Wellington woman Bailey Price sold the right to tattoo her behind on Trade Me this year.
Wellington woman Bailey Price sold the right to tattoo her behind on Trade Me this year.
A posterior tattoo canvas, erotic eggplant, dead cat handbag and a desk chair of fertility have all made Trade Me's greatest hits of 2016.
The online auctions all either ranked in the site's honourable mentions for exceptional creativity or the top 10 most viewed, which wracked up almost 800,000 views between them.
The online auction site's spokesman Logan Mudge said they were constantly amazed at the "endless creativity and entrepreneurial spirit" of their members.
"Sometimes they hit a nerve with the public and make the ordinary extraordinary."
Some auctions "just have a certain something" which captured imaginations because they're weird, controversial, often borderline in taste terms, Mudge said.
Wellington woman Bailey Price sold a 9cm x 9cm space on her behind for $6500 with a mysterious buyer named Paul winning the honour.
As it turned out, Paul is the cousin of American musician "Sir" Ivan Wilzig.
The 20-year-old will be flown out to Miami next year to get either 'SIR IVAN's "IMAGINE" on iTunes' or 'SIRIVAN.com' beneath a rainbow inked on to her posterior.
"It was weird, a little bit cheeky and the bottom line is Bailey was great with the Q&A and at drumming up a bit of publicity for her auction," Mudge said.
Another controversial auction which racked up more than 55,000 views was the dead cat handbag.
The cat had been in taxidermist Claire Hobbs' freezer for a year before being fashioned into a rather unique handbag which set tongues wagging around the world and clocked up more than 160 complaints.
However, because they allowed other taxidermy items to be sold they let the auction run - eventually selling for $545, a third of what Hobbs was hoping for.
"On the other side of the coin lots of people thought it was cool and interesting and it found a new home with a very keen buyer."
An erotic eggplant on auction also had a happy ending, selling for $115.
As did a potato in the shape of a bottom collecting an enormous number of views and interest, Mudge said.
1. "YOUR tattoo on MY butt" - 153,373 views - Wellington woman Bailey needed to clear her debts and will fly to Miami to have her tattoo done next month. Sold for $6500.
2. "ULTIMATE SLEEP OUT/STUDIO - #NOT YOUR AVERAGE SHED" - 144,340 - An apprentice-made shed sold for charity. Sold for $29,100.
3. "A 'Rare' Potato" - 144,006 views - a Canterbury potato in the shape of a bottom. Sold for $9.50.
4. "Taiaha c1750-1850 King Tawhiao" - 65,995 - the seller withrew the auction for the taiaha after some debated its origin. Didn't sell.
5. "Cinderella Pumpkin" - 60,674 views - a giant pumpkin carved and decorated to make a carriage fit for Cinderella. Sold for $1810.
A pumpkin carriage sold on TradeMe this year. Photo / supplied.
6. "REAL Glamour puss PURSE" - 55,035 - the most controversial auction of the year was a taxidermy cat purse. Sold for $545.
7. Ghetto blaster boombox collection - 54,683 - At $20,000, the impressive boombox collection failed to find a keen collector.
8. "Erotic Eggplant" - 51,683 views - The erotic eggplant which went around the world. Sold for $115.
This 'erotic eggplant' sold online in 2016. Photo / supplied.
9. "Sledge Hammer" - 30,993 views - Tribal Huk's Jamie Pink listed this sledgehammer with a starting price of $5200 but failed to get a keen bidder.
This sledgehammer was one of the most viewed auctions of the year. Photo / supplied
10. "BUY A DATE WITH US!" - 9544 views - Two Lower Hutt women sold a date in order to raise money to go volunteer in Nepal. Sold for $400.
Trade Me's honourable mentions,
"NATIONAL CARPET" - 19,630 views - An unusual carpet portrait of former PM John Key. Sold for $893
Key's carpet was auctioned off on TradeMe this year. Photo / supplied
"Desk Chair of Fertility" - 18,539 views - The desk chair was allegedly responsible for three pregnancies and the boss decided it needed to go. Sold for $51.
"Church for $1" - 18,076 views - A Waihi church with a $1 reserve was sold to someone in Wellington and is on its way to the capital. Sold for $11,100.
