TradeMe is an institution here in New Zealand and for good reason: it’s a fantastic way for us Kiwis to get rid of all the stuff we have hoarded over the years and make a bit of coin while we’re at it. We find new flat mates, sell our second hand cars, give our old couches away for a buck or two and even look for new jobs. But beyond all the practical reasons, there is a hidden world of people selling and buying the most weird and pointless and wonderful of things.
For starters, TradeMe have a page dedicated to their ‘cool auctions’. On this page you can discover some real treasures along with a few passing laughs. But you may not be laughing at some of the price tags, how does a 1948 Ford Hot Rod Bus sound? Yep, a big bright old-school yellow bus with flames on the front. Asking price is $130,000 or near offer. Or have a look at the Military Jet up for sale for around $170,000. As the seller writes: “twin cockpit, twin controls, just fuel up, ignite and go play in the sky with plenty of ground shaking thunder.” If you had the money why wouldn’t you?
The celebrity auctions are another bizarre tile in the TradeMe mosaic. When David Beckham came to NZ for the LA Galaxy game against the Wellington Phoenix he ate at Nandos in Courtney Place and some budding TradeMe entrepreneur swooped in on his left-over corn cob and thought it would make for a profitable TradeMe sell. When U2 performed live in Auckland in 2006, Bono released a kite with some helium balloons at the end of U2’s song Kite. A woman grabbed it and sold it for $1,230 – raising money for Oxfam. Of course there was the recent unwanted Christmas gift of the $100 note put on auction. This most viewed item of the year peaked at $5,150 before TradeMe intervened and brought the figure down to a more modest figure.
Like all auction sites, EBAY, the world’s leader in the field has some bizarre stories too including a hornet jet fighter, a lock of Britney Spears hair and the original Hollywood sign. Perhaps the one that takes the cake, though, was the Australian citizen who attempted to sell New Zealand in May 2006. The bid reached $3,000 before it was taken down due to a violation of eBay’s policy. I guess you are not ‘allowed’ to sell off a country without the consent of the people. But good effort, nonetheless.
Whatever you may be selling, auctioning or getting rid of (just not an entire country) why not get in touch with the team at Conroy who specialise in the transporting of goods bought and sold on TradeMe. Our network of nationwide branches and fleet of vehicles operate a shared load system that means we can offer you the best possible price. Get an instant quote and make a booking all in the space of a few moments time.