I don’t know about you, but I find a lot of things in life that often make me stop and just shake my head in pure bewilderment. For example, why do tourists go to the top of tall buildings and then put quarters in telescopes so they can see things on the ground? And I still can’t figure out why Hawaii has Interstate highways.
Then there are the audacious prices some folks are charging for the most mundane products. In 2012, somebody actually paid $8100 on eBay for a Chicken McNugget that looks like George Washington. (The fact that George Washington struggled with personal finance problems for many years obviously didn’t affect the final sales price.)
Since these so-called “deals” tend to disappear almost as quickly as they show up, I made sure I took a screen shot of the sale for posterity:
I’ll be honest; to this day I regret not trying to sell the McNugget my daughter found in 2009 that looked like Connecticut. No, really. Spitting. Image.
By the way, this ain’t the first time I’ve found everyday products on eBay and Amazon that were being offered for ridiculous prices — it’s just that this is the first time I’ve ever seen somebody actually pull the trigger. For example:
Product: Men’s underwear
Price: $12,104,118
Offered at: eBay
Key selling point: Even though it comes from China, there’s no extra charge for shipping.
Comments: It appears as if the declining value of the US dollar is worse than I thought. Heck, for $12 million I could start up my own underwear factory here in the States.
Product: A book entitled Art of Dog, by B.S. Chen
Price: $99,999.99
Offered at: Amazon
Key selling point: It’s the hardcover version. (!)
Comments: Assuming this is legit, the book is currently out of stock. Then again, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the author’s first two initials are B.S.
Product: One (1) private guitar lesson from some guy in Canada named Ben
Price: $75,000
Offered at: eBay
Key selling point: But wait, there’s more! As an added bonus, Ben will throw in his own Fender guitar. And, ladies, he’s single too.
Comments: Ben doesn’t list his bona fides, but for $75,000, I’m sure he’s right up there talent-wise with some of the world’s other great guitarists like Joe Satriani and Carlos Santana. By the way, since Ben doesn’t have a passport, non-Canadians will have to go see him. Of course, you’ll have to pay for your own transportation.
Product: A gas canister
Price: $128.77
Offered at: Amazon
Key selling point: I know what you’re thinking, but it’s on sale. That tank normally sells for $138,887.50.
Comments: If you’ve ever thought about taking up scuba diving for a hobby, you might want to do it now — or at least before the sale ends.
Product: A “slightly used” roll of toilet paper
Price: $85,000 (plus $15 shipping and handling)
Offered at: eBay
Key selling point: Well, according to the seller, it’s “fairly soft.”
Comments: No word on whether the toilet paper is single or 2-ply, but for $85,000 that stuff better be softer than the skin on a newborn-baby’s bottom. And if you do buy it, just be sure you really want it because the seller doesn’t accept returns. To be honest, I wouldn’t either.
Product: One gallon of Tuscan brand milk
Price: $10,000
Offered at: Amazon
Key selling point: According to the seller, the milk will be “hand delivered by a real Tusken cattle herdsman.” For that price, hopefully the milk is also hormone free.
Comments: And you thought a gallon of gasoline is expensive? For those on a budget, a competing Amazon vendor is selling the exact same grocery store milk for “only” $2500 with this promise: “After delivery I’ll bake you a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies.” I love the free market!
Product: A pair of old ski socks
Price: $6000 (plus $15 shipping and handling)
Offered at: eBay
Key selling point: Um, er, well… they’re calf length. (Sorry, that’s the best I could do for this one.)
Comments: If $6000 is too steep, you’ll be happy to know you can try to low-ball the seller; he’s accepting offers.
***
(This is an updated version of an article originally written on May 23, 2011.)
Photo Credit: AP
Funny stuff!
Good point on people going to tall buildings and paying to see people on the ground. The irony of it…
As for those wacky prices, I suppose it just takes one wealthy goofball with money to burn to create a big windfall for the goofball who posted the item for sale.
So instead of throwing away the individual-sized cup of yogurt I just finished, maybe I could put it up for sale for $25,000 and market it as “previously eaten by ‘The Wise Squirrel’, celebrity owner of Squirrelers.” What do you think?
I like your thinking, Wise Squirrel, but $25,000 might be a little on the high side if only because I could buy 4 pairs of old ski socks for that amount and still have a thousand left over to buy a few gas canisters. 😉
I would love to see how many of these listings actually result in a sale. Don’t you have to pay to list things on Ebay?
That depends on a lot of things… For auction style listings, it’s $2.00 for items with a starting or reserve price of $200 or more. There is an additional fee of 9% (up to a value of $100) after the item sells. However, there is no additional fee if the item isn’t sold. For that price, why not try it? It’s kind of like playing the lottery — you never know, some wealthy person (or dummy) may end up deciding to buy it! 🙂
Well, the nutty hat that Princess Beatrice wore to the royal wedding went for 130k so I guess anything is possible.
Well, I’m not surprised. As PT Barnum once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
During the early days of eBay, a guy was selling his own poop for losing weight. Many folks bought it.
The poop, or that story? 😉
Their listing fees must be huge! The strangest thing I ever saw on eBay was a guy selling “a fart in a bottle” for $5. And believe it or not there were bidders for it! Sometimes it just takes some creativity… you never know.
I wonder if he was related to the guy Shafi from Doable Finance was talking about.
I went to the page with the milk and there are about 10 different sellers asking prices over $100 for a single gallon! lol Very funny stuff!
You have to read their descriptions of what you get for the $100. In most cases, they put a little extra “customer care” into the delivery.
I was going to ask you, “does $12M Donald Duck underwear make my ass look fat?”
Please don’t.
When these items are sold, would we know who bought them?
Well, on Amazon — no. On Ebay you can see a modified user name and the bid history. But if it is a buy-it-now item, I don’t think so.
Wow. Maybe I can sell used cat litter. God knows we have an endless supply of that.
Give it a shot, DC. Maybe you can even charge a little extra for the used cat litter. Sell it as cat litter with “buried treasure!”
I just wanted to hit the “LIKE” button on the cat litter comment!
Good point.
If I buy underwear for twelve million can i rent them out for an hourly rate and make a profit? I could rent them by the hour. Who wouldn’t want to know what a twelve million dollar pair of skivvies feels like?
That person who bought the chicken nuggets for that prize must be weird! I myself wouldn’t buy it even if it resembles Angelina Jolie. Good article, learned so many strange things sold online!
I’m clearly in the wrong business! Turns out, I have millions of dollars in used household goods just sitting around going to waste! I must have 30 rolls of Costco toilet paper stored in my basement RIGHT NOW. Who knew I was sitting on a gold mine 🙂
Don’t worry, you can finance that milk! And that gas canister is a STEAL!
What also is fun to read are some of the reviews posted on Amazon for these type of items. This is my favorite for a Denon audio cable
http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B000I1X6PM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409781797&sr=8-1&keywords=denon+cable
Some of those were hilarious, Samiam! Thanks for sharing the link!
These are fun to read. But this sort of thing, in a more modest but damaging way, happens constantly. People are shopping with credit cards who have no money still buy large ticket items they can’t afford and don’t need. My friend is a financial disaster and has been for years despite a fine job at the Post Office. She’s always in debt despite no dependents and has nothing to show for plowing through almost a million dollars in salary over the last 20 years. Every time she pays for (wastes, we know what the outcome will be) and starts to attend a personal financial repair sort of class, she bursts into tears the first night when they ask the students to list their debts and storms out of the class never to return. Oh by the way, she just borrowed $20,000 to pay a private college for a course to learn a new career as a stock options trader after throwing over her secure job at the Post Office. Go figure. You have to believe a lot of people WANT to be scammed.
These are really just fun to read.
Thanks, Donald!