29 Apr 2020

TradeMe searches show Kiwis keen to learn new skills in level 3

5:21 pm on 29 April 2020

Now that we're out of lockdown, New Zealanders are suddenly buying musical instruments, and thinking of purchasing a mountain bike says TradeMe.

Teacher giving guitar lessons to pupil in a classroom

Photo: 123RF

Head of marketplace Lisa Stewart said they saw a spike in users as soon as the Prime Minister said online buying and selling could happen under alert level 3.

She said the hottest non-essential items onsite right now include mountain bikes, caravans, spa pools, Lego and couches.

"This week we've already seen 47,000 searches for mountain bikes, up 44 percent on the week prior, 40,000 hits for spa pools and 50,000 searches for couches," Stewart said.

"Lego is also popular at the moment, with New Zealanders looking to bust their boredom and flex their creative muscles. In the last two days we've seen 26,000 searches for the little blocks."

She said there were also 37,700 searches for caravans in the last two days, up 24 percent on the week prior.

Stewart said on Tuesday there was also a 97 percent boost in the sale of music and instruments, a 73 percent increase in the sale of books and gaming purchases were up 40 percent year-on-year.

A lot of people appear to have spent their time in lockdown clearing out cupboards and garages, with a 134 per cent jump in listings for homewares, and a 113 percent increase in electronics.

During level 4, Trade Me restricted the sale of non-essential items as per the government's restrictions and delayed thousands of auctions until the alert level changed.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs