Sella is closing its standalone auction site following a stella David v Goliath style fight against industry rival Trade Me.

Competing against the online heavyweight proved too much for the APN New Zealand owned site, who will now integrate it's listings into the Herald and APN Regional websites.

In an email sent to over 550,000 members, Sella says both Motoring and Property will launch first in the NZ Herald classified platform.

While differing in its methods, the company essentially follows the footsteps of other failed auction sites such as Wheedle and ListSellTrade.

With Trade Me's place at the summit of online auctioning cemented for what seems to be an eternity, the Sellas and Wheedles of the world face an uphill fight to stay afloat.

Wheedle's demise in October last year at the time added weight to the theory that Trade Me remain too strong to compete with in the industry, now Sella has delivered the hammer blow, also 'Wheedling it.'

Jokes aside, it seems Sella has resigned itself to Trade Me's dominance with dignity, with the defensive effort to keep it's classified business intact seemingly the only viable option for companies operating in this domain.

Sella is no longer a personal auction platform, Wheedle is no longer trading (at present), and ListSellTrade have vanished with as little notice as when it appeared, unbalancing the industry once again.

As it's 'rivals', used loosely, retreat back to base and formulate a return attack, Trade Me is once again looking down from it's perch smiling, safe in the knowledge it will not be troubled, at least anytime soon.

Can any company compete with Trade Me?