COVID-19 update: changes to our services

Written by The Trade Me team in General at 2:00pm, Thu 9 Apr 2020

Updated: 2:00pm, 9 April 2020

We know this is a really difficult time, and we’re here to help. 

Following the Government’s latest guidance, anyone can now buy and sell essential items in these approved essential categories during alert level 4.

The safety of our members is our top priority which is why all members must follow the Government's alert level 4 restrictions and our COVID-19 safe trading guidelines

What this means for Marketplace buyers

•You can buy items in these approved essential categories as normal.

•All trades must be contactless. This means payment can only be made via Ping,  bank transfer, or Afterpay, and pick-up won’t be available as a shipping option (except for livestock, and feed for livestock).

•You can still browse non-essential items and place bids. However, you won’t be able to complete the purchase while NZ is at alert level 4.

What this means for Marketplace sellers

•Anyone can now list items in these approved essential categories.

•All trades must be contactless. Payment must be made via Ping, bank transfer, or Afterpay. You can’t go to the post office or allow the buyer to pick-up. We recommend using our ‘Book a courier’ service to send your item. Livestock and feed for livestock are the only exceptions to this, where pick-up is available.

•While New Zealand is at alert level 4, any general listings that aren’t essential items have been extended by four weeks and Buy Now prices have been removed. You can continue to create non-essential auctions, and these will also be extended.

•This means that members won’t be able to buy your item(s) if they aren’t considered an essential item. They can still bid, browse or save non-essential items to their Watchlist.

•Please make sure your pricing is fair, and follows our National Disaster & Civil Emergency policy.

•If you need to withdraw your auction, you won’t be charged a withdrawal fee.

• In order to comply with the Government requirements for selling essential items, we may need to provide MBIE with limited information about your trades such as your name and the item sold.

What this means for Motors buyers and sellers

• Buyers can still browse listings and place bids. However, while we’re at alert level 4, please do not complete any trades until it is safe again to do so.

• All listings have been extended by four weeks and Buy Now prices have been removed from auctions. You can continue to list your vehicles for sale, and if you would like to withdraw your listing, you won’t be charged a withdrawal fee.

• If you’re an essential worker and need a vehicle during alert level 4, we suggest contacting dealerships directly to find out if they are able to sell during the lockdown period.

Other updates

Ping: Casual sellers and approved essential businesses can now withdraw their Ping balance as normal. Other professional sellers will need to become an essential business, or wait until alert level 4 has been lifted to withdraw their Ping balance. 

Phone support: Our Customer Support staff are now working from home, which means our phone support isn’t available for most members, including Top Sellers. However, if you’re a business client, you can still phone us as normal. If you need help with anything, you can search our Help Centre. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please select ‘Get in touch with us’ at the bottom of any Help Centre article.

Take care, stay safe and let us know if we can help with anything.