No Success Fees for Marketplace from 10th March (Bank Transfer Removed, Service Fee for Purchases from Casual Buyers) @ Trade Me

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No Success Fees for Marketplace from 10th March (Bank Transfer Removed, Service Fee for Purchases from Casual Buyers) @ Trade Me
Go to Deal
Lrub0r1z3d on 05/03/2026 - 08:27 trademe.co.nz (229 clicks)
Last edited 05/03/2026 - 10:46 by 1 other user

Trade Me is scrapping success fees — great news for sellers — but bank transfer is gone too. All payments now go through Ping at a 2.19% fee to the seller, plus buyers pay a small service fee on purchases over $20 (99c–$4.99 depending on sale price). For most casual sellers on typical transactions, the overall cost should be similar or slightly lower than before, but the loss of free bank transfer will sting those selling higher-value items where the Ping percentage adds up.

What’s changing

  • We are removing the 7.9% Success Fee for casual sellers on Trade Me Marketplace
  • Ping, our swift and secure payment option, will be offered on every listing. Ping comes with a 2.19% transaction fee for the seller.
  • While most fraudulent activities on our Marketplace are resolved quickly, in 2025 nearly all of the scams that we couldn't help resolve involved bank transfers. To enhance security, we are removing bank transfer as a payment option.
  • Going forward we will offer Ping and Afterpay as our supported payments options, while still allowing cash for those who prefer to trade in person.
  • Buyer Protection for purchases made with Ping or Afterpay will increase from $2,500 to $5,000.
  • We are introducing a Service Fee for buyers on casual listings which will be tiered based on the item’s value. This Service Fee helps keep our platform operating and ensure we can continue to provide local support.

Service Fee tiers (for Marketplace)

  • $0.00 - $20.00 = Free
  • $20.01 - $100.00 = $0.99
  • $100.01 - $250.00 = $1.99
  • $250.01 + = $4.99
  • It's calculated based on the purchase price, not including shipping.

Success Fees

  • Are motor success fees included? No, this change impacts Trade Me Marketplace only. It does not include Motors.
  • Professional sellers (or in-trade sellers) are businesses who use Trade Me as a platform to market their items. These businesses have access to a whole raft of different tools not available to casual members and a huge audience that enables them to profit off the items they sell.
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  • jesserockz on 05/03/2026 - 08:58
    +5

    Interesting, they are leaving the "Cash" option, so you can still do a bank transfer by simply choosing cash…

    • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 09:40
      +5

      But as a buyer, there is no incentive to do that because "Ping.. will be offered on every listing"
      So why risk a a bank transfer when you are protected for fraud when paying with Ping.
      Saying this as a buyer who has been scammed when transferring via bank, never had the item arrive, seller claims they sent it but has no tracking number or proof of delivery.

      • jesserockz on 05/03/2026 - 09:46
        +1

        Except if over $20, the buyer pays a service fee too

        • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 09:50
          -3

          They way I understand the new system, the buyer pays Trademe the service fee on all sales irrespective of how they pay the seller.

          • jesserockz on 05/03/2026 - 10:02
            +5

            @RockCartel: What’s changing for buyers?
            We are introducing a Service Fee for casual purchases which will be tiered based on the item’s value. It averages to be about $0.99 per purchase. This fee is charged on all Ping purchases and is calculated excluding shipping costs. The fee helps keep the platform operating and means we can continue to offer you local support.

            Service Fee tiers

            $0.00 - $20.00 = Free
            $20.01 - $100.00 = $0.99
            $100.01 - $250.00 = $1.99
            $250.01 + = $4.99

            • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 13:54

              @jesserockz: Where do you see that?
              This page doesn't say it's only Ping purchases. Perhaps they updated it?
              https://help.trademe.co.nz/hc/en-us/articles/15025966670991-…
              We are introducing a Service Fee for buyers on casual listings which will be tiered based on the item’s value.
              You’ll only see this fee when you’re buying from a casual seller, and it will be clearly shown before you commit to a purchase.
              It’s calculated based on the purchase price, not including shipping.

              • jesserockz on 05/03/2026 - 15:17

                @RockCartel: On the page this deal links to https://www.trademe.co.nz/c/promo/goodbye-success-fees

                • LuckyB on 05/03/2026 - 23:17

                  @jesserockz: Service Fee helps keep our platform operating and allows us to provide a safe, supported platform for Kiwi to trade. You’ll only see this fee when you’re buying from a casual seller, and it will be clearly shown before you commit to a purchase.

                  We’re also removing Success Fees for casual sellers, which means more people listing more great stuff for you to buy.

    • Jaxson on 05/03/2026 - 10:51

      How does this work for pick ups?
      Is Trade Me fully missing out on this if you have a buyer that pays cash on pick up?

      • Wakrak on 05/03/2026 - 11:06
        -1

        $20 item for example, perhaps you pay $20 in cash but they’ll charge $0.99 on your account

        • Scotty114 on 05/03/2026 - 13:50
          +3

          No, there is no Service Fee on cash purchases, Ping purchases only.

          We are introducing a Service Fee for casual purchases which will be tiered based on the item’s value. It averages to be about $0.99 per purchase. This fee is charged on all Ping purchases and is calculated excluding shipping costs. The fee helps keep the platform operating and means we can continue to offer you local support.

          • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 13:56

            @Scotty114: This is what the page shows.
            Doesn't say it's only Ping purchases. Perhaps they updated it?
            "We have introduced a Service Fee that will be charged to buyers on casual purchases and this enables us to continue to operate our platform including providing local based support service. For items under $20 there is still no Service Fee and for items above $20 it averages to be about $0.99."
            https://help.trademe.co.nz/hc/en-us/articles/15025966670991-…

            • Scotty114 on 05/03/2026 - 19:46

              @RockCartel: https://www.trademe.co.nz/c/promo/goodbye-success-fees

              What’s changing for buyers?
              We are introducing a Service Fee for casual purchases which will be tiered based on the item’s value. It averages to be about $0.99 per purchase. This fee is charged on all Ping purchases and is calculated excluding shipping costs. The fee helps keep the platform operating and means we can continue to offer you local support.

          • The Hound on 05/03/2026 - 15:21
            +1

            @Scotty114: Yeah makes sense. How do you enforce a fee for buyers wanting to pay by cash? Will there be a Trademe inspector at every cash pickups? lol

      • LuckyB on 05/03/2026 - 23:32

        From my understanding, Service Fee is charged to the buyer irrespective of cash or ping payment.

        Cash payment won’t make sense for most purchase as ping fee is paid by seller and offers purchaser buyer protection.

        TM announcement:

        We are adding a Service Fee on casual listings which will be tiered based on the item’s value. This Service Fee helps us keep the lights on and allows us to provide a safe, supported environment for Kiwi to trade. You’ll only see this fee when you’re buying from a casual seller, and it will be clearly shown before you commit to a purchase. It’s calculated based on the purchase price, not including shipping.

    • jesserockz on 06/03/2026 - 15:32

      In the email I received today it says:

      To keep the platform running and provide local support, we’re introducing a tiered Service Fee on casual Ping purchases (excluding shipping).

    • Bobbee on 06/03/2026 - 16:16

      If you don't have the shipping calculated and posted in advance, or the buyer wants if combined, you now have to use Ping and bank transfer as well

  • felixfurtak on 05/03/2026 - 09:14
    -1

    More discussion here https://www.cheapies.nz/node/55059

  • danvelopment on 05/03/2026 - 09:50
    +10

    Facebook Marketplace pressure must be on if TradeMe are doing something positive for their customers.

    I certainly do as much business as I can on Facebook to avoid giving TradeMe money.

    • kfr23 on 05/03/2026 - 12:25
      +2

      I don't understand how this is possible for you. 90% of messages you get as a seller are either a scam, or someone who has no intention of buying the item you have listed. Or, better yet, lowball you with 50% of asking price. Trade Me has always been better for higher value items.

      • danvelopment on 05/03/2026 - 12:54
        +8

        Shruggie.

        I can't say I've had any scammers trying to buy from me, tonnes of scammers selling, but not buying.

        I certainly get people who have no intention to buy (but they never go further than generic requests, to which I now exclusively use generic responses).

        But I also get stupid questions on TradeMe.

        Low offers are fine, nothing a no, or a counter offer can't fix, TradeMe has offers too.

        I find "what's your lowest price" much worse than a lowball, as that person is basically just saying, "I don't like your price and want you to negotiate with yourself and do all the work so that I may benefit". I derive great satisfaction from choosing a price (that wouldn't be my lowest price) and then when they try and negotiate lower (which they always do) say that "unfortunately I am unable to negotiate lower as doing so would mean the price I said wasn't my lowest and that I lied to you, and I'm not a liar. I probably would have negotiated lower if you made an offer but now I can't." Drives them nuts.

        That being said, the people who buy and sell on Marketplace are significantly more mature than they were 1 or 2 years ago, probably because more normal people are using it. I literally bought a $1500 item from Marketplace 2 days ago, picked up same day.

        If collections are involved, I'd go as far as saying Marketplace is superior because you're not committed to buying until you've inspected it, for shipped items, TradeMe is superior because paying first on Marketplace is risky as there's no protection.

        • pdevonporf on 05/03/2026 - 14:52

          People only get scammed because they've lost common sense. Who buys an iPhone for $1000 and then gets it posted without using Ping or picking it up? I've had lots of these scammers over the years, some from overseas, usually when you're selling a vehicle, and phones are the worst. I have no problem with people asking for a low price, but what annoys me is when they've bought something, they then start asking questions. Also bought, sold plenty of stuff on Facebook Marketplace, never had a problem, just use common sense.

          • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 15:03

            @pdevonporf: Common sense helps, but doesn't prevent scams.
            If buy something for a fair (not cheap) price of $95, the seller has positive feedback. You transfer the money and after repeated attempts you never hear anything from the seller. You used just got scammed.

        • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 16:31

          I've notice people seem to be bank transfer payments more on FB market. Which baffles me.
          Like I've sold a chromecast and a monitor though I have a good rating, but damn I'd never buy anything for shipping (unless it was under $50) and prepay with bank transfer and hope they send it especially with the amount of FB scamming that goes on and there's no person you can talk to ban scammers/account etc

          Common Sense ain't common anymore it should be called Intellectual/Logical Sense lol

        • kfr23 on 05/03/2026 - 18:55
          +1

          And that's fair enough, glad that you've had success with it. Phones on Marketplace especially seem to attract the typical "I can't pick it up in person, but I can send a courier with the money to your house" that I've had a lot. It has been a while though, so maybe Marketplace has got better.

    • hazey on 05/03/2026 - 19:02
      +1

      Well they sure ain't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts!

      …and they're still getting $$ from the Ping fee + buyer service fee

      • Bobbee on 06/03/2026 - 16:13

        Yes and it's the Ping fee from the buyer as well. From what I could see they were going down the gurgler and had to do something. I searched for something recently and there were about 5 listings on Trademe, and about 30 or more on Marketplace

  • chiwilad on 05/03/2026 - 09:53
    +4

    AWESOME!!

    • ABCDEFG on 05/03/2026 - 10:05
      +4

      From OP's post, right at the top of this page:

      Are motor success fees included? No, this change impacts Trade Me Marketplace only. It does not include Motors.

    • jesserockz on 05/03/2026 - 10:06
      +3

      No, this change impacts Trade Me Marketplace only. It does not include Motors.

  • Jaxson on 05/03/2026 - 10:48
    +1

    Assuming the use of ‘marketplace’ in the name is a response to Facebook marketplace.

    Like it seems quite weird to suddenly reference Trade Me as Trade Me marketplace, and almost risky given how crap and confusing the warehouse marketplace concept was.

    • Wakrak on 05/03/2026 - 11:04
      +4

      I put that there because that’s how Trade Me distinguishes between everyday items vs. vehicles + jobs + real estate etc.

      I think it has been called Marketplace for a while.

    • danvelopment on 05/03/2026 - 11:39
      +2

      TradeMe has different sections, Property, Motors, Jobs, Services and "Marketplace", which can be seen on trademe.co.nz.

      This only affects "Marketplace", not Property, Motors, Jobs or Services.

      • The Hound on 05/03/2026 - 15:23

        The Warehouse Marketplace enters chat… (because they don't want to feel left out lol)

  • ajc28 on 05/03/2026 - 11:28

    How does a seller register and receive payments via ping?

      • ajc28 on 05/03/2026 - 11:43
        +4

        Thanks. How does it work with shipping if you don't necessarily know the shipping costs beforehand so can't list them (ie, because there's a pickup option, or the buyer could be from anywhere in the country so the shipping would be different depending how far it's going)?

        • coffeee on 05/03/2026 - 13:09
          +2

          ping for the item and you pay the shipping via online banking, i have done so in the past.

          • ajc28 on 05/03/2026 - 13:49
            +2

            @coffeee: Seems a bit of extra faff having to request 2 different payments via 2 different methods tbh.

            • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 13:58

              @ajc28: You can include shipping costs in the original listing and have it all covered in one Ping payment.
              It allows multiple shipping costs based on the destination.

              • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 16:23

                @RockCartel: Previously shipping also gets charged a 2.19% on top for using ping on an item
                As they take the total of (Bid price + Shipping costs) x 2.19% so you'd have to account for shipping ping costs too if you were trying to factor it into your listing price.

                Though this says now they exclude shipping but I wonder if it will actually

                For me sometimes on some listings I've had to put "to be arranged" as sometimes bigger dimensions or heavier weight cause the shipping tool would give an error or not display costs. Despite these things still being courier-able.
                Like a new microwave box I have I can't get any shipping costs for it so have to leave it as "to be arranged"
                but often leave a note in the description as to why I cannot get shipping costs

                • Stoic on 05/03/2026 - 16:34

                  @Huntakillaz: I don't see shipping excluded from the ping fee, which is annoying as you can't just add 2.19% to shipping costs when using the book a courier estimate when making a listing. You'd have to manually go in and enter all the different shipping options and costs with the fee included, or just eat the ping fee on shipping yourself.

                  I think the excluding shipping is just for calculating the service fee.

                  • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 16:38

                    @Stoic: Yeah that's what confused me, it's so annoying how they can't just put in the calculations on the site itself, it's just coding some basic math.

                    Let me put in my listing price and weight+dimensions and then give the option to include fees in my listing and shipping prices and show me those calculations. They already do some of it on the back end to calculate ping fee stuff

                    • hazey on 05/03/2026 - 19:08
                      +1

                      @Huntakillaz: I think we all know how lacking the coding is, shown by the ongoing issues since work on "new" site commenced… how many years ago ?!

                      I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to re-enter my shipping options when they magically just disappear, often when re-listing.

              • RockCartel on 05/03/2026 - 22:58

                @RockCartel: https://www.passtheparcel.co.nz/
                Can be cheap for some size / weight / regions. Worth comparing.

            • Flippant on 05/03/2026 - 14:11
              +5

              @ajc28: Easy solution, list the shipping prices at the time of creating the listing. I don't know why people don't. Trade Me has a shipping calculator tool that you can use when you create your listing, you simply put in the rough dimensions of the box/satchel you'll be sending and it will automatically list all the prices on your listing to send that item from your location to all around NZ. And in most locations you can even organize a courier directly through Trade Me to come to your front door and pick the item up, it couldn't be any easier. If for some reason you can't use the TM shipping tool then most courier companies also have rate finding tools on their websites.

              As a buyer there is nothing more annoying than coming across a listing that's about to close in a few minutes that has "to be arranged" under the shipping options, because it means that I have absolutely no idea how much extra I'll be paying you for shipping, there's no time to ask a question to confirm how much you'll be charging for shipping which means I'm probably not going to be bidding on your auction. It makes no sense to me to not include shipping prices on things you're prepared to ship.

              • ajc28 on 05/03/2026 - 15:26

                @Flippant: Thanks for that info. That definitely makes it easier if you can have it list shipping costs all over the country up front so they can just choose the right one to add to the payment. Didn’t realise that option was there as am only a very occasional seller so haven't seen it before. Have sold a couple of things that needed to be posted rather than picked up and used the book a courier option which was great. Meant I could just leave the box on my doorstep when I left for work rather than have to get to a post shop myself.

                • Flippant on 05/03/2026 - 15:38
                  +1

                  @ajc28: If you've used Book A Courier before you'll be fine, the listing thing is pretty much the exact same process, it's an option on the delivery options page when you create a listing called "Calculate Courier Costs". Glad I could help out a little.

              • mrhale on 05/03/2026 - 16:42

                @Flippant: The one issue I’ve found with using TM shipping is that the local courier for my area is mega unreliable (and I’ve got nowhere to leave it for pick up so have to be there). I tend to use the NZPost tool instead, knowing I can then print a label and just drop it off at a post shop.

                • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 19:16
                  +2

                  @mrhale: FYI:

                  I found that Nz Post via TM shipping is a bit cheaper often than NZPost Online. So I just book it through TM and make sure the pickup date like 1-3 days out so that its already processed at the depot by the time the pickup date happens
                  Select these options:
                  - "Will somebody be available at the pick-up address?"
                  - "Nobody will be available, but I will leave pick-up instructions"
                  - Courier pick-up instructions "Dropped off to Post Shop"

                  Then print the label slap it on and drop package off at the local postshop

                  • kfr23 on 05/03/2026 - 20:08
                    +1

                    @Huntakillaz: Even cheaper again, https://www.ishipping.co.nz. Especially for parcels

                  • zxcv on 05/03/2026 - 22:29

                    @Huntakillaz: So if I book through TM then drop it at the post shop, does that effectively 'cancel' the pending courier pickup? Or will the courier still show up only to realise it's already been posted?

                    • Huntakillaz on 06/03/2026 - 03:03

                      @zxcv: I've had the courier show up a few times, but mostly by setting the pickup a few days out then they tend not to once it's already been processed at the depot

                      Eg: if I'm making a booking today (Friday) I'll put pickup for Tuesday onwards meaning i can go drop it today and its already halfway or fully there on its journey by Tuesday, or If I drop it Monday and its half way on its journey processed at the local depot already.
                      Worst case I'm feeling sick then i can hand it to the courier on Tuesday

                      (I'm in Wellington City so if your like in a smaller town or so then you'll need to push the days out further)
                      Just gotta find the right balance for you.

              • metz on 06/03/2026 - 08:12

                @Flippant: Agreed shipping calculator is great. I still compare to their older courier 'Pass The Parcel' site as this still shows your Trademe sales as they sell. It was cheaper for bags until this year. Bags themselves are free and boxes still work out way cheaper most often sometimes savings of up to $20. Personally this new change is going to save me heaps as I have hundreds of listings on a good year still clearing items from our blended household.

        • LuckyB on 05/03/2026 - 23:45

          TM official advice:

          If shipping prices weren’t included in the listing, the buyer will need to make payment for shipping via bank transfer as there isn't a way to update the Ping payment after the listing closes. Alternatively, you can set up a new listing for the buyer with the shipping cost added so they can re-purchase the item and pay via Ping – the seller is able to refund the Ping payment for the initial trade if needed.

          • metz on 07/03/2026 - 09:54

            @LuckyB: You can also add you own costs. Calculate on their tool and if you find cheaper options you add those manually. If I overcharged I use to add change in their parcel, then the part refund PING option made things easier - also having the Pass the Parcel for larger items sometimes I find I have been out by a few dollars and meant I was not compensating the top up at my end. Sometimes I cut the box down a wee bit or try recalculating the measurements slightly as the price quote is not 100% agreed price unfortunately by courier - but this is only on a rare occassion that I get a surprise from that quoted to odd locations. 2000 Trades so far in 20+ years and no complaints as the courier pick up system has saved me hours of racing about. I keep old bags, bubble wrap, shoe boxes and tape measure handy and you soon get dimensions worked out easy as, just add an inch or two for packing items safely. Happy Trading.

  • Flippant on 05/03/2026 - 11:55
    +11

    I bet this is because of that guy who got scammed out of $5k buying a coffee machine off a scammer who was using a hacked account on TM. He took TM to the disputes tribunal to try and get his money back after TM did their usual thing of "not our responsibility", and in December the DT ruled in his favor. I guess TM got scared that now we have this ruling it opens the floodgates for anyone who loses money to a scammer on the platform to get their money back regardless of the payment method they used, and the shareholders wouldn't like that.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360908922/dog-bone-man-who-f…

    • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 16:27
      +4

      You'd think they'd also make multi-factor authentication (MFA) compulsory and bring back address verification that they use to do.

      • nzsaver on 05/03/2026 - 16:34
        +1

        I think address verification was a little pointless as a measure - one of those "seems to be a good idea but doesn't actually make a difference in practice" when it comes to fraud.

        Thanks @Flippant for posting that article. INTERESTINGLY the Ping Buyer Protection is going up from $2500 for $5000 lol

        • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 16:40

          It would stop most overseas scammers, unless they're pairing up with Nz scammers imo
          But lack of MFA enforcement is baffling.

      • Alan6984 on 05/03/2026 - 16:34

        … and bring back address verification that they use to do.

        Hadn't even noticed that was gone!

        • nzmax on 05/03/2026 - 17:02

          Probably because of NZ posts huge cost now to send a letter. But they could charge the user for that to allow direct bank payment as a option. But cash and sending emails still mean bank payment is still going to be on option.

      • Flippant on 05/03/2026 - 17:19

        @huntakillaz

        5 years ago I would've agreed with you but nowadays overseas scammers mainly use phishing scams to takeover peoples dormant Trade Me accounts, so address verification is all but pointless at stopping them. 2FA makes sense though, why they wouldn't make 2FA the only option available is really strange, I'd love to hear Trade Me's reasoning behind why they won't do it.

    • jjjj on 05/03/2026 - 17:37
      +7

      This guy is an absolute legend. Good on him for going all the way and setting precedent for the rest of us

      • nzsaver on 05/03/2026 - 22:00
        +2

        Completely agree. His story was almost identical to mine (minus the 3rd party crypto seller) but I just sucked up the $300 loss and the police later dropped the case against the scammer for an undisclosed reason after it had reached the court. I didn't have the energy to take it to the DT and in all fairness don't think I would have come up with such a sound case as this legend.

  • Plug on 05/03/2026 - 16:19
    +3

    This is considered to be a deal when it's becoming default functionality?

    • Huntakillaz on 05/03/2026 - 16:33
      +2

      Yeah this should be a forum post, not actually a deal

  • CapLight on 05/03/2026 - 17:12
    +2

    I have been using ping payment for years now, if you read carefully, trademe does not vouch trades paid without ping or afterpay. Yes, sellers' whopping 7.9% success fee paid for nothing.

  • doubledowndan on 05/03/2026 - 18:07

    In 2025, banks finally introduced Confirmation of Payee, which would have cut down on the fraud, and now they do this.

    • kfr23 on 05/03/2026 - 18:11
      +2

      Confirmation of Payee is pointless if the Trade Me account is compromised and they just update the payment info to have their name and account number on it instead.

      • danvelopment on 05/03/2026 - 18:15

        That's not true, their name and account number is a dead easy way to find them.

        Check out the article above where the scammer bought Crypto, and put the account details of the crypto seller on the compromised TradeMe account.

        Anyone committing scams with their own bank account details is asking to be caught.

        • kfr23 on 05/03/2026 - 18:53
          +1

          Find them, sure, but possibly still less likely for the bank/Trade Me to do anything about it (especially Trade Me). The buyer technically still willingly paid into a bank account that happened to match the name they were given.

        • Flippant on 05/03/2026 - 22:00
          +2

          I used to mess with scammers on Trade Me as a bit of a hobby, and the overseas scammers use Wise accounts linked to overseas accounts making them all but untouchable.

          The last scammer I reported before I realized it was a waste of time was back in 2023, I managed to get 2 Wise Account numbers and a Paypal account along with the names they were using, I then took screenshots of all the communication between the scammer and myself which I then passed along to Police. The following was their reply, I've removed the bank account number and I didn't send any money to the scammer, I think the money they're referring to was probably from another victim, here is the reply -

          Police have identified your money was transferred to an account held in Australia being The account number 04-2021-#######-87/56 held by ANZ 85 Castlereagh Street, Level 15, Sydney 2000.

          Unfortunately, being based in Australia, NZ Court Orders have no jurisdiction in Australia and in this case we recommend, if you wish to pursue your complaint, you report your case to the Australian authorities and provide them with our police reference number and my contact details. It will then be up to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) whether they can realistically pursue the fraudster/s and serve a notice on ANZ in Australia. I am sorry we cannot assist further at this stage.

          I then passed all of this information along to Trade Me as I wasn't going to pursue it any further but I thought they might want to. To this day that same scammer is still operating on Trade Me.

          • hazey on 06/03/2026 - 10:00

            @Flippant: Wow! I can't believe that same scammer is still active… there must have been many complaints filed.

            Anyway, good on ya for doing your bit to try to bring 'em down.

            • Flippant on 06/03/2026 - 10:24
              +2

              @hazey: Yeah, it shows how little Trade Me cared about doing anything about the scammers because it wasn't costing them anything, for years they could just go "you didn't use Ping, not our problem" and wipe their hands clean of the entire situation when people got scammed on their site, but that all changed thanks to the DT ruling back in December and surprise surprise they're finally introducing something to help combat scammers.

              If anyone's wondering how I know it's the same scammer I've been dealing with for years, the scammer started preemptively blacklisting me with each new hacked account they used so I couldn't hit Buy Now or leave warnings in the Q&A section of their listings. The last time I dealt with them was back in 2023 and they still blacklist me from their listings. Made it super easy to tell if a listing was a scam, but it was also a pain because I couldn't do anything but report it to Trade Me, which was all but useless if the listing was created outside Trade Me office hours because most of the time someone would fall for the scam within a few hours. So I used to create new accounts to get around the block, they'd cost me $1 each time because you have to be authenticated to use Buy Now and the scammer would blacklist each new account after I used it to buy one of their scam listings, but Trade Me didn't like me doing that and threatened to ban me and my main account that has over 2500 100% positive feedbacks if I didn't stop, so I stopped. Trade Me have some strange priorities.

              • hazey on 07/03/2026 - 10:15

                @Flippant: I think similarly to you, detective vibes! and would so the same. I have played with romance scammers…keeping them busy so they have less time for more vulnerable…I was able to spot them a mile away before it became widespread and now they're everywhere.

    • pdevonporf on 05/03/2026 - 18:18
      +1

      That's only to stop you loading money in the wrong account, nothing to do with security.

    • LuckyB on 05/03/2026 - 23:52

      Fraud can take place where bank accounts access has been compromised with owner email/mobile account hacked.

  • Dunno on 05/03/2026 - 21:26

    It's actually really good but way too late to bring to TM to save it from FB, Ebay is amazing in the US and runs in a similar way. They also need to integrate freight into the system better than BAC.

  • Merl on 06/03/2026 - 10:51

    I hope I'm misunderstanding, but isn't this a worse deal for buyers, i.e. the majority of TradeMe users?
    I do like the transparency, but basically almost everything will cost $1-$2 more.

    Most non-professional sellers are unlikely to drop buy-now prices. Meanwhile for bidding instead of "I bid and paid $30 for this item", it's going to be "I bid and paid $30 for this item plus another dollar in fees from my mysterious account thing that I have to figure out, remember to keep topped up, which gets me suspended if I don't, and which is completely unretrievable if I do."

    • Alan6984 on 06/03/2026 - 11:29

      I hope I'm misunderstanding, but isn't this a worse deal for buyers, i.e. the majority of TradeMe users?
      I do like the transparency, but basically almost everything will cost $1-$2 more.

      Most non-professional sellers are unlikely to drop buy-now prices. Meanwhile for bidding instead of "I bid and paid $30 for this item", it's going to be "I bid and paid $30 for this item plus another dollar in fees from my mysterious account thing that I have to figure out, remember to keep topped up, which gets me suspended if I don't, and which is completely unretrievable if I do."

      I think … kind of :-)

      Many sellers would have added a little to cover the seller's fees, so in those cases, the cost was previously inflated anyway - no way to measure that of course, and prices probably won't fall now - they might just go up more slowly for a while though.

      Slightly different, but personally, I always made shipping / courier costs to the buyer's account - I made it so my 'ex works' net was the same regardless of what option the buyer chose.

      However, probably more important is that the site relies on sellers more than buyers. I know that sounds odd, in that everything bought / sold has one person on each side, but sellers make the first decision (where to list) and buyers go where the products are. If sellers list elsewhere, then buyers follow them. I realise that listing somewhere that almost no buyers look is a waste of time (hence all the failed competitors to TM in NZ over the last 25 years or so), but I suspect that this is the reason that TM was (slowly) losing to Facebook.

      I could be wrong :-)

      • Merl on 06/03/2026 - 13:04
        +1

        However, probably more important is that the site relies on sellers more than buyers. I know that sounds odd, in that everything bought / sold has one person on each side, but sellers make the first decision (where to list) and buyers go where the products are. If sellers list elsewhere, then buyers follow them. I realise that listing somewhere that almost no buyers look is a waste of time (hence all the failed competitors to TM in NZ over the last 25 years or so), but I suspect that this is the reason that TM was (slowly) losing to Facebook.

        You're probably right here: TradeMe can afford to slightly piss off buyers (even though they're the majority), because it's the sellers who ultimately determine where the buyers go. I'm so out of touch with Facebook (haven't really used it since it was just, y'know, reading updates from friends) I didn't even realise it was a competitor in this space. I was sad when Wheedle, Zillion, Sella et al failed as competitors, so if it's taken Facebook's growing presence to force TradeMe to make anything better at all, even if it's a subset of users, then that's a positive.

  • Atari2000 on 06/03/2026 - 13:52
    +1

    Sounds like a bit of a monopoly pushing clients to using Ping Payments instead of bank transfers. Facebook Marketplace is a clear winner in my opinion

    • Alan6984 on 06/03/2026 - 14:21

      Sounds like a bit of a monopoly pushing clients to using Ping Payments instead of bank transfers. Facebook Marketplace is a clear winner in my opinion

      Hardly a monopoly if there are bigger, more successful competitors - such as the Facebook MarketPlace.

    • coffeee on 10/03/2026 - 08:30
      +1

      It's because trademe is losing market share with causal sellers so moving the revenue stream to another part of the trade process.
      They should also focus on the website Ui too.

  • Gotham35 on 10/03/2026 - 11:08

    What is the legality of service fees and Ping surcharges with Com Commission?

    • Alan6984 on 10/03/2026 - 13:45
      +1

      What is the legality of service fees and Ping surcharges with Com Commission?

      I don't know, what is the legality of service fees and Ping surcharges with Com Commission?

      And, would it be different than, say, you or I demanding to be paid for providing a service to someone?

  • Frisky Grandma on 10/03/2026 - 13:46
    +1

    Well I listed my iPhone for $900 bucks this morning and it's going about as well as marketplace with offers in the $600 range.

    I'm already priced $150 cheaper than the next guy and priced within $30 of what I'd get just doing a trade in for cash through that website

    • Alan6984 on 10/03/2026 - 13:49

      Well I listed my iPhone for $900 bucks this morning and it's going about as well as marketplace with offers in the $600 range.

      I'm already priced $150 cheaper than the next guy and priced within $30 of what I'd get just doing a trade in for cash through that website

      This is just my take, but if you allow offers (assuming it's still optional), you are saying you don't expect to get anywhere near what you listed it for.

      It turns it from an auction into a yard sale.

      Just my take of course :-)

      • Frisky Grandma on 10/03/2026 - 15:18

        Moons ago I offered $650 for an rtx 3080 graphics card expecting the guy to maybe counter offer $20 off of his $800 or so pricetag and he just took the $650

        I see the irony in me being annoyed by offers and also doing that

        • Alan6984 on 10/03/2026 - 15:30
          +2

          Moons ago I offered $650 for an rtx 3080 graphics card expecting the guy to maybe counter offer $20 off of his $800 or so pricetag and he just took the $650

          I see the irony in me being annoyed by offers and also doing that

          {Grin}

          I'm certainly not above doing the same myself as a purchaser, but as a vendor I would try to avoid it.

          Just to illustrate that it has nothing to do with platforms, but rather is all about eternal human nature:

          Many many (!) moons ago, I was selling an old car at the weekly Ellerslie car sales on a Sunday morning. I did the research beforehand (AutoTrader or whatever it was called, and general classifieds etc), and knew it should go for about $1,800, so I entered it in the $1,000 to $2,000 section and priced it at $1,995 (I can't actually recall the lower bound, but something like that) - big mistake!

          All morning all I got were offers around $1,200 and occasionally I negotiated someone up to $1,500 max. Very disappointing and a waste of my Sunday morning.

          The next week, I entered it in the $2,000 to $3,000 section (I think), and priced it at $2,995.

          All I got were offers of $2,000 to $2,200, one of which I negotiated up to $2,400 :-)

          Most of the time, most people have absolutely no idea what things are worth, even when there are loads of examples right in front of their eyes.

          All they want is a bargain (as they see it), and getting a $3,000 car for $2,400 is clearly a bargain!

  • Martz5 on 10/03/2026 - 19:40

    Looks like Ping has been added automatically to all existing listings

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