Television talk-show host Jay Leno listed an eBay auction for a used tissue that his guest, actress Scarlett Johansson, had blown her nose into and autographed. But sellers who remembered that talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel and actor William Shatner were prohibited from holding an eBay charity auction for the actor's kidney stone wondered why eBay didn't pull the Leno auction for violating the site's "Human Body Parts and Remains" policy. While eBay prohibits human waste from being sold through its site, it actually featured Leno's charity auction on its front page.

One seller decided to see what would happen if she listed a used tissue. eBay pulled her listing (Item # 330295800106) within hours for violating its Human Body Parts and Remains policy, and warned her that her selling status and privileges were at risk over the policy violation.

We asked eBay's public relations department why it allowed the Johansson tissue auction to run. eBay spokesperson Nichola Sharpe said, "Our teams have been working closely with the charity listing the official item to ensure it doesn't infringe our policies. I have already checked with our experts a number of times. Not only do they develop and enforce the policy but have confirmed it is not in violation of it."

She did not immediately respond to our follow-up asking whether any eBay seller could list a tissue that they have blown their nose into while having a cold, and why eBay had removed Item # 330295800106 for a near-identical listing of a used tissue from a non-celebrity seller.

After our communication with eBay's public relations department, the seller whose used-tissue auction had been removed received a letter from the company's customer service department stating that the auction had been removed for a VeRO (Intellectual Property) violation, rather than the Human Body Parts policy it had originally cited. "Unless Scarlett Johansson had time to register the rights to snot, it's completely unrelated," the seller quipped to AuctionBytes. "And, just FYI, I never used her name, or Jay Leno's or the Tonight Show's in my listing."

The Johansson tissue auction ended with a bid on Monday evening for $5,300 - the proceeds will go to charity. There were 36 bidders and 83 bids.

We were curious whether the recipient might be in danger of catching the cold if they came in contact with their purchased tissue. An article about the incident on the Leno television program stated that the tissue was "smeared with snot and lipstick." So we contacted the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta to find out.

A CDC spokesperson said, "It's unlikely there would still be viable cold virus around, as the usual ones tend not to survive that long once they dry out on surfaces. But there are lots of other pathogens, both viruses and other agents, that would survive for longer periods of time and potentially still be viable. One doesn't know what else may be in the specimen. So we would certainly discourage this type of activity and suggest it isn't a good idea. Viruses don't need help in moving from place to place."

Update 12/23/08: After we went to press, eBay spokesperson Nichola Sharpe provided us with the following statement after speaking to eBay policy experts:

There are vast differences between the two listings. The Tonite Show listing mentions nothing about bodily fluids (part of the condition of listing) while [the other] listing has the word "snot" several times throughout the listing (not to mention charity violation, and a mature audience inuendo). The listing is in violation on several levels.

Also, the Tonite Show listing is a one off exception listed with in cooperation with eBay, the Tonite Show and the charity. On occasion eBay will make special exception for extremely unique listings. This collaboration has to be done before the listing goes live to the site. This does not mean that we will allow copycat listings that would normally violate policy.

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