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The Rule of 25 March 31, 2010

Posted by Michael Carney in : Uncategorized , 9comments

Perhaps the most common question asked by Trade Me newcomers: ‘Is it safe to buy on Trade Me?’ It’s a fair question. We are, after all, talking about a marketplace of invisible buyers and sellers dealing with products that might or might not exist. Do we really have that priceless vase in our possession and will we really send it to you once we have your money?

Keeping us honest
Incredibly, out and out fraud represents only a very small percentage of the tens of millions of auctions a year taking place on Trade Me. Yes, Kiwis are essentially honest and that’s a fabulous point in our favour. But the relatively smooth functioning of the Trade Me marketplace is mainly the result of deliberate engineering. Key components of this artificially induced honesty are:

Overall, the Trade Me system works hard to protect its members. Yes, there are still problems but they’re on a much lesser scale than they might be without the protective coatings applied by Trade Me.

Even so, it’s best to keep your wits about you when you go down to the Trade Me woods. Any collection of activities that relies on both buyer and seller being on their best behaviour does represent a risk. Allow us to guide you through 25 tips that will help you minimise the risks as you trade your way to fame and fortune.

  1. Before you even consider bidding, become familiar with the Trade Me website. Know and understand exactly what the Trade Me rules allow — and what (if any) protection you can expect, and under which circumstances (one way to learn all about Trade Me is, of course,  our Trade Me Success Secrets book).
  2. Know exactly what you’re bidding on. Read the fine print carefully and if there’s anything you don’t know, use the Ask the Seller a Question facility.
  3. Bid only on listings that feature photos. This will (slightly) improve the odds that the seller actually has possession of the product being sold.
  4. If you’re suspicious, check other listings for similar photos. An easy way for a somewhat more cunning fraudster to achieve a veneer of credibility is to steal the photos from someone else’s listing.
  5. If the photo looks particularly professional (eg, a crisp, clear shot with good lighting and/or background), then it may have been copied from an online catalogue. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the seller is a fraud; they might simply be saving themselves some effort, at the risk of copyright infringement — but it does mean that you can’t rely on the photo for proof of possession.
  6. Try to determine the market value of an item before you bid. Check out previous Trade Me sales for similar items. Look in retail stores or read advertising fliers to see what it costs to buy the item brand new.
  7. Find out all you can about the seller. Review their feedback page. If the seller has only a few feedbacks,  has feedbacks only on low-cost items or mostly has feedback for buying rather than selling, tread carefully.
  8. Check how long the seller has been a member of Trade Me (in the About The Seller box on each auction listing it tells you the date they joined Trade Me). New sellers, or those who have been members for a long time but not as active sellers, should be viewed with more caution than those who have been well-reviewed sellers over an extended period.
  9. Educate yourself about the items in which you are interested. Talk to knowledgeable sources, go to stores that sell such items, search online and get a better understanding of exactly what you should look for in such items.
  10. If the item is valuable because of its colour, size or some other attribute that isn’t necessarily clearly shown in a photograph, ask the seller for another photo from a different view, or for the item to be photographed alongside a common household product so that you can get a better understanding of the most important characteristics of the item.
  11. Ask yourself: Would I buy this if I saw it in a local store? Don’t get carried away just because it’s for sale on Trade Me.
  12. Consider whether the item comes with a warranty and whether follow-up service is available if you need it.
  13. Find out who pays for shipping and delivery. If you’re uncertain about what the shipping costs are likely to be, ask the seller before you place any bid. And watch out for extravagant allowances for postage and handling which can be a nice little earner for an unscrupulous seller – Trade Me’s rules essentially require shipping to be passed on at cost.
  14. Review the auction listing for the seller’s return policy. Under what circumstances will they take the item back? If there isn’t a policy shown (and in most cases there won’t be), ask the seller for details.
  15. Check the seller’s payment policy: cash, cheque, bank deposit or credit card? If the seller specifies cash only, that can be a warning sign — unless the item is a bulky one and the seller has specified pick-up only.
  16. Ask the seller as many questions as you need, to gather relevant information about the item on display. Don’t place any bids until you get straight — and satisfactory — answers.
  17. Remember, the seller is trying to make a sale. You can expect a certain amount of hype and liberal usage of descriptions such as ‘unique, rare, uncommon, vintage, retro …’ Ignore them.
  18. When bidding, know in advance what you’re willing to lose if the deal goes sour. $10? $100? Understand your risk threshold and try to stay within that range.
  19. Establish a top price and stick to it. If you decided the item was worth only a certain amount when you began the auction, it still is. Don’t get into a bidding war.
  20. Save all transaction information. A paper trail could turn out to be important if you have to go to the authorities.
  21. Take a screenshot. Save a copy of the item listing just before the auction ends, capturing the key image and description details, as a way of proving what was presented on the auction. Trade Me maintains images for a limited amount of time after the auction closes, but there’s nothing to stop the seller deleting the images immediately the deal is done. If you receive the listed item and it’s not in the condition shown in the photograph, you still have proof showing what the item was purported to look like during the auction.
  22. Know and understand what form of payment the seller accepts. Decide whether you’re willing to risk sending your payment before you receive the product or whether — if you have the option — you should pick the item up.
  23. After the auction, protect your privacy. Give out only the contact infor­mation required to receive your purchase; for example, supply a postal address in preference to a physical address and (only if a phone number is absolutely essential) a mobile number rather than a landline.
  24. If you need to send emails to a seller with whom you are in dispute, have a friend read your emails before you hit the send button. Even if you believe you have been ripped off, do not threaten the seller. Communicate in a fair and reasoned manner. Be polite and explain why you are dissatisfied. People do make mistakes when listing items, and many sellers will be willing to resolve the problem when approached in the right way. When you open with an attack, you leave the seller no room to respond reasonably.
  25. If the problem remains unresolved and you still feel that your rights have been compromised, complain to the appropriate authorities. If the seller is a professional trader you may be covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act and possibly the Fair Trading Act. Otherwise your best bet is your nearest Disputes Tribunal or even (in extreme cases) the police.

For more about online safety and Trade Me, see Chapter Three of Trade Me Success Secrets.

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Surviving The Recession Through Trade Me August 12, 2009

Posted by Michael Carney in : Uncategorized, new zealand, top twenty, trade me, trademe, what's hot , 27comments

Most of us are keen to get a good deal when we’re shopping for stuff, even in the good times. When it’s the worst of times, economically speaking (and if it’s not that now, this is as close as we want to come, thank you very much), we’re seriously committed to finding hot deals — or not spending at all. Thank goodness we’ve got Trade Me!

Normally, around two-thirds of visitors to Trade Me are looking for a bargain (the remainder are looking for something unique, either a collectable or some other one-of-a-kind offering). However, in the midst of a recession, expect nine out of ten Trade Me visitors to be in bargain-hunting mode.

So the first part of your mission is to take the path less travelled (i.e. go to the sections on Trade Me least populated by other members), lest spontaneous bidding should break out around you.

Avoiding Bidding Wars

So where should you go on Trade Me, to minimise human contact (and thus reduce your chances of squabbling with another keen hunter over some enticing goodie)? Some statistics to the rescue.

Last month on Trade Me, the 20 least popular categories (those which achieved the lowest sell-through rates — the site average was 23%) were:

NB We excluded Carbon Credits, which topped our list of Trade Me’s worst, attracting a big fat 0% sales in July. Our research indicates that in tough times consumers prefer to save their families first, before they get around to saving the planet.

If you’re in the market to buy any of these items, head over to the relevant category and browse away. Don’t mind the empty halls — that echoing sound you hear is the sound of the savings you’re likely to make when nobody else bids.

Plan B: Less Likely To Buy

On the other hand, none of those categories might look particularly compelling. Plan B involves taking a look at consumer buying intentions in recessionary times.

Relax, we’ve already done the heavy lifting. A US study conducted in July by BigResearch.com tells us that fewer people in the land of hope and glory are planning to spend in these categories in the next three months: 

Our own research suggests similar trends in New Zealand, as Kiwis cut back (though not perhaps to the same extent as their American or UK counterparts). So if you’re looking for a sharp deal in one of these categories, now would be a good time to let your keyboard do the walking. 

General Trade Me Buying Advice

Apart from these current trends, there are also a number of tricks and techniques to use when searching for hot deals on Trade Me. Here they are, excerpted from our Trade Me Success Secrets book: a dozen of the best types of auction listings to peruse when you don’t want to spend much:

1. POOR IMAGES OR NO IMAGES
Many people simply won’t bid on an auction if it doesn’t include an image, or if the image is so small or fuzzy that you can’t distinguish the product from the background. That’s why such listings can be great bargains. Yes, there are obviously risks. But if you’re bidding for an item like brand new single sheets, with a reasonably comprehensive description of what’s on offer, from a seller with more than a hundred positive feedbacks, the risk is minimal. On the other hand, if you’re tempted to bid on an unillustrated diamond ring from a brand new seller, we might encourage you to get seriously acquainted with Chapter Three of TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS, which shares some useful perspectives on fraud.

You won’t find image-less listings on Trade Me by searching, alas – you’ll have to browse through the categories that interest you, looking for something that isn’t there. Once you find a listing without images, you’ve still got to decide whether it’s worth taking a risk. If it’s a listing placed by a local seller, you may be able to arrange to pick up the item, giving you the chance to inspect it properly before you pay over any cash. If it’s an out-of-town seller, chances are reasonable (seven degrees of separation theory applies here) that you or a friend know someone nearby who can check the item out on your behalf before handing over the cash. Don’t be put off by a little thing like location.

2. NIGHT OWLS & DAWN CHORUSES
Trade Me operates around the clock, attracting buyers and sellers twenty-four hours a day. Some of those sellers, however, perhaps not quite completely aware of Trade Me’s automated listing processes, add new listings either very late at night or very early in the morning. There’s nothing wrong with doing that if you pay a premium to choose a suitable closing time (i.e. when there are people around to bid). If you don’t set such a closing time then the auction will close at the same time as you listed it, an appropriate number of days later. Such auctions are fair game for the dedicated buyer willing to stay up late or rise a little earlier than usual.

High-volume sellers are particularly likely to be offering products through auctions that finish at odd times. Not because they don’t understand the Trade Me system, but because (if you’re selling multiple copies of the same product) Trade Me’s automated relisting system automatically relists the product to close in increments of 24 hours since the last sale. In other words, if some insomniac buys your widget at 3.27am, your next widget will be relisted to close at 3.27am a (user-specified) certain number of days later.

Canny Trade Me buyers can and do exploit this systemic weakness by adding high-volume sellers to their ‘Favourite Sellers’ list and watching for timing anomalies.

3. ON HOLIDAY OR AT THE GAME
Our political masters don’t plan an Election Day during the school holidays or when there’s a big rugby game scheduled. No-one would show up to vote. For the same reason, you should never end an auction on a public holiday, in the middle of a big sporting event or when it’s going to clash with a major television show like the final of Dancing With The Stars or Outrageous Fortune.

Fortunately for us, sellers don’t always have an event calendar at their fingertips when they’re listing their auctions, so auction closing times seldom take account of what’s happening out there in the real world. Sure, most sellers avoid Christmas Day and the more obvious public holidays, but even so there are often times to snap up bargains because the rest of the population are cheering on the All Blacks or fighting with their tentpegs in some sodden holiday paradise.

4. MISSPELLED WORDS
Lousy spelling can be the kiss of death for Trade Me sellers – but a glowing beacon for buyers in search of a bargain. How do you find such auctions? Try looking at popular Trade Me search terms in your desired category and predicting what mangled variants might exist out there – do a search and prepare to be horrified. Alternatively, browse through the auction listings keeping your eyes peeled for almost familiar brands and keywords.

5. POOR DESCRIPTIONS
Even when they do the other things right, sellers who say little about the items on offer – or who describe them badly – are likely to scare away potential bidders. A collectable Anchor Tea Towel, listed in the Antiques & Collectables category under the headline “Tea towel”, could only attract a $2 bid. The not exactly riveting description that kept the price low: “Anchor butter,in very good condition with no tears or stains,highly decorative and nostalgic item.” Bargain hunters who can see past such descriptions stand to make a killing.

How do you find such gems? It’s not difficult – just browse through a category and look for items that seem good value but haven’t attracted many if any bids. Some sellers seem unable to find words to describe their products satisfactorily. If you’re one of those sellers, read Chapter Fourteen of TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS – Second Edition (Chapter Twelve of the First Edition) before you list another item.  

6. OBSCURE HEADLINES & HEADLINES WITHOUT KEYWORDS
Auction headlines should be treated like gold – every word should be a potential keyword someone will be searching for. And those odd characters that populate the top row of the keyboard are a definite no-no, if more than sixty percent of Trade Me users find listings by searching.

Have you ever searched for the keyword “l@@k”? We just did, and the Trade Me search engine just came back and told us “No results for ‘l@@k’ in New Zealand”. Yet sellers keep using such symbols in their headlines, trying to attract the attention of casual browsers. It’s a mug’s game.

The other common headline mistake: not using keywords. We searched for Tupperware and found 460 listings. The first 422 listings displayed had Tupperware in the headline – the last 38 only had a mention within the main body of the listing. The most popular of the 460 auctions had the headline “Tupperware Modular Mates x 4”, had attracted 573 pageviews and bidding stood at $41.50. The least popular was burdened with the headline “Jelly Molds x2 :o )”,  had no mention of Tupperware,  three pageviews and no bids. 

7. LISTINGS IN THE WRONG CATEGORIES
Trade Me has a great many misplaced listings thanks to the joys of self-classification. Not all the listings are wrong – the Lord Of The Rings movies, for example, can be found listed under various DVD categories, including Action, Adventure, Scifi, New Zealand,Boxed Sets and Collectors. Arguably, they’re all valid categories – yet most of the LOTR DVDs have been listed under Action or Adventure and that’s where fans would be most likely to turn first. If you find The Two Towers under Scifi, it’s likely to have attracted fewer pageviews – and probably not as many bids. 

Misplaced items aren’t particularly easy to find deliberately. But if an item shows up during a search that appears undiscovered by others, check out the category in which it’s listed. If it’s wildly out of place, you could be in luck.

8. MARKET KNOWLEDGE
All those wonderful TV programmes where innocent consumers parade their home treasures in front of experts, to be told that they have a $500,000 Rembrandt hanging in their smallest room, are great entertainment – and a wonderful fantasy for Trade Me buyers. Reality seldom delivers on the dream but, if you specialise in a particular product category and know it well, you will have a definite advantage over casual sellers. As more and more new traders set up shop, your specialist knowledge could just come in handy.  

9. FADING FASHION
We live in an instant gratification society. When it’s hot we want it now. That’s why cinema chains can charge blockbuster pricing when a movie is first released – and why some patient (and thrifty) souls are willing to wait a few weeks until the price drops. The same dynamic applies to online auctions – when a hot new DVD or CD is just released, you’ll end up paying about the same to buy it on Trade Me as you would through a retail store. If you’re prepared to wait, however, the price will drop. How long should you wait? Check on the final sale price of similar items on a regular basis. When the price drops to a level that seems acceptable, get ready to bid.

In the same vein: buy off season. Buy your Christmas ornaments after Boxing Day and your swimming accessories at the end of summer.  

10. BROWSING RATHER THAN SEARCHING
If you only use the Search facility on Trade Me, you could be missing out on bargains listed by sellers who (either through some of the poor practices already outlined here or through other misadventures of their own) have done a lousy job of listing their offerings online. It’s worth taking a bit of time to browse through categories of interest – like a jumble sale or a lucky dip, you never know what surprises are in store.

11. OVER-PRICED LISTINGS
Every once in a while you’ll see a product that you want that’s overpriced – either the starting price is too high or, even if there’s been some spirited bidding, the reserve still hasn’t been reached. Don’t do anything rash – just add the product to your watchlist and wait until the auction closes. Unless the bidding gets out of hand, the auction is likely to finish unsuccessfully. Once that happens, you can use the Trade Me system to get in touch, asking them either to relist the item or make a fixed price offer – hopefully this time their expectations will be more realistic.

NB Some sellers simply refuse to make their products available via fixed offer — something about “gannets” and “scavenging”. Their loss.

12. ATTITUDE THAT OFFENDS
Some sellers, presumably as a result of previous problems, seem determined to drive away potential buyers by tough talking in their listings: “payment within three days or the item will be relisted and negative feedback will be posted.” It’s OK to have a bad hair day every once in a while but if you’re the public face for your organisation (as Trade Me listings are) then it’s not a good career move to operate on a customer-is-always-wrong model.

If you’re willing to take the risk of offending these somewhat prickly traders, go ahead and bid. Other more delicate souls may be put off, lessening the competitive pressure. Just make certain that your actions after the auction are squeaky clean.

To List Is Human, To Sell Divine

Just before we leave the topic of recessionary trading, some advice for sellers (who’re also trying to survive and thrive in the economic downturn):

The Seven Things Every Trade Me Seller Should Know About Consumers In 2009

1. Conspicuous Consumption is out of fashion (for now). We don’t want to be seen to be over-indulging while others are suffering. Bling is out, dowdy is in. Subtlety and decorum, please. We will allow ourselves small indulgences — but with discretion. So — even if you have ostentatious items to sell, a little bit of taste, please.

2. Climate Change has been postponed until we can afford it again. Yes, products still need green credentials but they’re just not the most important attribute right now. So mention any sustainable attributes your products might boast, but price your stuff competitively.

3. Security Really, Really Matters. So many finance companies and other institutions, supposedly safe, have fallen into the abyss. We won’t be nearly so trusting anymore. It also means we’ll look more closely at your feedback and your past history, so behave already.

4. Country of Origin is now a significant issue. The melamine-tainted milk powder scandal really brought it home to us — we’ve now started checking labels to see exactly where products are made. Good news for Kiwi Made, not so good for importers. Be open about the source of your products.

5. Staying In is the new Going Out. We’re eating out less, spending more on our little home nests. It’ll take a compelling offer to lure us out in 2009. Focus on selling items that improve quality of life in our homes.

6. We’re Slower To Spend.  In tough times, we procrastinate more about when, where and how we spend. We spend more time searching for information before we commit to purchase (and look further around for the best deals). And we negotiate harder when we do decide to buy. So make those listing details as comprehensive as possible and add lots of pictures.

In the US BigResearch study mentioned earlier, consumers told researchers that their new order of priorities – what they look for first when they shop — is:

You know what you have to do.

7. We have new Spending Priorities. A September 2008 European Study on Discretionary Spending by Execution Primary Research (“what would you cut back if you had to make savings?”) saw Broadband Internet, Fixed-Line Phone Calls, Toiletries and Cosmetics and Mobile Phones as the least likely to be cut back in tough times. Most vulnerable (in order): New furniture or floor coverings, Gambling, Going Out, Electronics, Music, DVDs, Books & Games and Home Improvements.

The implication: that thrifty consumers could be interested in second-hand goods or maintenance products (e.g. “keep that carpet alive for longer …”)  in the most vulnerable categories; or in upgrades, accessories and supporting products in categories such as mobile phones (“you’ll have to pry the handset from my cold, dead hand”).

It’s The Economy, Stupid

If you’re trying to sell stuff, Trade Me is still the place to be. In fact, online auction sites typically blossom in a recession precisely because they’re the ideal place to find a bargain. Just be aware that value is the single most important attribute right now. One last collection of statistics from that July 2009 BigResearch study, this time capturing the parsimonious attitudes of recession-conscious consumers:

Finally, just to complete the set (and so you can know what items you should be selling), here’s a list of the Top 20 Items selling most on Trade Me (July 2009) despite the recession:

PS We would be remiss if we didn’t sneak in one last plug for our book, TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS. Its subtitle is “How to buy for less and sell more profitably on New Zealand’s most popular auction site” — and that’s what we all need, especially in tough times. See our listings on Trade Me.

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We’ve Moved! August 5, 2009

Posted by Michael Carney in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so far

We’ve moved the TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS blog to a new host.

It all should work properly, but we’ll apologise in advance just in case.

Oh yeah — but please bookmark this address for future use. Thank you!

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Now Tweeting April 22, 2009

Posted by Michael Carney in : Uncategorized , add a comment

If you want our latest micro-thoughts on Trade Me and associated topics, you’ll find us @trademesecrets on Twitter.

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Turners and Trade Me team up November 13, 2008

Posted by Michael Carney in : Uncategorized , add a comment

In the cozy glow of post-election relationships, perhaps it’s no surprise to find two former competitors now happily co-operating for the common good. But it does at least raise an eyebrow or two.

The change in fortune was announced in a press release yesterday:

Turners Auctions has increased its online footprint by teaming up with Trade Me. Turners will have up to 4,000 listings at any one time on New Zealand’s most popular website, including cars, trucks, caravans and damaged vehicles, making it one of the largest providers of listings in Trade Me Motors.

This provides customers with increased choices as they look to buy vehicles in a tough market, says Todd Hunter, General Manager Sales and Marketing.
 
“We realise buyers are increasingly cautious when purchasing cars these days. The combination of Turners’ physical presence with Trade Me’s online strength creates a great partnership. More people are exposed to our inventory which is good for our vendors and buyers.

“We want to make the buying process as simple and convenient as possible and joining with Trade Me is an obvious step towards this.”

The new relationship began tentatively in early October, when Turners Auctions’ first tranche of vehicles was listed on Trade Me with great customer response.

In typically irreverent style, Trade Me head of commercial Mike O’Donnell (MOD) noted that the arrangement was put together over a beer a couple of months ago. “We sat down with the Turners guys and just turned a mind to what might be.

“The movement of car sales to the web has been profound but not all people have the time or skills to market their car properly online. This is what Turners have brought to the table along with a unique ability to house them in showrooms.” Fair comment, MOD.

Bravo to both Trade Me and Turners for making this new deal happen. Let’s hope all coalition arrangements work out so well.

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Hold All Tickets, We Have A Winner! December 25, 2007

Posted by Michael Carney in : Uncategorized , add a comment

And it’s just gone noon on Christmas Day (Merry Christmas everybody!!), with the auction listings total at 722,198. Closest estimate was Mogla with 714,085.

Congratulations, Mogla! And thanks to everyone else for entering. Cheers!

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New Edition, New Blog December 9, 2007

Posted by Trade Me Success Secrets in : Uncategorized, auctions, new zealand, trade me, trademe , add a comment

Two years on from the first edition of TRADE ME SUCCESS SECRETS, we’re back with a Second Edition. We also decided to mark the occasion with a new blog. So here we are.

What’s new since the First Edition?

MIND-BOGGLING NUMBERS

When our first edition was published in November 2005, Trade Me attracted two million visitors per month.

A year later, that number was three million.

Now it’s 3.9 million and still growing strong. 

So we decided it was time for a Second Edition. We’ve made revisions and updates throughout, added three new chapters (and another 32 pages).  Check it out.

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