Selling a Laptop on TradeMe
For many years, TradeMe has been the go-to place in New Zealand to sell unwanted tech. If you had an old laptop sitting in a drawer, you could list it on TradeMe, wait a few days, and someone would usually buy it.
But TradeMe has recently changed how its fees work, and that has altered the maths for people selling second-hand items.
If you’re thinking about selling an old laptop, it’s worth understanding how the new system affects what you actually receive. Read on.
The Old Way: Seller Success Fees
Traditionally, TradeMe charged the seller a success fee when an item sold. For most casual sellers this was around 7.9% of the sale price, capped at a maximum fee.
So if you sold a laptop for $400, you would lose roughly $30–$32 in fees before even thinking about shipping.
That was simply the cost of using the platform.
Many people accepted it because TradeMe has a huge audience of buyers and a trusted reputation in New Zealand.
The New Change: Removing Some Success Fees
Recently TradeMe announced a major shift in its fee structure.
Instead of charging casual sellers a success fee in some situations, the platform is moving toward charging buyers a service fee instead.
In other words, the cost of using the platform is gradually shifting away from the person selling the item and toward the person buying it.
The buyer may now see a small service fee added during checkout depending on the item and its value.
From a seller’s perspective, that can make listing items feel cheaper or even free in some categories.
So Does That Mean Selling Is Free Now?
Not completely. They've been a little naughty about how they've been wording this. It's definitely not free!
Even with the changes, there can still be costs involved depending on how you sell.
For example, if a buyer uses TradeMe’s Ping payment system, there can still be a payment processing fee of around 2.19% of the item price plus shipping.
And of course there are still optional listing extras like gallery listings or featured listings that cost a little extra.
But the big shift is psychological: the headline success fee that used to come out of the seller’s pocket is no longer always the main cost.
How This Affects Someone Selling an Old Laptop
For a typical person clearing out old tech, the change may make TradeMe more attractive again.
Let’s say you have a five-year-old laptop that might sell for $300 to $500.
Under the old system, you would automatically lose a chunk of that price to the success fee. Under the newer approach, the seller may keep more of the sale price while the buyer sees a service fee instead.
That makes it easier for people to list low-value items without feeling like the fees are eating too much of the sale.
Why TradeMe Is Doing This?
The change isn’t random.
TradeMe is facing heavy competition from places like Facebook Marketplace, where selling items is free.
Many people simply started listing items there instead.
By shifting fees toward buyers, TradeMe is trying to encourage more people to list items again and keep the marketplace active.
More listings means more buyers visiting the site — which benefits the platform overall.
The Reality of Selling Old Tech
Even with fee changes, there’s another reality when it comes to selling old laptops: depreciation.
Computers lose value quickly.
A laptop that originally cost $1,800 might only sell for $300 a few years later.
That means the biggest factor affecting how much you receive usually isn’t Trade Me fees — it’s simply the age of the device.
Still, anything that reduces selling costs can make it a bit more worthwhile to sell instead of letting the laptop sit unused in a cupboard.
A Quick Tip Before You Sell
If you do plan to sell an old laptop online, a few simple steps can increase your chances of getting a better price.
Make sure it’s factory reset, clean it properly, and include clear photos and the original charger if you still have it. Small details like that make buyers far more confident.
And if the machine is particularly slow or damaged, sometimes it’s better to recycle it or trade it in rather than trying to sell it.
The Bottom Line
TradeMe’s recent fee changes shift some of the cost of using the platform from the seller to the buyer.
For someone selling an old laptop, that can mean keeping more of the final sale price than before.
Whether that change will bring more people back to the platform remains to be seen - but if you’ve got an unused laptop lying around, it might now be slightly more worthwhile listing it.