Callum, funnily enough, yes I do wear a car seatbelt. I have all the information, I know the risks (yes there are risks) and I'm 100% using the belt option. There are still people who don't, and some end up dead. I'm all for safety options being available, I'm not so comfortable with options being removed. To further your analogy, most cars (I don't know if all) will still operate if occupants aren't wearing seatbelts.
jpicard, it's not protection when you have no choice. This is control. Protection is giving you all the information and the options, so you can make a fully aware choice.
Wouldn't it have made sense to have worked all of this stuff out before imposing Ping?
Wouldn't it be nice if Trade Me itself "basically just presented it in a better way."
edit_window, I'm so heartened to see someone else say what I've been thinking - about Trade Me being weak enough for a competitor to have a chance. Through these posts, I'm seeing people complain over and over about the same bugs, difficulties, and malfunctions, but they never seem to be addressed. Instead the site is fussed and primped and 'improved' beyond reason.
I'm with the others who object to having Ping forced on us. I'm a grown-up now, I can make my own choices. I've been allowed to use scissors unsupervised for ages now, I can also make my own money decisions. I've withdrawn my listings because I'm over being restricted and corralled 'for my own good'. Really hoping there's an improvement as it's sad to lose the Trade Me I used to enjoy.
Cheers, I'll drink to that !! Don't think Trade Me have much to celebrate at the moment :-(
'can't remove Ping as an option' - not only that but can no longer put bank transfer as an alternative, so no way of gauging how much it matters to buyers. On my non-Ping payment auctions I've been asked just once if I used Ping, and after saying no, still had the sale. When NZ Post first offered tracking for extra $1, I offered both options and nearly all buyers chose untracked, which told me they didn't think the benefit was worth $1. Despite that, NZ Post made it compulsory. I see the same thing here. Instead of the users deciding what value they put on it, it is being imposed.
Shouldn't the issue be choice? Buyers and sellers choosing the method they feel most comfortable with. If the buying trend goes the way of Ping, sellers then choose to adopt it or not. Let it evolve naturally, rather than forcing it on people. If its such an all singing, all dancing fantastic option, then won't sellers turn to it voluntarily? And if they don't, maybe it's not so fantastic after all....
Congratulations to Trade Me, they have finally made the site unworkable for me. After 24 years of constant casual use, over 3,000 positive feedbacks and no negatives, after patiently finding work-arounds for coping with so many of their 'improvements' (I am deeply grateful for BidBud), and seeing views of my listings plummet, I've finally had enough. When I am forced to accept an inhouse payment system, with no choice to opt out and use the nationally accepted methods of cash or bank transfer, and it's 'for my own good', they've gone too far. I've just spent the evening backing up all my in...