Dare to Believe: The Weirdest Things Ever Sold on eBay
The Holy Grail of Virtual Property – A Planet!
Not everything sold on eBay is tangible—or even physically existent. The perfect illustration of this is when a virtual planet, yes, a planet, was sold in 2010. The planet named ‘Planet Calypso’ is part of ‘Entropia Universe,’ an online game developed by MindArk. A user famously splashed out $635,000 to secure virtual real estate making it one of the most expensive purchases in the history of eCommerce.
Ghost in a Jar: A Spectral Souvenir
Origin: An Abandoned Cemetery
In 2003, one eBay user took to the platform to sell a ‘Ghost in a Jar.’ The seller claimed to have found the jar in an abandoned cemetery, and since then, experienced strange paranormal activities. Following an alarming haunting streak, they chose to sell it on eBay. Surprisingly, bids hit over $55,000. However, the sale didn’t go through as the highest bidder backed out, apparently less daring than initially imagined.
Britney Spears – Just a Piece of Her
A Chewed Surprise
An old piece of bubble gum, once chewed by pop star Britney Spears, was put up for sale on eBay. Allegedly obtained at a concert in 2000, this salivary souvenir of the singer caused ripples among fans leading to a bidding frenzy. You’d think this couldn’t get any weirder, but the highest bid it received was a whopping $14,000. However, there is no confirmation whether the transaction was completed.
Annual Advertising Space – On Someone’s Forehead
An Entrepreneurial Brainwave
In 2005, a man named Andrew Fischer put up his forehead as advertising space for one year, and eBay was his platform of choice. The plan? Whatever the winning bid, the winner’s company logo would be tattooed onto Fischer’s forehead. The winning bid was $37,375 from SnoreStop, a company dealing with snoring solutions. Now, that’s a bizarre form of entrepreneurship, wouldn’t you say?
A Not-So-Wholesome Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Divine Intervention or Cotyrotrophic Contortion?
In 2004, a grilled cheese sandwich that allegedly bore the image of Virgin Mary flew off the virtual shelf for $28,000. The seller hailed from Florida and claimed to have kept it for a decade without it displaying any signs of mould. Bloggers and pun-dits had a field day cracking ‘holy toast’ jokes.
The Entire Town of Bridgeville, California
A Buy-One-Town-Get-One-Free Deal
In 2002, eBay was the platform to place an entire town – Bridgeville, California up for sale. It had 30 residents, eight houses, and a post office. The sale price? A neat $1.77 million, which the highest bidder was happy to pay. But, unfortunately, it didn’t work out as expected and the town was back on eBay in 2006, but this time it had eight more residents and sold for slightly less—$1.25 Million.
Why Settle for a Planet When You Could Buy… Space?
Intergalactic Property Rights
In 2006, a man named James Fulkerson dared to believe he could sell something he certainly could never own—space. Particularly, an area of our cosmos located next to our galaxy. Despite it being in clear defiance of eBay’s policy—where listing intangible items or real estate isn’t allowed—Fulkerson managed to bag $20 from bidding.
EBay, in its almost 25 years of existence, has seen transactions that redefine weird. From ghost-in-a-jar to an entire town, it seems there’s no limit to imagination for what can be sold and bought here. It leads us to wonder what might come next from the corners of this extraordinary electronic marketplace!