Trade Me has launched into the festive season, with listings peaking in the lead up to Christmas.

Over the first two weeks of December there was an average of 803,000 visits per day to the website, an increase of 15 per cent compared with the same period in 2013.

Traffic from tablets and mobile devices made up 39 per cent of visits, which was an increase on the 21 per cent reported for 2013.

The high tide mark for listings this year was on December 2, when 529,882 items were listed.

It is expected that the busiest trading day for 2014 will be December 7, a couple of weeks before Christmas when customers are purchasing with enough time for products to be delivered for Christmas.

In 2013 the busiest buying and selling day was December 8, with nearly 400,000 members making more than 50,000 purchases.

Trade Me has also listed consumers’ top picks for the period leading up to Christmas, with a combination of new products and old favourites.

Jeff Hunkin, Trade Me spokesman, said that New Zealanders’ insatiable love of Apple items continues, with old favourites like Lego, trampolines, and outdoor furniture some of the most searched items.

On the rise is Frozen merchandise, and Minecraft, while Star Wars toys take a break this year with the likelihood they will return in 2015 with the release of the new film.

For the fourth consecutive year, iPhones and iPads have topped the Christmas searches on Trade Me.

“On Trade Me over the past fortnight, the iPhone 5 was the most searched for Apple product, followed by the iPhone 4s, the new model iPhone 6, and the iPad,” Hunkin said.

“Apple devices have consistently floated to the top of our most-searched lists for a while now, and not just at Christmas time.”