Speaking of which, eBay's rules were tested in a landmark case last week when American sisters selling a Kellogg's Frosted Flake shaped like the state of Illinois challenged a decision to remove the corn from sale because it was in violation of the auction site's food policy.
They got around the rule by offering a coupon that can be redeemed for the flake, rather than the flake itself, which suggests eBay takes an admirably commonsense approach to applying the law, especially when there might be a story in it.
Now the only thing standing between the sisters and a flake-funded life of unimaginable riches is competition: two other Frosted Flakes shaped like Illinois had gone up for auction by late last week, along with similar offerings shaped like Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, Baja California, South America, a sheep's head and a Thanksgiving turkey.
Still, by Friday bidding on the original flake had reached $1025.
And again:
The first item sold on the site, when it was launched under the name Auction Web in 1995, was a broken laser pointer for $14.83.
Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar, a French-born Iranian-American, contacted the winning bidder and asked if they understood that the pointer was broken. The buyer replied: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers."
It's the Monday of a four day long weekend. Not much news today.
No comments:
Post a Comment