Trade Me will soon celebrate its billionth listing for sale, almost 17 years after the business was created.

Trade Me CEO, Jon Macdonald, said the milestone listing is anticipated to arrive in early December.

“We’ve seen our fair share of quirky, crazy and wonderful listings that have brought us this far, and we marvel every day at the eclectic range of things our members punt up for sale. The team here are pretty excited to reach a billion listings and we have a couple of things planned to help mark the occasion.”

He added that Trade Me members can bid for the opportunity to be the seller of the billionth listing, with the funds raised being donated to charity. “We’re also running a competition to guess when people reckon the billionth listing will land. We’re currently around listing 987 million, so we’re anticipating the odometer will tick over in the next couple of weeks.”

Trade Me was founded in 1999 by Sam Morgan, who currently serves on Trade Me’s board of directors.

Trade Me’s most viewed listings:

1. Tana Umaga handbag and cellphone (2006, one million)

2. HP possessed printer (2013, 800 000 views)

3. Scary washing machine (2009, 800 000 views)

Nerine Zoio: nerine@insideretail.co.nz