In 2005, the first comprehensive characterisation of decapod fauna of the continental margin of southwestern Australia was performed. 524 provisional species were identified, including 175 species (33%) that were new to science, each needing to be named. Earlier this year the naming rights for one particular unnamed spotted shrimp went up for auction to support the Australian Marine Conservation Society. Bob Rosenberry, journalist and publisher of Shrimp News International was an enthusiastic bidder, with plans to name the species Lebbeus shrimpnewsii, until he learned he couldn't name it after a commercial entity. The winner was a surprise to all involved: Lucien James "Luc" Longley, retired NBA player. (via) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Dec 7, 2009 - 13 comments

STEP 1 Buy 100 pieces of crap from thrift stores and garage sales.
STEP 2 Get 100 authors to write a fiction about pieces of crap.
STEP 3 ???
STEP 4 Profit!
Significant Objects hosts the stories for all 100 pieces of crap/art, but the last six are still available for bidding: Blue Vase by Lauren Mechling, Umbrella Trinket by Bruce Holland Rogers, Lighter Shaped Like a Small Pool Ball by Rob Agredo, Bar Mitzvah Bookends by Stacey Levine, Geisha Bobblehead by Edward "ed" Champion, and Missouri Shotglass by Jonathan Lethem.
posted by carsonb on Nov 14, 2009 - 12 comments

Tom Sanford, a NY based artist, has created paintings depicting pop-culture icons before, but none have created a "regular trickle of hate mail/criticism" like this one. [more inside]
posted by dubold on Nov 12, 2009 - 67 comments

Got a link got a link got a link here link link link do I hear a click do I hear a click got a link got a link got a link here you want to learn want to learn want to learn learn learn from John Korrey John Korrey one of the greatest one of the greatest it's an art it's an art it's not just talking fast not just talking fast thank you sir show him the door! [more inside]
posted by mattdidthat on Aug 5, 2009 - 21 comments

Between 1885 and 1917, Peter Carl Fabergé and his assistants created 105 jeweled eggs, only 69 of which survive. They are regarded as masterpieces of the jeweler's art. The Rothschild egg is the most expensive timepiece ever sold at auction.
posted by Joe Beese on Jun 3, 2009 - 59 comments

This is Bridget . Three things happened to Bridget in February : 1. She got an agent for her young adult novel. 2. She got married. 3. She found out she has Stage Four colon cancer. [more inside]
posted by starfyr on May 14, 2009 - 10 comments

Perhaps the test didn't work out and you need to retire the replicant. [more inside]
posted by P.o.B. on Apr 14, 2009 - 54 comments

In April, an extraordinary auction will provide an unprecedented look into the private world of Michael Jackson. More than 2,000 items, ranging from personal effects and costumes to pieces from Jackson's private art collection as well as fittings and furnishings from his Neverland ranch, will be up for sale. The auction is so extensive, a six-volume book was printed just to detail every lot. [more inside]
posted by Ugh on Feb 15, 2009 - 36 comments

The player auctions and trades for the Indian Premier League are underway, with some players signing contracts for record sums. This is the first year that ECB-registered players can play in the IPL, and the ECB and county cricket clubs are watching the auctions closely. Tensions between players on the England team and county clubs with IPL players have been noted. With the growth of Twenty20 and concerns about its impact on playing style, the injection of so much money and spectacle, it might be fair to ask is this cricket?
posted by Grrlscout on Feb 6, 2009 - 31 comments

Battlestar Galactica Auction Catalog Available for Download.
posted by troy on Dec 6, 2008 - 50 comments

The warm and fuzzy one, not the end of civilization as we know it. For the third year in a row, a whole gaggle of artists have donated original art for a silent auction to benefit domestic violence shelters and a crisis line in Portland, OR and Fleminton, NJ. One (prolific and admittedly talented) guy's obsession turned to good. [more inside]
posted by yiftach on Oct 20, 2008 - 5 comments

"What would you say if I told you that I filled my entire living room with completely original works of art for less than $300?" Andrea Dickson from Wise Bread has found an unlikely -- though, the more you think about it, almost obvious -- place to find original art from new artists: Ebay. If you can filter through the crapload of "artistic nudes", there are plenty of gems, and usually at buyers' market prices. And, as Andrea's mother mused, when it comes to decorating the house, it beats buying mass-produced art from Costco, which is about as original as a Big Mac.
posted by chakalakasp on Oct 1, 2008 - 35 comments

An online auction site called Swoopo, once called TeleBid, has hit upon an ingenious way to make money. They are an auction site not entirely unlike Ebay - but using a different auction scheme. Where EBay uses a slightly modified Vickrey auction system, Swoopo uses an auction system based on the "Dollar Auction" game - with interesting results. [more inside]
posted by Zarkonnen on Oct 1, 2008 - 31 comments

Surely one of the most memorable musician photos ever is this one: Johnny Cash, making his feelings known with customary aplomb. But did you ever notice he was wearing a jumpsuit in that photo, and not his more standard black shirt/trousers ensemble? Well, that very jumpsuit just went for a handsome $120,000 at auction. Someone else just paid $300,000 for one of Elvis' peacock-emblazoned jumpsuits. And remember that little necklace John Lennon wore on the cover of Two Virgins? Yep, the only thing he wore. Fetched a cool $528,000. Meanwhile, in Japan, a bunch of grapes just went for $910. What a bargain! [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 11, 2008 - 21 comments

Coming in at just under $860,000, the take for the recently auctioned estate of James Brown fell well short of the two million that Christie's had hoped for. You'll want to browse the collection for yourself, of course. If I had the extra scratch, I'd have sure bought this.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 19, 2008 - 21 comments

BestFriendsAgain.com The Best Friends Again program, sponsored by BioArts International, is a limited commercial dog cloning program. BioArts is the only entity in the world with both the know-how and the legal right to practice commercial dog and cat cloning. We are auctioning off 5 dog cloning service slots to the general public. We may or may not perform any additional commercial dog cloning services after this auction.
posted by psmealey on May 22, 2008 - 53 comments

You talked to her father, prepared a YouTube worthy proposal, gathered all your courage.... and she said no. How will your life go on? And what are you going to do with the ring? Enter I Do... Now I Don't, an auction site that caters to broken-hearted lovers such as you. Started by a fellow who has been there. Buy if you dare. Via
posted by ThePinkSuperhero on Feb 26, 2008 - 19 comments

Do you love music? Do you have at least 3 million dollars? If you answered "yes" to these questions then you may be interested in bidding on "The World's Greatest Music Collection." (single link to ebay auction)
posted by anathema on Feb 18, 2008 - 44 comments

Invest wisely. End poverty.
posted by gman on Oct 25, 2007 - 30 comments

The Facebook Apps Top 30. Opening their source code to application developers, facebook won a strategic gamble. Now, these developers are making their own deals. The I am Hungry application went for just over $20,000, or around 13 cents for data of every user who signed up. But don't worry, you have a chance to bid for yourself.
posted by parmanparman on Oct 9, 2007 - 36 comments

Man buys Allsop, relists it as Allsopp - proving that on eBay, presentation is everything. via b3ta
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on Aug 31, 2007 - 38 comments

The A.K. Miller Auction "This is one of those stories that begins at the end. This was the end of A.K. Miller’s Stutz collection." Miller was a reclusive eccentric living on a ramshackle farm in Vermont. When he and his wife died, his estate was prepared for a tax sale. Sheriffs found a treasure trove of old cars, some wrapped in burlap to avoid prying eyes, stashed in a collection of dilapidated outbuildings. The auction (pdf) was eventually handled by Christie's and netted over two million dollars. [via]
posted by jessamyn on Aug 11, 2007 - 13 comments

The Most Curatorial Biennial of the Universe has nearly 450 local, national and international artists and curators (pdf) participating. Individuals place bids on the works of art in increments of $10. Online art auction to benefit the Robin Hood Foundation of NYC.
posted by RMD on Jul 14, 2007 - 3 comments

Humraz is an auction site with a twist. Pay to bid, then once enough fees have been received, the lowest unmatched bid wins. Shall we play for £500? Or a house?
posted by imperium on Jun 20, 2007 - 21 comments

Pinning down the elusive Banksy. "The art world is the biggest joke going," he has said. "It’s a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak." Yet the stencilist/graffiti writer's pieces regularly sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds at places like Sotheby's--not bad for a man who still remains cloaked in complete anonymity. The New Yorker gets a rare e-mail interview. [Previously: 1, 2, 3]
posted by dead_ on May 15, 2007 - 33 comments

Peter Doig's White Canoe just sold at auction for £5.7M making it the most expensive work by a living European painter. Gallery 1, 2.
posted by johnny novak on Feb 15, 2007 - 39 comments

Charity-by-Numbers. Re-Paint-By-Number. Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles is holding an exhibition & charity auction for The Alliance for Childrens Rights. The show features old paint-by-numbers art work that has been altered by many contemporary artists. You can find Before and After images of all the artwork in their ebay listings as well as many on the gallery's site. (Sorry, no direct link to the embedded feature.) Many larger views are on the Juxtapoz blog. Some are subtle, while others bury the original almost entirely.
posted by JBennett on Feb 14, 2007 - 1 comment

Whitney Houston is selling all her stuff. Now you can buy a portable sauna packed into two flight cases.
posted by tombola on Jan 2, 2007 - 70 comments

What you have purchased for less than the price of a cup of coffee is arguably one of the most important "lost" music recordings out there. Record collector Warren Hill paid 75 cents at a yard sale in Chelsea, New York for an acetate in a plain cardboard sleeve. After some research, Hill's friends confirmed that the acetate disc, recorded by sound engineer Norman Dolph (who also wrote Reunion's "Life Is A Rock But The Radio Rolled Me"), was the third recording ever made by the Velvet Underground and the first album they ever did. A demo rejected by Columbia Records, the acetate is now up for auction on EBay, where the high bid is $124,640.50 and climbing, already breaking records as the most expensive LP ever sold at auction. (Bonus: see a post from a teenage eyewitness to the VU's 1966 session that produced this acetate.)
posted by jonp72 on Dec 5, 2006 - 32 comments

Starfleet surplus rummage sale! Bargains, bargains, bargains! Own Captain Picard's desk! Power your starship with dilithium crystals straight from Rura Penthe! Build your own Borg! Everything must go!
posted by Faint of Butt on Sep 28, 2006 - 38 comments

The Tuna Court: Law and Norms in the World's Premier Fish Market. [more inside]
posted by monju_bosatsu on Jun 2, 2006 - 20 comments

New Zealand's monopoly Pay TV service went dark for about 14 hours last night. The Sky TV outage was apparently due to an error positioning a satellite, but not helped by the fact that said satellite is running on a backup processor and is years out of its regular service life. One enterprising viewer is taking things into his own hands.
posted by pivotal on Mar 30, 2006 - 29 comments

eBay hilarity: "THIS VEHICLE HAS COME TO US VIA AN INSURANCE COMPANY, IT HAS TRAVELLED 32,000 MILES AND IS ONE NOT VERY HAPPY OWNER FROM NEW. MUST TELL STORY:" (via)
posted by NekulturnY on Feb 18, 2006 - 40 comments

The world's most expensive photocopy. An untitled cowboy photograph by Richard Prince set a record last night for the most expensive photograph sold at auction, with a price of $1,248,000. The catch? It's a re-photograph of pre-existing Marlboro ad.
posted by Robot Johnny on Nov 10, 2005 - 62 comments

Up for auction is Vincent Gallo's sperm.
posted by radiosig on Oct 31, 2005 - 22 comments

Own a piece of national tragedy. Rehnquist's original signed decision on the 2000 election recount, throwing the country over to the loser of the popular vote (and, quite possibly, the loser of the electoral college) is up for auction.
posted by jonson on Sep 10, 2005 - 39 comments

Buy the (new) Pope's (old) Mobile
I used Babelfish to translate it (Google's translation apparently doesn't work on eBay).
Only 1.7 million pageviews so far.
posted by fenriq on Apr 29, 2005 - 8 comments

This monkey business has finally gone too far [warning: cackling].
posted by thedevildancedlightly on Apr 13, 2005 - 17 comments

Saving the world, one stapler at a time. Now you can buy a stapler (signed by an uber-celeb) and be a philanthrophic soul at the same time! If only they had a red Swingline signed by Milton, my life would be complete. But why would anybody want this one signed by Paris Hilton? God knows where it's been!
posted by drew on Dec 2, 2004 - 14 comments

Want to buy an original David Hockney for only £35? Does Damien Hirst better suit your tastes? Make a visit to the Royal College of Art Secret Challenge sometime between November 19th and 25th to see if you have the eye for it!
posted by ScottUltra on Nov 18, 2004 - 5 comments

A tour with WotC, a session to play D&D with them. Lifetime subscription to Steam. Ok, some items are better than others. But for Child's Play, the folks at PA are pulling one heckuva dream auction for geeks. More auction items are detailed, go to the the second news post.
posted by eurasian on Nov 18, 2004 - 6 comments

You can buy a pair of invitations to a wedding I don't want to go to
posted by iffley on Oct 20, 2004 - 18 comments

For Sale: Slightly Used, Amazingly Versatile 7-Letter Kit. (Letters included: L-I-N-D-O-W-S) Warning: Improper placement of W may result in lawsuits.
posted by Mwongozi on Sep 27, 2004 - 11 comments

Fart in a jar. Don't worry there are a few varieties to choose from. Even Butternut Chicken. Will anyone buy these?
posted by trbrts on Mar 18, 2004 - 9 comments

There's Gold in Them Thar PCs. If you're worried about the growing problem of e-waste, if you don't want to ship your toxins overseas, you now have another option. You can recover heavy metals (precious and otherwise) in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Just make sure you leave a window open so you have some fresh air.
posted by alms on Mar 16, 2004 - 8 comments

Psst...wanna buy a record label? The Beastie Boys' defunct Grand Royal record label (former home of Luscious Jackson, Atari Teenage Riot, Ben Lee, Sean Lennon, Bis, Buffalo Daughter and Money Mark) is on the auction block. The successful bidder walks away with various master recordings, license agreements, recording agreements and miscellaneous contracts.
posted by boost ventilator on Jan 13, 2004 - 20 comments

Saddest auction ever: "You are bidding on my collection of fast food restaurant condiments that I have collected over the past year at my job."
posted by 40 Watt on Jan 11, 2004 - 27 comments

Farnsworth house saved! Friday's auction resulted in a successful campaign to save the Farnsworth house. While Miguel will not be able to live there, we can all at least visit.
posted by Dick Paris on Dec 15, 2003 - 11 comments

Crap on wheels... that's Robbie Williams. He has a bit of a history with (ahem) lavatory 'situations'...
posted by apocalypse miaow on Aug 2, 2003 - 12 comments

When the Fifth Avenue Grocery in Roundup, Montana closed it's doors, it really closed them. Everything was left inside, as it was, until last year. Now the doors are open and everything's going up for auction tomorrow.
posted by kayjay on Apr 29, 2003 - 13 comments