Cheers, I'll drink to that !!  Don't think Trade Me have much to celebrate at the moment :-(

I can understand why the automatic regeneration of the watchlist when items are relisted might be thought to be useful but I'm hating it. I have no way of knowing anymore whether I have new or continued interest in my listings, or if its just the 'once-off' browsers stuck on my listing for eternity. Surely the old message  'this item on your watchlist has been relisted' was enough for people who were genuinely watching long-term. 

'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....

Only found out about this today, from having sale go straight to ping. I don't want to use ping, bank transfer or cash has been working perfectly well with no hassles. Then I find I can't even opt out, and the bank option isn't available. How can it be ethical to change my auction payment methods without any notification, and not even allow me to opt out. Haven't been able to find any explanation from Trade Me yet, still looking. It appears to be just my clothing listings, so guess that's something else I won't bother listing any more. Getting really close to giving up on Trade Me, their 'i...

If the only advice you get from Trade Me is to fossick around in the help and tips pages, maybe they could reconsider their basic design. How can people have a good experience if nothing is clear, and can only be found if you know the right tricks?

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 be nice if Trade Me itself "basically just presented it in a better way."   

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.

Wouldn't it have made sense to have worked all of this stuff out before imposing Ping?