TradeMe set to raise fees

Photo / APN

One man's trash might be another man's treasure, but flicking off old junk online will soon cost more when Trade Me boosts its fees.

The auction site makes the change from February 7, when its "success fees" on a basic listing will jump to 7.5 per cent. Previously only 6.9 per cent of the sale price was deducted from a seller's online credit.

Fees on more expensive sales are also going up.

Items in the $200-$1500 range will be charged an additional $4.65, a raised flat fee of $15 plus 4.5 per cent of the amount of the sale price over $200.

This means a $200 sale will attract $15.00 in fees rather than $12.60.

An auction that sells for more than $1500 will be charged a slightly higher $73.50 flat fee plus 1.9 per cent of the amount of the sale price over $1500 - $2.40 more than before.

Nearly three million New Zealanders have signed up to Trade Me since it launched in 1999.

Listing an item is free but many sellers opt to pay for extras to promote their listing: 95c for a bold title, 10c for extra photos and $3.45 to appear near the top of a page.

Featuring on the site's home page sets the seller back $39 regardless of whether a sale eventuates and "success fees" are additional.

Those costs will not change.

The increase has stirred outcry on the site's discussion board and frustrated users are pledging to take their business elsewhere.

"Sorry TM but you're looking less and less attractive," posted one member.

"I feel like I'm forever topping up my TM account, even after only selling a couple of things," wrote another.

Some comments were more heated: "GREED, pure and simple! SHAME ON YOU TRADE-ME!"

Competing auction site Sella.co.nz does not charge fees to list or sell items. But marketing commentator and Trade Me Success Secrets author Michael Carney said Sella was lacking a simple drawcard - the 6.7 million unique hits Trade Me had each month.

"There might be a handful who vent their frustration by going to other sites but Trade Me has the buyers," he said.

Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford said the increase was a reflection of the site's growth - 90 per cent in two years.

"We took a long look at the increased traffic we were delivering to sellers and arrived at a price we thought still delivered sellers good value for money," he said.

Ford said the current success fee on the average $50 sale was $3.45, and would increase to $3.75.

"We think that almost twice as many potential eyeballs for 30 cents is decent value," he said.

The last increase in fees was 2008.

The price of listing a classified advertisement for a car, house or pet will stay the same.

He cited the GST increase as a secondary reason behind the move.