Trademe.co.nz is a big success in New Zealand, but there a quite a few tips and tricks that a new buyer or sell needs to learn before they can take full command of auctions and get the best price.

The first three rules are:

Always give feedback

Feedback is a key feature in figuring out who to deal with. The better feedback you give, the more likely your feedback will be good.

Admit Mistakes

If you make a mistake, say so. Don't just try and cover it up.

Be Polite

It you a nice mannered, it can help your dealings with the buyers and sellers.

These will just help you get along with other people and you might find they are also a a bit more co-operative.

Buying

Wait until the last possible moment before submitting a bid

This gives other competitors less time to submit a higher bid.

Research what you are buying

See what other owns of similar items say

Know what the item is worth

Research and ask enough questions to know what the item is worth and what your maximum bid should be.

Do you need it

It may be a simple question, but do you really need to buy your selected item?

Badly listed actions

Look out for auctions that no not have a photo and that are likely not to succeed due to a mistake by the seller (like wrong category).

Page counter

When buying, view the page as few number of times as possible. This makes it look like no one else is interested.

Selling

Have a good finish time

Not many people are on the net at 3am in New Zealand so it would be better to finish auctions at a time when most people are available. For example a good time is in the evening, but not when the All Blacks are playing and Sundays are also a good day to close.

Choose the right category

Try to pick a popular category that applies to your item.

Use a picture

Show a photo that displays your item well, as many people will not buy without seeing a photo . Make sure that the picture is taken in an environment that looks clean, looked after and no other items are in sight. If you can get away without a flash and use natural light, it would be better. Also make sure that your reflection is not in the photos.

Descriptive Title

Give your auction a descriptive title. Tell the buyers what your item has over every other item like it.

Good Grammar and Spelling

Make sure you use proper English to make yourself look more educated and trustworthy.

Answer Questions

If you don't answer questions, people will assume that you are trying to hide something. Always be polite no matter how annoying or stupid a question is.

Good Feedback

The more bad feedback a seller has, the less people will trust them. Make sure you have good feedback, but we all understand if an occasionally buyer has something against you.

Use Auto Extend

Its a great feature that should always be used. Most auctions get their bids in the last couple of minutes, if your auction doesn't auto extend then you won't get as good a price.

Always state postage costs

You do not want to have the buyer unable to pay the postage costs of large items after they have spent all their money on your auction.

Have a low reserve on popular items

A low reserve attracts bargain hunters and when they are finished you be getting a better price.

Start your auction at the price you want on unpopular items

If your item is not popular, make sure that the first bid will clear the reserve price. You might find that only one person is willing to buy your item.

Pack sold items well

Items have have a rough ride on the way to the buyer and might even be drop-kicked along the way. Do your best to keep items in one piece.

Use a buy now price

Unless your auction is going to go through the roof, have a buy now price for items that the buyer might want now. It might save your time.

Research a selling price

Know what your item is worth. An old car of the right type might fetch a very good price for a demolition derby for instance.

Item description in bullet points

When it comes to the actual listing, remember that people usually skim. Put all of the main points as bullets. Don't waste time on narrative. Most people use the pictures more than the listing.

When you are buying an item from a store worth more than $100, it can be very worthwhile to ask the salesman if you can get a discount. To get a discount, you will need a good reason. Here are some well used reasons.

Regular customer

If you shop at the same store, it is likely that people will start to recognize you. See if you can get a discount for continuing to be a regular customer

Buying other items at the same time

The more items you buy, the more profit the store makes. See if you can get another item cheaper with your purchase.

Pay by cash

It costs stores money to accept Credit Cards. pay by cash if it gets you a discount.

Point out prices of competitors

If there are cheaper prices around, many stores will try to beat them.

Offer services in return

If you have any services you can offer, it might get you a discount.

Refer others in return

Ask if you can get a 10% discount if your refer someone else and they mention your name when buying something.

Write a good review

Anyone can publish things online. Tell them that you will write a good review and place it online.

Ask if short term advertised prices can be extended for you

Many sales only are for a limit time. If a sale is about to or has ended, ask if you can get an extension.

Ask if there are any sales coming up

There might be a half price sale tomorrow

Corporate Discounts

If you have a store or service, see if your employees can get a discount if you give their employees a discount.

Use someone else's good looks

If you know someone who is really good looking, see if they can get a discount from the teenager at the counter.

Trademe is New Zealand's largest online auction site and trading community. Trademe has taken New Zealand by storm and does not allow ebay to get a hold in the New Zealand auction market.

Editor of NetGuide magazine Nigel Horrocks said that the site's success in the NetGuide Web Awards is consistent with its outstanding performance over the last few years

Reviews

"Trade Me is a cool New Zealand auction site where ' kiwis buy and sell online', a bit like ebay but friendlier. It's a good place to buy NZ stamps and LOTR memorabilia and other NZ stuff. They have a web cam where you can see people working in the office and sometimes they wave. Check out the messageboards, they are a real hoot. I go to Trade me every day to check out the new auctions and see what's going on.

"Trade Me is New Zealand's leading online-auction site. New Zealanders can easily and happily trade various goods with each under, and it's really easy to use. It's free to list goods, but if you sell something you have to give Trade Me a very small percentage of your earnings, but that's alright."

"Trade Me has a very clean and easy-to-use interface, and it runs on a great server for fast download times. The ability to auction off anything you have (even houses and boats) is a plus, and you can even add pictures."

"Overall, Trade Me is a very good website. Hurray for New Zealand."

"Trademe owns NZ's auctions market, and have a very simple user interface that ebay could learn from. A great site. "

"A nice site very fast loading and the biggest trading site in NZ. Excellent for selling your goods."

Try Trade Me today

With the success of TradeMe in New Zealand, many new auction sites have been created to try and push in on this market. One in particular that seems to be doing well is Zillion.co.nz

Features

Zillion allows you to view your searched items based on the usual selections but also whether the item has a buy now price, has been bid on or how many bids its had. I also liked that its easy to make the distinction between new and second hand goods when browsing categories.

After you've made your purchase or sold your item, communication between you and the other party is easy, thanks to Zillion's on-site private messaging system. No more ‘lost in the junk mail abyss' problems with this site.

There's also no excuse for long delivery delays. When you purchase an item, you don't have to wait for the seller to get in touch because you're presented with the sellers shipping and payment options to select from a drop down menu. Once you've selected your payment choice, the seller is then presented with your delivery address, meaning they can get the item out to you as soon as they receive your payment.

Problems

Overall Zillion is a great site, and the only thing that it lacks in is size. TradeMe has an inferior site with less functionality, but wins on numbers. As TradeMe has been running for much longer that any of its competitors, many more people have heard of it. Even though TradeMe charges higher fees, it has a larger community than Zillion due to the popularity of the site.

If your son or daughter has turned 18, make sure that you should celebrate the birthday in such a grand manner so as to make birthday celebrations really unforgettable for the rest of their life. This is the stage when we are considered to be adults, and you should celebrate a birthday in such a way that successfully caters to the demands and at the same time it should also be unique. You can take them to any adventurous trip filled with excitements such as white water rafting, orbing, sky diving, bungee jumping, and several other adrenaline junkies. Try to fill them with thrilling experiences as boys and girls when they are about 18 years of age than certain changes in their likings are quite remarkable and based on that you should opt for the choice of gifts and celebrations.

For those who possess fascination for sports events then surprise them with tickets of any sports events, which will enthrall them with great joy and satisfaction. In order to make the birthday really special then you can take your son or daughter for shopping, which is considered as the traditional gift idea, though it will be quite impressive in the long run. Your prime motive should be to make them feel comfortable with your choice of gifts presented on their birthday. Apart from these you can surprise your son or daughter with cakes made in home, which has a special significance in order to express your love and concern for your children.

18th birthday ideas have to be filled with unique gift items and trendy dress material can be considered to be the prime selection as far as a special birthday gift is concerned. It is the stage when they are very much conscious about the recent style statements, and hence you can select various dress types like Lycra tops, fashionable tops, skinny jeans, denim shirts, jackets, colorful winter wear, etc. and among accessories you can select various products on beauty to enhance the looks, electronic gadgets, sports watch, designable shoes, jeweler, etc. You can take them to any grand hotel to serve them treat accompanied with lots of surprise events like printable invitations, serving them with cards, etc.

To celebrate 18th birthday, there are other unique gift items as well, which are generally concerned as the mostly served birthday gifts for your son or daughter. Flowers are considered to be the unique gift obtained from nature, and they are implied with feelings of cherished blessings and affection, which will make you expressive to your children and will make them aware about your love and concern for them as nothing can be as special as flowers to express feelings and concern.

You can select chocolate as unique birthday gifts as it is appreciated by people of all age group and sex. Surprise them by holding a party, which is supposed to be grand, acquaint with lots of fun and happenings. The ideas for your 18th birthday should be special in every way.

To celebrate your ascent into adulthood, you’ve already got some awesome 18th birthday ideas , how about sending out your 18th birthday invitations and getting the party started!