Start on Trade Me if you need sales this month and have little to spend on ads, then build a Shopify store next to it once you know which products actually sell. Trade Me comes with shoppers already in the building. Shopify gives you the brand, the customer list and the margin, but you have to drag every visitor there yourself, and that costs real cash.
That’s the founder-to-founder version. Here’s the maths behind it, because the fee picture changed this year and plenty of articles are still quoting the old numbers.
What did Trade Me change in 2026?
Trade Me dropped its 7.9% success fee for casual sellers on Marketplace from 10 March 2026, with the rollout finished by 15 March (Trade Me Help: Big changes for Trade Me Marketplace). If you’ve read a “Trade Me seller fees” post with a sliding scale of success fees, it’s out of date for casual sellers.
But the cost didn’t vanish. It moved:
- Ping is built in. Bank transfer was removed as a payment option, and sellers pay a Ping transaction fee of 2.19% (Consumer NZ: what’s behind Trade Me’s move to scrap success fees).
- Buyers pay a service fee on most purchases over $20, which can nudge shoppers towards cheaper rival listings.
- Afterpay costs sellers more than Ping, so offering it is a margin decision, not a freebie.
Consumer NZ’s comparison found Trade Me collects less per sale than before in most cases. The part it doesn’t settle is professional sellers. Trade Me’s help page says fees still apply for professional sellers, so if you list in volume or run a business account, read your own fee schedule before you do any maths. Don’t assume the “no success fees” headline covers you.
What does Shopify actually cost a new NZ store?
Shopify’s NZ pricing page shows three main plans (Basic, Grow and Advanced), with the monthly price listed in US dollars and card rates for NZ stores that drop as you move up a plan (Shopify NZ: plans and pricing). Two things matter for a young founder:
- The subscription is the small cost. Even on the entry plan it’s modest next to what you’ll spend on traffic.
- It’s billed in US dollars. Your NZ cost drifts with the exchange rate, so don’t budget it as a fixed number.
You’ll also add a theme or apps, a domain, product photography and probably an email tool. None is huge, but together they’re the “setup tax” Trade Me doesn’t have.
The big line, though, is traffic. A Trade Me listing is found by someone already searching to buy. A Shopify store opens to silence until you create demand through ads, content or word of mouth. If you haven’t done the sums, read unit economics before you borrow for ads first.
Trade Me vs Shopify NZ: side by side
| Trade Me | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic | Built in, buyers already searching | You bring it (ads, social, email, SEO) |
| Per-sale cost | Ping fee for sellers; buyers also pay a service fee | Card processing on every order |
| Fixed cost | Low for casual sellers | Monthly plan plus apps, domain, photos |
| Who owns the customer | Trade Me | You |
| Brand and pricing control | Limited, you compete on price and reviews | Full |
| Payout speed | Ping transfer, then 1 to 2 days to your bank | Minimum three business days, longer when new |
| Cash tied up before first sale | Low | Moderate to high (ad budget, setup) |
| Best for | Testing products, clearing stock, fast first sales | Repeat customers, a brand, higher margins |
When should you start on Trade Me?
Pick Trade Me first if:
- You’re still testing products. A listing costs almost nothing, and you learn what sells before buying 500 units.
- Your margin is thin and your ad budget is zero. Paid social with no sales history burns cash fast.
- You’re a side hustle going full time and want proof of income. Trade Me sales show up in your bank account, which is the kind of track record that helps later. Our guide on going from side hustle to full time covers the rest of that jump.
- You sell second-hand, vintage, one-off or collectable items. Shoppers hunt for those on Trade Me.
When does Shopify make more sense?
Build the store first, or sooner, if:
- Your product is branded or made by you and people will search for your name.
- Repeat buying matters. Skincare, coffee, pet treats and supplements live on repeat orders, and you can only market to customers you own.
- You’ve got a way to get traffic that isn’t paying for every click: an existing following, a creator partnership, a wholesale list.
- You’re comparing on price anyway. If Trade Me turns you into a race to the bottom, your own store protects margin.
Should you do both?
Eventually, most do. A sensible order:
- Trade Me to prove demand. List your best five to ten products. Track which sell and at what price.
- Shopify for the winners. Put those products on your own store, with better photos and bundles.
- Use Trade Me as a funnel. Slip a branded card in each parcel pointing to your store, within Trade Me’s rules.
- Use one stock count. Selling the last unit twice, once on each channel, is the classic dual-channel mistake. Hold a small buffer for the slower channel.
One more thing both channels share: IRD wants one view of your turnover. You must register for GST when turnover reaches $60,000 in a 12-month period, or you expect it to (IRD: registering for GST). Trade Me income plus Shopify income plus market stalls all add up, so a sole trader on three channels crosses the line faster than they expect. We unpack it in our GST registration threshold guide.
What does each option do to your cash flow?
This is the bit most platform comparisons skip. Fees matter less than when cash goes out and when it comes back.
- Trade Me: cash out is mostly stock. Cash back is quick once Ping transfers are requested, with a 2:45pm daily cut-off and then 1 to 2 days to reach your bank (Trade Me Help: Missing payments). Trade Me can hold a payment at its discretion, such as for a fraud check, so don’t plan rent around the very next day.
- Shopify: cash out is stock plus ads plus setup, and it often leaves your account weeks before the sales it creates. Cash back is a payout with a minimum of three business days after the sale, and Shopify bundles weekend orders.
Black Friday makes the gap bigger: ads bill daily, payouts trail. Our cash flow guide for online stores walks through that timing, and the peak season planning guide shows how to size it.
Want a straight read on whether funding would help your launch? Check your options in about 60 seconds, with no credit check just for asking.
Example: a candle maker deciding where to start
Illustrative example only, not a real business.
Priya makes soy candles in Hamilton. She has $6,000 in savings and has already made 300 candles. She’s torn: pay about $1,500 to set up and advertise a Shopify store, or list on Trade Me.
She lists three scents on Trade Me for a month and sells 90 candles. The best scent sells out twice. Now she knows what to scale. She builds a small Shopify store with just that scent plus a gift set, uses a card in each Trade Me parcel to collect emails, and puts a modest ad budget behind the gift set only when the numbers support it.
Her bottleneck moves from “does anyone want this?” to “can I afford 1,000 units of the winner before Christmas?” That is a funding question with a clear answer: she has sales history, a stock plan and a due date. It’s much easier for a lender to assess than “I’m launching a store”.
How will a lender see your Trade Me or Shopify sales?
Lenders don’t mind which platform you use. They care about what lands in your business account. Practical tips:
- Send every payout to one business account. Ping transfers, Shopify payouts, PayPal and Afterpay, all in the same place, so the statements tell the whole story. We explain what they read in what lenders look for in your bank statements.
- Keep personal and business separate. Mixed accounts muddy the picture.
- Have platform reports ready to explain a spike or a seasonal month.
- Know your numbers: average sale, margin after fees and shipping, and what the funding will return.
Business.govt.nz notes that lenders want to see how the business makes money and can repay (business.govt.nz: borrowing money). About six months of trading often opens up unsecured funding or an online seller line of credit. If you’re newer, a loan secured on NZ property can work from day one. Our e-commerce business loans page covers both.
Picked your platform? Let’s fund the next move
Choosing between Trade Me and Shopify is a good problem. It means something’s working. The next question is usually the money: stock for the winner, the ad budget to open your own store, or enough runway to survive the gap between paying suppliers and getting paid.
That’s where we come in. Here’s what to expect:
- It takes about 60 seconds, and asking won’t touch your credit score.
- We don’t blast your details out to a pile of lenders. No spray and pray, and no phone lighting up with strangers.
- A real person looks at your business, your sales channels and what you’re trying to fund, then calls you.
- Please fill the form in accurately, with real turnover and trading time, so we can line up the right option first time.