Trademe.co.nz is New Zealands biggest site getting over 60% of New Zealand traffic and will host over 35 million auctions this year.
Sam Morgan started Trademe.co.nz in 1999 as a 23 year old.
David Kirk the CEO of Fairfax Holdings said that it was part of an aggressive push into the internet. Just like Ebay, Trademe has been making some serious money.
When you compare this purchase with Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of MySpace for $580 Million is a great deal considering MySpace is set to become the most visited site on the net by April.
Given the number of NZ’ers who have, at one time or another, signed up at TradeMe (and Old Friends one assumes) then Fairfax have just bought themselves
* the most comprehensive email list in NZ
* stats on age, socio economic background
* shopping habits. Me, I bought lego. You bought car stuff. The next person bought software. It’s all able to be analysed to death.
Sure, TradeMe is a profitable going concern, but you’d have to wonder about some of the fringe benefits
Hi Sarah… Its probably a fair deal for everyone concerned.
The database is good to have.
Auction growth is probably limited outside New Zealand with Ebays dominance.
Personally I find Trademe more user friendly than Ebay. And overall I like trademe better as well.