Gib selling for $410 a board online
The national Gib shortage is causing the asking price of plasterboard selling on Trade Me to skyrocket.
One listing in Ohakune for standard 10mm Gib had a buy now price of $410. In Auckland, 20 sheets of 13mm Gib Aqualine had a buy now of $3500 ($175 a sheet), and in Northland an assortment of 18 sheets of offcuts had a buy now of $1400.
In March, bidding for 26 sheets of Gib board had topped $5100, almost six times the undiscounted price it was selling for at Bunnings, $33.82 per sheet.
With the current Gib shortage showing no signs of a quick fix, the asking price of plasterboard on Trade Me has continued to increase.
Nigel Benton, owner of small construction company Benton, said that when prices for Gib increased on Trade Me, it was small businesses that paid the cost.
‘‘Small businesses are in a far worse position than the larger companies.
‘‘Many small to medium builders are going under because they are having to spend thousands of dollars on Trade Me for a few sheets of plasterboard.’’ Small builders were forced to pay the higher prices for Gib, to save themselves from expensive penalty clauses for projects left at a standstill because of a lack of available plasterboard, he said.
Benton said he counted himself ‘‘bloody lucky’’ to have secured the Gib he needed but said to get it he had to call in favours from people he knew in the industry.
‘‘If you are a small business without connections, you are absolutely screwed. That is why we are seeing people turn to these extortionate prices on Trade Me. It is bloody frustrating.’’
Trade Me’s head of trust and safety, Lisa Kerr, said the company was aware a number of members were attempting to profit from the Gib shortages.
‘‘We understand this behaviour is not everyone’s cup of tea.
‘‘But at the end of the day, these are trades between a willing buyer and a willing seller, and the prices are simply market forces at work.’’
It was not the role of Trade Me to be a de facto regulator and it was the Government’s job to regulate the sale of Gib, she said.
Simplicity Living’s managing director, Shane Brealey, said dealing in larger volumes gave bigger developers more options than some smaller operators. Brealey cancelled Simplicity Living’s order for Gib board from Fletcher Building and instead ordered an equivalent plasterboard from Thailand for $19.50 a sheet.
The housing developer has placed an order for two containers a month for the next three years. The entire process only took three months, Brealey said.
Simplicity offered to share details on how to import Gib substitutes with other businesses and received more than 60 requests for information from both small and large developers.