Jun
5
- Maria Duran began selling square-metre plots on the sun two years ago
- For bargain price of 74p buyers were even sent a certificate of ownership
- But eBay found the Spanish mother’s ad violated policy and shut it down
- Now Ms Duran has won right to take eBay to court for breach of contract
Hannah Parry For Mailonline
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A Spanish woman who was banned from selling plots on the sun on eBay has won the right to take the online auction site to court.
Maria Angeles Duran first claimed she owned the star at the centre of the solar system back in 2010 when she threatened to bill solar power users.
Having had the celestial body registered in her name at a local notary office in Spain, the 54-year-old later opened an eBay account selling off square-metre plots for the bargain price of just 1 euro (74p).
Maria Angeles Duran first claimed she owned the star at the centre of the solar system back in 2010 when she threatened to bill solar power users
Buyers even got an official-looking certificate of ownership with their purchase.
When the online marketplace noticed her outrageous claims two years later, they said the advert was in breach of its intangible goods policy and blocked her account.
The enterprising businesswoman had threatened to sue the online giant saying the move amounts to a breach of contract.
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And incredibly, one Spanish court has recognised her claim.
The trial is now due to take place next month with Ms Duran suing for €10,000 on the grounds that eBay took commission from her but did not let her collect payment, according to Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia.
The notary public issued document declares Ms Duran to be the ‘owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometers’
‘There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law. I did it but anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first,’ she told MailOnline in 2010.
EBay are believed to have tried to settle the claim but it appears that Ms Duran, from Vigo in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia, wants her day in court.
The case will focus on eBay’s seller agreement and whether or not Ms Duran was in breach of the company’s policy.
Ms Duran said that she was inspired to start selling off plots on the sun by US entrepreneur, Dennis Hope, who registered several planets under his own name in 2010 and made more than $10 million selling land on the moon, Mars, Venus and Mercury.
The mother-of-four said she had made around 1,200 euros so far after receiving more than 600 orders for plots.
She has also pledged to continue to sell the extra terrestrial land on her own website.
Maria Duran first claimed she owned the star at the centre of the solar system back in 2010 when she threatened to bill solar power users
The notary public issued document declares Ms Duran to be the ‘owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometers’.
Ms Duran said there is an international agreement which states that no country may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about individuals.
She said at the time that she hoped to slap a fee on everyone who uses the sun and give half of the proceeds to the Spanish government – and 20 per cent to the nation’s pension fund.
She would dedicate another 10 per cent to research, another 10 per cent to ending world hunger – and would keep the remaining 10 per cent herself.
For those who might be a little too broke to venture out in the sunlight – and risk a large bill at the end of the day – Ms Duran has not yet figured out a way of enforcing her sun charge.
FROM BAGS OF AIR TO WHOLE COUNTRIES AND EVEN GRANDMOTHERS: THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF EBAY
It may be the first time that anyone has tried to sell off plots on the sun on eBay, but the online auction site is no stranger to unusual listings.
Earlier this year, a plastic Ziploc bag containing the air from one of Kanye’s Yeezus tour shows was selling for $65,000 on eBay with three days left to go on the auction.
The bizarre memento, which was removed from eBay, comes from an unspecified concert and was first listed last Sunday for $5.00. However, the price continued to climb as more than 90 people bid on the ‘Kanye West Yeezus Tour Air’.
Haute oxygen: Someone bid $65,000 on eBay for this bag of air from one of Kanye West’s unidentified Yeezus Tour shows
Another strange item that was removed from sale as it breached eBay’s policies was a bar of soap which its owners claimed was made from the fat of Jewish people murdered at a Nazi death camp.
The owner attempted to sell the grim item on the internet auction site eBay for €199 (£143). But as soon as the item went live, moderators removed it from sale.
Historian Arthur Haraf said the soap was one of a number of items found near the Dutch concentration camp Westerbork, from which Dutch Jews were sent to extermination camps.
2,000-year-old artefacts looted from ancient sites in Iraq and Syria have also appeared on the site – sold off by ISIS jihadis hoping to cash in on relics dating back millennia.
An antiques salesman tried to sell soap, pictured, reportedly made from the fat of Jewish Holocaust victims
Two coins from Apamea, in western Syria, which date back to Ancient Greece have appeared on eBay with price tags of £57 and £90.
This comes after entire Roman mosaics were ripped up by a bulldozer from the ancient site.
Other odd items have surprised the vendors by reaching an astronomical price.
Bids for a dress made entirely out of 600 loom bands, made for just £45 by dedicated Kathryn Burnand reached £153,921 last summer.
While Coventry University student Bill Bennett once sold a single cornflake for £1.20.
Another piece of Kellogg’s breakfast cereal reached £520 as it beared a slight resemblance to the character E.T. from the Steven Spielberg film.
Selling on eBay: Historical artefacts believed to have been looted by ISIS, such as this coin of Apamea dating back to the time of Ancient Greece, are beginning to appear on eBay
A whole town in California – Bridgeville – went on sale in 2002 while a man in Brisbane, Australia, attempted to sell New Zealand at a starting price of A$0.01. The price had risen to $3,000 before eBay closed the auction.
The country of Iceland was also put up for sale in 2008 with the advert noting that singer Björk was ‘not included’ in the sale. It reached £10million before it was shut down.
Finally, a ten-year-old girl attempted to sell her grandmother on eBay after she ‘annoyed her.’
The advert described the then 61-year-old as ‘very cuddly and loves word searches’ but conceded her bad points were that she was ‘annoying and moaning a lot’.
Bids on Marian Goodall hit £20,000 before eBay closed down the auction.
Her granddaughter Zoe said the stunt had been a joke.
‘I didn’t know how much we’d get for her, maybe 99p,’ she had said at the time.
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