"I mean, it hasn‘t done anything miraculous as of yet, but seeing it is kind of groovy," said Haley, 23. "Just seeing it brightens people‘s day."

Since then, Haley and 18-year-old co-worker Jonathan Jackson have shown the piece to a few other workers and customers, and even took it on a short pilgrimage to a nearby hair salon. They say several people agreed with their assessment, although a few suggested it looks more like legendary rock singer Jim Morrison of The Doors.

The online eBay auction for the potentially pious sheet of metal started Wednesday, but no potential buyers had placed the minimum $19.95 bid as of Saturday afternoon.

Haley said that whatever money is raised will be split between him, Jackson, another worker, and two customers. But he‘s still a little ambivalent about the sale.

Online auction site eBay should take a tougher stance on tackling fraud, a consumer magazine has said.

Around 130 incidents relating to the website are reported to the Metropolitan Police each month, according to Computing Which?

The magazine is calling on eBay to be more proactive in identifying counterfeit items offered for sale. It wants the auction site to warn customers about the dangers of fraud and to crack down on the unlicensed sale of medical products such as contact lenses.

The link to eBay's Safety Centre should be made more clearly visible on the site, Computing Which? said.

Jessica Ross, editor of the magazine, said: "Many people see eBay as a bit of fun, like Friends Reunited, and no one's denying that it's quick and easy to use. But there's plenty of opportunity for criminals to cash in too.

"eBay needs to educate people about the dangers of using the site. This 21st century car boot sale attracts more than a few dodgy characters and gangs can 'earn' huge amounts defrauding everyday eBayers."

Computing Which? said eBay's online money transfer service PayPal was the safest method for customers to pay for goods because it doesn't involve revealing bank details. Responding to the article, eBay said the number of complaints quoted was "misleading".

The company said in a statement: "The vast majority of the cases relate to transactions that did not take place on eBay. We have been led to believe that, in most of the cases, the users were contacted via email - rather than on the eBay site."

The statement added: "eBay provides its users with a very safe environment in which to trade. Over half of all our staff worldwide are involved in frontline customer services, working to make the site secure and to target anyone trying to commit fraud on the site."

eBay advises traders never to buy or sell outside of its official site, to pay using PayPal and to lodge any complaints within 30 days of the transaction.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.

Sir Elton John has placed one of his most famous pianos up for auction on eBay to raise funds for the Aids charity which he founded.

The iconic Yamaha DC6A Pro digital acoustic 6ft 11in grand piano, played by the star at a variety of special events surrounding his hit shows in Las Vegas, will be sold off to support the Elton John Aids Foundation.

The famous grand piano, nicknamed 'Fiona', was on display in the Colosseum Lobby at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Sir Elton will play the piano for the final time at the 14th Annual Elton John Aids Foundation Viewing Dinner and After-Party to celebrate the Academy Awards on 5 March in Los Angeles.

The singer will then autograph the piano in preparation for delivery to the lucky auction winner.

"The charity auction of this one-of-a-kind piano on eBay offers a unique opportunity for a fan or collector to own a major piece of music history while raising funds to support the critical work of prevention, education and treatment of Aids," said Scott Campbell, director of the Elton John Aids Foundation.

The charity auction will begin on Monday 27 February and conclude on Thursday 9 March.

It has been a heady week for Denver's historic Western shirt purveyor, Rockmount Ranch Wear. Yesterday, the company had two brushes with fame: it was selected for a feature on Friday's broadcast of the CBS Evening News, and one of its shirts sold as a part of a pair for $101,100.51 on eBay after ten days of bidding on the garments closed Monday afternoon. Rockmount is known for its Western shirts of impeccable quality and design, but that's not all the $100,000 shirt had going for it. The company supplied many items for the wardrobes of actors in Brokeback Mountain, and Heath Ledger wore this particular shirt in his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar that was sold along with a blue denim shirt worn by Jake Gyllenhall. The website states that "these are the original and authentic blood-stained shirts from the film," and the proceeds from the sale will go to Variety, The Children's Charity.

As Rockmount's Steve Weil explained in a press release, "The shirt plays a major role in the film with a cameo at the end. Too bad there is no academy award for Best Shirt." The shirt indeed was integral to the movie's plot as a symbol of the love between the two main characters, putting it up there with Dorothy's ruby slippers in terms of a costume's importance to the physical action and emotional resonance of a film.

As for the CBS feature, each Friday the CBS Evening News includes a segment called "Assignment America," in which reporter Steve Hartman profiles interesting folk from all over the country. Every week the news outlet's website pitches three possible stories for the segment, and viewers vote for which one they'd like to see. Rockmount came up the winner this week, with the teaser: "Steve will introduce us to the inventor of the western shirt, who still goes to work every day…at 104 years old."

Rockmount does boast a story worthy of national attention. Founded in 1946 by the now 104-year-old Jack Weil, the business still occupies the same historic brick building in LoDo as it did when it opened. According to the company's website, Mr. Weil "introduced the first western shirts with snaps and also made the first commercially produced bolo ties." Three generations of Weils are now involved in the company, and "Papa Jack" still serves as C.E.O. Scads of celebrities have sported Rockmount's appealing designs over the years, including David Bowie, Sandra Cisneros, Elvis Presley, Clark Gable, Bruce Springsteen, Ronald Reagan, and so many others that Rockmount's website features a Celebrity Gallery that highlights many of them.

Despite the company's continued attention from Hollywood and music industry types, you don't have to pay $100,000 for its clothing—most of its shirts are priced affordably enough for the average cowboy at $50-$100. That plaid Heath Ledger shirt, by the way, is number #6400 in the Rockmount catalogue, retailing at $55.

A western Iowa couple found a way to live the small town life and still make big city bucks.

Steven and Crystal Holt are making movie magic in Denison. A few years ago, Steven Holt quit his job to sell movies on the online auction site eBay -- and business took off.

Last year, the Holts sold more than $1 million worth of classic movies on eBay.

"Most of the movies that you see in this building, you would probably not be able to walk into Best Buy or Wal-Mart and find. You can find a lot of new releases at those stores, but you're not going to find the catalog titles," Steven Holt said.

The Holts are now one of the top sellers in the world on eBay.

A RED-FACED city worker has been put up for auction on eBay for 1p after splitting from his doctor girlfriend.

Lee Stamp was sold on the internet auction site after his break-up from Laura Corrigan.

And his nose was put further out of joint, when the prankster digitally enhanced his hooter for a photo on the website.

But last night, Laura, insisted she was not behind the prank - and blamed her teenage brother instead.

She admitted having split from Lee, who works for accountancy firm Pricewaterhousecooper in Edinburgh city centre, but insisted they were still on good terms.

Visitors to the eBay site were asked to place bids starting at a penny to meet Stamp at his local pub. The auction, set up on February 8, from Laura's parents' home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has since been removed by eBay because it contained foul and abusive language.

By Jane Hamilton

Anyone who has served in the U.S. military since the early 1980s knows all about the widely reviled food rations called MREs, for "Meals, Ready to Eat."

But now those long-lasting plastic pouches, which include options such as chicken tetrazzini and cheese tortellini, have been turning up on eBay in possible violation of federal law.

A number of eBay sellers--among them, a pair of unemployed Hurricane Katrina victims--have been peddling MREs intended for disaster or military uses, government auditors reported this week.

In a nine-page letter to Congress this week, the Government Accountability Office revealed the results of a "snapshot" investigation it launched after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita "as a result of widespread congressional and public interest in the federal response" to the disasters.

After a one-day survey, the agency turned up eight eBay sellers pushing MREs for a profit. MREs, designed for use during "strenuous activity" or when normal food sources aren't available, typically consist of a full meal packed in a bag. A Pentagon supply center is responsible for buying cases of a dozen meals, which cost on average about $52.

There aren't any laws that "specifically" prohibit anyone from reselling the goods, the GAO report notes. But according to internal supply center regulations, they can be sold only to "a limited number of organizations, including, among others, U.S. military organizations and federally funded activities."

"Military MREs are procured by government entities using taxpayer dollars, and are intended to be consumed by individuals from authorized organizations and activities," the letter said. "Consequently, if military MREs are sold to the general public on eBay, then they are clearly not reaching their intended recipients and represent a waste of taxpayer dollars and possible criminal activity."

Two of the eight sellers who were discovered and later interviewed by the GAO said they were victims of Hurricane Katrina. They said they had picked up the supplies at local distribution centers in Louisiana but had sold them because they were jobless and needed the money. Four others were current or retired military employees, one of whom admitted to taking the rations from his base.

With the exception of the hurricane victims, the GAO referred all of their cases to the Department of Defense Inspector General for further investigation. Inspector General spokesman Gary Comerford said his office was still investigating the GAO's referrals--in addition to other pending cases involving MRE sales--and deciding what steps to take next.

The sale of MREs on eBay is hardly new. According to the GAO report, the Defense Department supply center discovered the sales were going on in 2002 and sent e-mails to sellers asking them to voluntarily stop selling the goods. Those messages "advised the sellers that military MREs are never considered surplus and that resale of MREs is strictly prohibited," the report said, and sales dropped off for a time.

But eBay has no intention of forcing its sellers to stop peddling the MREs until a real law comes along to back up such a move, company spokesman Hani Durzy said in a telephone interview Thursday.

"We're always open to having more discussions about that," Durzy said. "But until a law is passed saying you can't sell these things, we're not going to stop them from being sold on the site."

A devoted son put the remains of his late mother on the auction website eBay in a bid to fulfil her last wishes, he said.

Glen Beaton, from Inverness, said his mother loved to travel and appealed for people across the globe to buy a portion of her ashes to scatter them at far-flung destinations.

The 44-year-old pledged to pay back the 1p he charged bidders in his attempt to put his mother Margaret to rest.

Mr Beaton said he wanted to hear from someone in the US, Australia and New Zealand in particular, as his mother had never managed to travel there.

The ashes were posted on the site with a picture of a glass urn. But eBay later pulled the plug on bids, claiming the item breached policy guidelines.

Mr Beaton said in a statement on the site: "There are absolutely no charges for this auction to any bidder as I do not intend to profit from my mother's passing, I just want to fulfil a wish.

The listing was shelved by eBay bosses, who said human remains were a prohibited item which could not be sold or bought on the site.

A spokeswoman said: "The transaction has been stopped and someone may have put a highest bid in but they will not be allowed to buy it or sell it. Whatever happens now we are not responsible for."

Mr Beaton planned to re-list the ashes once sold so that they could be scattered "in as many countries as possible".

He explained that he had been forced to charge the penny in order to satisfy the rules of eBay.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.

Bidding was up to $20,600 by midday Tuesday. The auction ends Feb. 20.

"We're overwhelmed by the bidding," Maria Schmidt, executive director of Variety -- The Children's Charity of Southern California, told The Los Angeles Times. "This is already way over what any of us thought the shirts would bring."

Dennis White of Seattle placed a bid of $17,000 for the shirts, which he told the Times are "iconic."

"They are like the ruby slippers," he said.

Schmidt said a charity board member with close connections to the Oscar-nominated film's distributor obtained the shirts for the charity, which is not connected to the Daily Variety entertainment trade newspaper.

The shirts can be bid on by going to ebay.com/varietyskids.

Ohio entrepreneur and former Executive Chef, Rob Fighter, promises to reveal a guarded secret recipe on eBay to the highest bidder. Mr Fighter claims his recipe is worth every penny of the 1 million dollar price tag he's asking.

"I've kept this a secret from everyone, including even my wife, for over a dozen years now," says Fighter.

"Sometimes when you know you have something too good to keep from the world you just have to get it out there. This is 'that' good and I don't feel right keeping it to myself any longer," Fighter added.

The eBay auction, with a Buy It Now price set at $1,250,000.00 was posted during the evening of February 9th. The Best Offer option was also included in the event a single bidder doesn't help Mr. Fighter reach his goal.

The auction can be viewed at the follwing web address and is set to end on February 16, 2006 at 7:08 P.M. EST:
View Auction
According to Mr. Fighter, the creator of the secret recipe, "So often, you see completely outrageous things listed on these auction sites where people have paid outlandish sums to acquire them. What I'm offering here is something with a very real, tangible and significant value for the winner ... unlike just some bizarre, years old grilled cheese sandwich."

"In the hands of a competent marketing department or even just an average Chef, the company, casino, multi-unit establishment or individual who takes possession of this has a potential goldmine on their hands," he adds.

Garage sales are so 10 minutes ago.

These days if you want to sell your Precious Moments collection, buy Beatles memorabilia or even find some new wheels, eBay, the popular online auction site, is the place to go.

The auction action on the virtual flea market often will drive up the price of an item to the point that it will fetch more than it would at a garage sale or from a want ad.

But there’s one problem with eBay – posting items can be difficult and time-consuming to a neophyte.

Enter Kalypso’s, 7605 Coldwater Road, and other enterprises like it – businesses that have sprouted up to sell your stuff on eBay for you – in exchange for a cut of the profits.

Kalypso’s touts itself as “your gateway to eBay.” Owner Shiloh Reed started the business in Avilla, and moved to Fort Wayne about a year ago. He used to work on the railroad, but got hurt and had to find a new occupation.

“I wanted to start a business where I didn’t have to buy inventory,” Reed said.

He started selling stuff on eBay, and pretty soon friends and relatives were asking him to sell their goods on eBay for them. When he began thinking of turning it into a business he could have bought a franchise store that does the same type of eBay consignment business, but “I didn’t want to buy a franchise and have people telling me what to do.”

In its first year of operation, Kalypso’s sold about $700,000 worth of merchandise. He hopes to double that this year.

Kalypso’s will try to sell anything worth $50 or more, except firearms and a few other oddball items.

Sellers need only to bring their items to the store.

A Kalypso’s employee will photograph the item, write a description, research the item, post the auction and answer e-mailed questions. Once the auction has ended, Kalypso’s will collect payment and pack and ship the item to its new owner.

For its effort, the company takes a 30 percent commission on items up to $400; a 20 percent commission on items from $401 to $600; and a 10 percent commission for items that sell for more than $600. The commission is less on big-ticket items, such as cars.

The most expensive thing Kalypso’s has sold so far is a 12-piece place setting of Royal Copenhagen china for $60,000. Reed rented a car and drove the china to Savannah, Ga., and then flew back, charging the hefty delivery fee to the new owner.

So why do people choose to use Kalypso’s or a business like it, rather than just post their own items online?

Reed said most of his customers have both computers and digital cameras. What they don’t have is time and expertise.

“This is all we do,” Reed said. “We’re the experts in the field.”

At least one other Fort Wayne retailer provides the same type of service. A Plus Computers on Parnell Avenue also serves as an eBay consignment shop, although its main business is selling computers. Owner Matt Schmidt said A Plus sells between 50 and 100 items a month on eBay and, like Kalypso’s, only wants to deal with items worth at least $50 on eBay while charging a small fee for big-ticket items. Its standard cut is 20 percent of the selling price.

Schmidt predicts the eBay consignment business will fade away as people become more savvy with their computers and digital cameras.

He did add, however, that eBay stores offer an extra measure of protection for those buying online.

Kalypso’s Assistant Manager Lauren Murray said the store does a big business in Longaberger baskets and Vera Bradley bags. It will research both products, and know to ask more money for retired baskets or fabric patterns.

In the Kalypso’s warehouse on a recent day, a sampling of items included a porcelain doll, Precious Moments figurines, Longaberger baskets and a wedding and bridesmaid dress from “a wedding that kind of fell through,” Murray said. The store, as a general rule, doesn’t accept regular clothes.

Murray said it’s amazing what will sell on eBay, and sometimes the price is amazing as well. Recently Kalypso’s sold five rusty Tonka toys for $76.

A press release issued Wednesday claims Fort Lauderdale based 4Yacht has sold a 405-foot steel megayacht on eBay, believed to be the most expensive item ever sold on the Internet auction site, to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

The currently yet unbuilt yacht is so big, it is actually a “Gigayacht”, the press release adds.

The yacht is announced as a “stunning new Frank Mulder Design Gigayacht” with a “luxury office area, salon, cinema room, fitness room, and two person cabins for children, personal assistant, or bodyguards”.

Below an artist’s impression of the yacht, there is some bold, capitalized rubric: “This auction is for a deposit of 50% of the purchase price of $168,000,000.00 total. Custom build. Delivery in 2007.” The Wednesday’s press release claims the project was sold for the “Buy now” price of $85,000,000, but 4Yacht has put the finished value at 140 million euros ($170 million) minimum.

The release then brings in Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s name into the mix, Forbes.com added, speculating the Chelsea owner could be a likely buyer — he’s apparently on the hunt for a 100-meter plus yacht to add to his collection of the Pelorus, the Ecstasea and Le Grand Bleu especially as “the project’s distinct resemblance to the Pelorus would be likely to have appealed” to the oligarch.

Category 88741 of items for sale on eBay is for cemetery plots. Recently, there were 73 plots for sale in the category, none of them in the Bay Area. Chris Donlay, spokesman for eBay Inc. (EBAY), San Jose, said this is not a category eBay put a lot of thought into.

“We have something like 78 million items on the site at any given time so if there are only 73 items, it’s a very small corner of the site,” he said. “But there are people who want to buy and sell them so there is a place for them to come. Where else would you go to buy that antique cookie jar or classic car or cemetery plot?”

Phoenix resident Coleen Neal is currently selling a plot on eBay for $7,500. Her father bought it from a door-to-door salesman many years ago before he realized that he is entitled to burial grounds as a military veteran.

“It was kind of his idea and he saw that a lot of people looked at eBay so we figured that would probably be the easiest way,” she said. “We’re pretty new at eBay but there’s a lot of listings on there. I was kind of surprised.”

Karel van Haeften of Cemetery Property Resales acknowledges eBay is a viable option for exchanging burial property but warned buyers to make sure the seller actually owns the property first.

“Cemetery passes much like real estate, like kinship. You can’t just give it to someone,” he explained. “A lot of times people are selling things … and it turns out they may not even own it. But we do some of the authentification work for the buyers, and it makes the process a little smoother.”

Someone has successfully bid $1,300 on eBay to spend a weekend with four young Sydney blokes.

Bidding closed in the online auction of a weekend of "beer, snags, good conversation and a hell of a lot of laughs" with the 24-year-olds at their shared Balmain digs.

Marketing reps Zac, Corey, Mark, and law student Lachie, were keenly waiting to discover the identity of the winning bidder, "newidsooz", on Monday when the bid should be confirmed, Zac said.

"I think it's value for money," Zac said after four weeks of bidding closed.
 
Meanwhile, there are six days left to bid on eBay for a weekend with "4 lovely ladies" in Sydney.

Currently $1,350 is the top bid for the chance to party with the 20-somethings promising "plenty of fun and shenanigans".

"Why are we doing this?" the girls' website entry asks.

"It's better than chat rooms, freaks in bars, randoms who just annoy you, or hanging out at home with your mother."

While the lads had offered the chance to meet a mysterious international guest, who Zac says remains a mystery, the girls say they can provide an introduction to a Bondi lifeguard.

Although, how that will go over with the men they are targeting remains to be seen.

"Most guys always say they are sick of trying to chat to the ladies when out and about, why not hang out with us ... we are 4 charismatic individuals," the girls say.

The Sydney girls jumped on the auction bandwagon on Wednesday, and perhaps a group of Irish lads were similarly inspired because they started an auction on Thursday for a "Guinness weekend of a lifetime" with them in Dublin.

"You won't find this type of weekend in any of the travel books, no tour group will provide this - you just can't get the insurance," the lads aged 25-30 say.

With seven days remaining in the Irish auction, the top bid so far is at $A1,324.

However, the Internet auction site says it can't sell items that people don't own and will remove it from the site, reports Reuters.

But the vendor insists he is in possession of the soul.

"I was accompanying the poor whale in his last journey, and he handed his soul to me. He asked me to sell it, so I could invest the money raised in other bottlenosed whales," said the Minneapolis seller to Reuters. He assigned the incorrect gender to the animal.

Other items related to the doomed whale have also gone up for sale on eBay. The watering can used to hydrated the whale as rescuers tried to send her back to sea was sold for $3,600.

Another vendor is attempting to sell water from the area of the river the whale swam through.

A $5 hot dog from the Seattle Seahawks' N-F-C championship victory over the Carolina Panthers has brought $1,800 in an online auction on eBay.

The winning bid from Golden Palace.com, an online casino known for buying oddball artifacts, was posted a scant four seconds before the deadline of 6:30 p.m. PST Thursday set by Josh Minnick, 27, Stacey Houtary, also 27, and her boyfriend, Matt Allison, 25.

In 10 days, their eBay site got more than 350,000 hits. At one point the bidding exceeded $10,000 but bidders began backing out and with less than a minute to go the top offer was $1,525.

Golden Palace had asked to be included in an approved bidders list but posted an offer only at the end, The Herald of Everett reported Friday.

As the three friends celebrated with champagne, they got a telephone call from Golden Palace spokesman Jeff Kay.

"I can't wait to get your hot dog. We're a little hungry," Kay joked.

He said the online casino, based on Antigua and licensed in Kahnawake, Quebec, plans to include the hot dog in a traveling display of acquisitions that include a grilled cheese sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary, a kidney stone from actor William Shatner and Pope Benedict XVI's old Volkswagen.

Minnick, Houtary and Allison said 15 percent of the proceeds, $270, would go to the Grant Wistrom Foundation for youngsters with cancer and their families, leaving them with $510 each.

"That's not a bad take on $5," Houtary said.

She may have just launched her new, updated autobiography...

But that's not the only thing that Jordan has to sell.

The glamour girl is thinking of putting a couple of her own very personal assets on eBay.

Jordan - real name Katie Price - is planning to have an operation to have her massive 32FF boobs reduced to make them more "pert".

And she says she'll put her unwanted silicone implants on the renowned web auction site.

Talking to Chris Moyles on Radio 1, she said: "I'm having them reduced because I want them a bit more pert.

"I've had them eight years now. So it's time for a new pair and I'll sell this lot on eBay."

Jordan, 27, says that having her children Harvey and Junior has made her famous bust a little on the saggy side.

Whether there's much demand for second-hand implants, we're not sure.

But we wish any would-be bidders the best of luck.
 

AAP
01feb06

FOR the right price they'll be your best mates, no questions asked.
 
But these four Aussie blokes insist it's not about the money.
Marketing reps Corey, Mark, Zac and law student Lachie - all 24 years old - decided, for a laugh, that they wanted to see just how much their company was worth.

The four are auctioning a weekend of snags, beer and good conversation at their Balmain digs from February 18 to 19.

Conducted via cyber marketplace, _^eBay, the auction has attracted almost 90 bids from as far abroad as the United States and UK.

Top bid currently stands at $13,500, after reaching $85,000 with a bogus French bid overnight, with hundreds of questions pouring in from across the globe.

Of particular interest to many is the "international guest" from the UK who could be a celebrity or sporting legend, according to the online offer.

Mark said the flat-sharing quartet were amazed by the response to what originally began as a joke over beers.

"Obviously we're really surprised," he said.

"I remember when we first started we said `if we get $200 and a few hits on the internet site how happy will we be', and a week later it's just gone crazy."

The money was just a "bonus", he insisted.

"We're just looking to see how many people really were interested. We're great company, but how much are we worth?" he laughed.

The fine print of the weekend had not yet been worked out, but there were definite platonic boundaries and no gender preference for bidders, he said.

He admitted having a few cautious thoughts over people's intentions, being unable to ascertain anything about bidders except their previous purchase history.

"But I'm not concerned," he insisted.

"If they come in with different intentions that's unfortunate for them."

"Obviously we take steps to cover ourselves. There are probably a few dodgy bidders out there, but honestly what's the worst that can happen?"

Mark would not comment on whether he thought it was an extreme way for someone to make friends.

"Like we said, if you couldn't be bothered going to a pub and making new friends for the right price we will be your best friends. No questions asked," he said.

The auction closes at 1.30pm on Saturday, and the boys will vote on who they think is the highest genuine bidder.

They hadn't yet decided what to do with the money, Mark said.