Kiwis seek to hammer competition online

Tech-savvy Kiwis are breaking new ground online and squaring off against their competition with inventive, original internet auction sites.

Jody Lane and Anthony Tuitahi, two businessmen with experience in several of New Zealand’s largest corporations, have launched lessdebtors.com – an avenue for businesses to sell bad debts.

Lane says the website is still in its soft launch phase, in which the proprietors are receiving “helpful feedback” about the website from around the world.

Collection agencies from Australia, the UK and the US have had their say about the website venture, which is a world first.

Lane says he is hopeful the timing is right for starting the business venture in a difficult economic situation and says the idea “could go global”.

Businesses can list as many bad debts as they want on lessdebtors.com for free.

Collection agencies then bid for the debts online and the business selling the debt selects the highest bid.

The collection agency who wins the bid then pays lessdebtors.com a success fee and is supplied contact details afterwards for the business listing the debt.

However, lessdebtors.com isn’t the only inventive online auction site to surface in New Zealand recently.

An all-new, Kiwi owned, developed and operated auction site, onecentbid.co.nz launched on May 26.

One Cent Bid users register online and bid for product, but each bid can only increase by one cent.

A small fee is charged for each bid, and for every bid placed the auction timer is restarted.

If no higher bids are placed before the timer runs out, the auction item goes to the highest bidder for a fraction of the retail price.

This method of online auctioneering has been subject to controversy overseas.

Similar schemes have been accused of sporting a gaming element and have been questioned on whether or not they are bordering on gambling or real auctioneering, according to Alan Booth, One Cent Bid founder.

Booth says the website has nothing to hide and is up-front about the fact that “you will pay a fee for bidding”.

One Cent Bid offers three types of auctions consisting of a timed auction, lowest unique bid and highest unique bid option.

A spokeswoman for the Commerce Commission says it has received no complaints about One Cent Bid.

“It isn’t an issue that has come to our attention,” she says.