Wise-up to tricks of the trade

Don't bother buying fancy overseas magazines to stay ahead of fashion trends and must-have labels. If you want to beat everyone to the latest look, all you need to do is go to the auction website TradeMe.co.nz (see link below).

You'll be able to track trends as they start at street level and gain slowly in popularity until suddenly everyone's wearing that particular label or those certain secondhand cowboy boots.

"As soon as something starts coming up in our top 20 searches we know it's a label on the way up," says Mike O'Donnell, business manager at TradeMe, which compiles a list of the most popular searches every month.

"We saw Von Dutch start appearing about a year ago and we were wondering what it was - it sounded like a Dutch chocolate or something," he laughs.

Since then everyone's seen an example, either fake or genuine, of the popular Los Angeles streetwear label, worn by a celebrity such as Britney Spears, or by their fashion-conscious neighbours in Ponsonby.

Coming in at No 1 on this month's top 20 searches is Auckland property.

At No 2 is Playboy clothing. And this means all kinds of items from bikinis to jandals emblazoned with the distinctive Playboy bunny ears. Look out for it at a beach near you soon.

At No 4 is Roxy clothing, a surfwear brand for girls by Quiksilver. And at No 6 there's anything and everything by New Zealand designer Karen Walker.

Auckland label Zambesi, Wellington's Plush brand, Nike, Gucci and others, local and international, have also made it to the top 20.

Women's clothing, O'Donnell says, is the most popular in the clothing section. Of about 70,000 items auctioned on any given day, sales usually focus on high-fashion items and women buyers aged 15 to 30.

If you want to delve deeper than just the obvious trends on TradeMe's top 20, it's going to take you a while to trawl through all those fashion listings. But there are plenty of other worthy excuses for browsing the online clothing auctions.

One of the best things about TradeMe is that often you'll find items you'd find almost impossible to get anywhere else ... bored millionaires' wives selling last season's Louis Vuitton bought during a European holiday and worn just once ... industry types getting rid of that New Zealand Fashion Week T-shirt they never wear ... someone's grandmother's beautifully preserved vintage footwear.

But clothes on TradeMe are not necessarily second-hand. About a third are new, and that's because of people you might call small-scale internet-boutique owners looking at the listings.

These savvy sellers buy a truckload of, say, last season's genuine Marc Jacob's dresses in New York, or maybe surplus designer handbags from Hong Kong, then return here to flog them off at well below full price.

Getting a bargain on the TradeMe auction site isn't always easy, especially when you're bidding for something being sold by one of those those boutique-goods traders. They know what their stock is worth and sit tight until they get the price they want.

But if you're buying from private individuals you may get a great deal from someone who perhaps bought the wrong size, fit or colour. For example, recently spotted: a pair of unused Costume National shoes for $180 and a never-worn Huffer ski jacket for $240. In the real world those shoes sell for $400 and the jacket goes for $380.

FOR FASHION SHOPPING ON TRADEME

Fit

* Always the trickiest aspect of any online clothing shopping. Use the question-and-answer provision to get exact measurements, especially if buying vintage clothing, where the fit is so different from modern clothing.

* If buying designer goods, make a foray to the fanciest boutiques and see if you can't try on something by the same designer to get an idea of size and fit.

* Most sellers don't like buyers to pick up goods - mainly because meeting in person requires much more organisation and is time-consuming, but you can try asking for a meeting if you're buying something expensive.

* You will also see a lot of items re-listed after buyers found they were the wrong size. In that case, one person's mistake becomes your opportunity.

Colour

* Bear in mind that what you see on your computer may not give you the most accurate impression of the colour. If you have doubts, ask the seller to put up more pictures taken in outdoor lighting or to email pictures to you.

Quality

* It's a matter of buyer beware. Either put faith in the description the seller has written, go by the label or brand. For instance, if buying an established label you're relatively assured of quality and good fabric. If it's some random item, especially with vintage clothing, there's more risk.

Feedback

* If you're spending up large on some designer item, check the sellers' feedback. Any seller serious about staying on at TradeMe guards their positive feedback vigorously. Check their history to see what sort of items they've been selling.

Questions

* If you want further reassurance, ask a question, any question, and see what sort of answer you get. If the seller sends a one-word reply that tells you nothing, strikes you as being offhand, or takes a long time to respond, this may be an indication of a bad attitude.

Look around

* Sellers don't always list things where you might expect them to. Browse through a whole category to see what's on offer. You may be pleasantly surprised at what's hidden behind inaccurate descriptions or odd categories.