Ninook. I suspect it is partly to artificially boost Trademe's stats, by including 'ghost watchers' into buyer/seller engagement figures. I have rolled over the same auction for a few weeks and accumulated maybe 15-20 watchers. Then when I have relisted it as a separate auction, which excludes the 'auto watchers', I might get 3 or 4 watchers when it closes. That tells me that the 'ghost watchers' have either purchased from someone else or just naturally moved on. It just seems like another TradeMe 'feature' that benefits Trademe itself, more than it does the members.

avantbiker, Why would Trademe do anything about it. If the money has been paid via ping, then refunded, it has been through the ping system and Trademe have got their cut.