Trade Me teams up with Aussie company to offer buy-now, pay later

New system lets Trade Me users buy goods and pay in instalments. Photo / 123rf

Trade Me will offer a new service later this year where customer can buy products and then pay them off in instalments.

The online auction site has teamed up with Australian firm Afterpay for the service, which doesn't charge buyers any interest and will likely be available for goods valued between $20 and $800.

Afterpay is listed on the Australian stock exchange and some Trade Me sellers across the Tasman are already using the service.

Sellers receive full payment up front from Afterpay and buyers then pay it back in four fortnightly instalments.

Trade Me's head of marketplace Stuart McLean said the service offered an easy and flexible sales option.

"For example, if you buy something on Trade Me for $100 using Afterpay, instead of stumping up the full amount immediately you'll pay it via four $25 fortnightly payments.

"Sellers receive their money straight away from Afterpay and can ship the goods straight away - the buyer then makes their payments to Afterpay," McLean said.

McLean said that it was not yet known what fee sellers would pay to use the service but that it would be free for buyers.

He said that in Australia if buyers were late they were charged a A$10 fee and it was likely a similar penalty would be charged here.

Very few buyers using Afterpay across the Tasman had defaulted and the company would do their own credit checks on users here, he said.

Raewyn Fox, chief executive of Family Budgeting Services, said she wasn't concerned the partnership would lead Kiwis into debt.

"It's low interest with low fees, and consumers do find these payment plans helpful," Fox said.