The Black Eyed Peas have been unstoppable on the charts this summer and now the popular band is going for a unique pair of world records. The band is holding a charity auction on eBay to win the chance to join them as they try to set two records: the highest ever live performance and recorded track. Those who win will fly along with a guest on Richard Branson's V Australia from Los Angeles to Australia where they will then join a special Melbourne to Perth flight with the band. Winners will meet the band, watch them record and then the remainder of the flight becomes a Mile High Karaoke Party with the band. Winners will also attend the October 10 Black Eyed Peas concert in Perth and get a second band meet and greet. Roundtrip air and hotels are included but winner needs to get themselves to L.A. for the start of the package. Best of all , 100 percent of the proceeds benefit children's health research through the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Australia.

[via Just Jared]

Many haute jewelry designers balk at selling their wares on eBay for fear it might devalue their brand. The popular auction site is usually the domain of resellers but designer Jean Dousset has launched his own store on eBay, JeanDoussetDiamonds.com. The store features high-end diamond engagement rings.

Dousset has designed for stars including Amy Adams and Eva Longoria Parker. National Jeweler says that Dousset decided to offer his rings on eBay while he was building his own e-commerce site. The site offers wedding bands and earrings as well as Dousset's engagement rings. The rings are set in Dousset's Beverly Hills workshop and each is stamped with the Jean Dousset hallmark. The ring shown above is listed at $14,900.

The recession has hit the movie and film industry in Southern California and a huge props emporium in North Hollywood is now looking at closing. 20th Century Props of North Hollywood is planning to close next month. The prop shop has supplied props for major movies and television shows for over 20 years and has a huge 118,000-square-foot warehouse. But the prop house has been losing money as film production has fallen for a variety of reasons. First the industry was hit by the writers' strike. Then the recession kicked in and many productions were postponed or scrapped. Also filmmakers are finding it prohibitively expensive to film in California and are increasingly heading to other places which offer tax breaks and other incentives. The owner says he has lost close to $2 million over the past year. The prop store employed 28 full-time workers.

The LA Times reports that the the shop will auction off the inventory which owner Harvey Schwartz says consists of 93,752 pieces including rattan furniture set used on the TV series "The Golden Girls" and a desk owned by Howard Hughes and used in the movie "The Aviator." The insured value of the props is around $8 million but the sale value could be as much as $30 million. The props store also sells items on eBay and is a fantastic decorating resource for fans of retro styles. Offerings on eBay range from the small and inexpensive such as Art Deco clocks to the huge and more expensive items like a 1940s flying horse gas station sign.

Once again one of Lindsay Lohan's cars has wound up on eBay (her Mercedes was on the auction website in 2007). The white Maserati Quattroporte did not belong to Lindsay Lohan but to Dennis DeSantis. Lohan was photographed driving the car and involved it in a fender bender, which TMZ reported that CARFAX does not mention on their report. The 2007 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT is fully loaded with Brembo brakes, power seats, CD player, rear sunshades, parking sensors, suede headliner, white stitching, GT wheels and tires, sport exhaust, navigation and moon roof. and has just over 25,000 miles on it. Last time I looked bids were over $62,100.

UPDATE: The listing has been pulled. (Thanks, Colin)

[via Jalopnik]

EBay, the world's largest Internet auctioneer, is jubilant after winning one of their many lawsuits regarding counterfeit products. A French court found that eBay was not liable for counterfeit L'Oreal perfumes sold on its website. The Parisian court ruled that eBay had met its obligantion to prevent sales of fake goods. The victory is a bit of a surprise considering earlier losses in France to Hermes and LVMH in similar cases however eBay did recently win against watchmaker Rolex.

After the ruling eBay issued a press release saying in part that " We are delighted that eBay's meaningful efforts to fight counterfeits online have been recognized by the court, as has our status as an internet-hosting provider. Today, 99% of all items listed on eBay have no suspicion of counterfeits." That''s a pretty bold claim. The auction site does have a team of around 2,000 people in place to fight counterfeit products on the site but it seems a bit soon to declare a total victory in the war against counterfeits.

Check eBay next week for an online auction. The 19 leading luxury tourism companies in New Zealand (New Zealand Luxury) are coming together to offer an amazing travel deal for the starting bid of only NZ$1 (only 50 cents in the United States). Each participant is estimated to have donated NZ$1,500 (US$855) worth of travel goods and services for this effort – for a total value of NZ$33,000 (almost US$19,000).

So, what does the winning bid get you?

Come out the other side of this 10-day auction a winner, and you'll fly on a private jet to New Zealand, stay in private villas and upscale hotels for four weeks and dash around the country on helicopters and in chauffeur-driven cars. You'll even get to hit the water on a private yacht.

The largesse from the top bid will go to the Untouched World Charitable Trust, the non-profit arm of the Untouched World clothing brand – which is kicking in NZ$2,000 (more than US$1,000) in apparel for this auction.

Save the planet, and treat yourself as you demand to be treated!

Want to get your hands on a Ducati Monster and benefit a good cause? Get out your British pounds and head to eBay's UK site. Ducati has donated three Monsters and three Central Saint Martins MA Fashion students (Abigail Briggs, Charlotte La Roche, and Laura Mackness) gave them unique graphics based on each of their graduate collections creating stylish one-of-kind motorcycles. The collaboration sprung from Puma's sponsorship of the Central Saint Martins graduate fashion show at London Fashion Week. The show and the auction benefit the PUMA Central Saint Martins Bursary Award. The auctions end on April 5.

[via Fresh Moco]

Once again in the lawsuit follies, eBay is the victor. Bloomberg reports that the world's largest online auctioneer won a German court ruling in a case brought by Rolex over sales of counterfeit watches on eBay. The decision showed that Rolex could not find any similar counterfeit goods were offered on eBay after the company after the company was alerted to the possibility of counterfeits. Ulrich Egger, the spokesman for the court said that eBay's filter program detects sales that wold violate trademark rights.

Next up for eBay, a suit in London against L'Oreal. So far, eBay's lawsuit results have been mixed. It won against Tiffany & Co. last year in New York but lost to LVMH and Hermes in France. Rolex first sued eBay in 2001 over counterfeits but the original ruling in Dusseldorf for eBay was overturned in part in 2007 by the Federal Court of Justice which said eBay couldn't be held liable for damages and had to monitor its site to prevent fakes from being sold. Judges determined eBay is doing enough to police its site.

UPDATE: Blogging Stocks reports that eBay shares are at a seven-year low, partially due to concerns over the sales of counterfeit items on the site. Although eBay is spending millions to monitor its sellers, the problem of fakes continues to be one that plagues the site and damages its reputation.

Nike's latest iteration of the Mercurial soccer shoe, the Vapor SL, is a real feat of engineering, and I like the color combo, too. The SL in the name stands for "Super Lite" -- the black shoe and its hot pink swoosh only weigh 190 grams.

Some ingredient called "Tepex" is all about maximum strength with minimal weight. I researched Tepex a little bit, and without an engineering degree, reached the conclusion that if it's good enough for the aerospace industry, it's probably good enough to wear on your feet.

Crafted almost entirely from carbon fiber, the sneaker retails for $400. Because a pair of these are so hard to come by -- Nike only made 2,508 pairs -- they're only truly available on eBay, starting at around $1,000.

[Thanks, Dave!]

Celebrity auctions hit a new low this week as actress Scarlett Johansson sells her used tissue on eBay. She appeared on NBC's "Tonight" show on Wednesday to promote her new movie, "The Spirit." While chatting with Jay Leno she revealed she had caught a cold from co-star Samuel L. Jackson. When Leno handed her a tissue she said she would sell it on eBay to raise money for the hunger relief charity USA Harvest. A lot of people want to catch her cold, last time I checked the auction had over 70 bids and the tissue was up to nearly $3,500. The auction ends on Monday.

[via AP]

Australian artist Greg Gillespie has big dreams. He hopes to sell his first painting on eBay for $1 million Australian. Gillespie, a former commercial artist, created an inaugural series of ten works and decided to list this one on eBay for the high price. He calls this the "Younique Project" and in the listing he does not reveal the size of the work. But Gillespie isn't being audaciously greedy, he is planning to keep just one dollar and donate the rest to Compassion International to help poor children. The auction ends December 15 and so far no one has come up with the cash.

[via Art Daily]

For those who do some of their holiday shopping on eBay there's a new service to help find deals. Many people who list on eBay don't always spell the designer names of products properly. Savvy eBayers have been known to find these auctions and bid on them since the prices will be lower. But now the secret is out and a new website called Typo Buddy helps find misspelled auctions on eBay and Craigslist. Type in a name and it will bring up a list of misspelled auctions. The site also list the top ten misspellings including Abercrombie, Louis Vuitton and Callaway Golf but also some surprises including ipod, laptop and Disney.

[via Globe and Mail]

Kim Kardashian is auctioning off her belongings on eBay yet again for her favorite charity the Dream Foundation. And this time it's not only her old clothes, shoes, and dresses but several members of her car collection also -- including a Range Rover, a Mercedes, and a Maserati. Plus this time she's convinced her boyfriend Reggie Bush, her two sisters Kourtney and Khloe, and her mom to participate in the auction with her by cleaning out their own closets and selling stuff as well.

The Kim's Closet charity auctions are currently running on eBay and scheduled to run through Dec 3rd.

A Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 for $70,000 on eBay? Well, not quite.. A 2008 Pontiac Solstice has been transformed into an ersatz Lambo. The chassis was stretched an extra 12-inches and a Murcielago replica body was added on. Inside it has leather seats with Lamborghini embroidery, electric door openers and there are 18-inch chrome wheels, grilles and color match calipers with Lamborghino logos. Under the hood, alas, it's still all Solstice (not that there's anything wrong with that). The auction ends November 3.

[via Mobile Mag]