manage an alternative site and would like to submit news, contact us.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.