And yet, despite the inherent appeal of the items listed on sale, they don’t always sell — at least not right away. In fact, on average only one in four auctions on Trade Me ends in a sale.

Has that ratio changed, especially in these recessionary times?

Not much. If we examine the figures for the most recent month available, June 2009, we find that 23% of auctions closed successfully. In comparison, 22% of auctions in June 2008 were similarly successful; while 24% of June 2007′s auctions resulted in a sale.

Of course, some product categories are more popular than others. If we rank Trade Me’s various sections in terms of popularity, here’s what we find:

• 41% of items listed in Mobile phones sold successfully in June 2009 (was 38% in June 2008)
• 37% Baby gear (was 33%)
• 29% Home & living (27%)
• 27% Electronics & photography (23%)
• 26% Toys & models (26%)
• 25% Sports (25%)
• 25% Building & renovation (24%)
• 23% Gaming (23%)
• 23% Health & beauty (21%)
• 22% Computers (19%)
• 20% Antiques & collectables (20%)
• 20% DVDs & movies (18%)
• 20% Music & instruments (21%)
• 19% Clothing (18%)
• 19% Jewellery & watches (17%)
• 18% Crafts (18%)
• 18% Pottery & glass (17%)
• 17% Art (15%)
• 17% Books (17%)
• 17% Business, farming & industry (24%)

If we drill down even deeper, to Trade Me’s sub-categories, we find much more dramatic results. These were the Top Ten best-selling product types on Trade Me for June 2009:

1. 66% Baby Walkers (59% in June 2008)
2. 66% Telecom mobile phones (64%)
3. 65% iPods (not listed separately in June 2008) 
4. 61% Concert tickets (57%)
5. 59% Baby Monitors (not listed separately last year)
6. 55% Laundry items (47%)
7. 54% Sports event tickets (58%)
8. 52% Heating & cooling (40%)
9. 50% Baby Bouncers & jolly jumpers (44%)
10. 45% Tattoos (not listed separately last year)

And those categories that improved most (in terms of sell-through rate) between June 2008 and June 2009?

• Up 65% GPS devices (were 23%, now 38%)
• Up 61% Trampolines (were 18%, now 29%)
• Up 60% Pottery & ceramics (were 10%, now 16%) 
• Up 58% Baby Car seats (were 19%, now 30%)
• Up 55% Domain names (were 11%, now 17%)

And those that fell furthest?

• Down 40% Crafts: Transfers (were 20%, now 12%)
• Down 40% Music DVDs (were 15%, now 9%)
• Down 50% Flags (were 26%, now 13%)
• Down 50% Businesses for sale (were 8%, now 4%)

And the very worst performer of all?

Carbon credits. This time last year, they enjoyed a sell-through rate of 71%. In June 2009 there were NO sales. Clearly an idea whose time has come – and gone.

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