2010 Energywise Rally: Day #1 & the pavlova pedal
A team of Trade Me staff is crewing a Commodore Omega in the 2010 AA Energywise Rally, courtesy of Holden New Zealand. Over the next four days the team will blog about their rally experiences.
The first day of the Rally proved the toughest day for many years. From heavy rain in the Waikato, through to fallen trees across roads in the King Country and howling northerlies in the Taranaki, all the teams are finding it hard going.
Two years ago we took out the overall Energywise Drivers Award in an HSV Maloo, delivering a useful 39% improvement in fuel economy. This year we’re seeking to be the most efficient large car and the competition is fierce: 49 cars are seeking line honours and the weather has made our mission much harder. Added to that, the route has changed and now involves driving through 10 small towns, as well as downtown Auckland and Hamilton today. More...
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Navigating flights on Trade Me
Today we’ve made a change to the rules around listing flights for sale on the site.
Since launching the Travel, events & activities category, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of sellers listing non-transferable airline tickets. Some sellers have been encouraging buyers to impersonate them when checking in, in order to bypass the airlines’ rules around the transfer of tickets. This obviously creates security issues and we’re keen to do our bit to keep the skies safe.
So, from today, this is the state of play:
- flights have landed in our list of restricted items;
- only fully transferable flights can be listed; and
- at the time of listing, sellers will need to confirm the ticket they’re selling is transferable. More...
Tweaking the kwila rules: Q&A
You may (or may not) have read that we're making some tweaks to our policy around listing kwila products on the site. Here's a quick run down on what it all means.
Why have you done this?
We're putting some rules in place because we think it's the right thing to do. There is an issue around the sustainable and legal harvesting of kwila, and we think applying common sense rules around some specific high-risk products is a good idea. The New Zealand government has voluntary guidelines in place around the sale of kwila so our approach aligns with that too.
Who will the new rules affect?
They will affect anyone planning to list new kwila furniture or decking products. They will not affect the sale of second-hand kwila products. More...
Stay safe from “malvertising”
Last month we gave you a heads up about some scammer activity targeting Trade Me Motors users in particular, and set out some advice to keep yourself safe online.
In the last couple of days we’ve seen another little piece of evilness target Trade Me. It’s a combination of malicious software and advertising (“malvertising”). This involves cybercriminals using an online advertisement to distribute malware.
We have processes in place to prevent ads like this appearing but unfortunately this week one snuck through. We’re sorry that it happened. The ad purported to be for Lonely Planet and was on the site from Thursday morning until Friday lunchtime. More...
Rental market sees supply down and rent up
The national supply of properties for rent continues to decrease, but the decline has slowed according to an analysis of Trade Me Property’s listings over the past 3 months.
Across New Zealand, the supply of rentals for the quarter ending 30 September was down 12% when compared to the same period last year. In the June quarter this drop was 18%.
With supply continuing to contract, demand also shot up, with 12% more messages from prospective tenants being sent than in the same quarter in 2009. Waitakere led the way, with demand soaring by almost 50% in the quarter. More...
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