Man Selling His Life On eBay

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."

There is no wife

[Broken scope]

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

Fake bids.

[Funkcikle]

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 [news.com.au]

Re:Well, two things come to mind

[beadfulthings]

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

Re:Presumably...

[pacroon]

...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.

All my life for sale

[madaket]

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

Re:Well, two things come to mind

[mpe]

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.

Presumably subject to being able to get the appropriate visa should the winning bidder not have one or be an Australian citizen.

Re:Net Worth...

[andy.ruddock]

Obviously the buyer is a guy with completely different skillsets. 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.

The clue's in the article :

" Joy Jones, who co-owns the rug store in Perth where Mr Usher worked as a shop assistant, said she supported the auction idea.
Her company is offering the successful bidder a two-week trial, which could be extended for three months and then become permanent. "

Re:Net Worth...

[Inda]

"house, a car, and a jet ski"

I own a house, car, motorbike. No degree (although I have a trade that I don't use anymore).

People in the UK on less than average income can afford all this. Many families are home-owner, two-car families.

Degree? hehehehe.

Re:My first post in a long time.

[SpinyNorman]

Sure - quit your job, buy yourself a few acres in the boonies someplace, and become self-sufficient. Or go build a cabin up in Alaska and live off the land.

Re:What if he is also selling his debt?

[Zero__Kelvin]

He cannot sell what he doesn't own. If he owes a bank money, for example, then the bank owns the debt, not him. That is why your student loan debt was sold to several different banks, and you didn't profit one iota.