Posts tagged Auction at Switched

Posts with tag auction

Authentic 'Back to the Future' Hoverboard Up For Auction

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 29th 2008 at 7:29AM

Tired of waiting for scientists to crack the secrets of levitation in order to purchase a bona fide hoverboard? Look, life's short -- why not take matters into your own hands? A genuine wooden Mattel hoverboard used by Michael J. Fox (or Marty McFly, as we prefer to call him) in 'Back to the Future II' and 'III' is up for auction, though the barrier to entry is rather substantial. Of course, this is considered the "best example of all wood hoverboards to have survived the rigors of filming," but whether or not it's worth the $30,000+ asking price is entirely up to you. [eBay via CrunchGear]

Woman Tries to Sell Baby on eBay

by Terrence O'Brien, posted May 27th 2008 at 3:02PM

We've seen a lot of strange things go up for auction on eBay - a town, a life, a video game collection, even another auction website. Yet we were still shocked when a man attempted to sell his wife via the auction service, and this morning were utterly horrified when we read an article about a German woman who attempted to sell her child on eBay.

The 23-year-old mother says she put her child up on the web site as a joke, but the authorities aren't ready to believe her yet. The child has been taken into the custody of the state and the mother is set to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Still, one Euro for a baby that apparently cries too much doesn't seem like that great of a deal. [Source: Reuters]

Man Selling Entire Life on eBay

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 20th 2008 at 6:11PM

We've seen some interesting and unique eBay auctions in our day, but this one is certainly the most bizarre. Ian Usher, a resident of Perth, Australia is auctioning off his entire life. Following a messy divorce, the 44 year-old decided it was time for a fresh start. The prospect of selling off his possessions one-by-one seemed too daunting, so Usher packed up all of his possessions into one mega auction.

The highest bidder will receive Usher's completely furnished home, his car, motorcycle, jet ski, introductions to his friends, and even his salesman position at a local rug shop. Jenny Jones, Usher's employer, said she was willing to give the highest bidder a trial run at the shop as a favor to Usher who, she said, she regards as family.

At alifeforsale.com, Usher details his plans for the auction and sets the start date for June 22. A week later on June 29 a winner will have emerged and Perth will have its new Ian Usher. Meanwhile, Ian Usher will be free to go become who ever he wants.

From ABC News

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"Date" With Scarlett Johansson for Auction at eBay

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 4:11PM

If you're anything like the rest of the air breathing world you'd probably kick your grandmother in the teeth to get next to the sexy and former indie film 'It' girl Scarlett Johansson.

Well you may have your chance, and there is no need to kick an elderly relative!

Ms. Johansson is auctioning off two red carpet tickets to the premier of 'He's Just Not That Into You' and a "meet-and-greet" on eBay. Other web sites have been referring to the auction as a chance to "win a date with Scarelett Johansson," but we sincerely doubt you'll be getting lucky after this encounter. That said, just shaking the hand of this 23 year-old bombshell will be enough make most men weak at the knees.

The winner will get two tickets to the premier, the meet and greet with the aforementioned star of 'Lost in Translation,' and a chauffeured car to the premier. As an added bonus, 100 percent of the proceeds go to Oxfam, an organization dedicated to fighting poverty, hunger, and injustice around the world.

From Sunday Mirror

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Google Bidding To Enter Wireless Business

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 30th 2007 at 3:33PM

The rumors have been circulating for months now, and this morning Google announced that it has applied to take part in the auction of wireless bandwidth freed up by the FCC. Considering its furious lobbying for open access requirements, it would be sort of bizarre if Google sat this one out.

Following broadcast television's switch to digital, a large chunk of wireless spectrum was opened up and is set to be auctioned off by the FCC. Google and others view this as an opportunity for another player to enter the wireless provider market. Google won many concessions from the FCC on the wireless spectrum, including the requirement that the winning bidder allow any device to be used on the spectrum and that there be no restriction on the type of software or data used on the new network.

Google is expected to face steep competition from Verizon and AT&T for a chunk of the newly open wireless spectrum. What exactly Google plans to do with the spectrum is unknown. Google could build out their own cell phone and data network and try to compete directly with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, which would pair quite nicely with its new mobile OS initiative, Android. Or, Google could simply serve as a wholesale provider, selling spectrum to other companies to provide service and devices to consumers.

We won't hear much else from Google or anyone else about the auction, as the rules limit the amount and type of information that can be shared until the auction is complete -- which could be as late as March of 2008. If you just have to know, you can follow any available public information at this FCC website.

From the Official Google Blog

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Texas Town Sells for $3.8 Million on eBay

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 26th 2007 at 9:01AM

We've written about plenty of strange things hitting the auction block on eBay before -- Gary Coleman's Game Cube, a half-million-dollar bottle of beer, and even a competitor to eBay it self -- but today we have an entire city for sale.

A buyer from Italy snatched up the 13 acres of unpopulated land in Albert, Texas for $3.8 million. However, just like the supposed purchasers of Bridgeville, North Carolina, there is a chance the bidder isn't legit. Bridgeville was the first town to ever sell itself on eBay, but the deal fell through twice, once in 2002, and once in 2006.

What does the as-yet unidentified Italian buyer get for his large sum of cash? A bar that is open on weekends, a pavilion, a dance hall, a tractor shed, a three-bedroom house, and peach and pecan orchards. Sounds really nice, but calling a plot of land with only one residential property and two commercial buildings a "town" feels like cheating.

From CNN (Video)

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Pennsylvania Law Forces eBay Auctioneers to Get a License

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 20th 2007 at 5:01PM

You know those people -- maybe even you -- who sell other people's stuff on eBay? Well, apparently you or they will need to get an auctioneer's license from now on, at least in Pennsyslvania. The law has actually been on the books for a while, but is garnering attention because it is only now being enforced. Two people who run online auctions for others are under investigation by the state government and face up to $1,000 in fines.

But some eBay auctioneers are speaking out. Pennsylvania-based Auction Inn, a small online eBay auction company, is speaking out against the law, though it is not one of the two cited by law enforcement. Auction Inn believes the law is unfair since eBay auctioneers don't perform the same function or duty as traditional auctioneers. Presumably, this means they don't have gavels or talk in sped-up-auction-selling-speak, since all they do is write nice descriptions, take pretty photos, and make sure the stuff gets to the buyer on time.

Getting an auctioneer's license can take six to eight months which would shut Auction Inn down for the better part of a year, essentially forcing the business to shutter.

State lawmakers are proposing bills to deal with the issue, one of which makes eBay sellers exempt from the auctioneer's law, but still requires them to register with the government.

You can already feel the garages, basements, and attics of Pennsylvania start to fill up with all the crap the won't get sold until this hubbub is sorted out.

What do you think? Is this law too much or do you think eBay auctioneers should have a license?

From WGAL News

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30 Years of Video Games Up For Sale

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 9th 2007 at 4:03PM

Are you obsessed with video games? Do you cry every time you think about how your mom gave away your Atari 2600? Do you have 10 grand or so to spare?

If you answered yes to any of those (especially the last one), we've got some good news for you. For an undisclosed reason, a man is selling his collection of video games, game systems, and accessories via eBay. The lot of almost 1,800 items, estimated to be worth about $15,000 and weighing in at half a ton, took the seller known as "sengoku" 30 years to amass.

We couldn't possibly list every item in the auction, but here is a list of the systems (there are multiples of some):

Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Coleco ColecoVision, Coleco Gemini, Coleco Telstar, Commodore 64/128, GCE Vectrex, Mattel Aquarius, Mattel Intellivision, Mattel Odyssey 2, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Miscellaneous APF TV Fun, Miscellaneous Handheld Games, Miscellaneous PC Games, Miscellaneous SC Eight Thousand, Miscellaneous Sega Pods, Miscellaneous TV Games, NEC Turbo Duo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo NES, Nintendo Nintendo 64, Nintendo Super NES, Nintendo Virtual Boy, Nintendo Wii, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, SNK Neo Geo, SNK Neo Geo Pocket, Sony Playstation, Sony Playstation 2, Texas Instruments TI 99/4A, VM Labs Nuon.

With a collection of this size you could open a museum.

Gallery: 30 Years of Video Games for Auction

From TMZ

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Online Game Character Sells For $10K

by Tom Conlon, posted Sep 18th 2007 at 1:06PM

It turns out that filming yourself going buck-wild on a homemade 'Star Wars' lightsaber is no longer the nerdiest thing you could ever do (see: 'Star Wars' kid). Nope. That honor now goes to the 'World of Warcraft' player who just spent close to $10,000 (7,000 Euros) to purchase the online account of a fellow player.

In 'World of Warcraft,' as in many popular online games, characters are built up with new skills, weapons, magic and other abilities as you play, and play well. Though strictly forbidden by the game's terms of use, characters are often sold and transferred offline for cash -- usually only for a couple of hundred dollars at the most.

So, how good was this character that sold for 10 large? Without getting too geeky, let's just say that this Night Elf Rogue named Zeuzo was one of only two players in the world who'd managed to get a hold of the two legendary swords dropped by Illidan Stormrage. He also had four out of the five parts needed to make up a Tier 6 armor set.

Didn't catch any of that? Basically it means this guy was considered one of the most -- if not the most -- built-up characters in the entire game. And, that's out of 9 million players.

eBay was once a giant marketplace for 'World of Warcraft' accounts as well as for characters and virtual items from other online games. But, eBay recently banned the sale of any in-game characters or items (with very few exceptions), stating that such auctions violated the games' rules. That's too bad for eBay, since in Korea the market for virtual in-game goods is estimated to be worth $1 billion a year.

From Joystiq

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eBay Rival Sells Itself on eBay

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 28th 2007 at 1:01PM

Oh irony, how we love you so. And really, what's more ironic than an auction site, created by two disgruntled eBay users, selling itself on eBay? Not much my friend, not much.

Peter Michaud and Jeff Ramaglia, founders of Mighty Bids, have hopped on the trend of selling your Web start-up through eBay, following in the footsteps of online calendar service Kiko, and German Twitter clone dukudu. Mighty Bids was created by Michaud and Ramaglia out of frustration with eBay's fees, which users are charged whether an item sells or not.

Michaud has stated that listing his own auction site on the Goliath of auction sites was primarily a marketing decision. "It's getting a lot of attention and puts them to the test." To us though, it almost seems like admitting defeat.

Michaud claims that he just wants to move on to a new project. However, Rosalinda Baldwin of the Auction Guild watchdog group asserts that Might Bids isn't worth much more than the cost of the domain name, $9, which has fueled suspicion that Michaud is simply getting out before the whole thing goes belly up.

From USA Today

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Gallery: 30 Years of Video Games for Auction

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