Netting designer garb

Karen Walker. Photo / Dean Purcell

Designer labels including Kate Sylvester, Karen Walker and Huffer are being hocked off on Trade Me at heavily reduced prices.

Fashion gurus can now forage through Trade Me for a designer bargain which has shed its meaty price tag without leaving home.

While the odd designer label has shown up on Trade Me before, they have usually been for sale as a result of an expensive mistake - or a credit card overload.

But now bulk lots of new designer clothing are up for sale on Trade Me, much to the delight of fashion bargain hunters.

This week, items up for grabs included a new Kate Sylvester black ruffle dress for a start price of $190 (retails at $275). A Karen Walker silk, dusky pink dress was up for $290 (retails at $550) and another salmon dress by Walker also started at $290 (retails for $425).

Clothing from labels such as Deborah Sweeney, Huffer, Workshop and Cybele have also been showcased at discounted prices on Trade Me.

Spokespeople at two major fashion labels refused to comment on the practice. One said "it has nothing to do with us", while another blamed some "stockists" for the practice and wanted it known "it's not us that does it".

The Herald on Sunday tracked down one of the designer label traders who agreed to talk if she was not named. Designers were not happy about the practice, she said.

They preferred merchandise to be sold through hand-picked shops "so people have the in-store experience" or through their own websites, the trader said.

The trader said usually end-of-season labels were sold on Trade Me, items which would have gone on sale anyway.

The response to the Trade Me designer sales was "amazing" she said.

Items under $150 were "flying out the door" and hundreds of people sometimes watched a single fashion item. T-shirts and dresses were very popular.

Trade Me buyers from outside the main cities were big fans, the trader said. Designer labels were not as readily available in small towns.

Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford said women's clothing was big business.

At least 10 per cent of the 1.5 million items currently listed were women's clothing and some well-known designers were among the top searched items.

Last month Karen Walker was the third most searched overall category on the website, while Trelise Cooper came seventh and Country Road 10th.

Ford said people were becoming more comfortable with buying clothes through the internet. Kiwis liked the choice online and knew that method of buying worked.

While women were fans of snapping up designer bargains on the website, men showed less enthusiasm, he said.

Huffer and Federation labels were the main designer labels for men showing on the site. The choice for women was far greater, with 120,000 more items of female fashion clothing listed for sale than in the men's category.

rachel.grunwell@hos.co.nz