Trade Me fee changes - what you'll be paying

Trade Me has announced an increase in its fee for big ticket items sold on the auction site.

A flat rate success fee of 7.9 per cent will be introduced on February 1 and a tiered pricing system for items that sell over $200 will be scrapped.

The current fee for items from $6.40 to $200 is 7.9 per cent, but Trade Me imposes a flat fee of $15.80 plus 4.9 per cent of the price on items that sell for more than $200.

Under the new rule, all sales will come with a fee of 7.9 per cent of the sale price. The changes will mainly affect sellers of items priced over $500.

From February 1, if a user sells any items for $500, they will be stung with a $39.50 fee, compared to $30.50 under the present method. The maximum fee will be $149.

An item sold for $1000 currently costs the seller a fee of $55. From February the fee will jump to $79.

Currently if an item sells below $1 a fee of 50 cents is imposed, but under the new scheme that fee will be wiped.

Trade Me also announced that they will allow users to post up to 20 photos on listings for free.

The company said photos help items to sell and allows buyers to make an informed purchase.

There are no fee changes for listings in Motors, Property and Jobs.

Fee Changes
• $500 item current fee: $30.50, new fee $39.50
• $850 item current fee: $47.65, new fee: $67.15
• $1000 item current fee: $55, new fee $79
• $2000 item current fee: $89, new fee $149