Courier is cheaper through TradeMe than through the same services

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jasnz

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#210403 26-Mar-2017 04:59

I must be missing something. I want to courier a small package between Dunedin and Christchurch.

I have recently been selling some stuff through trademe and so am somewhat familiar with the courier rates. I can send this via TradeMe for NZ$7.95.

I go to the courier post website and the fastway courier websites and sending a package with dimensions 10cm X 10cm X 15cm costs:

CourierPost: NZ$13.21 (see image below)

Fastway : NZ$15.50 (see image below)

What is up with that? If I deal direct with the courier companies they are trying to charge roughly double the cost than if I do this through TradeMe. Moreover, trademe probably takes some cut or something... Anyway it appears to be cheaper to just put on a NZ$1 item and get my girlfriends trademe account to buy it and then ship the package via the exact same courier companies to the exact same destination for half the price...

Surely if the courier companies can survive with the normal renumeration through Trademe (and still profit from it and run a business) then they are gouging with their normal fees?

courier post

fast way )

PeterReader

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#1747825 26-Mar-2017 04:59

Hmmmm. Here we go.

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timmmay

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#1747831 26-Mar-2017 06:24

Trademe are the customer and they get bulk rates. If you get a business account you'll have access to better rates than retail. I have an account but only use it to occasionally buy bags and tickets, I don't really know what things cost.

richms

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#1747899 26-Mar-2017 10:00

If you are a casual user of the courier then you will use a lot of their time up with the job paying for it and talking to them. You probably also dont load the address at purchase time and print a decent trackable sticker and instead write it on the box with a sharpie that someone has to interprite and enter to the system. Higher costs are to cover that.

Trademe have automated a lot of that, and take the payment so the couriers dont have to deal with people in a costly way.

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tardtasticx

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#1748090 26-Mar-2017 15:16

As above, CourierPost rates are stupid cheap for account customers. At work it costs us a few dollars to send anything up to 25KG within the Auckland region. Inter-Island is when it starts getting expensive but it's still nearly always a tiny fraction of retail cost.

I can imagine with the volume of parcels TradeMe would be booking through the site they would get very very good rates.

jasnz

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#1748237 26-Mar-2017 18:44

This still makes no practical sense to me:

On trademe I go into a web page and fill out a few bits of information about my package.

On the direct courier sites I go into a web page and fill out a few bits of information about my package.

Same company, same destination, and in the end same information entered into a web page. Whats the difference? Why is one double the price of the other?

There is no extra "overhead" to the courier companies when you don't have an account with them.

I mean most airlines and hotels have now learnt that they need to show the same prices that appear on aggregator sites like Kayak, last minute, or Expedia. If they don't then people will use the aggregator sites and then the hotel / airline will have a lower price *and* get their final ticket price clipped by the aggregator site's. Thus things have evolved so that you can usually go to the individual websites like Lufthansa etc and get almost the exact same price or cheaper than the various aggregator sites.

You would think something like this would naturally occur with the courier companies here.

One question do you know if you get an "account" is it possible to get cheaper rates than trademe?

I guess for the foreseeable future, as stupid as it sounds, I will be using trademe as a front end to the courier companies...

Hammerer

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#1748243 26-Mar-2017 18:52

jasnz:

One question do you know if you get an "account" is it possible to get cheaper rates than trademe?

I guess for the foreseeable future, as stupid as it sounds, I will be using trademe as a front end to the courier companies...

It isn't stupid to use Trade Me for sales on Trade Me. It is the sensible thing to do because Trade Me will be cheaper than anything you can get simply because their volume is massive and yours will be miniscule in any comparison.

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#1748298 26-Mar-2017 19:33

Good to know thanks!

jasnz

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#1748357 26-Mar-2017 21:55

Actually I mean I have something I need to send to Christchurch. I put up some book for NZ$1 (nobody buys books on trade, and if someone buys it I send the book). My girlfriend buys the book. I don't send the book but send the item to a totally different destination. Result half the cost. (It is sort of the principal that these companies are gouging. It sort of galls me when the playing fields are not level.)

blackjack17

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#1748411 27-Mar-2017 04:42

Try buying plumbing or electrical stuff from plumbing or electrical shops without an account then you'll see true price gouging.

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Hammerer

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#1748435 27-Mar-2017 06:58

jasnz:

Actually I mean I have something I need to send to Christchurch. I put up some book for NZ$1 (nobody buys books on trade, and if someone buys it I send the book). My girlfriend buys the book. I don't send the book but send the item to a totally different destination. Result half the cost.

I got that. I don't remember any of the Terms and Conditions that prevent you doing this. There is some small effort required to add the listing with the package dimensions and alter the delivery address but it is no real inconvenience.

The courier T&Cs don't preclude it. http://www.trademe.co.nz/help/841/book-a-courier-terms-conditions

You'd not fall foul of the shill bidding T&C because the buy now would be fixed so you wouldn't be raising the price by bidding through a 'related' person. http://www.trademe.co.nz/help/143/terms-and-conditions

4.2.b You will only enter listings that are accurate, current, complete, and include all relevant information about the terms of sale, payment terms, shipping methods and who bears the cost of shipment. Unless you purchase a second category, you must list an item in one category only which must be the most appropriate category for your item. If your item is likely to attract customs duty for buyers in New Zealand, you must ensure that this is clearly indicated in your listing.

4.3.h You may not bid on an auction that has been listed by a family member, flatmate, friend or any member that is personally known to you, in order to raise the price of that auction.

timmmay

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#1748440 27-Mar-2017 07:07

blackjack17: Try buying plumbing or electrical stuff from plumbing or electrical shops without an account then you'll see true price gouging.

When we redid the bathroom, with a bathroom firm, they have you order the stuff on their account and pay for it directly. The savings using the account was around 50% compared with retail.

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sbiddle

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#1748448 27-Mar-2017 07:25

jasnz:

Actually I mean I have something I need to send to Christchurch. I put up some book for NZ$1 (nobody buys books on trade, and if someone buys it I send the book). My girlfriend buys the book. I don't send the book but send the item to a totally different destination. Result half the cost. (It is sort of the principal that these companies are gouging. It sort of galls me when the playing fields are not level.)

People have been busted on numerous occasions trying very similar things - it wasn't uncommon a few years ago to see lots of people trying $1 buy now auctions that enabled you to enter into an agreement to say buy a TV for $1000. The sole purpose of this was to bypass Trademe's fees, and they weren't particularly happy about it.

timmmay

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#1748451 27-Mar-2017 07:32

When I needed to send a package not long ago I found pass the parcel using Google. It was quite a bit cheaper than CourierPost. It's Post Haste couriers. I've only used them once but they collected and delivered as expected.

jasnz

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#1748463 27-Mar-2017 07:57

When I needed to send a package not long ago I found pass the parcel using Google. It was quite a bit cheaper than CourierPost. It's Post Haste couriers. I've only used them once but they collected and delivered as expected.

Yes. Pass the parcel looks to at least be in the ball park of reasonable. The price would only be NZ$1 more than the TradeMe prices. Thanks! I will likely use that in the future. The next question is why is fastway and courier post so much more expensive than pass the parcel? I still don't get it...

jasnz

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#1748467 27-Mar-2017 08:09

People have been busted on numerous occasions trying very similar things - it wasn't uncommon a few years ago to see lots of people trying $1 buy now auctions that enabled you to enter into an agreement to say buy a TV for $1000. The sole purpose of this was to bypass Trademe's fees, and they weren't particularly happy about it.

Yes. Maybe in a pedantic sense someone might run into problems. However, since I am not actually selling the item, i.e. if we were in the same city I would give the item to them for free, TradeMe isn't actually missing out on any revenues whatsoever. Still they may not like the whole "being a front end" to courier companies. Since pass the parcel looks to have only slightly more expensive rates I think I will be using them / trying them.

Of course this still doesn't explain why the exact same company, from the same pickup to the same destination, wants to charge double if you use them directly. It still seems totally crazy... Just gouging I guess...