Family of four taken off eBay - Jan. 10, 2003: Those looking for some additional company at home will have to find someone other than the Youngs after eBay removed the offer by the family of four to sell itself for a minimum bid of $5 million. While it was still posted, the auction page read, "if you are the highest bidder, you will receive the adoration from two congenial children with an affinity for heart-warming, homemade birthday cards and copiousness, candy-coated smiles for both family and legal benefactors. All that, plus my wife!" wrote Steve Young, a television writer who put his family on the block. Spokesman Kevin Pursglove confirmed Friday that eBay removed the Youngs' offer, saying it did not meet the firm's user guidelines, and the family would have to make a pretty strong case to have it reposted.
So apparently, making barely veiled offers to sell yourself into slavery (making a particular point of mentioning one's wife, even) is against eBay's guidelines.
Well, isn't that good to know!
For those looking for just parts of the family, members were not offered separately, and children were included only until the age of 18. Regarding his wife, "can you say 'platonic'?" Young wrote.
Well, I'm so relieved that only servitude, writer's credit and minor children were included in the deal. After all, what would one have done otherwise?
You wonder what would have happened, assuming that eBay was in the slavery business, had the auction been allowed to continue. After all, the Youngs would have had, to put it mildly, a strong disincentive to follow through on the terms of the deal, and eBay is known to have something of a fraud issue.
Posted by iain at January 10, 2003 11:15 PMComments
