Wednesday, 30 April 2025 10:55

Hawke's Bay teen helps rural families access affordable school uniforms

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
The Get Uniformed website was launched a year ago for buyers and sellers to connect in a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to buy school uniforms. The Get Uniformed website was launched a year ago for buyers and sellers to connect in a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to buy school uniforms.

Hawke's Bay teenage entrepreneur Hugo Moffett is helping the rural community access cheaper school uniforms, all without leaving their homes.

Moffett launched the Get Uniformed website one year ago for buyers and sellers to connect in a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to buy school uniforms.

On the website, anyone can upload the uniform for sale and anyone can purchase it. Once the sale has been made, the money will go straight into the seller's bank account. There's a 5% fee per transaction, which Moffett says helps to help cover costs.

"The money you'd be saving compared to a brand-new uniform is absolutely worth it," he told Dairy News.

Moffett says the uptake among the rural community is grand.

"There are many listings for many rural schools, in all different sizes and kinds," he says.

He adds that getting uniforms in rural areas can be a bit of a hassle and a trip into town specifically to get the uniform can be a bit of a mission.

"And not to mention the uniform itself is very expensive.

"Get Uniformed lets you see exactly who in your community has the uniform you need and puts you in contact with them. And it also has a postage system so if you need the uniform to be delivered to you that is always an option."

He says the website is popular around the country but points out that his home region, Hawke's Bay, has the largest quantities of school uniforms.

On his website, Moffett explains how the business was launched.

"I had ripped yet another pair of my school pants beyond repair, so I was off to the school uniform shop to buy myself another pair. I had to wait until Thursday at 3:15 as it was only open two days a week and for only one hour.

"There was a huge queue of boys needing uniform, so I waited and waited until I was finally let in. I searched for ages and finally found what I was looking for. I looked at the price and it was $75 for one small pair of pants. I thought to myself, 'heck, that's a lot'.

"There were a million other things that I would rather spend $75 on, but school uniform is compulsory, so I got it anyway."

Moffett says that later that evening, he thought about the mission he had to go through to get another pair of his uniform.

He started thinking about possible solutions.

"My first idea was to buy uniform off people and resell it in one convenient store, but this would be very high risk because I could be left with lots of unsold uniform.

"I then thought about the marketplace and letting people make their own listings."

More like this

NZ's handbrake

OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.

NZEI unhappy with funding cut for teachers

Education union NZEI Te Riu Roa says that while educators will support the Government’s investment in learning support, they’re likely to be disappointed that it has been paid for by defunding expert teachers.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter