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Man Selling His Life On eBay

Posted by kdawson on from the but-wait-there's-more dept.

A number of readers have sent in the story of the guy in Perth, Australia who is selling his life on eBay. 100 days before the auction opened, he put up a site detailing all that was on offer: house, car, jet ski, friends, job, and so forth. (No wife.) The auction has five days to run and the bidding is up over $300K, supposedly from qualified bidders. The seller says: "Upon completion and settlement I will walk out of my home for the last time in just the clothes I am wearing, and carrying only my wallet and passport."

49 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. Well, two things come to mind by suso · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Is his identity for sale? Otherwise all he is selling is a bunch of stuff. Not "His Life". It would be more interesting if you could actually buy his identity and completely assume his life. Of course, you couldn't do that completely. His friends probably aren't going to buy into it. And also, what of the government?

    If he can't tell everyone the reason why his wife left him, then he is obviously not ready to give his life away. He is still holding on to the idea of privacy, when in fact he is giving that away. Could you imagine selling all the pictures, memorabilia, etc. that you have.

    1. Re:Well, two things come to mind by RPoet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The modern man is what he owns. He who dies with the most toys wins.

      --
      "Oppression and harassment is a small price to pay to live in the land of the free." -- Montgomery Burns.
    2. Re:Well, two things come to mind by beadfulthings · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh, he will tell you why his wife left--for a price. According to CNN, you have to subscribe to his website. It's apparently called "alifeforsale.com".

      --
      "Here's what's happening. You're starting to drive like your Dad..." - Red Green
    3. Re:Well, two things come to mind by Tx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Is his identity for sale? Otherwise all he is selling is a bunch of stuff. Not "His Life". It would be more interesting if you could actually buy his identity and completely assume his life. Of course, you couldn't do that completely. His friends probably aren't going to buy into it. And also, what of the government?

      If you RTFA you'll see that the sale includes introductions to his friends, and a trial in his job, which is supported by his employer. In addition to all the physical stuff. If a purchaser played it right, he could indeed have the guy's house, friends, job, and possesions. This is about as much as he could reasonably and legally do, and IMHO just barely about enough to justify his description that he's selling his "life".

      --
      Oh no... it's the future.
    4. Re:Well, two things come to mind by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I can tell you why his wife left for free right now...

      "hey honey, I decided to sell my life on ebay!"

      slam pitpatpitpat screeech vrooom! and there she goes.

      --
      stuff |
    5. Re:Well, two things come to mind by jamesh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe he's just planning on moving somewhere else.

      Option #1
      . Advertise and Sell House
      . Advertise and Sell Car
      . Advertise and Sell Jetski
      . Advertise and Sell misc other crap, pack it in boxes, give it to charity, take it down to the dump, etc
      . Make all of the above events line up with each other so he isn't left with no house or no car etc

      Option #2
      . Sell it all on eBay as a job lot
      . Offer to introduce you to friends and cow-orkers to sweeten the deal (no obligation to actually like the person or employ them if they're a dick)
      . Invent a bit of a sob story to go with it
      . Profit!

      Which one sounds easier? Selling stuff is a pain. Trying to make sure you get rid of your house, car, and other crap which costs money to move all at the same time is even more of a pain. The last thing you'd want is to sell the house and then not be able to find a buyer for your car and jet-ski. Or sell your car but then have to wait 6 months for your house to sell (and have to hire or buy another in the meantime)

      Nothing to see here - move along.

    6. Re:Well, two things come to mind by tokul · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If a purchaser played it right, he could indeed have the guy's house, friends,
      If they were guy's friends, then purchaser won't be their friend. He will be "sick guy from the internet that bought our friend's stuff"
    7. Re:Well, two things come to mind by daffmeister · · Score: 4, Insightful
      No subscription required. Just look at the Why page. He says:

      I was blindsided at about 11pm on a Wednesday evening by a shocking and awful discovery.

      Not too hard to guess what that might have been.

    8. Re:Well, two things come to mind by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm concerned that this was rated insightful, rather than funny.

    9. Re:Well, two things come to mind by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
      It's still interesting to me.

      Modern life has reached an annoying level of materialism. Lately I've been thinking about how each possession requires time and effort to own (to maintain and repair it, supply fuel/electricity for it, shop for a replacement when it wears out, etc). In fact I've reached the point where I literally don't have time to own anything else, unless I start paying others to maintain it. It's too much.

      And yet... I have stuff that I really like. I've devoted a lot of time to crafting a PVR from scratch, and having it loaded with thousands of mp3's and hooked up to a nice stereo is something I really enjoy. I have a couple motorcycles that I enjoy riding, planning and taking trips on, and repairing (usually). I have a house. I have a fully stocked tool chest (that I use to fix everything else) that's taken years of gradual additions to accrue.

      So the idea of discarding all the "stuff" is and starting fresh is enticing... yet I couldn't do it. Guess I'm "owned."

    10. Re:Well, two things come to mind by 7+digits · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Not too hard to guess what that might have been.

      I wonder which would be more ironic:

      1) If his ex-wife marry the guy that buy "his life", so she get back the whole lot ("Oh, that is soo sweet, I recovered my friends, my house and my jetski" )

      2) If the guy his wife left with win the auction to buy "his life" ("Your taste in women was pretty good, what else do you have?")

    11. Re:Well, two things come to mind by thsths · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > Modern life has reached an annoying level of materialism. ...

      > And yet... I have stuff that I really like. I've devoted a lot of time to crafting a PVR from scratch, and having it loaded with thousands of mp3's and hooked up to a nice stereo is something I really enjoy.

      No need to blame it on materialism. Meaning is often carrier, transported or represented by material objects. The bible is one example (the physical book), your PVR is another or a marriage picture. This is not necessarily a sign of extreme materialism, it is just the way things work.

      As long as meaning cannot stand on its own ("purely spiritual beings"), it must have some manifestation in the real world. Nothing wrong with that, unless you have to move :-)

    12. Re:Well, two things come to mind by Sapphon · · Score: 3, Funny

      I was blindsided at about 11pm on a Wednesday evening by a shocking and awful discovery.

      She was a Collingwood fan?

      --
      Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.
    13. Re:Well, two things come to mind by GeckoX · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Er, I'll take option C please.

      Blind hope is warm and fuzzy for some, sure, but if you live your life 'hoping' for eternal life after death, you're likely to miss out on a good chunk of your actual life.

      Living life in fear of death, makes it kind of hard to get the most out of life.

      I personally advocate living life to the fullest, every day. You know for a fact that you will die, so the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can get on with living the life you have. Should there happen to be a life after death, then that will just be a bonus in the end. But don't count on it. I have no intention of lying on my death bed wishing I'd lived more while I could and tortured about whether there was more or not. If you can't be satisfied with how you have lived your life up to that point, there is nothing that is going to help you once you pass, eternal life or no eternal life. A need to put all your eggs in the 'I'm not really going to die' basket indicates regret at how one has lived the life they actually had.

      Don't stress the unknown, there's nothing you can do about it. Enjoy what you have now and you won't be disappointed in the end no matter what happens.

      --
      No Comment.
    14. Re:Well, two things come to mind by Joe+Snipe · · Score: 4, Funny

      They've also conditioned modern man to get 10-20 credit cards and a subprime ARM mortgage

      You know what they say about ARM mortgages? too much risc!

      Sorry.

      --
      Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
  2. There is no wife by Broken+scope · · Score: 4, Informative

    because he got divorced, and "everything" reminds him of her and hes just so miserable. The divorce was the catalyst for the whole thing.

    --
    You mad
    1. Re:There is no wife by jrumney · · Score: 4, Funny

      So actually, its only half a house and half a jetski. Better keep that in mind when you're bidding upwards of AU$300k.

  3. Here's your chance guys by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here's your chance to finally get a life! Gentlemen, place your bids!

    --
    My blog
  4. Aw man by Tabernaque86 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wanted to sell my life too, but then I remembered I didn't have one. :(

  5. Fake bids. by Funkcikle · · Score: 4, Informative
    I saw this yesterday and thought the price was too low now - turns out it had been bid up to AUS$2,000,000 by jokers and he had to remove the fake bids.

    Link to the story here = http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23908397-948,00.html

  6. PSone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Man, he could have at least thrown in a PS2...what a cheap bastard.

  7. If I were selling my life by thedbp · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'd probably wind up having to pay the auction winner to take it off my hands.

  8. Re:Presumably... by pacroon · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...his debts are included? A 90% mortgage would make the house less attractive. From his own site: 1). Potential buyers of this package does not need to concern themselves with any mortgage or debt that I have on the property. In Western Australia transfer of property is done through a Settlement Agent, who pays off any mortgage I have outstanding with my bank before releasing the balance of the proceeds of the sale to me, The buyer is responsible for arranging their own finance, and is in no way responsible for my loans or debts. There is no outstanding finance at all on any of the vehicles, or anything else in the house.
    --
    It's all fun & games until someone loses the game.
  9. My first post in a long time. by Grey+Ninja · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Honestly, this is the most fantastic Slashdot story that I've seen in a really long time. Unusual, sure. But I think that this is the perfect place to post this.

    I've always dreamed of doing something like this. Starting over, giving everything up. And I'm right positive that I'm not the only one on Slashdot to have those dreams.

    This guy has balls of steel. And I wish him the best.

    1. Re:My first post in a long time. by hal9000(jr) · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, I second this. 20 years ago I fit all my shit in a sea bag. Now I have dogs, a mortgage, bills, and more stuff than I can pack myself. I am happy, but I feel encumbered.

      I wish I had the guts to do this.

    2. Re:My first post in a long time. by bkr1_2k · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes suicide is more selfish than brave, but that's not what this guy is doing. Reinvention of yourself does take courage, but not a lot when you have $300K plus in the bank (or even half that) to survive off of while you're figuring it all out.

      I posted elsewhere than it's good for him, but he's hardly letting anyone down that depends on him. He's quitting a job and leaving where he lives to "start fresh". He has no kids, apparently no longer has a wife, and quitting a job isn't really the end of the world, so the only thing he's really done is sell all his crap and buy new crap as he sees fit. We all do that, we just don't necessarily do it all at once.

      --
      "Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
    3. Re:My first post in a long time. by value_added · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This guy is a coward who isn't capable of dealing with his problems in a mature manner and so he's concocted this weird scheme to try and finance him running away from his problems.

      This is obviously from someone who's not suffered any tragedy in his entire life but feels compelled to offer glib judgment on the sorrows of others. The least you could do is invoke something less cliched than a Readers Digest version of some Dr. Phil episode your mom forced you to watch.

      Here's a tip: In the worst of times, even the best of us behave badly. It's to be expected. It's normal. It's what makes us human. If you get that much, ask yourself how very ordinary is your own life and your relationships with others that you're unable to relate to someone who might be enduring really bad times?

      Me, I'm laughing (like everyone else), but only because I "get it". Losing your job, developing a incurable disease, getting cheated out of money, having your car stolen, losing big time in Vegas, nothing comes close to the torment of what a woman can put you through.

      Somewhere in hell Sam Kinnison is screaming "This ain't hell! I'll tell you what hell is!!!"

    4. Re:My first post in a long time. by djdavetrouble · · Score: 3, Funny

      I am happy, but I feel encumbered.

      Ahh, another case of life imitating nethack.
      Perhaps you are stuck with cursed armor or a loadstone.
      Or maybe you should "D" some of those items
      and do a polypile later.

      --
      music lover since 1969
  10. Re:I need more info. by allanw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just RTFA!

  11. All my life for sale by madaket · · Score: 4, Informative

    All my life for sale is a book by John Freyer who managed to list most of his worldly possessions (even his Christmas presents) on eBay.

  12. So the math is by shitzu · · Score: 5, Funny

    i have to pay 300K to get a house AND i have to work two weeks as a rug store sales assistant. What a sweet deal.

  13. This is news? by Joeyspecial · · Score: 5, Funny

    People sell their WOW accounts all the time.

  14. Re:Net Worth... by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Obviously this guy does some sort of skilled job that requires some sort of degree if he can afford a house, a car, and a jet ski. I mean a construction worker and a cashier is not going to own his own jet ski. I think you need to re-educate yourself on earning potential of blue collar workers. As an example there was a comparison done in the news in Australia a few years ago between a 25 year old brick layer and a doctor who had his own practice. The bricklayer was bringing in more revenue and was financially better off than the doctor and had a hell of a lot less stress.
    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  15. Re:Net Worth... by mulvane · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My father in law does outside construction. He own's a tow behind camper, 16' bass boat, 2 jetski's, 2 chevy 1500 HD trucks, a lincoln town car, and a $450,000USD house and a camping property on the Missouri river. I'm pretty sure people who budget early in life can afford nicer things later on if they make enough to initially subsist on and a little extra.

  16. I hear... by Thelasko · · Score: 3, Funny

    the winning bidder wants to have it sent to his brother in Nigeria.

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  17. Whoa! by Alsee · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can buy a house and a jet ski and all the other stuff anywhere, but friends? Whoa!

    I can't wait to show them my complete Star Wars Action Figures collection!

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  18. ooh! This is the plot of a movie, I know it! by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Funny

    We're going to find out that the Mafia has a hit out on him or he's supposed to be in an arranged marriage to a cannibal princess or something. The lovable everyman who buys this guy's life will now be in a madcap race to escape the consequences, probably falling in love with a girl-next-door Hollywood starlet in the process.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  19. Can I buy the wife's car? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Funny

    screeech vrooom! First screech and then vroom? Must be a really badass hybrid!
    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:Can I buy the wife's car? by ichigo+2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      She forgot the handbrake on.

  20. Get a life...in Perth? by that_itch_kid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh come on people, the guy lives in PERTH. Surely nobody is bidding on that.

  21. "...just the clothes I am wearing..." by Illbay · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "...and carrying only my wallet and passport."


    Er...and $300K in cash. There is that.

    P.S. Don't get mugged.

    --
    Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
  22. Now for what is really cool... by Gription · · Score: 5, Funny
    We just slashdotted his life!
    (Trying to figure out why I think it is so funny but it just cracks me up...)

    Meh. He's selling his current living conditions. He'll continue to live; if he's happy, he's still "winning," just like any of us. I'm not losing just because someone has more stuff than me (see George Carlin on that). BTW- It will be hard to see George since this weekend...
    1. Re:Now for what is really cool... by asliarun · · Score: 4, Funny

      We just slashdotted his life!

      (Trying to figure out why I think it is so funny but it just cracks me up...)

      Too late. His wife probably DDoSed him a long time ago. Why else do you think he's selling all his stuff?

    2. Re:Now for what is really cool... by socsoc · · Score: 5, Funny

      How could a wife launch a distributed denial of service attack on his life? Did she contact all of his mistresses, slutty co-workers, and the gals at the club down the road to have them join in the attack?

  23. Re:Net Worth... by IainMH · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, but there's no point in being old and rich.

    "We spend our youth trying to accumulate wealth and our wealth trying to accumulate youth" --Someone

    Don't fear the now.

  24. customizing lifestyle by unity100 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    i think we should try to customize our lifestyles according to our preferences. who says that you need to own a car, for example ? if one doesnt have the need for a car to commute or do traveling or shopping, s/he shouldnt buy one because everyone else has one and community thinks that owning car is a must.

    not owning a car would release the person from many obligations.

    same goes for furniture, other house belongings. we should minimize our belongings to the things we really need to have and like to have, but, we should try that what we have in that style are the best that we can have according to our needs or enjoyment.

    this should maximize our benefit from possessions whereas minimizing our overhead.

    --
    Read radical news here
  25. What if he is also selling his debt? by spineboy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What if the guy has a bunch of sub prime loans, and is under water on them. People can legally buy debt, so will they incur this as well? I've had my student loans sold to several different banks without my knowing, so why not sell your debt?

    --
    ..........FULL STOP.
  26. re: I don't find it "annoying" in the least .... by King_TJ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I often hear people complain about how "materialistic" we've all become, and how much happier we're supposed to be if we learn to reject some of this.

    Isn't that the same promise the Catholic religion has been hawking for the last 2,000 years or so?

    No, your possessions don't literally equate to your "life" ... but at the same time, I think they can (even SHOULD) help define a person. Looking at myself, I realize that my purchases directly reflect the things I enjoy doing in life. For example, I own several computer systems. Well, that's been my main "hobby interest" for close to 20 years now, and it led me to my career choice. Computers are the key to what makes me a "productive citizen", earning a regular paycheck. I also have a decent-sized music collection, and even some musical instruments (electric guitar, synthesizer, etc.). Sure, they're not necessities in life, but they're enjoyable distractions for me, and reflect on my interest in music in general.

    The people who worry me the MOST are the ones who don't seem to have any clear "hobbies" or interests that involve ownership of property! I've had friends like this, who seem like they're wandering aimlessly through life - spending their money on "intangible entertainment" like movie tickets, amusement park passes or sporting events. Ultimately, they have little to show for the work they do.

  27. Re: I don't find it "annoying" in the least .... by vorpal22 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What I observe in many people I know is a trend towards accumulation of possessions that don't necessarily make them happy, but that they feel that they deserve because they work at unsatisfying and time-consuming jobs. They feel that they should have something to show for all of their effort, and so they buy themselves things. I myself have fallen into this trap, but have since returned to graduate school. I'm now much poorer and can afford much less, but on the whole, I feel that I need less because I enjoy the work itself and thus don't need to justify it through material means.

    What I found most interesting was this comment you made:

    The people who worry me the MOST are the ones who don't seem to have any clear "hobbies" or interests that involve ownership of property! I've had friends like this, who seem like they're wandering aimlessly through life - spending their money on "intangible entertainment" like movie tickets, amusement park passes or sporting events. Ultimately, they have little to show for the work they do.

    Frankly, I can relate much better to your friends. I would far prefer to have interesting experiences and the resultant memories they bring tucked under my belt, such as travel or outings to concerts, amusement parks, etc. than to have a stockpile of possessions that may have resale value but rapidly depreciate and incur maintenance costs in many cases. Experiences are far more formative to me as a person than, say, car or personal entertainment system ownership.