10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Honus Wagner baseball card
How about an unusually small -- and valuable -- baseball card?
That's exactly what collector Brian Seigel did in 2000, when he paid $1.1 million, plus a 15 percent buyer's fee, to acquire the T206 Honus Wagner (PSA 8 NM-MT, to be exact) card. The item isn't only coveted among baseball card aficionados -- it was also the most expensive item purchased on eBay that year.
The card, issued in 1909 by the American Tobacco Company and measuring 2.5 by 1.5 inches, was previously owned by well-known sports memorabilia collector Michael Gidwitz, former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall, and ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. Experts say the card's "quality, rarity, and legend" make it the most illustrious baseball card on earth.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Power lunch with the Oracle of Omaha
The annual Warren Buffett Power Lunch Auction has raised more $9 million for the world-renowned Glide Memorial Church, an organization in San Francisco, Calif., that has been feeding the hungry for more than 45 years.
The record-setting price for lunch with Buffett topped the 2010 winning bid by $100.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Navy F/A-18A Hornet
The fighter jet, once the property of the U.S. Navy, was "disassembled" at the time of the auction so it could be shipped, Landa told CNN at the time. (In other words, some assembly required.) On the other hand, for the modest sum of an additional $9 million, the jet came with several nice "extras" -- like bomb racks.
Landa, a long-time pilot and aircraft salesman, told a trade publication that federal agents paid him a visit after he put the jet on the block. They wanted to find out "what are you selling out here," Landa said, according to the Associated Press. "They wanted the scoop on it."
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Bridgeville, Calif.
Oh, and a hell of a view. Laguna Hills, Calif., mortgage banker Bruce Krall, who owned Bridgeville from 2004 to 2006, said in an interview with The Orange County Register that in the town "at night, when the clouds roll in over those mountains, it's spectacular."
But being owned is unpredictable -- and potentially tragic. Bridgeville's most recent owner, a 25-year-old college student, committed suicide in Los Angeles in 2006 only a few months after buying the town from Krall for $1.25 million.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Atlas F missile base
The complex, build by the federal government during the Cold War era, was designed to withstand a direct nuclear hit. Gregory Gibbons, one of the site developers who listed the property on eBay, described the silo before the auction as the "perfect solution for the right family or corporation," noting the "escalating threat of world terrorism and an increasing need for security." The mountain getaway included its own private airstrip, a Jacuzzi, and the kind of tranquil living space afforded by three-foot thick walls.
An even better preserved Atlas missile-launching facility was listed for sale on eBay in April of this year. "Don't just buy a bunker," reads the listing, "buy a complex that's designed to withstand anything." Jeff Flaningam, the seller of the item and owner of Veritas Forge product development company, set a $300,000 minimum starting bid for the silo, while adding that the site's owner would consider trading the property for a "luxury diesel coach plus cash."
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Giga-yacht
Listed on eBay in 2005, the yacht came equipped with 10 multi-level suites with panoramic windows, eight guest cabins, a salon, a cinema room, a fitness room, an office area, and your very own mega-laser (OK, we made that last one up.) The chopper garage offered "the ultimate in protection and functionality for your helicopter, to better reach those remote areas," according to 4Yacht Inc,
The winning bidder? Anonymous, of course.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Gulfstream II
The luxurious Gulfstream II, which seats 12, was sold by business plane vendor Tyler Jet to a charter-flight company headquartered in Africa.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Ian Usher's worldly goods
Precipitating the auction was Usher's marital problems and ensuing midlife crisis. Hoping to clean the slate, he decided to sell all of his possessions. That included a three-bedroom house, parachuting gear, a beat-up Mazda, personal introductions to his friends, and a trial position as a sales assistant at the rug shop where he worked.
Some four years later, the 48-year-old told Britain's Daily Mail in April that he was doing OK. He said he had bought an island in the Caribbean and fallen in love with a Canadian woman. The estimated worth of his new life remains unclear.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
'Shoeless' Joe's baseball bat
In 1920, Jackson and seven other Chicago White Sox players were suspended from professional baseball after they were alleged to have thrown the 1919 World Series in what came to be known as the "Black Sox" scandal (despite a court later acquitting him of any involvement in the affair). That ended his career. Jackson's favorite bat, which he used to hit a remarkable .356 over his 13-year career, was a 48-ounce, 32-inch slugger made of hickory. Known as "Black Betsy," it was the only bat he never discarded.
10 most expensive items ever listed on eBay
Ferrari Enzo
The price-tag set a record for the most expensive item sold over the online auction site in Europe.
In Dubai, where bouncing a check is a crime, police recently confiscated an Enzo that formerly belonged to a British citizen who had left the car behind after fleeing the country. Cops seized the vehicle after it had baked in the sun for 20 months and collected roughly $27,000 in unpaid traffic tickets. The Dubai police plan to auction the car, which is valued at $1.6 million.