Trade Me enters online wine market

People with off-licence certificates can now sell wine through Trade Me. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Auction website Trade Me has entered the online wine market but sellers will have to hold an off-licence certificate.

The company said it had been given the go-ahead to sell wine by the Liquor Licensing Authority.

Trade Me spokesman Michael Gregg said it had debated wine sales for a long time.

"But every time it comes up we kind of go `oh, we can't be bothered with people writing bad news stories about us selling liquor to minors', and so I tackled it about three or four months ago."

Mr Gregg said the first thing Trade Me did was talk to established players to discuss how they operated.

"Basically we went and had a chat to people like Glengarry and they said `we have a deal with the courier company we use to have a signature and the courier driver must sight the ID of (the buyer)."

Mr Gregg said Trade Me would use the same system, with the added requirements that buyers must use a credit card and purchase either six bottles or a case of 12.

Only pre-approved organisations holding an off-license certificate would be allowed to sell wine, he said.

Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams told NZPA it appeared "all the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed".

"But my concern - if I had any concerns - would be around how you monitor an online environment.

"When you've got a physical presence, the police and licensing agencies can go in and check and test them."

John Macpherson, who owns Hawke's Bay wine retailer Advintage, said it was an exciting development for his business.

"We just see it as a fantastic opportunity to put it out to a bigger database.

"Trade Me's dominated so many other categories so it's a fantastic thing for us to be associated with."

Mr Macpherson said he couldn't understand the fuss over minors as in 10 years they had never had a problem. Online sales generally dealt with premium wines, outside most teens' price point, and took up to three days to deliver.

Mr Gregg said there were no plans for Trade Me to sell beer and spirits.

"We're not interested."

- NZPA