TradeMe
Make an Offer

Problem

TradeMe is always looking to make it easier to buy and sell faster for users. Other sites around the world, such as eBay, were offering functionality for buyers to make an offer and it was working well for them. TradeMe were also reviewing feedback from customers and data from auctions that reflected the need for this functionality.

TradeMe didn’t have an ‘official’ way to make an offer on listings. A workaround for buyers was to negotiate through the Q&A, but the only way for the seller to accept the offer was to change the Buy Now price which was causing issues including other members ‘stealing’ the deal.

Approach

Make an Offer lets buyers offer a price to the seller on general Marketplace listings. This functionality required integration into the selling flow and into the buyers journey.

Ensuring that the solution was feasible, technology teams were included in the development of the feature to ensure that the end result connected user needs with platform constraints.

I worked closely with teams to define the problem, understand user needs and expectations, and deliver design. This end-to-end solution also involved working with marketing teams and leadership to promote and celebrate the new functionality.

Early concept testing

Solution

‘Make an offer’ lets buyers submit an offer before the reserve price is met, and if the seller accepts the offer within 24 hours, the deal is done

Sellers choose the option ‘Allow buyers to make an offer’ when they list an item on Trade Me. If they are getting offers that are too low, or they don’t want to allow offers any more, they can turn the option off.

Make an Offer was made available to casual sellers, if the seller selects it during the listing process.

  • Only the seller and the buyer who made the offer can see the offer.

  • Buyers can make a maximum of 7 offers per listing

  • Buyers will be notified if the seller accepts or declines their offer

  • Shipping costs are additional to the Make an Offer amount

Deliverables

  • Concept development
    This included assessing potential risk, edge cases, technical feasibility, and wire framing

  • Research and user testing
    Work was done to assess user needs and expectations and to understand how other platforms have implemented this functionality

  • Design of user journeys for sellers and buyers

  • Brand application using TradeMe’s design system Tangarm to create a consistent experience

  • Stakeholder engagement and presentations to inform and share progress internally

  • Marketing collateral to support the promotion and celebration of the new feature

Designs tested by Senior Designer Mark Coates

Outcomes

People wanting to sell items faster on Trade Me without using a Buy Now price can use a new feature allowing potential buyers to make an offer.

This feature has reduced the time taken to complete a sale on the platform and reduced unsold items.

Users who would have negotiated to sell items outside of TradeMe are now completing sales within their product which increases engagement and revenue.

Learnings

To deliver the functionality to users faster, a decision was made to slice the project into value segments that would provide more functionality at every release.

This included delivering the feature platform-by-platform instead of waiting for all of them to be completed. It also allowed functionality such as counter-offers to be delivered as a follow-up to the core feature.