EBay Typo Costs Man $500,000
Shopping on eBay is supposed to be about finding bargains, and this summer a guy from Oklahoma ended up finding quite the deal. He was the winning bidder of a bottle of Allsopp's Arctic Ale in which the seller made a typo in his auction and spelled it "Allsops." The auction ended with very little interest and only 2 bids for the bottle that was obviously worth so much more than the winning bid of $304. And to make the mistake even more painful, that winning bidder turned around and listed the bottle again on eBay, but this time with the name spelled correctly, and got a whopping 157 bidders and a sale price of $503,300.That's gotta hurt.
Via BornRich
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Holly Sep 10th 2007 3:44PM
Wow that is terrible! That guy has to be kicking him self one little letter costing you $502,996 my heart goes out to the guy.
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/
rsplatpc Sep 11th 2007 1:19PM
ummm, if I screwed up a typo worth around $490,700 PRETTY sure I would take the 1 negative feedback over almost half a million dollars, what a moron for sending the bottle.
Jean Sep 11th 2007 9:10PM
It's hard to feel sorry for someone who puts up something that expensive with no reserve! What was he thinking?
mike Sep 13th 2007 7:48AM
one frosty old brew + one typo = priceless
Spectacular Bid Sep 13th 2007 12:48PM
Good for a chuckle, but at $500k that sounds a bit much on the 'urban legend' scale for me. Time will tell if the check clears from the buyer. Keep in mind no one is saying the original listing guy knew it was worth anything in particular.
Here is the detail on the bottle + ebay listing:
http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1068558
I don't cry for the initial seller. Items are bought each day at flea markets, garage sales, et al for pennies on the dollar only to be sold later for inflated prices. It is all arbitrage pure and simple. It is a painfuly basic concept: a seller who doesn't know what they have is the one who makes the least.
My own mother purchased a L. C. Tiffany vase in a garage sale for $5 a few years ago. Because she knew visually what it was - confirmed by her knowledge of their unique stamping and didn't mind having to brush off some grime she picked it up for that rate. I belive she sold it for $2k a month later.
Still I'm sure that buyer sold it to someone else, etc. Such is life ...
PW Sep 18th 2007 8:31PM
I've seen this kind of thing even in used bookstores, though never quite at this scale. I once bought a Bard's Tale original working software, complete with full maps and instructions, for $3 at a used bookstore, and when I put it up on e-bay, it sold for over $50. Sometimes it's easier to find this stuff than you might think.
Recyclebabe Sep 18th 2007 8:41PM
It's difficult to be an expert on everything..You just can't..BUT A SPELLING ERROR???? That's just careless..
www.recyclebabe.com
james Sep 18th 2007 8:44PM
Ok folks I am from Okla They ran this article in the local paper. Don't feel too bad for the original seller. The second seller said he was contacted shortly after the auction close and the winning bidder said it was a joke that he just wanted to see how high he could bid it up. The seller didn't seem to upset by this. He just took it in stide.
6UL DV8 Sep 19th 2007 8:54AM
i wonder if he'd be interested in a $750,000 baseball to throw at it
merritt Sep 18th 2007 9:01PM
I am an eBayer and the most important thing is RESEARCH! Make sure you know what it's worth before you list it on eBay.
Cody Sep 18th 2007 9:05PM
Gotta be tough if you're gonna be dumb.
sandi Sep 18th 2007 9:09PM
Ya, I noticed no feedback was left yet. Seemed to me to be a joke.
david jones Sep 18th 2007 9:32PM
I bought a brand new pair of Italian Tod's Loafer's on Ebay for 90% off because the lady who listed them posted the spelling as the word "Todds" with 2 D's instead of one "D." As a result their were only 2 bidders. If it were to have been on the regular Tod's listing on Ebay the $385.00 loafers would have sold for at least $180.00 and would have had 20 bidders. I felt guilty but she had the box displayed in the photo with the shoes, even the box had the correct spelling on it.
lilliang Sep 18th 2007 9:45PM
This story is absolute bull! Go to Ebay and do a search for Allsopp's for "completed items". There is nothing that even comes close to a sale like that...I don't care HOW you spell it!
bulldozer Sep 18th 2007 9:53PM
I'm an ebayer too - & I believe lilliang most out of all this bunch of comments. Who'd buy a bottle of beer for that much anyway, regardless of a typo??
debdoright Sep 18th 2007 10:06PM
Wow. I only wish I had been on the recieving end of the money. What I couldn't do with 500,000. It would certainly change my world. I keep hoping that in all my STUFF somewhere is a winner like this one. It's unfortuate the first seller lost out on a big haul, but that's the way EBAY goes. You just never know what's going to happen! It's kind of like the stock market, housing market, oil, and up and down all the time. What's a person to do???????????
Terry Sep 19th 2007 3:13PM
If this story is true and it happened to me and I was the buyer making that much of a profit selling it back on E-bay.....I would have to kick back some money to the origional seller because of the mispelled word. People are way too greedy these days and have no heart for their fellow man. But then again...I have Jesus in my heart and He is the author of love and kindness.
George Dalton Sep 18th 2007 10:53PM
I was looking for 20 inch wheels for my Durango and was shopping for them on Ebay.Im a Chip foose fan and his wheels are expensive. I found some, but they spelled it Fose instead of Foose. The bid started at 400.00 so I bid and was the 1st bidder. I was leary but 20 inch wheels for 400.00 is a steal. I checked back on the auction and I won, the only one who bid and when they came they were Foose.Foose uses the infinity sign for the oo in Foose looks like one O. They are worth 4000.00.
brooklyn Sep 18th 2007 11:00PM
I looked back at the bids and here is the original bid on the bottle... The winning bid was for $304.00
won by "Collectordan" on June 21/07 seller was Petere92346
The seller listed item (spelled) as Allsop's ...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270132264843
ebayer Sep 18th 2007 11:03PM
For those of you who doubt that this happened you can click on the hyper links above to take you to the completed auctions. (The two places that give the prices for the original and subsequent auction)