Sam Morgan - Creator of Trade Me

Sam Morgan

Where did Sam Morgan’s interest in buying and selling come from?
Sam Morgan’s Interest of buying and selling came from when he wanted to buy a second hand heater for his draughty apartment. He searched the internet to see if anyone was willing to sell him a heater but found no options on any New Zealand websites. He then realised that no one was willing to sell any cheap enough and decided to create Trade me.

Describe the early days of Trade Me.
At the start Trade Me didn’t really do too much as it only had 5000 people signing up and 200,000 people viewing. He didn’t have enough money to create ads for his sight or to quit his job. He then tried to sell the company on eBay for 1 million dollars but it was then taken off because no bids were placed. After a while he then sold almost half the company to several former deloitte colleagues for $75,000. Luckily he was then able to quit his job and then work full time on his website.

How did Sam Morgan turn Trade Me into a multi-million dollar enterprise?
Sam Morgan turned Trade me into a multi-million dollar business with perseverance. He kept going even when his business didn’t look too well. At the start he thought that he wasn’t going to do well but after he sold part of his company he did much better as he was able to put all of his time and effort into his business.

You have 10 minutes to think of a new website that will be of use to New Zealanders and to your knowledge does not already exist.
A site that tells you if COVID-19 is in your area and what you can do to protect yourself before you get it and if you do get it. You can also get a kit to send to a lab to see if you might have it too.