Once upon a time there was a princess called eBay.co.nz. She came to live in the same kingdom where princess Trademe.co.nz resided.
Both princesses fell in love with the tall handsome Prince Public, but he of course could only wed one of them. eBay.co.nz tried everything to attract him; she tried to sell him a rare mirror mirror on the wall, she tried convincing him that a wondrous slipper left on the steps of the palace at midnight was hers, and she turned up to every ball. But alas for her hopes! Prince Public's affections were engaged most firmly by the lovely princess Trademe.co.nz, and it certainly didn't hurt that her castle had much better foundations than princess eBay.co.nz's castle.
Finally - after a failed attempt to get princess Trademe.co.nz to prick her finger on a poisoned spinning wheel, the rejected princess eBay.co.nz upped stumps, kicked down her castle (which was only made of cardboard, anyway), and flounced off to parts unknown, never to be seen again.
Yes, there once was an eBay.co.nz. (In 2001.)
No, it doesn't exist anymore. It lasted only a very short time. Trademe (started in early 1999) was already well established in New Zealand by the time eBay tried to establish itself there. Trademe had already overcome its early struggles by then and commanded the country's loyalty and had excellent brand recognition.
No, it won't be coming back. That canoe has sailed.
From the 2006 interview by Richard MacManus with Sam Morgan and Rowan Simpson:
โRichard: Just on that point, why do you think eBay was never successful in the NZ market? Or did they just not notice it until it was too late and you guys had too much momentum?
Sam: "Bit of both, they were a little late in and then they launched in US dollars."
Rowan: "And they had a cheesy picture of a kiwi holding an All Blacks jersey - it just didn't quite gel."
Sam: "And they didn't really spend the money. What they did well in Australia - and they were successful in Australia - was they put some people into it, they built a new AU dollar 'only search Australian things' website. They spent a [poo-load] of money on advertising and they basically got first mover and got on the spiral first...they never got on their spiral here [in NZ] because they [goofed] up a few fundamentals, like currency..."โ
