It has been 20 years since eBay founder Pierre Omidyar wrote the code for 'AuctionWeb', listing a broken laser pointer that sold for $14.83. Today, the site boasts 157 million buyers and 800 million listings. Over the years, eBay has seen some bizarre items put up for sale, from haunted objects to uneaten sprouts.
One of the most famous strange listings was a grilled cheese sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary. It sold for $28,000 in 2004 and was claimed to have remained mold-free for over a decade. Another item with alleged supernatural properties was a jar containing a 'ghost', which sold for around $55,000, though the buyer never paid. A haunted rubber duck that could possess children also sold, fetching $107.50.
In 2005, an item described as 'Jesus on toast' sold for $1,209 to online casino GoldenPalace.com, the same buyer of the Virgin Mary grilled cheese. Other oddities include a jar of air from a North Carolina man claiming to contain the 'meaning of life', which sold for $3.26, and a piece of Britney Spears' chewed bubble gum that went for $14,000.
Some listings were more personal. A 10-year-old English girl tried to sell her grandmother on eBay, describing her as 'annoying' but 'cuddly', before the listing was removed for violating human trafficking rules. Ian Usher auctioned off his 'entire life'—including his house, belongings, and job—for $384,000. A London student sold her imaginary friend Bernard for 99 pence, with the friend to be delivered via imagination.
Other unusual items include an 'unassembled snowman' from Rotherham listed for £10 million, the rights to name an unborn child (sold for $6,800 but never paid), and a man's liver auctioned for $5.7 million before being removed for illegality. A piece of toast left behind by singer Ricky Martin after a radio interview sold for $1,025. Finally, green boots donated by the musical Wicked were sold during ITV's Heels for Hearts campaign.
