These boots are made for browsing

Trade Me's Mike O'Donnell shows off his new Nikes - the label is a big online seller with men. Photo / Hagen Hopkins

Trade Me aims to corner the high end rag trade. The website has rebranded its clothing section as "Trade Me Fashion", hoping to claim more of the online clothing retail market.

Twenty-three per cent of online sales in New Zealand is clothing, but the category represents only about 17 per cent of Trade Me's sales.

Chief operating officer Mike O'Donnell said there was a much wider range of goods since the rebrand.

"We saw people searching for new Nike, Adidas and Puma and not getting what they wanted so our guy has been to the United States and Britain, sourcing them from professional retailers. That's how today I'm wearing a pair of leather Nike basketball boots that you can get, delivered, for less than $100."

A pair of Puma Ferrari Alekto sneakers featured this week for $142.99 — compared with $149.64 from eBay Australia.

O'Donnell said 41,000 pieces of clothing were bought each week on Trade Me. More than 2.1 million items were bought last year, 62 per cent from professional sellers. In March, the most popular women's Trade Me clothing search nationwide was for Country Road, then Karen Walker, City Chic, Nike and Witchery.

Trade Me shoppers could pick up a Karen Walker silk slip top this week for $20 or worn-once shorts for $95. New Karen Walker shorts in the latest Utopia collection sell for about $150.

Men typically look for Nike, Adidas, Huffer, Icebreaker and I Love Ugly.

O'Donnell said there had been considerable growth in "vintage" clothing over the past year.

"That's become really fashionable."