A Trade Me seller has been called "cheeky" for trying to entice buyers into thinking an LCD TV was $1, when it was actually $5000.
Auckland furnishing store Elmstone New Zealand listed a Samsung 75-inch Flat Smart TV on Trade Me with a Buy Now price of $1 but there was a catch - this actually just allowed the winner to purchase the TV. They would still need to pay another $5000 to buy the TV, worth $9000.
Trade Me spokesperson Paul Ford says a dispute between the buyer and seller erupted.
"It's definitely a weird one," he says. "Sometimes people might try things on to avoid fees, but this is extremely blatant. We're not sure if it was disingenuous or naive but it looks cheeky."
The buyer posted negative feedback on Elmstone's Trade Me account, which says they were abusive when they tried to opt out of the purchase.
"Seller In Trade held liable as per Consumer Guarantee Act 1993 placed this Listing with $1 Buy Now which I accepted. Seller is Now trying to opt out of their Legal Obligations to Complete Sale for $1 instead has become abusive. Has also tried to Invoice me for $5000 outside Trademe advising Buy Now $1 was a method of doing so Buy Now $1 is a Commitment Trademe are now Involved. Urge you not to Purchase from this Seller rather watch the outcome of this Investigation and hopeful resolution [sic]."
Mr Ford says the website doesn't allow people to list an item where the buyer pays a small fee for the 'right to purchase' an item for a higher amount.
"If we did it could be pandemonium and very confusing onsite."
It's also against Trade Me's rules to have transactions happen outside of its processes.
"It'd be pretty unlikely that the TV will be landing on his doorstep for a dollar, but worth the buyer seeking legal advice on the ins and outs of that," Mr Ford says.
"On the face of it we think there might be an argument under the Fair Trading Act about it being misleading, because the headline price is different to the sale price, but it might be a long bow to draw."
Mr Ford encouraged the seller to "put things right" with the buyer.
He is also warning others from trying this method.
"If prospective buyers see this sort of shenanigans, we'd be keen to hear from them via the Community Watch 'sheriff badge' that is on every live listing."
He says action has been taken against the seller but couldn't go into specifics details about what the consequences were.
Elmstone declined to comment when contacted by Newshub.
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