What's Hot On Trade Me – 16 January 2008 January 16, 2008
Posted by Michael Carney in : auctions, cars, motorbikes, passenger vehicles, scooters, top ten, trade me, trade me motors, trademe, what's hot , add a comment
Two-wheeled contrivances are in again. We’ve come a long way since Pierre Lallement whipped up a velocipede (also known as a boneshaker) in France in 1763.
These days you can choose from utility bicycles, mountain bicycles, racing bicycles, touring bicycles, cruiser bicycles, BMX bicycles, tandems, recumbents, lowriders, tall bikes, fixed gear and folding models. And those are just the human-powered variety. There’s a seemingly endless variety of motorised contrivances as well. And it’s to those that we now turn, as we note (with a hint of surprise) that four of the ten most popular items on Trade Me this week are motorised two-wheelers.
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In the Number One slot (most popular of all items currently for sale on Trade Me), boasting 2182 pageviews, 327 bids and a current selling price of $2610, it’s the Vespa PX 200 2003 scooter. On offer from Landcars, this sporty little number is well-described, very professionally presented (smart photos and useful description) and obviously a popular model. If you want to list your own vehicle for sale, you could do worse than to follow this example.
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Second most popular bike (and third most popular item on Trade Me overall): the Yamaha YZ450F 2004 dirt bike, proud recipient of 1468 pageviews, 201 bids and a pricetag currently hovering at $4810. Of particular note with this listing: the 17 photos (you can have up to 20 as part of the listing price) which capture most every important aspect of this good-lookin’ machine. Photos do matter.
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Third bike on the block (and in sixth place overall), the Honda Dio 1996, another scooter, is brmm-brmm-ing along with 1470 ardent viewers, 153 bids and an accumulated dollar value of $725.
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Fourth motorbike of the top Ten (seventh overall): a BMW R1200RT 2005 cruiser, on offer as part of “the original Star Insurance $1 Damaged Motorcycle & Wreck Auction”. This motorised steed started its second life at $1 and is now purring along at $1510 after attracting 2593 pageviews and 148 bids.
The remaining six of the Top Ten hottest auctions on Trade Me at this moment include three cars, a carport and a carpet — and (just to spoil the symmetry) an Ibanez electric guitar.
So why do vehicles (whether of the two or four wheeled variety) feature so strongly at the top of the Hot Auctions category? Because auctions are ranked based on numbers of bids. Given that Trade Me sets minimum ‘next bid’ prices that range from 50 cents (for values under $20) to $100 (values over $25,000), only high-inherent-value items are likely to attract enough bidders to rank near the top of the list. Motor vehicles are the most obvious prospects, especially on those auctions that start life at $1.
The Hot Auctions category is a good place to hang out if you want to see what’s selling on Trade Me. Just don’t get caught up in a bidding war, okay?
