It looks like casual buyers will pay this success fee + the Ping fee?

Kia ora ferman, casual sellers pay the Ping fee but will have no success fees, buyers who purchase from casual sellers pay the service fee on purchases over $20, there is information on the tiered service fee here. 

Ok great, thanks Michelle.

Michelle, this makes the disadvantage for professional sellers, ie. people who cary all the risk and have TM interests at heart, the only ones who pay the exorbitant fees now and thus less competitive. What business course was this approach learnt on because my degree is in business and this goes against everything we learnt and of course in practice is just totally demoralizing. 
For those who don't know, in-trade sellers must pay not only higher fees than casual (unprofessional and occasional) sellers but they pay it on the shipping fee as well plus enforced Ping fees. 
Just as an aside, I cannot for the life of me work out why you would charge this to the buyers as that will have a tendency to make them be more conservative when bidding and sellers are used to incurring some cost. 
Meanwhile FB marketplace is completely free and has AI to put the right in front of the right eyes. 
Anyway, you have more money than I have so I'm obviously wrong. 

Kia ora Robster, This move is a strategic investment in getting more buyers onto Trade Me Marketplace. By removing Success Fees for casual sellers, we’re making Trade Me the first place Kiwi go to list their items again. This means more traffic and more sales opportunities for all sellers including our In Trade sellers. In Trade sellers continue to receive the dedicated tools and support that help run a high-volume business, which remain a key part of our professional service.

Will it be possible to make listings that are cash only for in person trades? Or will PING be added to these by default as well?

Hi Michelle,
I’m in-trade and I don’t use any tools except My Products. And I’d be willing to bet that if in-trade sellers had the choice between no fees with no tools or our high fees with any tools, we’d all go for the former.

In-trade seller provide more product per member, more service and more care, and are more conscientious on average and yet are fiscally punished for it.

Bringing more people to TM is great but really hasn’t the chicken left the coup? You now have opposition and there’s mostly no restrictions.

Just in case anyone wants some feedback:
- feedback is the big plus for TM
- the buyers have dropped mega
- search is atrocious and I can’t see why that isn’t cleaned up
- MP if that’s one of the tools you refer to, I didn’t realise it was in-trade seller only, should have the ability to
A/ add buy now’s at or a percentage or amount higher than start automatically
B/ allow you to accept offers if you choose, currently you can’t
C/ allow you to drop prices across the board or for selected items by a set amount of your choosing

And there’s much more but sadly I think it’s too late. When people think to sell they now think your opposition first and TM second, the only really plus is auction option as opposed to buy now. But I guess I’d rather this change than none but all anyone really wants is a level playing field and so long as that doesn’t happen you’re best asset group feel singled out.

As an in-trade member, I'm yet to see any of the dedicated tools and support Trademe are supposedly offering professional sellers.. this seems to be the justification as to why in-trade sellers are penalised to the extent that they are.

There are options like sponsored listings, or trademe stores, but this isn't a dedicated tool, it's something we pay for. My products isn't a dedicated tool, its available to all including casual members.

What are the dedicated tools and support offered?

I asked AI to analyse the response and this is what it said:

With casual seller success fees now permanently removed on Trade Me, the obvious question is:

What dedicated selling tools are actually exclusive to in-trade sellers?
• My Products isn’t exclusive.
• Storefronts cost extra.
• Tradevine is separately paid.
• Promotions are paid upgrades.

So what exactly is included in the higher in-trade success fee?

If there are genuinely dedicated tools, it would be good to see them clearly listed.

From a strategy perspective, removing casual fees permanently increases listing volume and traffic — but it also creates direct price competition for in-trade sellers who are still paying higher success fees.

That shifts margin pressure onto businesses.

So the real question isn’t just about tools — it’s about whether the current pricing model disproportionately relies on in-trade sellers to fund marketplace growth.

Clarity on that would be helpful.

I resent being dictated to how I have to be paid (ping) and it is the final straw for me. Trade Me's point of difference; good search engine, good customer service, clearly defined categories, and overall good usability, have all been eroded over the last ten years. The clogging up of categories by overseas bulk listers (listers, not sellers) with very poor feedback ratings and increased fee's, including fee's on postage when I use a third party have all been detrimental to the platform. Putting my time into own website rather than wasting anymore time here.

As a side note, sales on my personal (non in trade) trade me account all but stopped in October last year and have failed to pick up in the new year. So it would appear buyers have had enough also. I'll just shift my personal stuff onto FB marketplace, where I am not forced to use an unwanted payment method.

Henleyworks - I’ve raised this multiple times, after I was shocked to find out that overseas based sellers have an unlimited listing allowance and no high volume listing fees. Hence they can list hundreds of thousands of listings even if none of them sell. I’ve seen some sellers with 200,000 listings, and less than 100 sales across a 2 year period.

I’m yet to comprehend how Trademe can think this benefits the site.

Defies common sense.
Go google ‘art glass’ which is defined as ‘high-quality, often handmade glassware created primarily for decorative or artistic purposes rather than strictly for utility.’

Firstly, there’s no preference for ART GLASS - the term - in the results. Second, no preference for the categories it is likely to appear in - Antiques or Pottery & Glass. Third, one seller, judging by them sticking their stock reference number in title, seems to have a disproportionately high listing of results high despite titles sometimes only having ART or GLASS in the title only.

How the hell are buyers supposed to find what they want when results like this smack them in the face?
TM must know that viewers and watchers have collapsed and consequently, presumably, revenue from marketplace on TM.

Considering the changes in totality, I’m not entirely against them. I think it will drive more people to the website.

What Trademe need to be clear about is how they are going to police the site. No success fees for casual sellers will absolutely drive behaviour from sellers who should be in-trade, but choose to explore casual listings for the fees they save. My personal experience is it has been nearly impossible to get sellers who are clearly in-trade, to register as ‘in-trade’. I’ve used the community watch option, and there is no enforcement.

With this in mind, should I just start listing my items on my personal account from 10th March?

For the success fees in-trade will continue to pay (my items are 11.9%), plus I am GST registered, it’s almost impossible to compete even now with a casual seller doing Trademe as a side hustle.

What clear differentiation will there be for in-trade sellers, or are we just expected to update our listing descriptions to make it clear to potential customers that they won’t pay a buying service fee when purchasing from us?
(The tiny grey in-trade banner is pointless).

I’m eagerly awaiting a response from someone at Trademe , highlighting all of the tools and support they mention is offered to professional sellers - I’ve either been living under a rock, or they don’t exist.

greg23

I hear you, yes too many now selling on casual accounts, clear as day should be Intrade, I have been reporting one such member almost 8 years, Still not Intrade, 

I could make a long list of ones in same category I sell in, it is rife with sellers whom clearly should be Intrade!!, when you browse virtually daily, you pick up on them year after year, 

yes I pay 9.9%, now casual sellers pay nothing, unfair playing field at the best, Some of us are just trying to make an honest living and paying our taxes, are these casual sellers paying tax?,

Quiz question:

How do promote the benefits of in-trade sellers without sending a negative message to the customer around dealing with a casual seller?

And to Greg, is there only a service fee for casual sellers customers? I didn’t pick that but if that’s true then that’s going to be nuts. Tbh I think any additional charge to buyers is just a barrier to entry.

The horse has bolted. I can’t think of anyone who knows about FB MP who would see any of these changes on TMs MP that would change their preferred platform.

Robster - my understanding is the buyer service fee only applies when purchasing something from a casual seller.

If purchasing from an in-trade seller , a buyer pays no additional fees, as these are paid for by the success fees a in-trade seller pays.
I’m quite concerned that many of my customers might misunderstand and think that they are also paying a buyer fee when buying from me, because all that differentiates me is a teeny tiny grey bubble which most people pay no attention to which says I’m in-trade.

You could be right and if so that is just nuts. Personally, I think it's nut to put any load on a customer. All they want to do is not think and pay the price and postage or price only if pick up and move on. This looks and feels like a burden and it also might grow into a buyers premium. That works obviously at physical auction but I don't think it's going to work online because....no one else is doing it so if TM are doing it then it's just a psychological burden they don't need.