This is tops in entertainment too

Have you got an account with Trademe?

If not, you are missing out on many options for shopping, selling stuff, buying stuff and even entertainment as you trawl through the 1,000’s of listings on this website.

I was introduced to Trademe back in 2004, when it was in its infancy working at generating a demand for online shopping for Kiwi’s. At that time there was little demand for this type of service as most of us used the ‘tried and true’ retail stores for buying.

If we wanted to sell ‘stuff’ the main method was to use the classified ads in the local newspapers. This latter option wasn’t cheap and the charges could be quite high if you used too many words describing the item being sold.

I decided to give Trademe a go and registered [very easy]. As there were small charges for listing items back then I needed to deposit some funds before I could commence. No problems.

Diving into the directory then was a good deal more random than it is today. It was amazing and amusing the varied items that would appear – I surmise that is when ‘impulse buying’ took hold. What else could you call it when you were confronted with an item you were never looking for but because it appealed you would place a bid?

Yes, back then it was all about auctioning and making a bid before the listing on the website closed. The end time was always advertised but included was the proviso …”this auction may auto-extend!” What that meant was if there was sufficient interest in the item you wanted, expect it to still be open as you and others kept increasing your bids until the message came up …’closing’…

Back in 2004 most of us were on dial-up internet connections which, compared to today’s broadband were horrendously slow. This meant you could miss out on the deal if you didn’t ‘refresh’ often enough.

If it did nothing else, it kept you glued to the screen watching and hoping your bid was the successful one. More interestingly we were ‘entertained’.

We now have a much more stable environment that offers an increasing array of goods and services across the total spectrum.

There are 4 main areas –

• Marketplace to buy and sell items of every description ,
• Jobs to find the job you really want,
• Motors to buy or sell vehicles and
• Property for buying and selling homes and finding rentals.

Each of these, when you dive in, will provide hours of enlightenment and entertainment and, very likely, a purchase.

Creating an account is the first step and from there on, as you buy and sell, you will establish a history for all to see [stars for each transaction]. Also the opportunity to gain comments from people you deal with. Some good and, at times if it wasn’t an enjoyable experience, a bad one.

But it’s the items on sale that will really get your attention, especially if you go the area of ‘Cool auctions’.

Just be ready to be entertained AND to spend some money.

If you are typical of our Grown-ups readers, in all likelihood you will be considering down-sizing in the not too distant future.

One of the first jobs to be undertaken is the ‘de-cluttering’ process. Not only will that mean painful decisions regarding letting go of paraphernalia accumulated over many years but how to dispose of those ‘treasures’.

Trademe is your solution.

As the saying goes ‘some peoples junk can be another person’s treasures’.

List those items you no longer need and allow them to go to a new home where they will again be appreciated. At the same time you will make money from the sales.

Perfect!

by Alex Sharp, Age Hacker