Fairfax deal lets Zillion in the door

New Zealand’s smartest online marketplace
www.zillion.co.nz
4th June, 2006
For release 5th June

Fairfax deal lets Zillion in the door

The founders of Zillion, New Zealand’s smartest online marketplace, will be celebrating more than the Queen’s birthday this weekend.

Zillion’s membership has more than doubled since the sale of competitor Trade Me to media company Fairfax was announced exactly three months ago on 5th March. Zillion was launched some 10 months ago, at the end of July last year.

The number of items available on Zillion has also swelled, by a whopping 66%, with more than 40,000 items currently up for sale.

Co-founder of Zillion, Dylan Bland, puts this intense burst of interest down to three things:

• Zillion is 100% New Zealand owned and has developed an honest and respectful relationship with its sellers.

• A commitment to using smart, new technology that makes buying and selling faster and easier than ever before.

• Winning “Best New Site” at this year’s NetGuide Web Awards, affirming Zillion’s position as a viable alternative to Trade Me.

“Zillion’s 100% growth over the past three months perfectly illustrates that things move very, very quickly online and that the Fairfax/Trade Me deal has indeed created real opportunities for new players,” says Dylan. “Feedback we’ve had from new members also indicates that many were unsettled about the sale and the sudden and sharp increase in fees that shortly followed.

“The deal has prompted many New Zealanders to check out other local auction sites, and Zillion’s rapid growth proves that New Zealanders live up to their reputation as people who aren’t afraid to try something new and adopt new technology."

The news of Zillion’s growth coincides with Trade Me’s latest round of fee hikes, increasing the price of their most popular listing upgrade, Gallery, from 45c to 55c, an increase of more than 20%. Without Gallery, listings don’t get a photo next to them when browsing.

“Listing upgrades are a necessary way for sellers to promote their items and improve their sales, and significant price increases designed to increase operator revenues hit sellers hard in the pocket. On Zillion, the equivalent Gallery option is free, and this is one of our primary draw cards,” says Dylan.

“We’re also proud to say that we will not accept banner advertising from Telecom’s retail portal, Ferrit, as Trade Me has done earlier this week."

Zillion has a strict policy that prohibits companies or web sites from buying its banner advertising if it’s used to promote products or services that compete with sellers offering items for sale on Zillion.

“We support our sellers 100%, and that means never accepting advertising from any web site that may detract from the items being sold on our site,” explains Dylan.

ENDS

© Scoop Media