TradeMe hopes to double deals

New Zealand's fastest-growing company last year, TradeMe, expects to nearly double activity again this year.

The online auctioneer - the kiwi equivalent of eBay - predicts it will host more than 35 million internet auctions this year, or 4000 an hour.

Last January, the company that won the 2004 Deloittes award as the fastest-growing in the country, predicted auctions would rise from eight million to 20 million. It achieved 19.2 million.

This year's growth forecast is despite the company banning traders other than from New Zealand and Australia. TradeMe principal shareholder and general manager Sam Morgan said the restriction was to simplify trading and policing.

"We see a New Zealand focus being our competitive advantage and we are not going to be the world's biggest auction site," Morgan said.

"People want to buy locally so they can pay through internet banking and take delivery within a few days. It also creates opportunities for New Zealand sellers to parallel import goods and compete with other retailers. It's a business decision."

TradeMe expects to swell the numbers of professional traders using the site from 250 to 1000 this year. Many antiques and collectable traders have closed their retail shops to trade entirely online.

"They employ people to list and ship their goods and are selling increasing volumes of goods. Some are importing and they tend to have pretty good relationships with their local postie."

TradeMe has a 95 per cent share of online auctions, which is likely to deter potential on-line competitors.

- NZPA