'idiots' made false bids

[Cocksparrer]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/2008062...n-a7ad41d.html

SYDNEY (AFP) - A lovelorn Yorkshireman who put his life up for auction on the Internet said Tuesday "idiots" had made fake bids which pushed up the price of his home, job and lifestyle to unrealistic levels.
Ian Usher, 44, was drinking champagne and celebrating on Sunday night after the seven-day auction of his Australian lifestyle started with a bang, hitting 650,000 Australian dollars (315,000 pounds).By the time he awoke on Monday, bidding had reached a million pounds, or 2.2 million dollars.
But after initially laughing at his luck, Usher quickly came down to earth when he realised that a registration system for bidding on the eBay auction site had not been activated.
The former carpet store assistant, who is selling his near-new three-bedroom home in Perth in Western Australia as part of his "life package", began ringing the people behind the offers to check whether they were genuine.
Usher, originally from Yorkshire in England, said the highest bidders gave a range of excuses -- from blaming another family member for making the bid to claiming their eBay password had been stolen -- before they all backed out."They are just idiots, absolute idiots," he told AFP.
"I think I was speaking to kids most of the time."
Usher has now deleted most of the bids on the site, even though some may have been genuine, and the top offer for his "life" sits at 300,100 dollars -- just over 145,000 pounds.
"That's not even 75 percent of the value of the house," he said.
Usher has said the unusual auction was triggered by his break-up with his wife more than two years ago, and the desire to rid himself of the personal possessions which reminded him of the happy years they spent together.
As well as the house and contents, Usher is also offering the winning bidder introductions to his friends and a stint at his former job for at least two weeks, with the possibility of permanent employment if the store owners agree.
If the sale goes ahead, Usher will keep only his passport, wallet and the clothes on his back.
He said the value of the assets for sale -- which includes everything from an indoor spa to a home entertainment system to his pots and pans -- was between 450,000 and 500,000 and he was confident of reaching that point.
"I'm beyond worried, I'm just along for the ride at the moment," he told AFP.

[heatemyfather]

Who's the more foolish - the fool or the fool who follows him?

I think he's a bit of an idiot for expecting any serious bidders on such an auction, quite frankly.

[Cocksparrer]

Who's the more foolish - the fool or the fool who follows him?

I think he's a bit of an idiot for expecting any serious bidders on such an auction, quite frankly.

Thats what I thought I mean what if he sold it all for couple hundred lol

[papagran40]

they do have auctions over there...the folk just turn up at the house on the day , and bid.....but I agree , to put it on the internet ????.....

[Lush_Designs]

He will probably make more money selling his story, he is already doing loads of TV interviews and radio shows. Maybe that was his intention, 5 mins of fame, or maybe he is just nuts! lol

[BLOXBOOKS]

Well good luck to him, imagine a nice wad of cash and heading to the airport, me if I had just about 2500 GBP spare (I would need about the same to keep my morgage in check) I would go off for I reckon a year, easy 6 months in India, do Bangladesh(or Bangladesh first), up to Napal if its possible to get accross into China (Tibet) and hope its possible to get a cheap flight to Egypt onto Libya and just a guess there must be some cheap deck fare from Tripoli back to Europe..... sigh....well at least Ian Usher got me day dreaming...

[outboards]

fake bidders on theifbay, I didnt think that was possible with all the new stuff they have bought out to protect the sellers from this sort of thing happening, thats why I came over here I didnt like the security of knowing that every bid was genuine.
.............Sarcasm off..............

[redmerlin777]

Hmmmmmmm........
A real idiot... he should have used ebid as he will have huge FVF to pay!!

It could also be very much a cheap way to advertise thiefbay and to detract from their present issues.

[Lush_Designs]

Hmmmmmmm........
A real idiot... he should have used ebid as he will have huge FVF to pay!!

It could also be very much a cheap way to advertise thiefbay and to detract from their present issues.

Lol, sad but true! Hope he does make some money from interviews with the amount of fees he will pay and I hope he isn't accepting paypal, the buyer will probably do a chargeback and get it all for free!