Our Story

Toko was originally created in 2022 during the Covid Pandemic to offer a platform for Tourism New Zealand operators to offer their products, tours and experiences via an auction system when they had a lot of availability and very few customers. The aim was to encourage Kiwis to travel in their “own backyards” and help operators to reach customers who wouldn’t have travelled otherwise. When the borders opened again Auction Bay slowed down.

Fast forward 2 years when Stephane’s wife Tania was complaining that she could not find an Online Kiwi company to host the school’s auctions for their AG day. She wanted grandparents, uncles and aunts, family members and friends not present on the day or in the area to still be able to participate at the school fundraising day. She looked at Trade me but the fees were high and the system was not designed to cater for schools but individuals. She looked at fundraising and crowdfunding websites but again it was difficult to sell and auction many products at once. 

That is when Toko was created to cater specifically to New Zealand schools and associations interested in fundraising through auctions and sales of products or services.