The Top 10 most viewed listings on TradeMe 2018

What do sandpaper, a wedding dress "worn once by mistake" and an XL condom have in common?

All are among Trade Me's most viewed listings of 2018.

Each year the online auction website reveals its top 10 most viewed items - each one with an "extraordinary back story".

A piece of yellow sandpaper was no exception. The item titled "Australian Sports Tape" took out number one for most views after the Aussie cricket team came under fire for ball tampering in March.

The sandpaper which was said to be "perfect for cheating" made headlines around the world and fetched 260,000 views before it sold for $58 to a Papatoetoe buyer.


NZ Herald

A Masterton woman listed her wedding dress for sale in January detailing that it had been "worn once by mistake" and was "in excellent condition unlike my marriage".

The listing came in second after 106,000 New Zealanders had jumped online to view it.

High-profile escort Lisa Lewis listed an XL condom during the nationwide condom shortage in June which took bronze place.

The auction's tongue-in-cheek description said "don't let a mate use glad-wrap" and had 69,000 views.

Lisa's famous streakier bikini clocked up almost 200,000 views on the site back in June 2006.

One Auckland member named Nicki auctioned off a ticket to Ed Sheeran's concert in March under the proviso that the winner took her to the show.

The listing saw 33,700 views and Nicki ended up finding a date.

Trade Me's Millie Silvester said the company had checked in with her recently and have it on good authority that her quest for true love continues.

Other top listings included the first-ever bottles of Lewis Road Creamery's mint
chocolate milk, David Seymour's twerking outfit from Dancing With the Stars, Jacinda Ardern's doodle for charity and the last Girl Guide biscuit.

Silvester said millions of items sell on the site every year but it's the weird wonders or ordinary items with extraordinary back stories that always take out the most
viewed listings of the year.

"Some listings have that certain X factor. They capture the imaginations of the country, and sometimes even the world, because they're weird, topical or because the seller writes a great description and commits to being creative and entertaining in the Q&A."

1. Australian Sports Tape - 260,000 views

2. Wedding dress - worn once by mistake - 106,600 views

3. XL condom - because there is a shortage - 69,000 views

4. First ever bottles of Lewis Road Creamery Mint Chocolate Milk - 66,288

5. Portal gun for Rick & Morty dress up - 36,000 views

6. Ed Sheeran ticket and a date - 33,700 views

7. Wedding for $1 reserve - 34,400 views

8. David Seymour's twerking outfit - 33,500 views

9. The last Girl Guide biscuit - 26,400 views

10. Jacinda Ardern's doodle - 25,700 views

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.