On May 26, 2003, Teajay101 of Arkansas
began his auction at $99 for "Ghost
In A Jar! No Joke Serious Inquiry Only." The auction hawked a mysterious eerie
glass cylinder with cryptic painted markings.
Teajay101 claimed that he "would not be held
responsible" if the "black thing"
escaped the jar, and that "all sales are
final."
After numerous bids (and cancellations), the
auction ended seven days later at a whopping $50,922. As is the case with many high profile
Ebay auctions, the
high bidder did not pay, and there was no actual sale.
However, the auction ignited a
selling frenzy for "Ghost in a Jar"
t-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, paintings and
more. There were numerous Ebay auctions that included
"PMS in a Jar," "Ghost Retreat for
Ghost in a Jar," "Stand for Your Ghost in a
Jar," "Vacation Home for Ghost in a
Jar" and thousands of other offerings.
Ebay deleted most of these related
auctions, and there were many legitimate postings
that became casualties of the broad ban on
"Ghost in a Jar" merchandise, including
some auctions that happened to have "jar"
or "ghost" in their titles, but were
entirely unrelated to Teajay101's auction.
Teajay101 sold memberships to a
"Ghost in a Jar Club" and also signed
pictures of himself and the jar. However, he has
still has not actually sold the jar pictured in the
auction.
Despite Ebay's effort to squash the
interest surrounding this historic and bizarre
auction, it will always be remembered as the first
unusual online auction to garner national attention.
