Grassroots movement looks to take on TradeMe
By Esther Goh,
Has TradeMe become just another corporate cog? Kiwis frustrated with the site's rising fees, among other things, are taking to an open Facebook group named What's Wrong with Trademe?! to voice their anger.
It's backed by local website development company Minion Interactive, which plans to design, build and promote a local alternative to TradeMe.
Minion Interactive's Stuart Taoro-Ah Sin says anger and resentment towards the auction site giant runs deep, particularly among people who have bad experiences in the past.
“I was surprised by the level of frustration expressed in these messages,” Taoro-Ah Sin said. “The need for a decent alternative is a lot higher than most people realise.”
But with TradeMe members numbering in the millions, Minion Interactive has a long way to go to knock New Zealand's second most popular website off its perch – others, like sella.co.nz, have tried and failed to make a dent.
Comments
Kaleb
Competition is good right, but does NZ have the population base to sustain Trademe, Seller and another auction site?
If this new site is basing its justification for an alternative to Trademe on something like the need for lower fees and better customer service then it's going to struggle.
Trademe already has a huge membership base and can maneuver pretty quickly simply by lowering fees and looking at how they deal with customer feedback.
This Facebook page could in fact help Trademe to see where it's deficiencies lay.
One thing Trademe should be looking at is its public persona and voice. At the moment it comes across as a vessel controlled by the traders. Voiceless and unattainable.
Ed
Trademe has most definitely become a corporate giant … Bordering on unfriendly depending on your experience.
I agree, competition is required, but why wait, Sella is sitting in the wings offering an almost identical user experience at a fraction of the cost!! The only thing it's missing Is the user base … So let the movement begin!
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