Broken hearted man to auction his life on eBay

June 21, 2008 by Mark O'Neill |

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

A man, whose partner of 12 years walked out on him, plans to start a new life - but not in the traditional sense. He plans to start a completely new life by auctioning his entire old life on eBay and walking away with nothing except his passport and his wallet.

The auction is due to start tomorrow and will run for one week. The man in question, Ian Usher, has set up a website to publicize the upcoming auction and he insists that it is completely genuine and not a gimmick. The website has YouTube videos showing his house in Perth, Western Australia, and it has details of everything the successful bidder will receive.

In his website intro, Ian says :

I have had enough of my life! I don’t want it any more! You can have it if you like!

However, I am still not sure whether this is inspired madness, complete foolishness, or just some sort of mid-life crisis.

He adds that, included in the auction, will be his house and all its contents, a car, a motorbike, a jetski, kitesurfing gear, his job (he works in a rug store), his clothes, and even his friends (how can he sell his friends?)

He hopes to make up to $500,000 to fund his new life.

I can’t make up my mind whether Ian is very brave or totally nuts. What do you think? Could you turn your back on your life with only your wallet and passport in your pocket and sell everything else you own to someone? It might actually be very liberating to do it.

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11 Comments »

Comment by Srinidhi Venkatesh

2008-06-21 09:08:45

That’s original. People have taken to auctioning the most insane and random stuff on eBay. At least with this offer, you’re getting something for your money.

Remember that piece of toast with the holy figure on it? Or someone’s attempt to sell his virginity?

Although, a house, and all of that stuff in West Australia would be pretty sweet for 500 grand. Too bad I’m still in highschool.

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Comment by brandon

2008-06-21 09:33:35

I hope he plans on walking away with a pair of clothes along with his wallet and passport.

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Comment by Mark O'Neill

2008-06-21 09:43:08

That would make for a very interesting situation if somebody decided to really nitpick the wording of his auction. I’m sitting here laughing about your comment but his phrase “I’ll walk away with NOTHING except my wallet and my passport” could be taken VERY literally!

Some rich idiot with too much money and too much time on their hands could decide to win the auction just to force the guy to strip naked.

So I really hope Mr Ian Usher has had a lawyer proofread the auction text otherwise he’ll be walking off into the sunset using his passport and wallet to hide his you-know-what’s.

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Comment by Penguin Pete

2008-06-21 11:04:38

“Could you turn your back on your life with only your wallet and passport in your pocket?”

People should try having great tragedies befall them at points in their life. You get to start all over from scratch with no choice to back out of it - and no money to show for it. Wallet? Passport? Pocket?

Yes, it is liberating. Which is why it scares so many.

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Comment by Toby

2008-06-21 12:45:03

If you read the actual site linked, you’ll see the following:

“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.”

That answers the clothes question.

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Comment by brandon

2008-06-21 19:02:00

Damn. I was just about to start a fund raising campaign to teach this guy a lesson in proofreading.

Well if i were him id put it an order for some diamond-lined underwear and make the most out of this.

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Comment by Jimmy Rogers

2008-06-21 14:05:12

I don’t think I would do it. Think about all of the people you’ve met (and maybe not even become close friends) with. Without all of our human connections, it can be a very lonely world. I kind of burned my bridges in HS and I can tell you, the repopulation of friends (and I would assume, stuff) can be a long slow process.

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Comment by steely banana

2008-06-21 14:37:48

I don’t think that you can sell your friends as part of your life… to be honest, if my best friend sold his life away, I would never talk to the guy who replaced him.

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Comment by Cindie Thomas

2008-06-21 14:51:07

I’m totally digging on this idea. A fresh start can be a beautiful thing. Sometimes people hold onto stuff too much. Hell not sometimes, a lot of times. I try not to get too sentimental about stuff. People sure. Stuff, no. He’s leaving behind all of this stuff and starting fresh. Good plan.

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Comment by John thomas

2008-06-21 18:58:00

Wow, I would sell it all, buy me a sailboat and sail off into the sunset!

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Comment by Sheamus

2008-06-22 00:51:24

It’s been done before.

http://www.allmylifeforsale.com/

No sob story with this one, but the point is the same. The guy has a book out, too, which looks a great read.

Using the public/commercial space of the online trading community Ebay in conjunction with his online catalogue Allmylifeforsale.com, John Freyer catalogued and sold nearly everything that he owned, from his kitchen cutlery to his personal hygiene products, his Star Wars sheets and finally even the domain name Allmylifeforsale.com itself.

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