Drop shipping

Drop shipping is when a seller sells goods that they don’t have possession or ownership of. When the goods sell, the seller arranges for them to be shipped to the buyer directly from the supplier. The seller may never see the goods.

In the past we’ve taken a hard line on members caught selling goods not in their possession, due to the risk for buyers.

As e-commerce evolves, some sellers are well placed to offer goods for sale via drop shipping, in a safe and efficient way. By allowing this in controlled circumstances, buyers may see better prices and greater choice available on Trade Me.

To keep our Marketplace trusted and safe, only experienced sellers or sellers with considerable experience with drop shipping may be considered. All applicants will go through a strict vetting process and approved sellers are required to sign a separate agreement with Trade Me, over and above the standard Trade Me terms and conditions and agree to additional undertakings.

How to apply

If you want to be considered for drop shipping you can email us at: ob@trademe.co.nz. Please provide your Trade Me username, describe your business model and where your stock is physically located. Our Trust & Safety team will then be in touch directly if we need more information.

Note: in order to drop ship on Trade Me, members require express written approval. Memberships caught drop shipping without approval may be restricted or disabled.

Key things to note:

• To be approved for drop shipping, you’ll need to be ‘in trade’ and be displaying this status on Trade Me.
• You must have completed a minimum of 1,500 trades or have demonstrated business experience outside of Trade Me with drop shipping.
• You can’t recently have had any issues with non-delivery of goods, intellectual property, product safety or general breaches of our terms and conditions.
• You’ll need to go through a vetting process by Trade Me’s Trust and Safety team. This may include you demonstrating you’ve run a successful drop shipping model in the past.
• Approved members may only offer Ping or Afterpay as a payment option for added security.
• Approved members must state the origin of the goods and the estimated delivery timeframes.
• The seller must agree to accept any responsibility for returns or faults, and will not defer the buyer to the supplier.

 Please see the drop shipping terms and conditions for more information.