Concerned about a member, listing or both? Let us know

Trade Me is a big place.

On any given day, there are millions of live listings and part of our job is to help ensure our members stay safe.

With such a large amount of listings, we always appreciate it when members let us know they think something’s off.

Perhaps you’ve spotted a non-NZ plug on an item, or can see that someone has placed their contact details in the Q&A, exposing themselves to risk from scammers.

The best thing you can do is let us know through this link here:

You’ll find this link at the bottom of any listing page, and your report will be directed straight to our site Fraud Prevention team who operate 24/7.

What do you need to know?

Although we try our best to be experts in everything, there is only so much we can know.

Sometimes our community will be better informed than us in areas that relate to their interests or occupations. In all cases, please be specific.

It’s often impossible to take the correct action on a complaint that is vague or can’t be backed up.

Specific things that are great for us:

Links to information about the safety standards, laws, regulations that you believe have been broken.

Specific wording that worries you.

If you’re letting us know that you think a listing might be disingenuous or scammy, letting us know what led you to this conclusion helps us take effective action quicker.

Guides or examples from a third party.

This is particularly helpful when it comes to copyright infringement or concerns that an animal might be protected from trade.

Be comprehensive.

This isn’t as necessary when letting us know that contact details have been placed, but if you’re reporting something like shill bidding, it’s really helpful to let us know which member you think might be in cahoots, and why.

I reported a listing – what have you done?

Due to the Privacy Act, we cannot disclose the action taken on another member’s account – it would be breaching their privacy. However, that doesn’t mean we aren’t taking action.

We send emails, update files, refer to specialists, edit listings and call members – we promise that each and every listing reported through the Community Watch function is read by an actual human being who researches matters and takes action in line with our site policies.

Why do you need my help?

It’s not unusual for 10 listings to go live on the site every second.

Even if we had a fleet of battleships filled to the brink with staff on laptops looking at new listings, we wouldn’t be able to check each new listing before it went live on our site.

Because of this, we really appreciate members who care about our community and get in touch to let us know when they think something might be wrong – it helps us, it helps others, and most of all, it helps Trade Me remain that great, safe place to buy and sell.