Rural Parents Blindsided By Bus Route Changes
OPINION: Rural school buses is a topic I have had a great deal of correspondence on over the last couple of months.
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."
