It takes Chutzpah to list your family on eBay. Especially when you start the bidding at $5 million.
Steve Young demonstrated Chutzpah, along with an unusual sense of humor, when he posted his "Attractive, Loving, Family of Four" on eBay.
Young explained that no longer being young was an obstacle in Hollywood and was looking for a way to continue writing while supporting his family. He compared his quest for a "savvy family-deprived multi-millionaire" to a Renaissance artist looking for a patron. The auction said in part, "Of course, since you cannot actually sell humans or their parts on eBay, this should be considered a sale of complete family services. It's close enough."
eBay didn't see it that way, and pulled Young's auction the day after he listed it. In fact, eBay pulled the plug within 30 minutes after the NBC Today Show interviewed Young and his family on television, and 15 minutes after the auction received a bid.
Young said he has not heard from the eBay bidder, but said he has received several movie offers as a result of the publicity generated by the unusual auction.
Young is an award-winning prime time television writer, and just wrote and directed a new film, "My Dinner With Ovitz." His book, "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful," took him 5 years to write. He also writes columns and children's book to support himself. Perhaps he is a "Renaissance Man."
Young said he is trying to get eBay to reinstate his auction. He would consider running the auction on another online auction site if they would allow it.
Young seems a bit mystified by the online auction world. He bought a printer on eBay a few years ago, but never sold anything on eBay before. Young's eBay User ID highlights his sense of humor. When he discovered the ID "steveyoung" was taken, he registered under the name, "theothersteveyoung."
http://www.aimpress.com/ebayyoung.htm
