In the recent years we have seen a surge in the number of online shoppers and corresponding boom in the e-Commerce sector. eBay estimated its traffic for a day to be around 19 million users and an additional 2 million guest viewers. With this increase, we also see another trend, that is the number of people attending live auctions increasing by leaps and bounds. The probability of you finding just what you want for a discounted price is very high because these e-Commerce websites will offer you almost everything from electronics, books, household stuff, clothing, even cars, and the list goes on and on. These websites essentially use the fact that “One man’s trash maybe another man’s treasure”. Even though this is not essentially a bad thing, rather a good thing as people end up making money off their useless stuff. But recently have you gone through the stuff people put up online these days ! If not, we’ll show you whats so interesting about it. While some of it is very useful and apt, but the rest is - whats on this list, the bizzare, the odd and the utterly ridiculous postings.
#10 Who needs a Grandma ?
A 10 year old from England, Zoe Pemberton posted something really interesting on eBay. She put up her 61 year old Grandmother up on the popular online shopping portal and advertised her with the traits annoying and cuddly. Now you would have a great laugh at this rare instance and this bizzare auction item but who knew that there would be an even bizzare event following, people actually began to bid for the old lady. Thanks to eBay for saving the Grandmother by stepping in and shutting down the auction. The reason given behind the cancellation of the bidding was a breech in the regulations of human trafficking. But later the Grandmother confessed that she had knowledge of this bid and it was never meant to be taken seriously in the first place....
#9 Cornflake worth its weight in gold
This story takes you to Virginia, where two sisters posted a box of cornflakes which would normally cost around 3.5$, into a lucrative moneymaking deal. This box had a cornflake that had the shape of the State of Illinois. This cornflake turned up online for no less than 1,350$. This is no surprise as over the recent years, major online shopping portals have seen numerous such instances where-in people turn up junk found in the attic or their basement as precious collectibles and name an exorbitant price for the same. This is also a part and parcel of the e-Commerce today and this is a reason why people find anything and everything (literaly) over these popular portals.
#8 The price of Life
Ian Usher, sells his life on eBay
You must have read in the Times or the Forbes Magazine, the worth of a wealthy businessman at a high position in corporations namely CEO’s and COO’s in Millions or sometimes Billions. But a person from Australia took it seriously and put up his life for sale. And guess what, no surprises, actually sold it for £192,000. This became quite the news and in an interview the man disclosed the reasons for doing this as the need to start a new life. Recently Divorced and in a desperate need of a new start in life, devoid of his past possessions and surroundings, the man posted his life online. This sale included his house, everything in it, his job, a
motorcycle, a jet-ski and a car. Ian Usher’s bizzare act got Walt Disney’s attention who decided to produce his story. This proved to be quite a handful for him, with the sale money, a movie produced by Disney documenting this exceptional sale of a “life” and a book written by Ian Usher himself on his journey before and after the sale.
motorcycle, a jet-ski and a car. Ian Usher’s bizzare act got Walt Disney’s attention who decided to produce his story. This proved to be quite a handful for him, with the sale money, a movie produced by Disney documenting this exceptional sale of a “life” and a book written by Ian Usher himself on his journey before and after the sale.
#7 Ad Space Available
Forehead Advertising Space
A few years ago, advertising turned a new leaf when an advertising firm decided to present their advertisement as part of a Boxing event. They paid the boxer heavily to write their brand name on his back to grab the attention of those fighting in the Arena and on Television. These people had no other option but to see the name of the brand written all over the back of the boxer. This bold plan caught quite alot of attention and had people talking about it, which was primarily the goal along with increasing the sales. Andrew Fischer from Omaha, Nebraska, was impressed by this style of advertising and adopted it but with a slight twist. He put up a bid for
an Ad-space across his forehead to the highest bidder for a period of 30 days. The agreement included getting a temporary tattoo of whatever the company wishes to endorse, maybe a product or brand-name or domain or logo. The bidding ended at 322$.
an Ad-space across his forehead to the highest bidder for a period of 30 days. The agreement included getting a temporary tattoo of whatever the company wishes to endorse, maybe a product or brand-name or domain or logo. The bidding ended at 322$.
#6 The Virgin Mary Sandwich
Virgin Mary Sandwich
A 10 Year old grill cheese sandwich was put up on eBay and was sold for an exorbitant price of 28,000$. Not that it became tastier over the years, but it was advertised with a very unique claim that it had an image of “The Virgin Mary”. Others who viewed the images of the product too agreed to the claim. This is not so unique if you consider several instances in the past, where images of “The Virgin Mary” were seen on various kinds of items namely Trees, water stains on clothes, Air conditioning units and even more bizzare range of products. Some people see this as instances worth sharing with the others whereas others are much more interested in using these items to their own profit by selling them online.
#5 Bubblegum
Britney Spears Bubblegum on Ebay
Who doesn’t know Britney Spears ? She has been all over the news for her controversies, her music and entertaining performances. But a woman came up with a very awkward claim of possessing a piece of gum that she said was chewed by Britney Spears. And the surprising part is never, people putting up such odd stuff online but other people actually going for it, spending huge bucks over such weird collectibles. The winning bid went as high as 14,000$. The woman said that the gum was acquired at a concert in Wembley Arena in London. But how do you ensure that the gum is not ordinary and the claim is actually correct, well apart from a DNA test. But it seems not many cared as the item received a tremendous amount of bids in its very first hours of auction.
#4 Human Liver
Liver for Sale
These days there is such a huge list of people waiting for organ donors that they are willing to spend huge sums of money to get these organs and will pay any amount to get their name up on the list. Noticing this vulnerability a person form Florida tried to cash on this oppurtunity and auctioned his liver on eBay. Within no time he received a number of bids. The bidding reached a huge sum of 5.7 million$ before it was cancelled by eBay and the posting was immediately removed as it was breeching eBay’s rules and regulations against the sale of Human Organs on their website. Well, when you come to think of it, the first shock comes to you that a person posted his liver for auction on eBay and then the next utter shock comes to you when you realize that other people went to eBay and searched for Liver where you would normally search for electronics or household stuff and actually placed a bid, Simply Bizzare !
#3 Brussels sprout
An England citizen, Andrew Henderson put up Brussels sprouts which were cooked on the eve of Christmas for sale online and fetched £99.50 for it. But the money went for charity, hence overpaying is well justified in this case.
#2 Virginity
Yes, you read that right ! An 18 Year old British girl actually tried to sell off her “Virginity” to earn money for her college funds. eBay was unable to block the post in time as it somehow avoided eBay’s policies and was in auction for quite sometime. A businessman who bid heavily won it, but did a quite decent act of declining the service and also giving the girl the money she needed for her college funds.
#1 Ghost Trapped in a Jar
This is no wonder the most odd and simply outrageous product posted on eBay. The user put up an empty jar and advertised its uniqueness as a jar that he beleived contained a ghost trapped inside it. He also mentions in the description that the reason to give up this jar is that the ghost is starting to terrorize the jar’s owner. The user who went by the name of “Teajay101″ also claimed no guarantees that the ghost won’t escape the jar and incase “the black thing” as he calls it, escapes, he is not responsible for the after-effects. He also made it quite clear that it is a one time sale and No Refunds will be entertained. This hilarious instance lasted a week long and finally concluded at 50,922$. Unfortunately, the winner did not end up paying for the Ghost !
