March 8, 2026 • 17 mins
Trade Me is bidding farewell to some of its marketplace fees.
From March 10, sellers won’t have to pay a 7.9% success fee when they sell things like their couch, a dress, lamp, or TV.
The platform’s said it wants to make it easier for Kiwis to declutter their homes, say goodbye to their second hand stuff, and get some extra cash in their pockets.
But, it the change ACTUALLY about that – or is TradeMe getting outshone by other online marketplaces?
Today on The Front Page, Massey University marketing expert Bodo Lang is with us to talk about our obsession with selling our old stuff.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Kiyota.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Trade Me
is bidding farewell to some of its marketplace fees. From
March ten, sellers won't have to pay a seven point
nine percent success fee when they sell things like their couch, address,
(00:29):
a lamp or the TV. The platforms said it wants
to make it easier for kiwis to declutter their homes,
say goodbye to their secondhand stuff, and get some extra
cash in their pockets. But is the change actually about
that or is trade me getting out shown by other
online marketplaces. Today on the front page, Massy University marketing
(00:53):
expert Photo Langers with us to talk about our obsession
with selling our old stuff. But let's just first first
start off about talking about trade me. Do you reckon
it is actually as popular as it once was?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I think, oh, that's a good question. I think certainly
trade me has been extremely popular, and I think it's
probably suffered a little bit from increasing competition from other
traditional sort of online retailers, I guess, and a new
online retailers as well, and then other type marketplace type things.
(01:30):
So I don't think it's quite as you know, it's not.
In marketing we often say top of mind awareness. You know,
people are still aware of it, but I just don't
know whether it's quite as prominent a factor in people's
lives as it used to be.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It is obviously being ousted by other competition online. What
is more popular these days.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I think there's a number of different channels.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So I think, you know, traditionally, if you dial the
clock back twenty seven years ago when I was working
with the founder of trade me and it was very interesting.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It was a New Zealand was a different place.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
There was you know, there wasn't an Internet, but it
was nothing to speak of, and we certainly didn't have
access to online retailing. Well twenty twenty six we have
not just online retailing within New Zealand, but we have
online retailing globally and particularly from China and other Southeast
Asian countries, and so New Zealand consumers are now have
(02:26):
an amazing choice basically at their fingertips, and within a
couple of days, maybe a week, they have access to
the actual physical good and holding it in their hands.
So the marketplace has changed dramatically since the days when
trade me was started, and so I think I think
that the marketplace has you know, the market has changed
(02:47):
so fundamentally that I think it's really really important for
established businesses like trade me to look at their business model,
not just at free structures, even at their business model,
to say, what are the trends?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
How can we keep up to date with this?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
And you mentioned that you started off and worked with
the founder back in what was that ninety nine when
it first operated. How do you think I mean, if
you would work with them again and say, look, we
need a complete brand refresh, what would be one of
the first things that you suggest.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I think the brand is certainly instilled in New Zealand's
New Zealand's minds, but I think refreshing the brand could
be part of it. But I also think that it's
it's the user interface. It hasn't evolved terribly, I think,
and maybe that's also a way of saying that it's
been successful and there's no need to change it. But
I do think that consumers are used to big tech
(03:41):
every day, whether that's their streaming platform on a big
screen on a TV or music streaming on a small screen.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Are either mobile or social.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Media on their small screens, and so I think these
these kind of platforms they continuously update and they always
nutched the design forward, not always for the better, I think,
fear to say, but there's continuous change and they look
very sharp, I have to say. And so generally the
experience is pretty, is very pleasant, and it's visually appealing,
(04:10):
and it's also very seamless. I do think that trade
me has fallen a little bit behind on that because
it's it's a more it feels like a more traditional model.
And yes, it's you know, it's different from social media,
but I think people are used to that social media
look and feel nowadays, and so I think trade me
would do really well to think of design and even
(04:31):
steps that customers, both buyers and sellers have to go
through in order to get a transaction done.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Now. I understand that trade me brought to in its
success fees model in the two thousand and that's when
it was the country's most visited site half a million
daily visitors by two thousand and nine, actually, which is
astronomical fifty two percent of those listings. Worse. Secondhand, what
do you make of the change to actually abolish the
(04:58):
seller feel together.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Look, I think it's a good move because what consumers
generally crave is transparency and obviously the lower the fees,
the better. And so there's two things here that happen together,
and so things have become more transparent, I think.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Which is good.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
And also fees for most casual sellers have decreased and
that's massive, and so how can trade me take advantage
of this? I think they really need to advertise this heavily,
not just on site because then you only hit the
people who you are already who are already using the service.
But it's really about spreading that message well beyond trade
Me's own website, basically into maybe traditional advertising, social media advertising,
(05:38):
just to get people hooked in, because my sense is
that other operators like Facebook Marketplace have a huge advantage,
and that advantage is that they're part of many people's
social media diet, and trade me is not part of
many people's social media diet. You know, they might there
might be some people a proportion of New Zealand is
(06:00):
who are logging on daily or weekly or whatever. But
I think having that advantage really makes a big difference,
and so I think you need to get people back
on side, and I think talking about fees lower fees
most qiis will save money. Those messages need to spread
well beyond trade Me's own website.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Do you reckon that the talk of these fees, and
dependent on how successful trade me is from here on out,
will prompt actually other online marketplaces to get rid of
their commission fees. Perhaps because I was looking up one
of the sites that I use quite often is Designer Wardrobe,
which is more you know, they trade me for fashion
and accessories and brands and things like that, I wasn't
(06:41):
actually aware that they actually take a twelve point nine
to five percent commission rates on sales over forty dollars,
which I'll put my hand up and say most of
my sales things I buy are over forty dollars. What
is the likelihood of those other sites looking at them
and being like, hey, I think we're going to follow suit?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I think they're likely. It is very very high, and
that's not just for direct competitors. So you could say
Designer Wardrobe, Yeah, there's some overlap, but they're obviously very
much specialized on clothing and suspect female clothing, and so
there's a relatively small overlap but even sites like this
will take note of what's being done by the big
players and then say, look, if that becomes an expectation
(07:23):
of users. More broadly, what do we need to do
in order to fulfill that expectation, even though it might
not be explicit. And so as soon as big players
change the rules of how they engage with their users,
that has spillover effects to other platforms as well. And
it's much smaller platforms, So it's like a delicate balance,
(07:45):
you know, the marketplace, and I think as soon as
one thing happens over here, then other players are certainly
looking at it, and then they will have to reflect
on well do we want to follow suit or not?
In what are the pros and cons? But I think
if big players change the rules, I think smaller I
like you to follow, do you?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I mean? I can imagine that trademans exist doing this
and doing their completely. They're also shifting how members pay
for goods as well, and we'll talk about that in
a second, but even just the security aspect, they could
probably push on a bit more.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Hay and the.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, I'll just say I sold a cat tree on
Facebook marketplace and I'm still getting messages from people saying
asking if it's available like two months later.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
So you know, the.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Ease and the relatively easy interface, and the security aspect
is a really important one with trade me as well.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Hey, absolutely ease of you.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So you know, from academic literature, we know that there
are two key drivers, and they're not the only ones,
but they are the two key drivers of white people.
So users use a platform, and the first one is
ease of use. You know, how easy is.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It to use that platform?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
And number two, not surprisingly, what is the perceived usefulness
of that platform? And so if you you know, if
you say, look, eighty percent of the success of my
platform is dependent on those two factors, then you've got
a good grasp on your business. So usefulness, you know,
you can say, look the online security and not being
fortunately separated from your money that you've shifted across to
(09:16):
somebody else's account via bank transfer. I think that's really
really important. It's maybe not the first thing that people
think about, but certainly there are enough kiwis, you know,
losing money and there's if it's a bank transfer, there's
very little that trade we can do about this, and
even banks can't do much about this, and there have
been some well publicized cases, so bringing that more in
(09:38):
house for trade me and saying, look, you have to
pay via ping or you can still do cash if
you prefer, but if you use it, If you use ping,
there is a small fee of two point one nine
percent or something. But that also means we can keep
a tap on that, and I think that will be
a really useful feature for a lot of kiwis who
(09:58):
are selling goods that are with more than just a
few dollars.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, because I saw and I saw in trade Me's
press release that they actually said that ninety percent of
the scams on the side that they couldn't help customers
with involved bank transfers. And I understand, unless you've got
cash on Facebook marketplace, when you're picking up a catchery
or something, you do have to rely on bank transfers.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Hey, yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
And so I think bank transfers are really easy and convenient,
you know, and people are generally reluctant to sign up
to another payment provider, you know, like paying or whatever
else it might be.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
But there are actually massive advantages to this.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
If you if you're talking about sensible sums, if you're
buying something two dollars fifty and that money goes missing.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Not such a big deal.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
But if you're paying for anything more than worth I
don't know, twenty thirty dollars, you know you probably want
to see that money being put to the use that
you intended it for. So I think I think having
security around this is a nice to have, and certainly
for people who've been fortunately separated from the money in
the past, this will be a key driver of their behavior.
(11:06):
They will never probably buy or use bankransfer again in
their life.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
We're removing success fees for casual sellers on trade me marketplace.
We want trade me to be the safest, most rewarding
place to buy and sell an alta or, which is
why we'll be rolling out these changes over the next week.
That seven point nine percent cut we used to take
will soon be gone. From furniture to fashion, you sell it,
(11:37):
you keep the profit.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
One thing I think that trade me really does, and
it stands out above the rest, is that it is
a Kiwi based company, right. I mean eBay failed in
the early two thousands and coming into this market because
it's kind of highlighted, trade me is cultural fit.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Do you think that.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
They've lost a little bit of that and should they
push more on the Kiwi marketplace aspect of it.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
I think there's a great comment.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And I remember, you know, Sam Morgan started the company,
and you know he did a really good job at
just encapsulating that identity because you know, he was obviously
aware that that eBay could have just come across and
they didn't because New Zealand is a small market. So
I think that's a nice to have. I think it's
(12:23):
a it's a good thing to have. But I think
the key reason why people use these platforms is because
there's lots of choice, it's easy to engage with the platform,
and it's easy to pay, and so I think I
think it's a feel good factor. It's it would play
a role, but I think it's one of those things.
You know, often we see this when people declare what's
(12:46):
important to them in a survey. They say, oh, yes,
the environment is very important on this and that and
and human rights and this and that, and then when
you look at actual purchase behaviors, often that declared sort
of pro social behavior or pro New Zealand behavior really
quickly disappears or diminishes, maybe not entirely but it diminishes
because another product that may not be ky we made
(13:08):
is much cheaper and then they go, oh, well, you know,
I'll go with that. So there's always this big attitude
behavior gap that we talk about in marketing. And I
think you get some mileage out of honing in on hey,
this is New Zealand on and operated, and you know
we have a blue Kiwi as a logo and so forth.
But I think it only carries you so far. So
(13:30):
it's super important that you're doing a fantastic job on
the muscles, not on the nicer halves.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And there is actually a real surge in popularity for
things like car boot sales, op shopping, thrift shopping.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Do you reckon? We're going full circle. I think some
people like this reconnection. I don't think we will see
those big online platforms disappear anytime soon. You know, it's
a very convenient way to get access to a lot
of different products, you know, some of them with some
of the use. But I think people also crave the
(14:04):
sense of face to face communication and connecting with people
and a sense of community, and I think that's what
these online places can only give to a very limited extent.
So I think there will always be a place for
these online and offline places where people trade things. You know,
we have farmers' markets, you know, there are there are
opportunities for people to still connect in person and you know,
(14:27):
to be known by name and to you know, to
to sort of become, you know, part of somebody else's narrative.
And I think those are important drivers for some consumers.
But ultimately, convenience rules the roost, and online is incredibly convenient.
It gives you so much choice. I think it's very
hard to beat that with bricks and watar and you
(14:48):
only need to need need You only need to ask
any New Zealand retailer about their battle and it's battle
with online basically.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
And you mentioned the there was there's the nice to
have as the must do. So one of the must
is presuming is this taking care of the service phase?
What do you reckon should be next cab off the rank?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I think it's a it's having a really good competitive
analysis of saying, Okay, well, who are we competing with
at the moment and who will we be competing with
in the future. And I think the really big item
that I'm sure is on everybody's minds is AI assisted shopping.
So still AI needs to find stuff online that people
(15:26):
are willing to sell. So if I'm sitting some cat
tree sitting on my desk, you know, AI doesn't know
about this, so it has to be somehow be put online.
So then the question is, you know, how well are
these platforms set up for allowing AI to harvest the
data and to make purchase decisions on behalf of or
even just putting a short list together on behalf you
(15:48):
or me if you're looking for a cat traid.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
So it's you.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Know, technology has been relatively stable for a long time,
but AI is said to be or has already been
a major disruption for many industries. So I think looking
forward to that, I think is really really critical because
if your platform is not AI integrated, and let's say
five years time, twenty five percent of people buy things
through AISS the shopping, well, you're just not there basically.
(16:16):
So I think that's a that's a medium term, super
important thing. The other thing is I don't have I
don't have the insights on this, but I think the
most obvious thing I would do as a market researcher
would be to say what happens to users or why
do users defect? Why do they not continue using the platform.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
And you know, any company.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
That's worth its salt would do a really good accident
interview in that sense, and just you know, every quarter
or so talk to these people and say, what are
the big things why people are dropping off? Some things
and won't be able to do anything about, you know,
change in lifestyle, change, moving countries, whatever it might be,
but other things that will certainly be able to do
something about.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
So I think an.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Analysis of what are the reasons why people are leaving
us or using us less frequently as super important.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Thanks for joining us, Phodo my pleasure. That's it for
this episode of the Front Page. You can read more
about today's stories and extensive news coverage at enzidherld dot
co dot nz. The Front Page is hosted and produced
by me Chelsea Daniels. Caine Dickie is our studio operator,
(17:25):
Richard Martin, our producer and editor, and our executive producer
is Jane Ye. Follow the Front Page on the iHeart
app or wherever you get your podcasts, and join us
next time for another look beyond the headlines.
Kiyota.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Trade Me
is bidding farewell to some of its marketplace fees. From
March ten, sellers won't have to pay a seven point
nine percent success fee when they sell things like their couch, address,
(00:29):
a lamp or the TV. The platforms said it wants
to make it easier for kiwis to declutter their homes,
say goodbye to their secondhand stuff, and get some extra
cash in their pockets. But is the change actually about
that or is trade me getting out shown by other
online marketplaces. Today on the front page, Massy University marketing
(00:53):
expert Photo Langers with us to talk about our obsession
with selling our old stuff. But let's just first first
start off about talking about trade me. Do you reckon
it is actually as popular as it once was?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I think, oh, that's a good question. I think certainly
trade me has been extremely popular, and I think it's
probably suffered a little bit from increasing competition from other
traditional sort of online retailers, I guess, and a new
online retailers as well, and then other type marketplace type things.
(01:30):
So I don't think it's quite as you know, it's not.
In marketing we often say top of mind awareness. You know,
people are still aware of it, but I just don't
know whether it's quite as prominent a factor in people's
lives as it used to be.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It is obviously being ousted by other competition online. What
is more popular these days.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I think there's a number of different channels.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So I think, you know, traditionally, if you dial the
clock back twenty seven years ago when I was working
with the founder of trade me and it was very interesting.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It was a New Zealand was a different place.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
There was you know, there wasn't an Internet, but it
was nothing to speak of, and we certainly didn't have
access to online retailing. Well twenty twenty six we have
not just online retailing within New Zealand, but we have
online retailing globally and particularly from China and other Southeast
Asian countries, and so New Zealand consumers are now have
(02:26):
an amazing choice basically at their fingertips, and within a
couple of days, maybe a week, they have access to
the actual physical good and holding it in their hands.
So the marketplace has changed dramatically since the days when
trade me was started, and so I think I think
that the marketplace has you know, the market has changed
(02:47):
so fundamentally that I think it's really really important for
established businesses like trade me to look at their business model,
not just at free structures, even at their business model,
to say, what are the trends?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
How can we keep up to date with this?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
And you mentioned that you started off and worked with
the founder back in what was that ninety nine when
it first operated. How do you think I mean, if
you would work with them again and say, look, we
need a complete brand refresh, what would be one of
the first things that you suggest.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I think the brand is certainly instilled in New Zealand's
New Zealand's minds, but I think refreshing the brand could
be part of it. But I also think that it's
it's the user interface. It hasn't evolved terribly, I think,
and maybe that's also a way of saying that it's
been successful and there's no need to change it. But
I do think that consumers are used to big tech
(03:41):
every day, whether that's their streaming platform on a big
screen on a TV or music streaming on a small screen.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Are either mobile or social.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Media on their small screens, and so I think these
these kind of platforms they continuously update and they always
nutched the design forward, not always for the better, I think,
fear to say, but there's continuous change and they look
very sharp, I have to say. And so generally the
experience is pretty, is very pleasant, and it's visually appealing,
(04:10):
and it's also very seamless. I do think that trade
me has fallen a little bit behind on that because
it's it's a more it feels like a more traditional model.
And yes, it's you know, it's different from social media,
but I think people are used to that social media
look and feel nowadays, and so I think trade me
would do really well to think of design and even
(04:31):
steps that customers, both buyers and sellers have to go
through in order to get a transaction done.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Now. I understand that trade me brought to in its
success fees model in the two thousand and that's when
it was the country's most visited site half a million
daily visitors by two thousand and nine, actually, which is
astronomical fifty two percent of those listings. Worse. Secondhand, what
do you make of the change to actually abolish the
(04:58):
seller feel together.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Look, I think it's a good move because what consumers
generally crave is transparency and obviously the lower the fees,
the better. And so there's two things here that happen together,
and so things have become more transparent, I think.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Which is good.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
And also fees for most casual sellers have decreased and
that's massive, and so how can trade me take advantage
of this? I think they really need to advertise this heavily,
not just on site because then you only hit the
people who you are already who are already using the service.
But it's really about spreading that message well beyond trade
Me's own website, basically into maybe traditional advertising, social media advertising,
(05:38):
just to get people hooked in, because my sense is
that other operators like Facebook Marketplace have a huge advantage,
and that advantage is that they're part of many people's
social media diet, and trade me is not part of
many people's social media diet. You know, they might there
might be some people a proportion of New Zealand is
(06:00):
who are logging on daily or weekly or whatever. But
I think having that advantage really makes a big difference,
and so I think you need to get people back
on side, and I think talking about fees lower fees
most qiis will save money. Those messages need to spread
well beyond trade Me's own website.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Do you reckon that the talk of these fees, and
dependent on how successful trade me is from here on out,
will prompt actually other online marketplaces to get rid of
their commission fees. Perhaps because I was looking up one
of the sites that I use quite often is Designer Wardrobe,
which is more you know, they trade me for fashion
and accessories and brands and things like that, I wasn't
(06:41):
actually aware that they actually take a twelve point nine
to five percent commission rates on sales over forty dollars,
which I'll put my hand up and say most of
my sales things I buy are over forty dollars. What
is the likelihood of those other sites looking at them
and being like, hey, I think we're going to follow suit?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I think they're likely. It is very very high, and
that's not just for direct competitors. So you could say
Designer Wardrobe, Yeah, there's some overlap, but they're obviously very
much specialized on clothing and suspect female clothing, and so
there's a relatively small overlap but even sites like this
will take note of what's being done by the big
players and then say, look, if that becomes an expectation
(07:23):
of users. More broadly, what do we need to do
in order to fulfill that expectation, even though it might
not be explicit. And so as soon as big players
change the rules of how they engage with their users,
that has spillover effects to other platforms as well. And
it's much smaller platforms, So it's like a delicate balance,
(07:45):
you know, the marketplace, and I think as soon as
one thing happens over here, then other players are certainly
looking at it, and then they will have to reflect
on well do we want to follow suit or not?
In what are the pros and cons? But I think
if big players change the rules, I think smaller I
like you to follow, do you?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I mean? I can imagine that trademans exist doing this
and doing their completely. They're also shifting how members pay
for goods as well, and we'll talk about that in
a second, but even just the security aspect, they could
probably push on a bit more.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Hay and the.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, I'll just say I sold a cat tree on
Facebook marketplace and I'm still getting messages from people saying
asking if it's available like two months later.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
So you know, the.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Ease and the relatively easy interface, and the security aspect
is a really important one with trade me as well.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Hey, absolutely ease of you.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So you know, from academic literature, we know that there
are two key drivers, and they're not the only ones,
but they are the two key drivers of white people.
So users use a platform, and the first one is
ease of use. You know, how easy is.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It to use that platform?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
And number two, not surprisingly, what is the perceived usefulness
of that platform? And so if you you know, if
you say, look, eighty percent of the success of my
platform is dependent on those two factors, then you've got
a good grasp on your business. So usefulness, you know,
you can say, look the online security and not being
fortunately separated from your money that you've shifted across to
(09:16):
somebody else's account via bank transfer. I think that's really
really important. It's maybe not the first thing that people
think about, but certainly there are enough kiwis, you know,
losing money and there's if it's a bank transfer, there's
very little that trade we can do about this, and
even banks can't do much about this, and there have
been some well publicized cases, so bringing that more in
(09:38):
house for trade me and saying, look, you have to
pay via ping or you can still do cash if
you prefer, but if you use it, If you use ping,
there is a small fee of two point one nine
percent or something. But that also means we can keep
a tap on that, and I think that will be
a really useful feature for a lot of kiwis who
(09:58):
are selling goods that are with more than just a
few dollars.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, because I saw and I saw in trade Me's
press release that they actually said that ninety percent of
the scams on the side that they couldn't help customers
with involved bank transfers. And I understand, unless you've got
cash on Facebook marketplace, when you're picking up a catchery
or something, you do have to rely on bank transfers.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Hey, yes, that's right.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
And so I think bank transfers are really easy and convenient,
you know, and people are generally reluctant to sign up
to another payment provider, you know, like paying or whatever
else it might be.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
But there are actually massive advantages to this.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
If you if you're talking about sensible sums, if you're
buying something two dollars fifty and that money goes missing.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Not such a big deal.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
But if you're paying for anything more than worth I
don't know, twenty thirty dollars, you know you probably want
to see that money being put to the use that
you intended it for. So I think I think having
security around this is a nice to have, and certainly
for people who've been fortunately separated from the money in
the past, this will be a key driver of their behavior.
(11:06):
They will never probably buy or use bankransfer again in
their life.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
We're removing success fees for casual sellers on trade me marketplace.
We want trade me to be the safest, most rewarding
place to buy and sell an alta or, which is
why we'll be rolling out these changes over the next week.
That seven point nine percent cut we used to take
will soon be gone. From furniture to fashion, you sell it,
(11:37):
you keep the profit.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
One thing I think that trade me really does, and
it stands out above the rest, is that it is
a Kiwi based company, right. I mean eBay failed in
the early two thousands and coming into this market because
it's kind of highlighted, trade me is cultural fit.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Do you think that.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
They've lost a little bit of that and should they
push more on the Kiwi marketplace aspect of it.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
I think there's a great comment.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And I remember, you know, Sam Morgan started the company,
and you know he did a really good job at
just encapsulating that identity because you know, he was obviously
aware that that eBay could have just come across and
they didn't because New Zealand is a small market. So
I think that's a nice to have. I think it's
(12:23):
a it's a good thing to have. But I think
the key reason why people use these platforms is because
there's lots of choice, it's easy to engage with the platform,
and it's easy to pay, and so I think I
think it's a feel good factor. It's it would play
a role, but I think it's one of those things.
You know, often we see this when people declare what's
(12:46):
important to them in a survey. They say, oh, yes,
the environment is very important on this and that and
and human rights and this and that, and then when
you look at actual purchase behaviors, often that declared sort
of pro social behavior or pro New Zealand behavior really
quickly disappears or diminishes, maybe not entirely but it diminishes
because another product that may not be ky we made
(13:08):
is much cheaper and then they go, oh, well, you know,
I'll go with that. So there's always this big attitude
behavior gap that we talk about in marketing. And I
think you get some mileage out of honing in on hey,
this is New Zealand on and operated, and you know
we have a blue Kiwi as a logo and so forth.
But I think it only carries you so far. So
(13:30):
it's super important that you're doing a fantastic job on
the muscles, not on the nicer halves.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And there is actually a real surge in popularity for
things like car boot sales, op shopping, thrift shopping.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Do you reckon? We're going full circle. I think some
people like this reconnection. I don't think we will see
those big online platforms disappear anytime soon. You know, it's
a very convenient way to get access to a lot
of different products, you know, some of them with some
of the use. But I think people also crave the
(14:04):
sense of face to face communication and connecting with people
and a sense of community, and I think that's what
these online places can only give to a very limited extent.
So I think there will always be a place for
these online and offline places where people trade things. You know,
we have farmers' markets, you know, there are there are
opportunities for people to still connect in person and you know,
(14:27):
to be known by name and to you know, to
to sort of become, you know, part of somebody else's narrative.
And I think those are important drivers for some consumers.
But ultimately, convenience rules the roost, and online is incredibly convenient.
It gives you so much choice. I think it's very
hard to beat that with bricks and watar and you
(14:48):
only need to need need You only need to ask
any New Zealand retailer about their battle and it's battle
with online basically.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
And you mentioned the there was there's the nice to
have as the must do. So one of the must
is presuming is this taking care of the service phase?
What do you reckon should be next cab off the rank?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I think it's a it's having a really good competitive
analysis of saying, Okay, well, who are we competing with
at the moment and who will we be competing with
in the future. And I think the really big item
that I'm sure is on everybody's minds is AI assisted shopping.
So still AI needs to find stuff online that people
(15:26):
are willing to sell. So if I'm sitting some cat
tree sitting on my desk, you know, AI doesn't know
about this, so it has to be somehow be put online.
So then the question is, you know, how well are
these platforms set up for allowing AI to harvest the
data and to make purchase decisions on behalf of or
even just putting a short list together on behalf you
(15:48):
or me if you're looking for a cat traid.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
So it's you.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Know, technology has been relatively stable for a long time,
but AI is said to be or has already been
a major disruption for many industries. So I think looking
forward to that, I think is really really critical because
if your platform is not AI integrated, and let's say
five years time, twenty five percent of people buy things
through AISS the shopping, well, you're just not there basically.
(16:16):
So I think that's a that's a medium term, super
important thing. The other thing is I don't have I
don't have the insights on this, but I think the
most obvious thing I would do as a market researcher
would be to say what happens to users or why
do users defect? Why do they not continue using the platform.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
And you know, any company.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
That's worth its salt would do a really good accident
interview in that sense, and just you know, every quarter
or so talk to these people and say, what are
the big things why people are dropping off? Some things
and won't be able to do anything about, you know,
change in lifestyle, change, moving countries, whatever it might be,
but other things that will certainly be able to do
something about.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
So I think an.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Analysis of what are the reasons why people are leaving
us or using us less frequently as super important.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Thanks for joining us, Phodo my pleasure. That's it for
this episode of the Front Page. You can read more
about today's stories and extensive news coverage at enzidherld dot
co dot nz. The Front Page is hosted and produced
by me Chelsea Daniels. Caine Dickie is our studio operator,
(17:25):
Richard Martin, our producer and editor, and our executive producer
is Jane Ye. Follow the Front Page on the iHeart
app or wherever you get your podcasts, and join us
next time for another look beyond the headlines.
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