Trade Me pickups and delivery across Christchurch

The Trade Me wins that need a driver are the ones too bulky to send by post. A washing machine or a chest freezer out of a Bishopdale garage. A dining set from a Merivale villa where the owners are downsizing. A bookcase or a workbench bought off someone in Woolston. Camping gear, a road bike, a set of golf clubs. Then there is everything won outside the city, a dresser in Rangiora, a bench saw in Ashburton, an old sideboard on a farm near Leeston, all of it pickup only and all of it needing someone with a van.

Collection is the part that goes wrong. The seller has a day job, the item is behind a roller door, and nobody has measured it. In the central city St Asaph runs west and Tuam runs east, so a driver cannot double back, and much of the kerbside there is metered. Brougham Street carries cross-town freight, so Riccarton to Woolston is slower than it looks. A Lyttelton drop-off goes through the tunnel under the Port Hills, which has a height limit, so a tall load takes Dyers Pass. Out on the plains, a West Melton or Dunsandel address can mean a RAPID number, a gravel drive and a gate.

Bids differ because each driver weighs your job against their day. The plains are flat, with no harbour crossing or hill road on the return leg, so distance alone does not set the price. A driver who already has work in Ashburton or Rangiora may want a load coming back. Say what it weighs, whether the seller can help lift it, and give a window rather than one hour. Selling rather than buying? You can post the collection yourself once you know where it is going, and see what drivers put forward before you settle the details with the buyer.