Weird Ebay Listings–Dead Faerie Found in Woods

There’s a blog for everything these days and one of my favorites brings attention to weird eBay listings. In fact it’s even called “Weird eBay Listings.” KM, the lovely lady who runs the site, keeps me amused at the absurd things for which people will pay huge sums of money for on the online auction site. Plus, I’m tempted to try to sell a few of the weirder things like a “ghost” trapped in a box (read post) or a fortune cookie (read post) myself. Frankly, I don’t even know how she finds this stuff.

A recent post of hers was just plain creepy–someone is/was selling a small dead faerie found in the woods. I kid you not (but I really wish I was). You can check out the listing here.

Now besides the obvious photo editing done on the picture of the faerie carcass lying in the woods, does anyone else think the faerie body photos are a bit, uh, tacky? Suppose that this poor little creature is an actual fairy, is it ethical to sell her (it appears to be a “her”) body online to the highest bidder? And last I checked people were willing to pay over $100 for the little sprite (plus a hefty $33.70 in shipping costs, which is ironic because in the listing the seller says that shipping is $8 to the U.S. and $10 to the UK).

The seller “Monstrorum” apparently ships from Tampa, FL, so one can assume that is where he or she lives. Thanks to my friend, Chris Taylor, I know that there are anole lizards running around Florida (read post), but I had no idea there were faeries flying around as well. Maybe I could get Chris to snap me a picture of one of those with his iPhone (seeing as he had difficulty capture the fast-moving anoles on camera, I imagine a faerie would be even more difficult).

Monstrorum has a scrolling message along the bottom of the ad page which reads, “I have seen Faeries, Mermaids, Sea Monsters, Aliens and other creatures which have no name. I see them all the time. When I find their dead bodies, for anything that lives must one day die, I put it here on ebay to share with the world.” Apparently selling the bodies of dead mythical creatures is a business for this person, which is a bit disconcerting. I also have to wonder if Monstrorum is spending a little too much time at Disney World which is home to lots of faeries, mermaids, and “other creatures” (like giant mice and ducks!)

Perhaps the weirdest part of the ad, aside from the creepy photos is the item description itself: “An authentic Faerie found dead in Florida woods. The winner to this auction will recieve the Faerie shown in the photos below. The body is 7 inches long from head to toe. The skin is authentic once living organic skin…not paper, plastic or rubber. Withered, dusty and dried out. To this day I believe it to be a Leaf Faerie! It was all so magical that it’s hard for others to believe…I’m sure you think I am crazy….but I can assure you….it’s true! Faeries will come to you if you are sincere. Try leaving them a gift in a place you believe faeries reside and show them your love for nature.” It’s hard for me to believe because the site of the discovery looks as phony as Donald Trump’s hair piece!

I decided to check this Monstrorum character out for myself. Since joining eBay in August of 1999, Monstrorum has received 675 positive transaction comments giving him or her a rating of 100%. That’s pretty impressive! While a buyer on many an auction, Monstrorum is true to his or her word selling the corposes of other creatures on eBay in the past including a mummifed alien. The seller has sold 168 items, but it is unclear how were auctions for deceased mythical creatures.

It appears that Monstrorum’s customers are happy with their purchases, which some have called “creations” and not “discoveries.” As much as I’d like to believe there are faeries frolicking in the woods, I cannot believe that they would be so careless as to leave the body of one of their own just lying out in the open for any ol’ human to find, especially if they knew that their friend was going to be sold on eBay. It just doesn’t seem very faerie-like to me. Admittedly, the crafter and creator of these “organic” corpses is a skilled artist indeed.

Next time you’re in the mood for a used Playstation 2 game, a new Fossil purse, or an alien carcass, be sure to log on to eBay–you really can find anything there.