Scientific Americanreports that a man won Knome's genome sequencing auction with a winning bid of $68,000. Knome will announce who the winning bidder is once the payment goes through.
But since then, someone did: The auction closed Monday afternoon, with a single bid at the $68,000 minimum Knome had set.
"We don't know who the [auction's] winner is," says Knome's Ari Kiirikki. "We know it's a male and we know he's from Europe." But as soon as the payment goes through, probably within days, the company will learn his identity, he adds, and the unknown man will join about 20 others who have had their genes sequenced by Knome.
Normally, the service-which includes an analysis by Knome's team of clinicians and geneticists so you can understand whether your genetic profile makes you susceptible to certain diseases, such as cancer or Alzheimer's-costs $99,500. It takes about three months to complete the process, says Kiirikki, Knome's vice president of sales and business development.
Proceeds from the eBay auction will go to the X Prize Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. You can still see the auction listing here.
Knome is a service that offers complete genome sequencing for individuals. This is a pricey service that will get cheaper over time as both demand and technology improve. Scientific American points out that a service by 23andme offers a custom genome scan for $399 which can tell you how susceptible you are to certain diseases, such as the dreaded norovirus.
CNN reports that a man in Idaho is selling the rights to a "Hand of God" rock wall formation in his backywards.
Paul Grayhek, 52, listed the rock formation he dubbed the "Hand of God Rock Wall" on the online auction Web site eBay. The highest bid was $250 early Sunday, with three days left to go in the auction.
The hand-like formation, approximately 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide, appeared in Grayhek's backyard after a rockfall during Lent on March 8, he said.
The Coeur d'Alene resident said he faced tough times after losing his job, and believed the rock was a sign.
"I prayed between licking my wounds and looking for a job," he said. "We rarely get rockfalls and this formation is 20 feet from my house. It's definitely a symbol of the hand of God in my life."
An 867-5309 phone number in New York City is up for auction on eBay. The auction listing claims the phone number gets 8,000 - 10,000 calls per year.
This is one of the LAST remaining 867-5309 numbers in service. Receives between 8,000-10,000 Calls Per Year!!
***Many callers have informed me that I'm one of the only remaining 867-5309 numbers in service after attempting every area code in the US.***
Number is registered with Vonage (internet) phone company and is easily transferred with a simple modem that I will mail to you. All of the account transfer details are done easily online.
The number being auctioned was made famous by the 1982 Tommy Tutone song, "Jenny (867-5309)." The song has lots of results on YouTube.
10,000 calls a year is something that would keep most people from wanting anything to do with the number but there seems to be enough interest that bidding for the phone number has climbed over the $100,000 mark. It could be a good number for a radio station that might not mind lots of ridiculous calls for Jenny. Snopes.com has an interesting article about the phone number and its associated crank calls.
Wannabe siege barons can now find a full-size Roman war machine called a ballista for sale on eBay. This ballista was built in 2002 for the BBC program Building the Impossible. It was built by a team of experts and even fired to prove that the Roman's written account of their siege methods (there are no surviving drawings) are accurate. The successful firing sent a stone ball 115 meters but the ballista was damaged in the process.
The sellers lists these three reasons why you might want a ballista.
The ballista could be an excellent and unique tourist attraction for a wide range of public venues.
It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a unique recreation of a Roman war machine.
If you have aspirations to overthrow a neighbour's castle, the ballista isn't ideal, as even though it is potentially capable of throwing a stone ball over 100 yards, it is now not in firing condition. (Please note that even if it were, you would need a team of several skilled operators in order to do this, and these are very hard to find today. You may also find that advances in weaponry since this was designed place you at a considerable disadvantage on the modern battlefield.)
Somehow we don't think the neighbors would approve. Bidding stars at 25 thousands pounds (about $50,000). Here's a video of the ballista being built.
The BBC reports that a scientist purchased an amber insect fossil on eBay and it turned out to be a previously undiscovered species. The insect lived 40 to 50 million years ago. The scientist paid £20 ($37 U.S.) for the fossil which was put up for auction on eBay by a person from Lithuania. The scientist thought of naming the insect Mindarus ebayi but those kinds of names are frowned on in the scientific community.
The insect itself is 3-4mm long and is encased in a 40-50 million-year-old piece of amber about the size of a small pill.
"I had thought it would be rather nice to call it Mindarus ebayi," said Dr Harrington. "Unfortunately using flippant names to describe new species is rather frowned upon these days."
Instead, Professor Heie named the new species after Dr Harrington.
"It's not uncommon to find insects in amber... but I'm not sure that one has turned up on eBay that has been undiscovered before. It's a rather unusual route to come by [a new species]," the researcher, based at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, explained.
The are currently a couple hundred amber fossil listings on eBay, but some are probably not legitimate fossils.
The San Francisco Chroniclereports that a three million year old mastadon skeleton is up for sale on eBay. A family has kept the enormous mastadon skeleton in their garage for years. You can see the auction listing here.
Nancy Fiddler is cleaning out her garage in Sebastopol these days, which is the thing to do if your garage has a mastodon in it.
Not just any mastodon, but a full-grown one. It's among the finest examples of a fossilized mastodon in North America, and certainly the finest example of one in a Sebastopol garage.
Fiddler wants it gone. It's been in the family for 11 years, and that's long enough for the relationship to have run its course.
"This," she said, pointing to the creature that fills half the garage, "was something we felt we could let go of."
So far there haven't been any bids at all but it could be because the starting price is $115,000.
The mastodon ad began running last week. Since then, the number of bids has remained constant. There were none on Friday, none over the weekend and, as of Monday night, the running total was zero.
It could be the asking price. Fiddler set the minimum opening bid at $115,000. She figures the thing to be worth $800,000, but she is not the first person to discover that a precious family heirloom is perhaps worth less than the adoring family figured.
Mastadon bones have appeared on eBay before but a valuable complete skeleton like this one is very unusual. If someone does purchase this enormous skeleton they will have to pick it up themselves. Shipping is not included. (via Boing Boing)
An eBay entry (via AFP) claims to offer the solution to the Iraq War. The auction was put there by someone claiming to be a Military Intelligence officer in the United States Army with an extensive background in the Middle East. Here is what the auction listing's description says.
I am offering the winning bidder the solution to the war in Iraq. This is not a flippant or facetious offer. There will be no joke forwarded to you if you are the winning bidder. If you are the high bidder, I will send you a viable solution to the conflict in which we are currently engaged. I am a Military Intelligence officer in the United States Army with an extensive background in the Middle East. I speak the language and understand the culture, history, and religion, well enough to construct a fair, honorable, and successful plan. I have spent time in Iraq as an enlisted intelligence Soldier during Desert Storm in 1991 and as an intelligence officer during this latest action.
I have been involved in the planning of over 400 combat operations and have personally participated in over 300 combat operations that ranged from terrorist cell take-downs to single-handed arms market raids. I do not lack courage or the ability to act.
I have headed humanitarian efforts that varied from toy drives to bridge building to educational support. I do not lack heart or the ability to feel.
My passion for this solution is genuine and my zeal is not misdirected. I do not demonize any group for the actions of a few but neither do I deify any group in some misguided attempt to show my open-mindedness. I have grieved for lost friends, both American and Iraqi, military and civilian. This war is not a concept, a philosophy, or a political agenda to me. It is a highly personal issue that I have applied an objective detachment to in order to arrive at a logical conclusion.
This war has currently cost us somewhere around FOUR HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS and over 3500 American lives. My buy it now price of five million seems perfectly reasonable by comparison. I'm not even asking you to risk your life. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems that the most valuable things in life are the least valued. For this reason I am starting the bidding at only one dollar. Just to sweeten the pot a little, I will not only send you the solution but I will also make myself available to you for two hours to further explain my solution and answer any possible questions that you may have. (Transportation costs are the sole responsibility of the winning bidder if they choose to exercise this option.) If you work for a senator or congressman or a possible presidential hopeful, maybe you should get everyone at the office to chip in and purchase my solution for them. Some of them might even be able to foot the bill themselves.
The highest bid for the item has passed the $1,000 mark. There have been 54 bids so far.
The International Herald Tribunereports that a 20-story building is up for sale on eBay. The building is the Heritage Tower and Dome Center in Battle Creek, MI. It was built in 1931.
The listing touts the 149,000-square-foot (13,843-sq. meter) structure's selling points, including its cathedral-like common area on the second floor, now used for special events; a 34-car, underground parking garage; and retail and office space on the ground floor. It is accompanied by 12 exterior and interior photos of the building.
Dore suggests that with some remodeling, it could house condominiums.
The auction's fine print makes it clear that the winning bid will not necessarily translate into a change of ownership for the building.
"By participating, you are not entering into a contract to purchase this property," a disclaimer on the listing says. "You are, however, expressing serious interest in the property and in pursuing contract discussions."
You can find the auction listing here. Bids start at $1.5 million.
A woman has put everything she owns up for auction on eBay in one big listing called Everything Perry Owns. The L.A. Timessays the 45-year-old lawyer describes herself as a pack rat. The winning bidders must come to her apartment, box up her stuff and take it away.
"I've always wanted to just get up and go," said Perry, who plans to move to California in June in search of work and a warmer climate. "Some of my family are worried about my sanity.
"I don't need all this junk. Who wouldn't want to chuck everything and hit the road?"
At first, she planned to donate a portion of the proceeds to charity. But when her original effort last week violated EBay's rules for charity listings, the company pulled the auction. Perry re-listed her auction as a straight sale and hopes to later donate money to a favorite charity, Heifer International.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were only nine bids and a top offer of $566.66. But more than 1,000 curious shoppers have virtually sifted through her stuff. Perry said she's also received hundreds of e-mails from people who learned about the auction from news reports and are praising her for opting for a life of "voluntary simplicity."
The eBay listing has a long list of some of the items Perry owns and has put up for auction. They include a wide variety of stuff including refrigerator magnets, clothes, books, clothers, candle holders and even a milk crate full of seashells from the east coast. Bidding will end on April 15th. There have been ten bids so far with the higest bid being $710.00.
The 1999 Volkswagen Golf which once belonged to Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is back on eBay again. The unusual auction listing generated over 8 million pageviews for eBay in 2005. The vehicle was purchased by GoldenPalace.com and they are now placing the vehicle for sale on eBay.co.uk. Proceeds from this auction will benefit Habitat for Humanity Great Britain. (via GermanCarScence.com -> Autoblog)
The BBC reports that someone bought the window and frame that John F Kennedy was shot from for $3 million on an eBay auction. The BBC says the auction started at $100,000 and climbed rapidly.
An item described as the window and frame from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot US President John F Kennedy in 1963 has been sold at auction on eBay.
A mystery bidder paid more than $3m (£1.5m) for the item, apparently from Oswald's shooter's nest at the Texas Schoolbook Depository.
The starting price was just $100,000 but bidding was brisk and the item eventually fetched $3,001,501.
That's a lot of money to pay for such a weird item. The BBC also says there are some who believe the bidders were being "hoodwinked." As it turns out the buyer was not able to come up with the cash and the deal fell apart. More photographs of the item can be found on the eBay auction listing page while it lasts.
Someone is selling their MySpace account with over 100,000 friends on eBay. You can see the auction listing here. The seller claims to have over 100,000 friends on a MySpace profile they started over four years ago.
Why are you selling your Account?
I started this account 4 years ago when MySpace first started. I have used it as my personal account but I am now in need of a little extra cash and my friends suggested that I sell my account so I thought I'd give it a shot. Why should I buy this Account? If you are into MySpace you know an account with over 100k friends is VERY rare. Now to own a MySpace account with over 100k friends, a low ID, and an unset URL is unheard of. If you do not bid on this account you will probably never find another one like this! This account gives you an instant customer base. Depending on the product you sell you should make back the money spent on this auction very soon.
This is not the only MySpace account auction taking place. There are currently 29 auctions going on for MySpace accounts. Several of these accounts claim to have over 20,000 or 30,000 friends.
Venus hs partnered with Mariah Carey to auction off an autographed replica of the female artist's legendary legs.
The legs will be up for bid on the popular auction site, eBay, from February 12th through February 21st with all proceeds benefiting The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Fresh Air children visit volunteer host families in 13 Northeastern states or attend sleep-away camp. The centerpiece of The Fund's Career Awareness Program is Camp Mariah, named in honor of Board member/singer Mariah Carey for her dedication, support and commitment to Fresh Air youngsters.
The auction can be viewed here. Bidding ends on February 21st.
One student next term at Oklahoma Wesleyan University may have paid a lot less for tuition than his or her classmates.
The university on Saturday kicked off an eBay auction of a year of tuition, room and board at the private college. The bidding had reached $4,425 by 11 p.m.
Bidders can buy the tuition for themselves or someone else. Among the bidders will be current students at the school, which has an enrollment of about 1,030 students.
A year of tuition, room and board at Oklahoma Wesleyan costs about $23,000. The bidding will be open through Saturday.
"I think it's a really neat idea," junior Emily Wright said. "I don't know why anybody wouldn't bid."
If this does well maybe it will become a trend. The winning bidder will still have to meet the school's minimum education requirements -- you can't bid your way out of that.
Update 2-15-07: The winning bidder saved some money paying $18,669.99 for a year of tuition, room and board at OWU.
Scientific American 
CNN 
Wannabe siege barons can now find a full-size Roman war machine called a ballista 
The BBC 
The San Francisco Chronicle 
The Guardian 
An eBay 
The International Herald Tribune 
A woman has put everything she owns up for auction on eBay in one big listing called 
The 1999 Volkswagen Golf which once belonged to Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is back on eBay again. The unusual auction listing generated over 8 million pageviews for eBay in 2005. The vehicle was purchased by GoldenPalace.com and they are now placing the vehicle for sale on eBay.co.uk. Proceeds from this auction will benefit Habitat for Humanity Great Britain. (via 
The BBC 
Venus hs partnered with Mariah Carey to auction off an autographed replica of the female artist's legendary legs.
