Things that make you go "eww"

Actress Lindsay Lohan was so worried that her removed appendix would be sold on eBay that she's kept it in her freezer. Now apparently Kimberly Stewart, daughter of singer Rod and a close friend of Lohan's, is trying to persuade her to auction it for charity herself.

Obviously Ms. Stewart isn't familiar with eBay's ban on the sale of human body parts, nor with any kind of good taste.

All his life for sale

You remember all my life for sale, when John Freyer sold everything he'd ever owned on eBay? Now there's one better: an Australian man really is selling his life. Included in this listing are not just 24 year old Nicael Holt's possessions, but such intriguing items as:

I will teach you my skills which include the following
- Surfing (Expert)
- Climbing (Intermediate)
- Fire Twirling Skills (Intermediate)
(Plus many more)
Will introduce to all my friends & potential lovers (around 8 which I have been flirting with)
I have 2 nemeses.
Friends will treat you exactly as they have treated me. This includes friends who take me surfing, running, climbing and cook for me. All of these features will be transferred over to the winning applicant.
A 4 week training course by the former me which includes the following:
- Many anecdotes and stories from a very interesting and intriguing past 24 years of my life
- 6 Jokes
- Training in becoming me (fashion, food, lifestyle, style of seduction, interests)
- Haircut like mine
- Piercings to the value of $180.
There is some tension with a former ex from a painful breakup which must be inherited.

Originally begun as a joke, as of time of writing, bidding has reached over AU$93k (approx. £37k). Nichael says "I will probably use the publicity to try and send out a bit of an anti-corporation, anti-consumerism and anti-capitalist message. I think I'm going to make a comical doco showing a different way of living thats more relaxed and chilled, and the adjustment to such a life."

We wish him luck in his new life ;-)

Third time lucky for Alaskan jet?

eBay's most infamous unsold item, the state jet of the Governor of Alaska, is back up for sale on eBay. This will be the third time of asking for the poor, unloved plane: both listings previously failed to make their reserve.

Super Bad

The company chosen to design the funeral programme for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, is now selling reprints on eBay. In a written statement, the printer said "If the last thing they are going to get from [James Brown] is a program I thought they should get an authentic program and not a copy. Ebay is such an accessible medium that allows people all over the world to access the program if they want a copy."

A representative of the funeral home who hired the printers said that he had not authorised the sales, and was waiting to hear from the Brown family on what action they wanted taken.

eBay has numerous copies of the programmes from Brown's three memorial services for sale.

Star buys

Film buffs can find a double helping of unique memorabilia on eBay this week. Freddy Krueger's fedora, as worn mainly by a stunt double, can be yours for just US$10k. I'll take two.

If Freddie's too scary for you, how about a life-size Sylvester Stallone complete with Apollo Creed shorts, at a much more reasonable US$2750.

Interestingly both items are listed as Buy It Nows: this kind of high-profile collectible is the traditional stronghold of the Auction format, and indeed, seems made for it. Are we now seeing the very last death throes of the eBay Auction listing?

Scottish charity auctions looking good

Scotland on Sunday has an interesting crop of auctions in aid of Sightsavers on QXL. My brother in law's an MSP, so I'm rather tempted by the chance to tell the Scottish Parliament what to debate, though if anyone wants to get me a late Xmas pressie, I'd be very happy with Alexander McCall Smith, or Rebus, or the whisky...

Snow done

If your bit of the world has rather more snow than you'd like, how about following the cunning plan of one Colorado woman: sell it on eBay, buyer collects? Getting your drive cleared at a profit to yourself has to make the winter feel a little warmer!

eBay listings

The end of the year is a time for writing random lists of stuff, and far be it from us to break with tradition. Here's a list of some of our favourite lists from the last few days:

Bayraider.tv bring us their top thirty celebrity auctions of 2006: some astonishing tat there.

eBay didn't quite make law blogger Eric Goldman's top ten cyberlaw developments of the year, but the eBay v. MercExchange case did make the runner's up list.

Jaanus from Skype give us his highlights of 2006, which has certainly been an amazing year for Skype.

Brad Schepp's top ten resources for eBay sellers is a brilliant exercise in looking like you're giving away 'Powerseller secrets' without actually saying anything useful at all. Anyone thinking of writing a book on their eBay experiences next year might want to note this technique.

For the geeks among us, the Board of Wisdom has the top ten geek sayings: "I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code."

And finally, Wired's wild predictions for 2007... call those wild? Check in over the weekend for TameBay's predictions for the next year: you'll have read it here first.

Head lines

The story of a woman selling advertising space on her forehead on eBay has been turned into a musical. Bought, of course, by Golden Palace Casino, a Utah mother last year sold the tattoo rights to raise money for her son's education. The musical based on her story, showing in Manhatten's 59e59 Theatre, is billed as "a comedy about the battle between consumerism, fame, art and love".

Single ticket?

Another single bloke has a holiday with himself up for auction on eBay. 39 year old insurance operations director Adam Croot had planned the luxury Jamaican holiday to propose to his girlfriend, but she dumped him instead. Now he's looking for another woman to take with him. At the time of writing, bidding is only up to a penny, so what have you got to lose?

Crisis for eBay Christmas cards

What will you do with all those cards hanging in your house in a weeks time? Bin them? Put them in the recycling? Cut tags for next years Christmas presents from them? Lets face it cards are pretty much endemic to the Christmas festivities and yet the millions of pounds spent on them each year is thrown in the bin at the end of the Christmas festivities.

eBay UK have chosen this year not to send cards, but instead to make a donation to Crisis, a charity which aims to fight homelessness and empower people to fulfil their potential and transform their lives. eBay's replacement eCard is below.

Crisis will open seven centres between 23 and 30 December offering homeless and vulnerably housed people companionship at a time of year which can be particularly lonely for those without a home or family.

If you would like to add your own donation to that of eBay this Christmas please visit the Crisis website.

Tuk Tuk or Tuc Tuc to a new motor on eBay

Tuctuc Ltd runs a fleet of twelve motorised rickshaws in Brighton. Routes cover the seafront from Hove to the Marina and into town to the train station. The twelve three-wheelers named after the distinctive sound they make (Tuc Tuc or Tuk Tuk) are now to be auctioned on eBay in the New Year and will be replaced with ten larger models.


This is a chance to own a really fun vehicle, perfect for dropping the kids off to school or a quick trip into town. Environmentally friendly running on natural gas they're a snip to park in the smallest of spaces, much more practical than a motorcycle and a lot less effort than a bicycle. Bidding is expected to be in excess of £5000 for these must have motors.

I'll be your bidder

Warren Hill's second go at selling his Velvet Underground acetate hasn't quite produced the spectacular $155k the fake bidder bid last week. Hopefully keeping this auction heavily restricted will at last produce a sale of this amazing piece of musical history, even if the $25,200 finishing price now looks like a restrained bargain!

Bad gift ideas

Two giant eyeballs donated by rock band Pink Floyd: these have already been sold, raising £16,500 for homeless charity Crisis.

Paris Hilton's knickers (allegedly): a bargain at US$2500.

Or maybe Ricky Martin's laptop is more to your taste?

Do not buy X-Factor Leona Lewis tickets on eBay!

The Sun reports today that people are buying tickets for the X-Factor Live tour on eBay paying up to a couple of hundred pounds a time! Truly amazing seeing as you can buy X-Factor Live tickets for just £25.00 for almost every show in the tour from the official website.

The X-Factor tour will include performances by the final eight acts including the winner Leona Lewis, the runner up Ray Quinn along with Eton Road, Robert, Ashley, The McDonald Brothers, Ben and Nikitta.

Snow for Christmas in Dudley - Guaranteed!

A charity Auction-style listing on eBay.co.uk has netted £1,550 for ChildLine, a service for the NSPCC, as a buyer in Dudley has bought the promise of a personal White Christmas.


The sale, which promises the winning bidder 10 tonnes of snow delivered on Christmas eve, was organised by SNO!zone, the UK’s premier indoor REAL snow slopes.

The company will deliver the snow to be spread across the winning bidder’s garden to guarantee a winter wonderland for Christmas day – even down to a snowman in the winning bidder’s garden.

Richard Kanareck, eBay spokesperson added: “We all dream of a White Christmas. We are delighted that for someone, eBay and ChildLine have made that dream come true.”

ChildLine President and founder Esther Rantzen CBE, said: “This white Christmas will bring a lot of happiness to children and we are very grateful to the bidder for their generosity and hope that they enjoy their winter wonderland.”

The proceeds will help ChildLine reach its 20^th birthday goal of £20m to help answer calls from at least another 1,000 children every day. The helpline has approximately 1,400 volunteer counsellors but there is still a huge demand for the service. Around 4,500 children across the UK call for help each day, but 2,000 are unable to get through to get the help they so desperately need and this can mean they continue to suffer untold pain.

You couldn't make it up

In a story that even Hollywood screenwriters might find incredible, it seems that the Oscar statue which Karl Malden has thought for the last twenty one years to be the one he won for A Streetcar Named Desire is, in fact, a fake. He only found out when the real one cropped up for sale on eBay.

In 1985, Malden sent his statuette, won in 1952, to its makers, R S Owens and Co. of Chicago, for replating. What he received back, according to David Quinto, his lawyer and spokesman, was a different statuette, stamped with the same serial number as the original.

Some twenty years later, that original was put up for auction on eBay, starting price US$30,000.

"The Oscar is a very personal award," Quinto said. "The Oscar is cheapened if it's sold as an article of commerce. If you can just buy it on eBay, it doesn't have the same meaning."

When officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars' awarding body, spotted the genuine Oscar for sale on eBay, they immediately had eBay close down the auction, and contacted the sellers demanding details of its provenance.

Randy Mariani claimed that he had worked in a potato chip business next to R S Owens, and that he'd found the statuette thrown out with the garbage, but an investigation discovered that the company had closed down before Malden had sent his award to Owens'. The Marianis had originally agreed to sell the statuette back to the Academy, but had reneged on that deal.

Karl Malden and the Academy are now suing the Marianis for copyright infringement and false representation.

Preapproved Velvet Underground

Warren Hill and Saturn Records are trying again. Having failed to secure a sale for the rare recording of the Velvet Underground due to an auction wrecker they have relisted the item for sale.

It's expected that the preapproved bidder facility will be withdrawn in the New Year. Although no official announcement has been made the following notice appears on the US site

Beginning in January 2007 access to this feature will be restricted. Prior to the restriction time you will be able to use the feature, but once the restriction takes place you will not be able to add or remove any buyers from the pre-approved bidder list for the item

This will be one of the last high profile auctions to use the pre-approved bidder feature whilst it's universally available, in the future sellers will be forced to use Buyer Requirements to filter unwelcome bids. Currently the auction wrecker (who uses the classic excuse "someone bid using my account") still has his eBay account. I wish eBay would close accounts for auction wreckers and for instances where "someone bid using my account"!

Diana ticket touts kicked off eBay

Tickets for the Concert for Diana seem to be almost more sought after than the PS3 this week. eBay took the decision to ban them from re-sale on the site, before they went on sale yesterday morning. Needless to say the official source sold out within minutes of sales opening, leaving many disappointed buyers who failed to secure a ticket.

eBay moved quickly to remove all auctions that were placed on the site for Diana tickets, working in conjunction with the event organisers and Royal press office. Last night a spokesman for Clarence House said: "We are very pleased that eBay have taken this decision." No one will be paying over the odds putting money into the pockets of touts on eBay.

Sadly this isn't the case elsewhere. Tamebay pointed out that eBay's sponsored links on Google were unfortunately picking up on the phrase "Diana Tickets". eBay moved swiftly to rectify this, and the ad was removed. Other companies are not as ethical - currently a company is paying for the first result on Google directing buyers to their site where tickets are on sale for an incredible £338.29


As with all events of this nature there are plenty of people willing to pay over the odds for tickets. The organisers seem poorly prepared to cope with inevitable re-sales and the many channels available to touts. Simple steps like issuing tickets to named people and requiring photo id to gain entry would have deterred profiteering. The ticket price seems exceptionally low as well at £45, compared to similar concerts which don't benefit charity - with the rocketing levels of demand, a higher price would have raised much greater funds for the benefitting charities.

It's a shame the organisers didn't work with eBay to place a certain number of tickets for sale through eBay for Charity to raise more funds, and allow those desperate for a ticket to bid knowing they're donating at the same time.

Governer's grounded but auction takes off

Ever fancied your own plane? Well the State of Alaska is selling three surplus aircraft already but is soon to list the former governer Frank Murkowski's jet. Bidding is unlikely to reach the record price set by the sale of a Gulfstream on eBay - $4.9m but the sale price is expected to be around $2.5m

With bids on 33 of the 38 items Alaska currently has listed on eBay their sell through record is pretty good, and only one of the planes currently for sale has yet to reach it's reserve price. Whether the controvesy caused by the original purchase of the plane along with Murkowski's parting shot that it's actually not that comfortable will affect the bidding has yet to be seen.