Peter Blakey, Massey University Sam Morgan founded TradeMe during the first few months of 1999, constructing the site while working full-time for Deloitte as a technology consultant. He had witnessed the successes of online businesses such as eBay, Yahoo! and others, as well as the disasters of the dot-com bubble. According to TradeMe legend, Morgan, then just 23 years old, decided to found the TradeMe site when, despite searching online, he could not find a heater for his flat in Wellington. The Trade & Exchange site had a heater for sale but it held back listings for a week before publishing them online, and by the time Morgan made contact with the heater's owner, it had already been sold. Morgan described the initial designing building of TradeMe thus: 'We were in a backpackers' hostel in Sydney and got evicted because it was overbooked. We went up to some backwater because it was the only accommodation we could find. Anyway, there was nothing to do, so that night I started drawing a data model. So, it sort of started there, really. Then when I came back to Wellington l literally sat on the couch and built the site on a laptop over a five or six-week period." The site went online in March 1999 after Morgan pulled together some funding. It gained 155 members in its first week on the internet. In its early stages, Morgan cheekily listed TradeMe on eBay, with a sale price of $1 million-Although eBay withdrew the listing from auction, the prank sparked some interest among New Zealanders, who realised the potential of online trading . TradeMe developed slowly initially, offering a completely free service for buyers and sellers, a strategy for expanding its member-base at the cost of short term revenue. By August 1999 membership had risen to 3500' and Morgan could dedicate most of his time and funding to the site. In September 2000, he introduced "success fees" This action proved the turning point for TradeMe, saving the site from potential financial disaster. When eBay tried to enter the New Zealand Market in 2001, it had little success. In an interview, Morgan commented on the attempt as follows "I think there are big cultural issues" there that are just not well understood. For example, the Americans think that everyone has a zip code [...] they were a little late in and then they launched in US dollars. Background TradeMe is the largest (in terms of membership, number of auctions and amount of traffic) Internet-auction website operating in New Zealand as of 2009. In 2006, after some years of overall dramatic growth, Morgan sold TradeMe to Fairfax for NZ$75O million. Trade Me Ltd also operates several sister websites, including Find Someone, Old Friends, Travelbug and SafeTrader. TradeMe's website is the second most visited in New Zealand after Google New Zealand. TradeMe shares many features with other online auction-websites such as eBay; these features include 'Buy Now, 'Auto Bidding' and the SafeTrader escrow service. Members in New Zealand can become 'Address Verified' by confirming their street address, and sellers may choose to block unverified members from bidding. Payment Payments for goods bought and sold on TradeMe are very rarely made using PayPal; instead, the recommendation on the TradeMe site is to pay directly into a New Zealand bank account or by credit card. To minimise payment problems and reduce fraud, since 2005 TradeMe has restricted membership to residents of New Zealand and Australia. Payment options include 'Pay on Pick-up, 'Pay Now' and 'Bank Payment'. Pay on pick- up is recommended for higher-value goods, and goods located locally. lt provides the opportunity to inspect the goods to ensure that they are as described. Pay Now, which is recommended for purchases up to $1OO0, enables buyers to pay for their goods by credit card on TradeMe. This is both fast and safe, and there are no additional fees for using a card. TradeMe also recommends Paymate as a safe and secure method for online credit card payments. Bank payment is recommended for lower-value transactions. It involves depositing the payment directly into the seller's bank account through Internet banking, phone banking, or in person at a local branch. It is fast and cheap, and provides a means for tracking down the seller should they prove to be fraudulent. TradeMe also recommends the use of SafeTrader, an escrow service owned and operated by TradeMe. It is recommended for higher-value purchases or where there are concerns about other payment options. SafeTrader charges a percentage of the transaction value and requires the seller to use track-and-trace shipping. Shipment of goods Most buyers and sellers need to ensure the safe transportation of goods. While TradeMe does not have any financial interest in a courier company, it nevertheless makes a number of suggestions as to shipment of goods. In particular, it encourages the use of New Zealand Post and Courier Post by listing their packaging guides, shipping costs and shipping times on its website. It also enables the buying of EasyTraks (used for parcel tracking) through a TradeMe account." Questions 1 TradeMe has become a very successful company, consistently making a profit from its C2C activities. What is TradeMe's e-business model and why has it been so successful? 2 Other major websites, such as Amazon.com and Yahoo have entered the New Zealand e-marketplace with far less success than TradeMe. How has TradeMe been able to maintain its dominant position in that market? 3 TradeMe has long been a place where consumers come to trade their used goods and collectibles. It is increasingly a place where businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a business set up shop on TradeMe? 4 What are the three different types of online auctions, and which one is TradeMe 5 What are the different forms of online payment methods for consumers and for businesses? How might TradeMe's customers benefit from different payment methods? 6 Which metrics would you use if you were hired to assess both the effectiveness and the -H efficiency of TradeMe's website? You will be assigned a topic taken from the text book. The topic will be accompanied by a set of questions. Your task is to write a 1200 word essay addressing the issues raised by the questions. You should not simply answer the questions, nor do you need to confine yourself to the questions given. However your essay must address those questions. Your essay can also address other issues raised by to the topic. As a guide, expect your reader to be able to make sense of your essay without having read the topic or the questions. The essay should be approximately 1200 words During the final two workshops you will be required to give a brief 10 minute presentation to the class explaining your analysis and conclusions. The presentation should take between 10 and 12 minutes. You should assume that while the audience is not familiar with the particular case study, they have some knowledge of the fundamentals of Information Technology and Management Information Systems. For instance, while you would not expect to need to explain Porter's Value Chain, you might need to use it to explain your analysis. You are encouraged to discuss your ideas with your lecturer/ workshop leader, but should not expect to be provided with solutions. You may use any appropriate presentation technology to support your presentation, but it is up to you to organise anything that is not part of the usual classroom facilities. You should expect to make use of resources and references beyond those provided in the text, and to provide a list of references using the Harvard method. See the link on the subject Moodle page for a guide. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is to be submitted via Moodle before the presentation. The essay is to be submitted in pdf format to Moodle by the due date. Before submitting your essay you must first submit it to Turnitin and obtain a satisfactory Turnitin report. Any assignment that has not been submitted to Turnitin will be deemed to have not been submitted. Some points to note about your presentation:  Do not simply read the slides. Everyone can see them.  Your presentation should discuss and explain your response to the discussion and critical thinking questions.  While there is often no single correct answer, you are encouraged to discuss your responses with your lecturer/workshop leader. BIT103 Asignment 2 Semester 2 - 2014 Page 2  Do not simply state your answer without explaining how you arrived at it.  It might be necessary to discuss opposing points of view.  Do not read out a prepared speech.  Prepare your speaker's notes in the form of brief headings, and use these as prompts. If you are familiar with the material (as you ought) then you should be able to talk about it.  Either use cards (with few words) that are small enough to sit in your hand (business card size is good) or make a sheet with big print headings (and nothing else) and lay it on the table where you can glance at it occasionally.  Practice your presentation. If you have not given it out loud (preferably to a friend) you haven't prepared it.  Do not put too many words on each slide. Slides should support your presentation, not replace it.  Do not block the projector.  Find an opportunity before your presentation to see how the projection system works. Few things distract more than a presenter who does not know how to start the projector.  Structure your presentation. Even in 10 to 12 minutes, there is much to be gained from organising what you will say. Make sure you have a suitable introduction and conclusion. (Ideally, you shouldn't have to tell the audience when you have finished!),