It’s interesting to see the effect generated by a cleverly written eBay auction. Recently there was a pair of leather trousers up for auction. These normally would get lost among the other thousands of clothing items for offer. Instead, this auction turned into a bit of meme, which in turn, attracted a lot of attention. So much so that it ended up getting requests from a magazine editor wanting to use it in print.
Why is this interesting? It illustrates the power of breaking out of the norm, and creating a Purple Cow auction on eBay.
You can see the auction here.
Just in case it has been taken down, here’s the first few lines :
You are bidding on a mistake.
We all make mistakes. We date the wrong people for too long. We chew gum with our mouths open. We say inappropriate things in front of grandma.
And we buy leather pants.
I can explain these pants and why they are in my possession. I bought them many, many years ago under the spell of a woman whom I believed to have taste. She suggested I try them on. I did. She said they looked good. I wanted to have a relationship of sorts with her. Iβm stupid and prone to impulsive decisions. I bought the pants.
The relationship, probably for better, never materialized. The girl, whose name I canβt even recall, is a distant memory. I think she was short.