We’re delighted to introduce maru, a marketplace and job board built by and for New Zealand’s growing Korean community. Whether you’re settling into a new flat in Auckland, hunting for weekend work in Wellington, or clearing out the garage in Christchurch, maru is the place where Kiwi Koreans buy, sell, hire, and look out for one another. It’s the platform we always wished existed, so we built it ourselves.
Why we built maru#
Over the past decade the Korean community in Aotearoa has grown well beyond a handful of neighbourhoods. Families are putting down roots from Auckland to Wellington to Christchurch and well beyond, and yet the everyday business of community life, selling a fridge before you move, finding a part-time job at a Korean restaurant, or simply reaching people who speak your language, was still scattered across group chats, closed forums, and noticeable notice boards. We’re a small team at Half Full, and we kept hearing the same frustration from friends and family, so we set out to bring all of it together in one welcoming, trustworthy place.
What guided us from the start was a simple belief: a community marketplace should feel like the community itself, generous, local, and easy to trust. That meant no listing fees and no commissions on what you sell. When you sell something on maru, the full amount stays in your pocket. We’d rather grow a healthy community than take a cut of every transaction.
What makes maru different#
Language should never stand between a good deal and the right person, so maru translates listings and messages automatically between English and Korean. You can write naturally in whichever language you prefer, and the other person reads it comfortably in theirs, which means a Korean grandmother and a Kiwi student can trade with ease. Conversations happen through real-time chat built right into the app, so you can ask questions, agree on a time, and arrange pick-up without ever handing over your phone number. If you’ve had your eye on something that feels a little dear, price-drop alerts will let you know the moment a seller lowers the price.
maru isn’t only about second-hand goods. Korean businesses across the country post their vacancies here too, from full-time roles to weekend and casual shifts, so job seekers can find work in places where their language and background are an asset rather than an afterthought. You can Browse Marketplace to see what neighbours are selling today, or head over to Find Jobs to see who’s hiring near you.
A few ways neighbours use maru#
- Moving cities? Sell the fridge, the sofa and the bed frame in a weekend instead of paying to cart them across the country.
- New in town? Kit out a whole flat with second-hand essentials from people nearby, at a fraction of retail.
- Free on weekends? Browse casual shifts at Korean cafés and restaurants where your language is an asset, not an afterthought.
- Missing home? Track down a barely-used rice cooker, banchan containers or a gimjang pot from a neighbour who’s upgrading.
Safe, moderated, and everywhere you are#
A marketplace is only as good as the trust behind it, so our moderation team keeps a close eye on listings and messages, removing scams and anything that doesn’t belong. We hold ourselves to strict child-safety standards and act quickly on anything that puts younger users at risk, because a community platform has to be safe for everyone in the family. maru works wherever you do, on iPhone and Android as well as any web browser, so you can list an item from the sofa and reply to a buyer on the bus.
We’re building maru for the long haul, and we’d love for you to be part of it from the start. If you have questions, feedback, or an idea for how we can serve the community better, we genuinely want to hear it at support@marucommunity.com. Come and see what your neighbours are up to, and welcome to maru.