T O P S T O R Y RELATED LINKS
$22,000 handbag bidder remains secret 05 June 2006 By MATTHEW TORBIT and JANINE BENNETTS
New Zealand's most famous handbag has a new owner, but just who it is remains a mystery.
Wanganui's Sue Langmaid was delighted after her winning bid of $22,750 on behalf of an "anonymous friend" on the Internet auction site Trade Me. The Roxy bag  bought by Nichole Davis, of Christchurch, for $50 a year ago  made headlines when former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga used it to hit Hurricanes teammate Chris Masoe in a Christchurch pub after last week's Super 14 final. The episode led to Masoe  who allegedly earlier punched a pub patron  being fined $3000 by the New Zealand Rugby Union, though Umaga escaped punishment. But Ms Langmaid said her friend was "inspired" by Umaga's actions in using a handbag instead of his fists to defuse the situation. "That proves Tana's a true sporting icon and an inspiration to all, especially young kids." The buyer's identity would be revealed in a few days, but Ms Langmaid was unsure what he was going to do with the bag. He had been prepared to pay more to get it. "At this stage it will Her final bid of $22,750 was topped by a $22,800 bid, later discovered to be from a Featherston teenager called Damien who had no intention of paying. Stunned by the result of the auction, Ms Davis  who owns 17 other handbags  was unsure how she would use the money. She has a $10,000 student loan to repay after getting halfway through a double degree in psychology and law at Canterbury University. Ms Davis did not watch the auction herself but once Trade Me rang to confirm the final amount, she had a drink with friends to celebrate. "I probably watched it less than anyone else in the country. It's been an exciting week." Meanwhile, other "memorabilia" was still doing a roaring trade on Trade Me, with a square metre section of carpet where the pair were standing in the incident attracting bids of $1500 last night before it appeared to be withdrawn. A 30-second snippet of security camera footage of the handbag incident was also up for grabs on Trade Me, with bidding last night reaching $1000.
»PRINTABLE VERSION
»SUBSCRIBE TO FREE HEADLINES
»SUBSCRIBE TO ARCHIVESTUFF
The handbag used to hit Super 14 Hurricanes player, Chris Masoe by Tana Umanga after Masoe had punched a patron has just been sold on the New Zealand auction site, Trade Me. The brawl occurred in a Christchurch pub, The Jolly Poacher. Masoe was fined $3,000 for his actions, but Umanga received no punishment.

The confirmed winning bid was $22,750 (NZD) from Sue Langmaid, a.k.a. susie45, Wanganui, on behalf of an anonymous friend. There were numerous fake bids placed, one reaching one hundred million dollars.

The original owner of the bag, 22-year-old Nichole Davis, Christchurch said to the Sunday Star Times "At the moment I'm thinking it's pretty crazy. It's right up there. I thought I would get $600. I'm thinking it's an insane amount of money. I'll worry about it if it actually comes through. Right now I just want to relax. I've definitely been lucky and it's quite like winning Lotto."

The auction page got over one million page views, which made the site trademe.co.nz unusable for ten minutes.