Set
up in 1995, Ebay is an internet service that functions
as an online shopping mall and auction house at the same
time. A haven for those who seek to find the rarest of
treasures for (hopefully), a fraction of their original
prices. Everyday, millions of people surf through this
virtual marketplace in search for that special bargain
and this throng of regulars is ever increasing.
And the things people do sell ' and subsequently
buy! Pots, pans, clothes and jewelry are just the tip
of the iceberg. We have budding merchants selling roadsters,
executive apartments and even packaged money no less!
However, my personal favourites would be the various 'unique'
odds and ends that one can find littered all over this
bazaar. Among these oddities for sale include football
clubs, wills and haunted rubber duckies. Anything and
everything is purchasable online. And when the implications
of that statement hits, we can see the emerging problems.
Here are some of the more 'unusual' merchandises available:
1)
Virtual Girlfriends
In
2002, a new trend emerged, offering kind services to 'socially'challenged'
individuals who seek to impress their peers and families.
The Virtual Girlfriends were women (usually college students)
who placed themselves on Ebay, appealing to partner'less
persons to buy their services. Once bought, these 'girlfriends'
would provide a package, which included writing letters
of love and devotion to their new'found 'boyfriends',
giving them their photographs and even a pair of panties
or two. Of course, there is no actual physical intimacy;
the services rendered seek instead to impress any pesky
relatives who might doubt the customer's skill with the
ladies.
2)
The Haunted (Insert object here)
Now
don't be shy, who hasn't been intrigued and freaked out
by tales of the supernatural. Thoughts of ghosts and superstitions
govern many parts of our lives, movies and books seek
to scare us over and over again, and we even have a holiday
celebrating such events in splendid creepiness. And now,
the supernatural grips Ebay customers in the embodiment
of possessed objects. And while the common trend is to
have a haunted piece of furniture on display, a doll being
sold on Ebay has been causing much news recently. An apparently
possessed Stitch soft toy from Disney's Lilo and Stitch
seems to be making its owners' lives a living hell and
they are trying to get rid of it. The full account can
be found here.
And while the story is interesting, I was more receptive
to the US$11,100 price tag it finally sold for. That must
be one of the most profitable dolls Disney has ever made
for commercial use. A smart hoax or a true tale of horrific
proportions? You decide.
3)
Religion on toast
Yes,
even religion has not been spared in the Ebay euphoria.
This is especially so in the recent miracle images that
have been floating around the net. Imagine the picture
of Jesus' face. Got it? Now imagine this Messiah's face
imprinted' on a piece of burnt toast. The person who owns
this sacred dough now wants to share this miracle with
the world, or at least with the top bidder, by selling
it on good old reliable Ebay. Hard to believe? Another
entrepreneur is attempting to sell an Easter egg with
the Son of God's face on it. His starting price is US$150.
You have to wonder if he'll succeed or not. However, there
is another depiction of Jesus' visage that takes the cake.
Starting at US$250,000, one person is attempting to sell
a meteorite in the shape of Jesus' face. He calls it a
miracle meteorite and hopes the Vatican Museum
will buy. Sure they will'
4)
All that Mystery
This
is another recent trend that people have come up with,
though how they even think up these schemes is currently
beyond me. This time, it involves the selling of mysterious
objects that we know nothing about. It could be anything:
a box with a cryptic item of certain value inside, or
a key that opens' well, nobody knows. It is a tried and
tested formula, mystery and intrigue always pipes the
interest of consumers and there will be results. For proof
of such results, bidding for one such mystery box is currently
up to US$112 and a key is going for US$99. It is not that
we are fools who fall for such easy scams; rather it is
just human nature to be curious and to pay for such curiosity.
5)
Forehead Advertising
There
are people selling themselves now, or a part of themselves
to be exact. A milder, more absurd form of organ marketing,
human beings offer their foreheads to companies as a crude
yet innovative billboard. Whoever thought of this ingenious
form of mass marketing must have been a sales guru ' or
an impoverished individual desperately seeking attention.
The whole idea works around the theory of brand power.
The more you see it, the more it is recognized. The main
ingredient is a person's forehead, which is auctioned
on Ebay to the highest bidder. Winners of these auctions
get to literally stamp their company names or logos on
the seller's forehead for a certain period of time, thus
guaranteeing themselves some form of exposure. Who knows,
these forehead banners may attract enough attention and
gossip to become the talk of the town. How's that for
recognition?
These
are just some of the fascinating 'products and services'
available on Ebay. What is more interesting here are
not the unique objects up for sale, but the fact that
there are people actually purchasing them. As they say,
there must be some form of demand before there is supply.
People have to be willing to pay for such eccentricities
to appear.
Anonymity
can perhaps be the main reason for this bizarre phenomenon.
People on the internet are protected by obscure profiles
and physical geographical distance. Face'to'face meetings
are rare and without this threat of anybody ever finding
out another's identity, well' you can imagine the results.
We can do what we like and post what we like without
qualms and bend the rules of normal firsthand human
interaction freely.
The
Ebay system is also an ideal space for us to browse
through. With that much freedom in simply looking,
curiosity becomes an overpowering emotion that compels
us to just' click. One thing leads to another and suddenly
you can find yourself bidding as well. A simple marketing
strategy, but an effective one nonetheless.
Or
perhaps it is simply a person's inherent nature to be
swayed by trends, weird or not. Like fashion, food or
even the internet, we fall into a common stream dictated
by unknown worldly forces. Whatever the case, as long
as we keep bidding, these fun'filled and incredible
items will keep coming. But hey, it may not be all that
a bad thing. Who knows, you too may be in need of a
mystery box one day.
