Banned: Stuff You Can't Sell on eBay

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Dante Knoxx (musician) - his soul
UK musician Dante Knoxx failed in his attempt to sell his very soul on eBay. We think that's probably in his music career's best interest, truthfully. Judging from this guy's looks, he doesn't have much soul to spare.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Man Tries to Sell Kidney
The Ur of all banned eBay auctions is the case of an anonymous man who tried to sell his kidney back in 1999. The auction lead to a raging debate about privilege, health and ethics (and a highest bid of $5.7 million) before it was removed from the site.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Kevin Mitnick (Hacker) - Prison Commissary Card
Back in 2000, convicted hacker Kevin Mitnick used eBay to auction off the commissary card he carried during his stay in a Federal prison. After two days, eBay yanked the item, citing their opposition to selling government IDs.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Man Tries to Ditch Cheating Wife on eBay
Last May, more than a little perturbed by his wife's behavior, Paul Osborn took his temper to eBay, where he offered to sell the "adulterous, lying, cheating, bitch, whore" Sharon to the highest bidder. As you might imagine, that auction didn't last too long.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Apex A-600 DVD Player - hidden ability to deactivate Macrovision's copy-protection feature; removed at Macrovision's request
In eBay's early days, lots of folks tried to sell the Apex A-600 DVD player, which had the hidden ability to deactivate Macrovision's copy-protection feature. After some calls from Macrovision headquarters, eBay took the auction down.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Woman Selling 4- and 8-year-old kids
In 2007, a 31-year-old mother of two in Benton, Illinois posted an eBay listing, trying to sell her children. While eBay promptly canceled the auction, Benton police found the children to be safe and sound, leaving them in the custody of their still-unidentified mother.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

eBay Lottery
Possibly the most ingenuous of all banned eBay auctions was the one held by an anonymous entrepreneur in 2006. Selling 10,000 "tickets," for $2.50 a piece, he promised to give half of the auction's total take to the person with the winning ticket. Apparently no gambling men among them, the folks at eBay took it down.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Mummy
In 2006, 45-year-old Lynn Sterling put a mummified human skeleton up for auction on eBay. The folks at eBay quickly kicked this sale to the curb, though not before a user named Satan's Child placed a bid of $500.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Man Attempts to eBay Himself
In 2007, Michael Hault -- a student at England's prestigious Cambridge University -- went on eBay to sell himself. That's right. Himself. Brilliantly, in defense of eBay's removal of the auction, a company spokeswoman said, "He needs to be clearer about what the buyer could expect."

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay

Natalie Dylan - Virginity
In January of 2009, Natalie Dylan, a 22-year-old college student from San Diego, was booted off eBay after she tried to auction off her virginity on the site. She has since hosted the auction on the Web site of a Nevada brothel. On that site, the highest reported bid was $3.7 million.

Banned: Stuff You Cannot Sell on eBay