TradeMe bidders flip over paper clip

It was a small, red paper clip with about 14 hours of use.

Auckland teenager Rhys White put it up for sale on auction website TradeMe during "a boring day at work" - and sold it for $173.

Buyer Keith Brock, also of Auckland, secured the clip with the winning bid yesterday, but not before the tiny office tool drew pages of enquiries and questions to the site.

The duo's odd transaction was a harmless bit of fun, and to prove it Mr White, 19, and Mr Brock, 39, today donated the $173 to the Auckland SPCA.

They travelled back into town for a celebratory drink, with the bubble-wrapped paper clip safely tucked in Mr Brock's glovebox.

"The original will probably be put away but I'm tempted to buy a stunt double to put on display," he told NZPA.

Mr Brock, who works in industrial automation, is no TradeMe minnow. His three-bedroom family home in Panmure is up for sale on the auction site for over $650,000.

He became a TradeMe member in March 2003 with the trader name Brocky and said the paper clip purchase was "a bit of laugh".

"There's all sorts of things going on in the world and if you can't have a laugh, there's something wrong."

Mr White, using the trading name Eskort, put the paper clip up for sale with a $1 reserve and the message: "Hope this paper clip goes to a good home or office. Has served me well."

He included enticing measurements - 30mm high and 10mm wide - and soon the site was flooded with buyer enquires and 34,801 page views.

One person wanted to know if the paper clip would attract the ladies if it was hung from a car's rear view mirror, while another asked if the colour picture on TradeMe did the clip justice.

Another asked: "Has this clip ever moved or twitched... or has it always been stationary?"

Mr White, was "pretty chuffed" with the sale, although copy-cat paper clip auctions on TradeMe since his sale were "not as fun".

"I was thinking of selling a broken rubber band next."

- NZPA