A lovelorn Yorkshireman who put his life up for auction on the Internet said Tuesday "idiots" had made fake bids which pushed up the price of his home, job and lifestyle to unrealistic levels. Ian Usher, 44, was drinking champagne and celebrating on Sunday night after the seven-day auction of his Australian lifestyle started with a bang, hitting 650,000 Australian dollars (315,000 pounds). By the time he awoke on Monday, bidding had reached a million pounds, or 2.2 million dollars. But after initially laughing at his luck, Usher quickly came down to earth when he realised that a registration system for bidding on the eBay auction site had not been activated. The former carpet store assistant, who is selling his near-new three-bedroom home in Perth in Western Australia as part of his "life package", began ringing the people behind the offers to check whether they were genuine. Usher, originally from Yorkshire in England, said the highest bidders gave a range of excuses -- from blaming another family member for making the bid to claiming their eBay password had been stolen -- before they all backed out. "They are just idiots, absolute idiots," he told AFP. "I think I was speaking to kids most of the time." Usher has now deleted most of the bids on the site, even though some may have been genuine, and the top offer for his "life" sits at 300,100 dollars -- just over 145,000 pounds. "That's not even 75 percent of the value of the house," he said. Usher has said the unusual auction was triggered by his break-up with his wife more than two years ago, and the desire to rid himself of the personal possessions which reminded him of the happy years they spent together. As well as the house and contents, Usher is also offering the winning bidder introductions to his friends and a stint at his former job for at least two weeks, with the possibility of permanent employment if the store owners agree. If the sale goes ahead, Usher will keep only his passport, wallet and the clothes on his back. He said the value of the assets for sale -- which includes everything from an indoor spa to a home entertainment system to his pots and pans -- was between 450,000 and 500,000 and he was confident of reaching that point. "I'm beyond worried, I'm just along for the ride at the moment," he told AFP. A life for sale
Haha, wow. This is absolutely ridiculous. Much like people selling a grilled cheese on ebay that was somewhat shaped like the head of Jesus for thousands. The truth is stranger then fiction as they say...
Wouldn't it have just been cheaper for whoever bought the cheese to have bought some plain new cheese and had a couple of sculpting lessons, and then made their own? Then they could have had a whole 'Cheesus' rather than just a head.... And in relation to the story, putting one's life up for auction isn't exactly the safest thing to do, in my opinion, so he shouldn't really be surprised that it isn't going well.
I remember that one. Once I saw the shape of a head bitten into an apple. How much do you think it would sell for? I think the guy who put his life up for auction was being kind of a hypocrite when he called the bidders 'idiots.'
I guess that's true. Either way, it doesn't seem like a very safe thing to do. I think too many things could go wrong.
