Shoppers turn to Trade Me in Smeg knife hunt
Tuesday, 15 December 2020
New World’s Smeg stickers are in high demand on Trade Me, with some sellers asking hundreds of dollars for a sheet of the collectable stickers.
The supermarket chain is offering free knives to people who collect enough stickers, at a rate of one sticker per $20 spent.
But some shoppers are looking to circumvent the process – and others are cashing in.
Ruby Topzand, Trade Me spokeswoman, said the auction site noticed people were searching for stickers soon after the promotion launched in November.
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Topzand said that in the past seven days there had been 28,000 searches for “Smeg” on the site, up 734 per cent on the same time last year.
There were more than 156 listings for the stickers, she said.
“One member is even selling the full set of knives for $560 while another is selling 100 stickers for $180,” Topzand said.
At New World, the stickers can be redeemed for a range of six Smeg knives and a knife block. Customers can also collect fewer stickers and pay a cash top-up in exchange for a knife.
The minimum number of stickers required is 25 for a vegetable knife, which translates to $500 worth of purchases.
To collect the complete set, customers would need to spend $4900 at New World supermarkets, or $2820 plus $140 cash, by January 24.
That is an average spend of $408 per week for the sticker-only option or $248 for stickers plus top-up.
Topzand said the supermarket promotions were always popular on Trade Me.
“Each time New World or Countdown release a new collectables range or sticker promotion we see searches for these items surge,” Topzand said.
In 2016, one Trade Me member sold the full New World Little Garden set for $210 on the site, she said.
New World has ordered more than 1 million giveaway knives for its latest sticker promotion but is advising customers not to delay redeeming the products to avoid disappointment.
The supermarket chain came under fire earlier this year when it ran out of Spiegelau glass stemware before the promotion ended.