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Comments: 118 +- Your Rights Online: eBay For Millionaires on Friday November 13, @05:56AM
Posted
by
samzenpus
on Friday November 13, @05:56AM
from the auction-site-of-substance dept.
from the auction-site-of-substance dept.
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicmoney.gif); width:84px; height:74px;
money
background: url(//a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicidle.png); width:70px; height:80px;
idle
AC writes "Got $2 million in assets? Then you can join BillionaireXchange; just the place to find a 2006 Bugatti Veyron with a Start Bid of $1,050,000.00. Or perhaps you are looking for a boat like the Disco Volante (from James Bond), for example the 2000 Azimut Motor Yacht, a lovely 85-footer with a Start Bid of $2,700,000.00. On the other end of the deal, did your hedge fund leave you in the lurch? This is the place to sell those extravagant toys you thought you could afford."
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Veyron + Salt Water Don't Mix... (Score:5, Funny)
Alternatively, you could try giving your Veyron a salt water wash...
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2009/11/video-bugatti-veyron-pulled-from-saltwater-lagoon-after-crash.html [autoguide.com]
Re: (Score:2, Redundant)
So, why is this in YRO? (Score:5, Insightful)
Do millionaires trading houses and planes infringe on my rights in some way?
Re:So, why is this in YRO? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:So, why is this in YRO? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Joe Moneybags: Can I join?
Billionaire Exchange: We need to check how much money you have.
JM: Well you wouldn't want any riff-raff in, would you.
BE: Quite. So can you send us details of all your bank accounts. Oh, we'll need the access codes, passwords and all that.
JM: Not sure about that, can't I fax you the statements?
BE: Any teen with a computer can fake them. Riff-raff, remember?
JM: Umm ... OK, here they are.
[1 week later]
BE: [answering phone] Hello, Billionare Exchange, how can I help you?
JM: What'
Re:So, why is this in YRO? (Score:5, Insightful)
anyone can be a member? did you read the link at all or just post right away looking for an insightful mod?
Isn't that the point of posting? Hoping that someone with points doesn't RTFA and assumes that you are correct? Oh look, they might mod me up, too!
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
It's getting better with regards to Apple - the fanboys seam to be growing up. The MS haters, though, are lagging but getting there.
No matter how you look at it, people are going to disagree with you on the internet either because you are actually wrong or because they are just doing it to attempt in getting a rise out of you. The third reason is that they truly believe that they are right, when they are actually wrong and you were correct in the first place. Ah, what a great culture we have!
Re:So, why is this in YRO? (Score:5, Insightful)
My guess is that if it was filed under 'idle' where it belongs, nobody would see it.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
The article was posted by samzenpus. All his articles belong in idle -- or better yet, digg or some other website.
Re: (Score:2)
The article was posted by samzenpus. All his articles belong in idle -- or better yet, digg or some other website.
Usually samzenpus doesn't make mistakes like filing it under the wrong category, though. This might fall on whoever submitted the story in the first place and the morons who used the firehose to get it approved when it was under the wrong category.
Re: (Score:2)
I thought that was the whole point of 'idle'?
Re: (Score:2)
Do millionaires trading houses and planes infringe on my rights in some way?
Yeah! Seriously, we'd expect a mistake like this from k-doesn't-rtfa-or-correct-the-summary-dawson, but come on samzenpus! You always do so well when you post articles.
Life imitates fiction... (Score:5, Funny)
Should be filed under TRO (Score:2)
"Their Right Online" to sell over valued crap just like common blokes eBay theirs, in order to keep creditors from attaching and disposing of more necessary assets.
Nothing to see here. (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
No top secret island bases, personal space stations, gold cigar holder and lighter combos that can double as a handgun and definitely no sharks with frikkin laser beams. In short, nothing that any self respecting billionaire /. reader would want to spend their money on.
Oh, the main site is just a front. For the space stations, sharks with frikken laser beams, and robotic women who can break a mans neck with their thighs, you have to click on one of the items they have for sale. It's something that seems really out of place, and that nobody would probably want. It's the Barry Manilow platinum record, signed by him. Nobody would ever even click on it, so they figured that would be a safe way to hide the secret site.
Hmm... there's a black van pulling up in front of my house
How much do slashdot readers earn? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
My thoughts exactly. I doubt that a single regular here would have any interest (besides data mining or other geeky stuff) on billionairexchange.
Re:How much do slashdot readers earn? (Score:5, Insightful)
My thoughts exactly. I doubt that a single regular here would have any interest (besides data mining or other geeky stuff) on billionairexchange.
My father-in-law runs a restoration business for collectable vehicles. The typical job tends to charge 1-2 million dollars. (They will reproduce the parts from either the original plans or will pay someone to go and measure the part on their car and rebuild it to spec)
He does purchase some of these vehicles, restores them on the side, and resells them for a modest profit. He doesn't have nearly the disposable income to simply hold onto them (maybe for a few months of car cruises, competitions, and the like) A place to sell these vehicles other than ebay or the various auction houses would be of interest to him.
I'm too frugal myself to deal with luxuries in the +$200k range, and I cringe at Rolex watches, but you shouldn't be surprised if a few slashdotters do have quite a bit of disposable income.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
you shouldn't be surprised if a few slashdotters do have quite a bit of disposable income.
Yeah, and Steve Wozniak does read Slashdot. He certainly has disposable income.
Re: (Score:2)
Mind the word "regular" -- not "slashdotter" in general.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, many slashdotters even wear underwear. Let's post articles about underwear, that should be relevant.
Only if they are about where the gnomes are hiding mine.
Re: (Score:2)
There wasn't any whining in my posting. You obviously read what you want to read.
Re: (Score:2)
Either a poll or ask slashdot. I second this idea.
One thing to remember about polls:
This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.
That is printed below the poll results. It may give you a rough idea, but you can't really use it for anything. You also have to take into account the people who don't share that information freely (frankly nobody should -- you are not your fucking khakis), and the people who will just vote for CowboyNeal's option or the highest amount just to skew the results.
This actually makes some sense (Score:5, Insightful)
The ridiculously rich support a not insubstantial group of brokers of second-hand yachts, planes, luxury cars, real estate, art, and so on. These businesses generally have flashy offices, high-paid staff, and collect a fair amount of commission for helping facilitate the transfer of said assets from those on the way down to those on the way up.
The business skills of the very rich are often overrated, but most of them are smart enough to figure out that cutting out the middlemen saves both the seller and buyer money. This lets them do it without the embarrassment of parading their failures to us plebs.
Re:This actually makes some sense (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
In any case, this is a very bad time for luxury goods.
Or a good time depending on how you look at it -- especially with cutting out the middleman as Goonie said. Some people are making a killing right now in the market because they bought while things were in the shitter and now that it's starting to climb back up they might be looking to reward themselves with their fine investments. You also have to think about the crooks and liars who got us into this financial situation in the first place and that they probably still have disposable income to spend on stup
Re: (Score:2)
Reward themselves for their fine investments*
I think most people will catch on to what I meant, though.
Re: (Score:2)
I just assumed that this site was either run by the luxury brands as an advertisement (or at least a way to attract ads from luxury brands) or maybe to facilitate things for the middlemen and established auction houses. Who would want to deal with buying and selling on the net if you're swimming in cash ? These guys already have their "people" and in my experience the richer they get the less they are embarrassed by making others jump through hoops for them for a pittance.
And they couldn't afford a better domain name? (Score:2)
Seriously, "BillionaireXchange.com"? Way to sound low rent guys. Was it a toss up between that one and "RichguyzAuction.biz"?
Re:And they couldn't afford a better domain name? (Score:5, Insightful)
sound low rent?
Look at their site, once you get past how "bling bling" it looks, its actually got very little content, and a hell of a lot of ads.
I also fail to picture why one would want to use an auction for this thing. You don't stay rich by squanding large sacks of money away on items you've not checked out.
Meeting in person would give you a far better idea of whats involved, as well as either talk the price down to something more resonable, or have it explained why its worth so much.
Specifications:
Length Overall (LOA): 85'0"/25.91 m
Engine
2000 MTU 12V 2000
Horse Power: 314
Fuel Type: Diesel
Engine Type: Inboard
Description
Hull Material: Fiberglass
Hours: Contact Dealer
Stock #: 85 Azimut 2000
Status: In Stock
Thats the full description of a yacht with a minimum bid of 2.7 million dollars.
If that auction site was worth a damn, they'd actually either give pages of material about the product, or refuse to list it on such small infomation.
I'm done talking about the site, the fact that the site hit slashdot both gives credence to them, and lowers my perception of slashdot.
I just hope slashdot got a pile of cash for advertising it.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I'm done talking about the site, the fact that the site hit slashdot both gives credence to them, and lowers my perception of slashdot.
Blame the people who modded it up with the firehose. If everybody who is angry about this making the front page used the firehose to mod things down, these sorts of things wouldn't make it through as much.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
They should have called it "billionairesexchange.com" instead (look closely, you'll get it).
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know which joke is older: the one you posted, or the one in your sig.
Am I the only one who's noticed that ... (Score:2)
None of the auctions have any bids, and all of the vendors have 0 sales. Sounds like a web2.0 winner!
Excellent... (Score:2)
Bugatti Veyron for cheap coming up (Score:2)
Can't afford a real web designer? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Or alternatively, they know how to save money. Instead of paying thousands of dollars for a design, integration, etc, they drop $50 and have a nice, proven theme.
Seems like the smart thing to do to me.
Re: (Score:2)
You know, this whole thing smells a little too much like "The Sting" to me. Anyone else read David Maurer's "The Big Con"?
Tax It (Score:2)
This exclusive market sounds like an excellent place to levy a 25% Federal sales tax.
Most of those qualifying assets come from TARP and other government handouts. The rest are all enabled by the US government protecting the "capitalism" that collects that kind of money in individuals' hands: socialism for the rich. And all of it is protected from other taxes by an army of lawyers and offshore tax shelters.
Give these rich people a toy exchange as bait for them to pay their way in supporting the government th
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Feel better now?
A-rod's Crib (Score:2, Funny)
Interesting - you can buy A-rod's house online. I guess winning the world series doesn't pay as much as it used to.
(..and yes, I am a bitter Red Sox fan)
achewood saw this coming (Score:2)
http://achewood.com/index.php?date=04282006 [achewood.com]
i'd buy airwolf in a second.
Possibly parody site? (Score:2)
I can't find anything to prove that it's parody but that doesn't mean it isn't.
Anybody got $2M in assets to find out if it's real?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
I looked through all the listings and I couldn't find one with any bids at all so I'm kind of wondering if the site is real or not. I can't find anything to prove that it's parody but that doesn't mean it isn't. Anybody got $2M in assets to find out if it's real? ;-)
As of 8am EST, there has been two auction items bid upon. (a 2008 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 for $450K U.S, and a 2071 ct Diamond & Gold Backgammon Set for $500K). I suppose if these sales go through, there only has to be a small percentage kept by the web site to make a profit, and not in fact a parody site.
/. unite! (Score:2)
Slashdotters unite, we could all pool 1 dollar each into a bank account under a name which will never be used except if we all signed off on it, and create an account to then associate with this new found 2 million dollars, to which then all of /. could view at their leisure, without buying anything and keeping the money frozen to always have free access.
It would be pretty cool, although I doubt after the first 100k it would still be there... i think someone would find a way to steal the money.
Wooo (Score:2)
The only billionaires I see are the owners of the site, racking up huge listing fees. But - but, NO ONE HAS ACTUALLY BID ON THE ITEMS! Shocked.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Heck. This site is a stealth something. I don't know what they're up to - but it's not what it appears.
"Hey, Mr. Multi-Millionare! Click stuff that lets me know your net-worth, on my quickly built Drupal site!"